Suddenly, Arjuna gasped, as an unsettling realization hit him. It wasn’t just that Alder was empathic with their suffering, he understood it, he felt it, he shared it…because he had gone through it. At some point in his young life, he suffered through something painful, something horrible. That was why he was able to be so strong, now. It was why he set his own feelings aside and aided others, because he knew how painful emotions could be and so, he understood it and could be the support they needed, because it must have been the support that he needed at one time, but did not receive.

He glanced at his mother who, like he, was looking at her eldest son. Her expression was of an emotion that he could not describe. The memory of what happened to Alder angered her. When he thought on it, Alder and Avalon were very close. She was devoted and close to all of her children, but with Alder, there was something more. Nothing greater than her love for him and Palm, but something different. What was it?

“Palm!” he thought to himself, realizing that it was very possible that he knew what he had forgotten. Palm tended to remember everything and could recall any moment in time. Surely, he would know what happened. But, now was not the time to speak to him regarding it. For now, he would keep his concerns to himself. They had the entire country to tend to, at the moment. There was no need to add the additional burden of his worries. He would reserve them, at least for now. Still…

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