My Dearest Sweet Alexi,
Oh, how I hope you never have to see this letter. I hope we grow as a family and all of this will be explained to you fully someday, but your father tells me that things are getting bad amongst the councils, that there are power plays of the worst kind about to be enacted and with your father on the council there is a possibility that we will be caught in the crossfire. I do hope that he is over-reacting, but I cannot take the chance that you will never know of the things that one day we must tell you.
I have arranged for your safety, if the worst should happen, if our family is torn apart by this war then at least I will be able to rest easy knowing that my sweet girl is being taken care of. Peter has my instructions; he is a friend of many years and someone you can trust wholeheartedly.
I have been staring at this paper for what feels like hours, wondering where to start, wondering which bits of information could be important, which may save your life, and which may condemn it, so I’m going to start by telling you that I love you, so much. We both do. You are without a doubt the light of our lives and I hope that no matter where you are now you truly know that.
Peters’ instructions are to have you placed with the humans, it is not the upbringing we ever really wanted for you, but you will be away from the influences of the council there, free to grow into the person you were meant to be and not who they shape you to be.
The downside to living in that world is that you will not fully understand who you are, the feelings you have growing up, the instincts and the sickness, none of that will make sense to you when you are surrounded by humans that do not feel this, and cannot possibly understand your gifts, and I am so sorry that you have had to go through this alone, finding your own path in life, but more so than that, I am so sorry that I am about to turn your entire world upside down.
Alexi, the world you live in isn't what you believe it to be, and you aren't who you think you are, a different world exists beyond the boundary of what the natural eye can see. A world that until now you will have been ignorant of, except for any memories you may have from your early life here with us.
Primogentius is our city, a wonderous place that cannot be seen by anyone who does not belong here, we are the firstborn races, the creators of the human race, everything stems from us. Peter would explain this better than I ever could, and I do hope that you get the chance to meet him.
Our city is ruled by the royal council, four members, one from each of the original families, your father sits on that council and one day that seat will become yours, you are the last in the line of the Drovnic’s Alexi, you are royalty in our world and more importantly you were born into a position of power, you were born to lead us all.
The council need a full panel of four in order to enact a lot of the laws that could protect us from the dangers that are currently threatening our world. The other three families are rather large, there is no worry where they are concerned but you and your father are the last in your line, if something were to happen to your father, the council would be a seat short for a long time until you are able to take your seat. If something were to happen to you also, the council would be forever unable to take action.
I don’t mean to lay the weight of our world on your shoulders, but I do hope you understand the importance of your birth right.
So you now have a decision to make Alexi. I would never presume that this is the life you want when you have no recollection of it, I would also never try to take away your right to do what is best for you. I hope with all my heart that you have a family, friends, a life that you love, one that you are proud of, and asking you to give that up would be very unfair. But I do hope that you at least give us a chance, if for no other reason than to satisfy your curiosity.
I have noted the address for Peter on the reverse of this letter, he is the keeper of the gateway into our city, he knows that you are being left this letter in the event that something terrible should happen and he will await your visit in the event that you decide to give our world a try, he will protect you and teach you all you need to know should you choose to stay.
I’m sorry I can’t be there for you as you make this decision my sweet girl but I am always in your heart, and no matter your decision I will always love you, you are my sunshine, just remember Alexi, never tell.
I love you always,
Mum xxx.
“Lex, you okay? You’re white as a sheet.” Jess asked and I nodded. Having no idea what to say as my eyes roamed over the letter again. “Okay, I’m going to order food, do you want your usual? She asked and I nodded muttering a quiet ‘yes please’.
“Won’t be a minute.” I muttered heading into my room with the letters clutched in my hand. In the privacy of my room, I paced the floor reading over my mums letter once again trying to process what she was telling me, I turned it over to see an address scribbled on the reverse before flipping back to the body of the text.
She spoke about humans and races as though there was more than one, as though she herself was not a human, as though I am not human.
She mentioned the sickness, and I furrowed my brow as my mind flashed over all the time I myself had felt the dreaded feeling. None of this made sense, well some of it did but at the same time it was like a sci-fi novel. What the hell was she on about, different worlds and races.
I looked at the end again ‘Never tell.’ A memory niggled at the edge of my mind, my Mum lay bleeding, pain in her eyes and whispering the words so softly that only I could hear them. The memory morphed into one I had seen before, the old man on his knees his voice fierce as he told me to never tell.
I dropped the letter on my dresser and paced the room to work out some of the frustration that had instantly built up in me. I stopped by the door as I heard Jess yell. How I was supposed to face her now, what I was supposed to say to her. ‘Never tell’. The words echoed in my head like they were being spoken aloud and I shoved them back, taking a deep breath I made an instant decision to keep this to myself for now. I plastered a tired smile on my face and headed back into the living room where Jess stood wiggling two movie cases at me to make a decision. I pointed at one without even looking at it, if we were watching a film I didn’t need to speak which could only be a good thing at the minute. I settled down and tried to focus on the tv screen to little avail, the same words kept echoing through my mind.
‘The world you live in isn't what you believe it to be, and you aren't who you think you are, a different world exists beyond the boundary of what the natural eye can see.’
I couldn’t shake it, but no matter how many times I ran the words through my head I couldn’t puzzle out what she meant. It was going to be a long night.
The weeks that followed were some of the most difficult of my life, which was saying something. No matter how hard I tried to hide it, Jess knew that something was wrong, she badgered me for information, but I couldn't bring myself to tell her. Not just because my parents had asked me not to but because I didn't want her to think that my parents had been insane.
