Author's Edit: An anonymous reviewer just asked me why Altra didn't just Jump to help Sidra when he found out she was missing. To answer that question since I can't reply directly- first, if I'm not mistaken, I believe firecats need to know exactly where they are going, and Altra did not know where Sidra was. Second, firecats no longer care to Jump at all. At the end of the Mage Storms Trilogy, Altra himself makes a comment that it might not be safe, even over short distances, so he and Hansa no longer do it.

Epilogue~

An'desha sat down in a more secluded part of the camp, looking down at the two letters in his hand. One of them was surely from Karal; he always wrote this time of year so An'desha was expecting his letter. The other was an unknown and so the Sworn One opened it first, just to get it out of the way. It was written in Shin'a'in, but in a handwriting that he didn't recognize.

It said:

Dear An'desha,

How are you? I hope you and the Clan you travel with are well. It is starting to snow here and everything is wet and cold. I'm not sure why, but there is a certain giddiness that has come over all the Companions, including Jereth, and I can't help but laugh whenever he asks to go riding.

I'm doing well here. It was hard in the beginning because my Gifts are so sensitive, but things are getting easier every day. I'm learning so much, and more importantly than that, I'm starting to grow up out of the person I was when we first met. With any luck, a good amount of wisdom will come with my increasing age. I hope to make my instructors (and you) proud.

I wanted to write you this letter to address certain issues between us, and to hopefully—hopefully—start up a routine correspondence. Karal told me what you couldn't tell me when I was there last year. To be honest, I was a little bit angry that you couldn't tell me yourself.

Yet, after having the time to reflect, I slowly realized that you had done the right thing. If you had told me when I was living with your clan, I can't say for sure that I would not have asked to stay. Parting with you would have been much more difficult, and I'm not sure I would have truly understood why you were letting me go. I think it would have ruined any relationship we might have had.

And to answer your question (I'm an Empath, I know you have one), yes, this does mean I feel we should, and perhaps already do, have a relationship. Regardless of how the deed was done, you are the only family that I have ever known. I think I was so angry with you because I had already had begun to think of you as sort of the father-figure in my life, so I'm sorry to say that you're stuck with me.

I have not met Nyara yet, but Karal tells me that you both are estranged from each other, and I would not wish to complicate her life further. I think I must wait until I am older and more experienced before I make myself known.

I wanted to also say thank you. Even far away, you still help me every day, whether it is from the advice you have given me, or from the foundations you helped me lay. I am proud to call myself your daughter.

I wish you well, and hope to hear back from you soon.

Yours always,

Sidra, as penned by Bard Lucilla

An'desha closed the letter slowly, sparing only a second's thought on wondering who Lucilla was. Then he opened the letter back up and read it again.

After he was done, he felt his body suddenly relax. Hope bloomed in his heart, the tiny little bud he had been trying to ignore since Sidra had left him so long ago. While he did feel like he had made a mistake in asking Karal to tell Sidra about their connection instead of sending her a letter himself, he had the feeling now that things were going to work out.

The Sworn One felt a smile creep across his face. The letter from his heart-brother would have to wait. He had his own to write first.

~Fin~

Author's Note: Oh my god! It's over! It only took me- what?- almost thirty chapters and three years to write! ....

I just want to thank all the people who faved and watched this story- it really kept me going. I originally posted this up to get it out of my head; I have other non-fanfictional projects that I am working on, and Sidra's story kept interfering with those. I never thought it would receive any attention at all.

I also wanted to thank all of the reviewers for their critiques and suggestions. Believe it or not, they have really helped me grow as a writer, and helped me see a few bad habits that I had picked up while I had been writing for my own eyes only. One of those (a few of you have yelled at me for it) is my substituting w/ for the word with. It is a shortcut I use when I pen things by hand, and it unfortunately, it sneaks in when I type too.

Thank you for reading everyone!

A note about Jereth's past- I have to put this in. It is a big frustration for me that a lot of the Companions' backgrounds are not ever explained (I know you aren't supposed to know, but I wanna!), so I am going to give you just a bit of who I think Jereth is or was.

Jereth was an early Herald who made a name for himself as a diplomat. Like Sidra, he went blind at an early age, but it was from a malady he contracted as a child, and his vision loss was very slow over time. Unlike Sidra, his only Gift was Empathy, and he was known in many places as simply a very wise, learned man.

He's never been reincarnated as a Herald again, and his name never sounds like the one before it. The last time he was reincarnated was just after Vanyel's death, to help with Bard Stefan's task.

I also wanted to say that I'm sorry I didn't give a better description of Jereth in the beginning. It took me awhile- oh like, two or three years- to realize that I hadn't mentioned that his lower legs were heavily feathered. I've always imagined some of the bigger Companions, like Rolan, with them, and I've always wondered (since the idea of Companions is obviously based on horses) if any of them actually WERE born with or developed feathered socks. And anyways, it's MY fanfic. If some of the Harry Potter fanfiction writers can have babies growing out of Snape's nose (no lie, it was a gross fic), then I can have a Companion with feathered lower legs. I'm a sucker for Clydesdales.

As Misty says: Wind to thy wings!