A PLEA TO FAMILY

[JuliusAakerlund 2402]

A PLEA TO FAMILY

Peace Upon You and Your Kin

 

@Zora_T

 

Grace and all good greetings in the Lord Creator and His Exalted.

 

Astrid, I set my hand to this letter in the hope of furthering one simple end: that we may yet speak together. Not for gain of land nor favor at court, nor for any worldly profit, do I write; but only that there might be between us some plain discourse, face to face, as befits those sprung from one stock.

 

I remember you, as a small child in our hall, when your feet scarcely reached the rushes, and your hand clung to your nurse’s gown. In those days, there was in your eyes a brightness and a gentleness that moved the hearts of all who beheld you. Though the years have set a long road betwixt your sight and mine, as I favoured your marriage and until now, I cannot think that such light is wholly spent. The vicissitudes of this world, though they beat upon us like winter storms upon the field, cannot utterly wash away that which the Lord Himself has planted in a soul. Of this I am as sure as I am of the rising of the sun and the mercy of the Creator.

 

Wherefore I am sore troubled to hear that you deem me, and those of your own house and lineage, to bear you ill intent. Are we not of one blood? Do we not carry the same name upon our seals and banners? In us all runs the blood of Saint Carr, of whose life both priest and chronicler attest that the Lord and His servants found him a man worthy of remembrance. For his sake, and for the honor of our forebears, we strive to uphold the virtues handed down to us: Honor, selflessness, and the defense of the innocent and the weak.

 

Think you then that we, who call upon Saint Carr as our patron, would stoop to the sin of guestslaying? God forfend. We are not such as lure our own blood into snares, nor are we cast­ers of stones against those whom we once took in our arms and named as our own, nor guest or witness. The house that does such deeds calls down judgment upon itself, both from Heaven and from man, and I will not see our line so stained while breath is in my body.

 

I ask you plainly, therefore: what cause have you to hide yourself from us as from enemies in times of war? If there has been some fault in our conduct toward you, some word or deed that was unworthy of family, I beg you to set it forth, that we may know it and answer for it. I am a man and may err; our kin are but men and women and may err likewise. Yet no wrong may be righted while it lies in darkness, and no misunderstanding may be mended if it is not spoken.

 

In our summons to you, there lies no hidden snare, but a simple plea: that you will consent to appear before those of your own blood and name, that you may tell your cause and set forth your part in this matter. That is the least courtesy owed to any soul, and most especially to a kinswoman. It is, too, the smallest of honors—that a person be heard before judgment is made.

 

I am told that in your heart, you have fashioned your belief that our minds are already fixed against you, and that nothing you might say could turn us. Know then that this is not so. We are not yet resolved beyond all turning, save only in this: that you must be heard. If you think our summons some trap laid against your life or liberty, I charge you, lay aside that fear. For your ease and comfort, I do now swear, as I swear each morning and night before the Lord Creator and His Exalted, that any who come at my word under this summons shall go forth again unharmed in body, as they came—just as it was upon Lemon Hill, when all who stood under its peace departed under it also.

 

I cannot promise you the full issue of our council, for I am but one voice among many of our blood, and each must answer before God according to conscience. Your acts and the testimonies concerning them must be weighed, and in this, no man may pledge what the whole company shall decree. Yet this much I do bind upon my soul and upon the honor of our house: that you shall have safe-conduct to come and safe-conduct to depart; that none, by my will or sufferance, shall lay violent hand upon you while you stand under my word; and that you shall be heard without interruption, mockery, or threat.

 

If you will not believe my bare word, then let the memory of Lemon Hill stand witness. There, when men feared blood would surely flow, all held their hands and kept their oath; and not one who trusted in that promise was betrayed. What was done there before God and men, I am ready to do again, and more, for you who are of our own line.

 

Consider well, Astrid, what it is to bear a name and lineage in this frail world. Houses rise and fall; lands may pass to strangers; yet kin, once set at variance, leave a scar that endures longer than stone. I would not that, in time to come, clerks should write in their books that the children of Saint Carr hid from each other for reasons beyond me, when a simple meeting and a few honest words might have stayed the wound.

 

Therefore, I beseech you as your elder and your kinsman: come forth from hiding, not as one dragged in chains, but as a lady walking under her own will and under the surety of my pledge. Bring with you such witnesses, counselors, or servants as you deem needful for your comfort and safety. Choose, if you will, a place and hour fitting to your conscience, and I shall not gainsay it, so that only speech may pass between us and not steel. Should any come to harm by someone's hand, may that man or woman be cut down, may the church condemn them.

 

May the Lord Creator incline your heart to peace and not to fear, and may Saint Carr, our patron, intercede that we may yet be reconciled in some measure, or at least that truth be known between us.

Signed by your kinsman,
Davyd Edzar Colborn