"Of course" Nemiah nodded, "I can be done within the hour. Set should be in his room, he was feeling a little unwell the other day so I told him to take the week."

Solum nodded and before Malum could say anything he lead his brother out of the room. Nemiah looked at Asima with curiousity, "I'll talk to you as soon as I'm done here alright?"

"Sire" one of the advisors spoke up, "we have numerous things to attend to today, we may need more than one hour to-"

"Yeah yeah" Nemiah waved him off, "it'll be fiiinnne"

Set's room was next to the temple, he wouldn't be able to actually live there until he became the High Priest. The door was closed at the moment.

It was a moment before there was any sound beyond the door and then there was a rustling before the door opened. Set seemed a little disheveled as though he'd still been sleeping but he just ran a hand through his hair and smiled, "You're back!" the boy exclaimed, he was beginning to challenge Asima in height now, "What happened? Is Lakar back now to?"

His expression fell and his arms went limp. At first he was just hoping he hadn't heard her right, but the pain was already beginning to settle into his heart, "w-what?" the boy managed to stammer out in disbelief.

Set shook his head, taking half a step back, "A-um..." his trembling fingers clenched into fists, one hand lifted with great effort to the edge of the door and he couldn't look Asima in the eyes, knowing the tears were coming, "o-k-kay... please e-excuse me..." he began closing the door.

Set nodded slightly and closed the door before crumpling to the floor with his back against it. The tears began to fall immediately as he wrapped his arms around himself. Lakar had taught him everything he knew about magic, and a lot about life and he wasn't going to disrespect a word of it, especially not now.
'It won't always be easy, quite often it will be the hardest thing you will have to do' Set could remember the old man's voice clear as day, 'but you will become their rock. You will become someone they can always rely on, and that's exactly what they'll need, someone to stand strong when everything else falls apart. So don't let them know just how much you hurt. Never turn your back, and never let them see you cry.' And the fallen priest had kept to these words through and through. With the death of Isoteph, when Malum was taken by the darkness, he hadn't shed a tear in front of anyone, with all the struggles of life, helping everyone else through it all, he never stopped caring, never stopped standing tall and proud with a comforting smile.
Set wondered, as his heart ached and his throat choked with tears he couldn't help but wonder, how many times the old man had done the same. Crying behind closed doors.

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Solum was leaning against the far wall of the room while Malum explored, recognizing certain things, trying to recall the times he had come to this room. He gave Asima a smile, "That's alright, we have the time to wait-right Solum?"

"We may have a week" Solum replied, watching his brother, "There's going to be a lot of confusion over what happened in Frodan. It should buy us a good amount of time, and if we need more than that I can go out myself for a bit."

"You two are acting as though I wouldn't be able to handle myself out there" Malum laughed, "Come on, I can't have forgotten that much. I'll be fine." he shrugged assuredly, "and I don't know how you did the spell, I didn't see. But isn't the only thing that matters is that the most of it worked?"

Malum tilted his head curiously, "Hm? Which spell was that?" he asked.

"Ahh... hmm... we were younger. On the rooftop?" he replied with more a questioning tone.

"uuhh.... Alright, I think I can do that" Malum replied with a moment of thought. There couldn't be any harm in it now, right? He smiled again, "Yeah sure." he stepped forward, raising his hands towards either side of Asima's head, "Just relax okay? That was kind of an old spell, your mind's probably gotten used to it by now so it'll be kinda hard to find."

Days of old breezed through Asima's mind, playing as a child, birthdays gone by. Every mundane childish day blended in with another making it difficult to pinpoint just where the spell had taken place. There were memories of chasing stray cats around the yard, memories of making that poor nurse maid's life miserable, and finally a glimpse, of just another boy she had met once and never seen or thought of again. Once Malum found it, he went to work, unveiling the days they had spent together. He had been rather shy as a boy but more than happy to find a way to open up to the princess. There was more on the time that they had spent together. She had found a cat with a broken leg and with Malum's help they fixed it up again. Malum hadn't shown her anything else he'd seen outside the walls since the first incident, but now and again he would return with a story. Whether or not the stories had been true was another matter, but it still gave way to one's little imagination.

And then he had sneaked into her room one night, looking very sad. No matter what she said he wouldn't smile, and Lakar was there, seeming to be waiting for something. And the little adventures had faded away into the mundane with a few final words from the little boy, "goodbye princess..." his eyes held a promise though, a promise to return.

And he had, he returned often in fact. Once a year around the same time the boy returned, spent a day with her and disappeared, taking those little memories away with him. He had taken on many different facades to explain his sudden appearance, knowing she'd never have the time to investigate before he hid the memories away again and again.


Malum's hands slowly lowered, he seemed a little surprised himself. "Hm... I came back..."

((lol! Aww, Solum ^-^))

Malum shrugged thoughtfully, "Well... I suppose if we came around here often enough... I don't think I would have been able to resist."