I was torn, between wanting to know what they were referring to and scared that it was all some mistake. I barely remembered them, and like most orphans I had built up an idolised image in my mind of the perfect family, of the family that I had longed for, and suddenly that image was being challenged by information that I couldn't force myself to believe.
The letter had been short of explaining anything in full, referring to a world that no one knew about and talking about human beings as though they were a different species, and I was terrified that I was about to find out my birth parents had deluded themselves into thinking they were aliens.
The thoughts and worries took over every part of my life and I soon found myself unable to focus on anything else. I knew my friends were worried, I could see it on their faces but still I couldn't make myself tell them, feeling somehow that it was important for me to figure it all out on my own.
Eventually my course work started to suffer too as I just couldn't bring myself to focus on the work. I couldn't stop myself from worrying.
Worrying that I was missing out on something wonderful because I had ignored their letter and worrying that if I followed their directions, I would end up regretting it.
It took me almost a month before I decided that sane or not, this was the last thing I had of my parents, and I did as they instructed.
The wind whipped at my hair, and I brushed the long black strands away from my face as I stared at the old inn across the road. I shivered as the morning sea air brushed against my skin, wishing I had had the foresight to wear a coat I wrapped my arms around my waist as I contemplated the old building before me.It looked perfectly normal if a little run down, with a faded brown sign swinging in the breeze and chipped paint on the wooden window frames, a few green weeds had pushed through the pavement around the edge of the building and the bricks looked like they could use a hose down but considering the contents of my parents letter the normality of the building only served to make me more nervous.It hadn't taken me long to find the inn my parents directed me to, however working up the courage to go inside was another matter entirely. It wasn't so much that I was afraid or even worried of what I would find, I was more concerned that I wou
“Alexi, I have been expecting you for a while. Welcome. Please take a seat.” An elderly gentleman greeted cheerfully as I stepped fully into the room making me jump slightly. I turned to see him stood in the corner leaning over a cabinet I hadn't seen previously either. I dropped onto the sofa, my eyes riveted on his back.He wasn't at all what I had expected, even with his back to me I could tell he was old, but he stood tall, he was lean of build with shoulder length grey hair and dressed in brown trousers and a grey jacket, clothes that may have been from the fifties judging from their condition. His voice was strong, commanding, the kind of voice I expected to belong to a middle-aged businessman not a decrepit old inn keeper.My mind whirled as I took everything in, I felt like I was on an emotional roller coaster, fear anger confusion disapp
I rested my cup on my leg and waited impatiently for Peter to continue with his story.“Several decades later,” he began after setting his own cup aside. “And the human population was starting to grow, we don't have definitive numbers, but we estimate around three hundred humans were living in the area we now know as Wales. As more children were born, the human parents of the children refrained from telling the new-borns about our world, through what we can only guess is spite and anger at having been banished, and as such the new generations had no idea that more than their race existed, eventually the knowledge died with the parents.”“At the same time this was occurring a w
I found an empty table in the back corner of the café and stared at the menu until the waitress came over with her little note pad to take my order. “What can I get you dearie”“A coffee and a ploughman’s please.” I answered placing the menu back on the table and offering a smile to the waitress that I hoped wasn’t obviously fake.“No problem.” She muttered before heading back to the counter.I glanced at the giant book on the table and sighed. I honestly didn’t know what to think at the minute, I was warring with myself, I had always prided myself on being a good judge of character, I just i
Five 'o' clock rolled round faster than I expected with my mind full of what if's and I soon found myself standing outside the sitting room door eager for more answers.“Come in Alexi.” Peter called out before I could knock. Either the guy had really good hearing for an old man or he was psychic.“Hi.” I greeted not sure what to say now that I was in front of the man again. I took a seat on the sofa once again, noticing the tray of sandwiches on the end table and my stomach grumbled, I hadn’t eaten much lunch and had been walking for hours.“Help yourself to food.” Peter suggested, motioning in the direction of
Finally, I settled on a thought and voiced it before thinking twice. “So how did you get to be drafted as my guide? Surely there are better things for you to be doing?” I questioned refusing to call him my guard and avoiding looking at his face. I was curious about how a warrior was assigned to me when our races could make it difficult to keep things professional.“Technically I have been your guide or guard for over a year. The council give out assignments to selective people, that's how we got so many races to work together in building the city in the first place, the citizens of Primogentius must abide by the decisions of the council. One of the council’s jobs is to assign warriors to protect Royals. There are actually quite a few ou
Cole offered me a wide smile as I held onto his hand to climb down, he didn’t seem to be the slightest bit fazed by me which I was finding increasingly annoying, but I pushed it back and offered him a small smile in return before letting go of him as soon as polite to do so and turning to face my family’s homeOver the years I had pictured what my life would have been like if my parents hadn't died, I think all orphans do at one point or another, somewhere in the back of my mind I had created our family home but it was nothing like the house that stood before me. Never had I imagined such an elaborate structure. The sand-coloured stones that made up the house were each carved with a different design although they somehow all connected together, it
We rode in silence for a while as I tried to control my emotions, I was sure that Cole thought I was a bit strange at this point but there was no helping that now. Now I just had to figure out how to deal with all of this. I also needed to figure out why exactly my parents thought it so important for me to be involved in this world.Everything I had learnt so far was amazing, unbelievable even but other than there being an empty seat on the council I couldn't understand what my role would be and why they thought it was so important for me to know about all of this. Surely it would have been better, simpler if I had never known about the existence of Primogentius. If I had been allowed to carry on living the life I had known.“That's the council building. It’s like a human town hall I guess, except that it’s also our courthouse. All important decisions regarding the city and the people in it are made in that building.”