A mostly Normal morning?

Breakfast had been uneventful, and as both Lord Andros and Amordina had been absent, even pleasant. He had been hoping to maybe spend a bit of time with Viella today, to see how she felt after their antics this morning, but she was swamped with tutoring sessions. His mother had informed him that some letters for him had arrived, and the servants should have left them on his desk by the time breakfast was over. She’d also mentioned that one of them was from her brother, which was why Vel was currently sitting at the aforementioned desk.

His mother had of course not been born into house Andros, she was Lady Rienne Andros because of her marriage to Lord Luthor Andros. She herself was of house Hothemer and was the younger sister of Lord Exarch Kalran Hothemer. An Exarch was the governor of an imperial province, and house Hothemer had held the governorship of Western Aluv since it had been integrated into the Empire. As such, his mother actually came from a higher rung of nobility than his father. House Andros was a powerful, well regarded, and much storied house, but they were not exarchs. This province, known as The Lower Heartland, was governed by house Lumgar. Much to his father’s chagrin. Obtaining the exarchship of the province was, Vel knew, one of his father’s dearest ambitions. It was unlikely to ever happen though, very rarely did governorship of a province pass from one house to another. The last time it had happened had been in the aftermath of the war that imperial authorities insisted on calling the eastern uprising, but which almost everyone called the third imperial civil war. House Andros and house Lumgar had been on the same side though, both siding with the sitting emperor at the time, whose daughter was currently on the throne. House Hothemer too had taken the winning side, and it was during the war that Luthor and Kalran as well as their fathers had met, and a strong inter-house bond had taken shape. A bond that was eventually sealed with the marriage of Lady Rienne to Lord Luthor.

Western Aluv and The Lower Heartland were quite far away from each other. His uncle’s province was both the northernmost in the empire and was located on the empire’s western frontier. The Lower Heartland on the other hand was situated in the empire’s cosmopolitan center, bordering the capital province. For house Andros, marrying someone from a governing family was a big deal. For house Hothemer, it was useful to marry into a family who was much closer to the seat of imperial power. Vel didn’t hugely care about imperial politics and power brokering, but he did love his uncle. Lord Exarch Kalran, who insisted Vel refer to him informally as Uncle Kal, showed more interest in Vel’s life than his own father did. When he was younger, Vel had entertained daydreams about Kalran being his real father and actually being a Hothemer. Sadly though, there was no doubt about his parentage.

He didn’t get to see his uncle in person very often, they lived multiple provinces apart after all, but they were constantly exchanging letters. Uncle Kal really had been the closest thing Vel had to a real father figure, which perhaps was a bit sad. When Kal, who was an avid rider himself as well a passionate horse breeder, discovered that his young nephew had taken an interest in riding he had seen to it that his sister got the boy his own horse. As Vel and Adeline turned 18 and had their coming-of-age celebration, Uncle Kal had come in person to congratulate them and deliver house Hothemer’s gifts. Vel was ashamed to admit that he couldn’t remember what Adeline had received, but his recollection was simply dominated by his own present. Veldred. His uncle had presented him with a huge, coal black destrier. A mount fit for a king or emperor. Veldred was still the most expensive thing Vel owned. The new roan Adeline had been riding yesterday had been a gift from Kal as well, albeit a much less expensive one and one not delivered in person.

The twins truly loved Uncle Kal. The other Andros siblings, mainly the two oldest, seemed to hold some resentment over the favoritism he showed the twins and especially Vel, though. They weren’t wrong about that, even Vel could see that his uncle favored him and to a lesser degree Adeline. He imagined it had something to do with their shared passions, and the fact that Uncle Kal had no sons of his own. His wife had only carried one pregnancy to term, and it had been identical female twins. Vel’s cousins were lovely girls and their father loved them and doted on them, but any noble man would crave a son. Vel imagined he probably served as a son replacement for his uncle as much as his uncle was a father replacement for him.

Vel was opening and unfolding the letter when there was a knock on his door, followed by his favorite voice in the whole world “I’m coming in!” And Adeline did indeed just come in without waiting for a reply. She made her way over to him and sat herself down on his good leg. “Is that letter from Uncle Kal that Mother mentioned? Are you about to read it?” Vel confirmed both questions. Adeline had brought her own letter from Uncle Kal and suggested they take turns reading their letters to each other. It was something they had not done in a while, but used to do quite frequently as kids, so that it would feel more like both of them were having a conversation with their uncle. “Okay Adi, but help me over the bed first will you, I’d rather do this lying down.”