Searching: A Tale of Swords, Revenge, and Destiny
an excerpt

“Yeah, yeah. And Mom gave me hell for weeks afterwards; I got it. I’ll never attempt to scare my wimpy sister again, I promise.” This time his reply was met with silence. He sighed and wrapped his arms around the teenage girl in his arms. “You were dreaming about Mom again, weren’t you?” He felt her nod into his chest. “There’s nothing wrong with missing Mom and remembering and visiting her in your dreams Tani. I just need you to focus on the good times, otherwise you’ll never let go of her death.”

“But she was murdered!” she hissed. “How am I just supposed to let that fact go? Can you honestly look me in the eye and tell me you never regret not being able to help her Metin? Am I to believe you never feel guilty or angry or gypped that she was stolen from us and there was nothing anyone did to stop it?” She lowered her voice. “Besides, you weren’t even around when she died. You have no idea what it was like for us.”

Metin froze, goose bumps prickling his skin in response to the harsh accusation. “Tani, that’s not fair,” he began, his voice wavering only slightly. “I didn’t choose not to be here-“
“But you did Metin! You did choose to run off and try to be a knight! Nobody was holding you at knife-point and forcing you to leave, you chose that path Metin,” she scolded. “When Mom died you were days away and that was entirely your own fault.” He stayed silent and unmoving, Tani’s words cutting through him.
“I may have chosen the path of a night Tani,” he began, a dangerous edge coloring his words with anger, “But you still have no right of blaming me for Mom’s death. Even if I had been here, as a farm boy, what could I have done?” She opened her mouth to protest, but he silenced her with a harsh glare. “I’ve never been talented like you or Mom, Tani. I wouldn’t have been any help here. I still think the path to knighthood is the best thing for me- nay, the best thing for this family now.” He grabbed her chin and forced her to meet his icy gaze. “I left for you Tani. I wanted to make sure you had more than that hut and some herbs; you deserve a better life than that. But no one’s going to give you a second glance unless we have something to offer in return, and a loyal knight is a handy offering chip.” She torn away from his grasp and pushed herself off his lap.

“I never asked you for that Metin. I was happy on the farm and was happy to inherit the future of a farmer’s wife. So don’t you blame your problems on me,” she spit back. “Leave my room. Now. I’m too old for this sort of treatment.” When he didn’t move, she stood up herself. “Or I guess I can leave. Don’t come looking for me—not that you’d ever know where to look…” And with that, she left her brother sitting on her bed to deal with her words.