Tissues · in · the · Corner

"Lies My Mama Told Me"

He had lived the first five years of his life without questioning it.  His mother had been good at hiding her life before his father from all of them.

But then, on the day they had buried the king, his mother had stopped being careful.  Just for one minute, but it was long enough.  She hadn’t noticed him by the obelisk she had erected in the gardens.  She hadn’t noticed him listening when she had mentioned it to Frederik.

“Do you think, if I was still with him, he would have died like this?”

Maybe he never should have paid attention to her.  Maybe he should have brushed it off like every good six-year-old does.  Maybe then he could have lived on thinking the father he remembered was the father he had.

It would have saved him years of trouble, if he had.  Maybe he would have been more outgoing with the children of the visiting nobles.  Maybe he wouldn’t have been sneaking out of the palace as much.  Maybe he never would’ve met Forehead that day.  Maybe there wouldn’t even be a Forehead for him to meet later.

But he had heard her, and he hadn’t ignored that twinge he felt as he realized the possibilities.  His father might not have been the man they just buried, but at least he wasn’t dead.  So he started sneaking more, listening more – and soon he had hints.

Did you ever love anyone before Father?  Yes.

Who was he? A great hero.

Why was he a hero?  He assembled a legendary tiara – the Eternal Tiara.

What was his name? Why all these questions, Aero?

So he stopped, and found new ways of getting his information.  He snuck out, and slowly he found the missing pieces.  The hero Gunberd.

Forehead’s father? Yes, Gunberd is my papa.

He was actually glad when Gunberd had finally told him the truth, that his father truly had been the dead king.  Even if Yucie wasn’t really his daughter, it still would have been…well, weird.

Even then, it was hard to face his mother.  Years of believing she had lied to him didn’t just vanish overnight; one conversation with a retired soldier didn’t heal everything.

But, he thought with a smile as he put the flowers on the marker, it was a start.  At least he knew the truth now.

A.n.: Some of these make me squee with inspiration.  Others make me kinda-happy.  Others leave me staring at the screen until something comes out, and I’m not always sure what I’ve written.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

Really, that’s the beauty of this comm.  Love how random it can be.  P.s.: Word is ‘truth’.