The worst part of all is that I feel like I am stealing not only my friend’s life but also his legacy. For Sarahala is pregnant with my child and because Nichlinar’s two beloved sons fell in battle, my child will ascend to the throne.
Wait… maybe it was for the best I did this terrible thing. For if no one knows that I am not Nichlinar then his legacy will live on through this child.
Regardless, Nichlinar, if you can see me from your dwelling place among the heavens, have mercy on me! The very thought of you looking on me as I pretend to be you is punishment enough. Oh, my friend, if you can intercede between me and Azron on my behalf, tell him this:
"I will leave this deceitful life once I have written enough volumes to educate the child after I am gone. For even though this is not my life, I have grown to love Nichlinar’s family like I once loved my wife who has joined you in the heavens. That is why I can’t just leave them before leaving instructions. Yet not my will but yours.”
I still feel as if I should write, but the dawn is breaking, and the light falls upon the province of eastern Mizendel. Again, I must say that it is truly an awful thing to live someone else’s life. For none of my achievements are my own, and I can never love someone like I once did. What a dilemma! I’m living yet not loving; I’m surviving yet dying; I’m dead yet not at peace. Oh! What a predicament I have! Indeed, I have a doppelganger’s dilemma…
Glossary
A.G.P./Annus gratiae pulvis (the year of favor dust)- a time keeping measurement established near the beginning of the Norand empire
Ashiaf- magic users who have obtained their power through training and use of precious resources
Azron- the major deity of this world. He is also known as “He Who Forges.”
Corban- someone who is a descendant of a demi-reeve and able to innately control some magics.
Doppelganger’s cloak- a rare device that allows the user to take the form of another.
Province of eastern Mizendel- the Norand empire divided mainland Mizendel into four quarters and established regent kings in each province like Nichlinar.