Captain Aurelius Cassian held his breath. He prayed to Juno for a son for months after he was told of the pregnancy, and he sent incense to Jupiter for a princely fellow, Venus and Cupid for a boy of comely appearance, and Mars for a suitable warrior of Rome. He begged the gods for an heir.
Now, he waited for the result of his prayers.

It was snowing again.

Little boy with your cheeks so pink
And your eyes so blue
Tell me what's new with you?
Little one with your rocket high dreams
Laughter bubbling in streams
Oh I'll miss you, I'll miss you I will

Please
Stay little forever
I don't know what I would do
I would do without the little you
Oh, please
I'll remember forever
How your hand fits right in mine
How you smile every time
Oh little you

1: Radiance

He looked onto the girl with reverent eyes
And upon his face was slapped surprise.
Her hair bound ‘round her in rolling cadence
And harmony with her smile of radiance.

2: Laughter

He listened unto the girl with pleasure plain
As she giggled like a brook after playful rain.
None could look anywhere but at her
With the song of her soulful laughter.

3: Embrace

There at the door he stands with hope,
A lad of fourteen, tall and broad;
He knows not to what end he goes,
To take the ship that sails abroad—
That sails to places without hope.
Yet when he sees the pain that shows
On tender Mother’s brow so still,
He kisses her and softly says
“Dear Mother, I’ll come back, I will!”

Ileuad pulled her mud stained cloak tighter around herself, trying not to wake Ewen. She shuddered in the cold, and cast a glance over to the other side of the cave. There Adaon lay, never to rise again. He was shrouded in his dark cloak in the very farthest corner of the cave.

Deep in the woods,
There’s a little wooden house,
And nobody lives there, but dreams.
And the laughter of childhood,
Floats on the breeze,
And splashes through crystal streams.

Find me beneath the old maple,
Let’s fight a few monsters today,
And return to the hall,
When the quest finally ends,
And we’ll sit with a fire ablaze.
Knowing well that we have
Something fleeting and sad,
That we’ll hold for as long as we can.
As long as we can.

It had been hours. A doctor had been summoned, Grandfather was rushed into one of the rooms of the estate, and the party was disbanded. Ettore had waited long enough outside the room in which the doctor was with Grandfather. He sat at the bedside and he observed how sick the man who raised him was. The doctor said his heart had stopped, but somehow, Ettore’s thoughtless reasoning kept him alive a little longer.
The room was silent and dark.

This chapter has no definite name. Since this novel is structured for later publication, I'd prefer a chapter name. If any of you have suggestions after reading it I'd love that!

Sun sets so low.
Fire lights the sky.
I asked you to come home.
I asked you not to die.

My brave soldier boy,
Fighting for so long.
My little soldier boy,
Please do come home.

When you cried your first
To when you hugged me last,
You’re gone forever and I thirst
So much for the blissful past.

My son, you promised me so firmly
When you were shipped away,
While, so tightly, you hugged me,
That on enemy soil you would not lay.