Letter

The text of the letter from Therese to the head of the Remillard family:

To Lord Perryton Remillard, Patriarch of the Family Remillard

Greetings, Lord Perryton. As you surely expected, I am writing to you in an attempt to spare the life of myself and my only surviving child, Alara. No doubt, you are expecting this letter to implore you, and try to evoke a sense of pity, to make appeals to your better nature and sense of familial duty. However, I have no illusions about what effect such a letter would have. With little more than a sardonic smile, you would cast it into the flames, and cast my daughter and I to a similar fate.

I fully realize what sort of man you are, Uncle. For you, profit is the all that matters--certainly not individual family members. Your desire for profit is why I am in this position in the first place; Tobias Beyroux offered you a handsome sum for a daughter of the Remillard lineage to give his merchant family a bit of prestige. I, a daughter of a cadet branch, was Remillard enough to satisfy Tobias's desire for nobility, and far enough removed from the true Remillard lineage so my marriage to a wealthy peasant would not affect your political ambitions, nor the marriage prospects of your own children. What was I to you, save another relation, one you could conveniently profit from?

However far removed I am from the main trunk of the Remillard family tree, the same blood flows in my veins that flows through yours. I retain many of the same characteristics of our family-- characteristics that your own daughter, Rihanna, shares. Should you choose to allow my daughter and I to perish, my last act with be to destroy you, starting with my dear cousin. I do not believe her engagement to Lord Feymorran, Secretary of the Privy Seal, would survive the firestorm that surrounds you--assuming she survives at all. I will let all of Kardia know about the secrets that the Remillards clutch to their bosom before I die.

Do not mistake me, Uncle. I will not go quietly into the night. Should I fall, I shall bring my entire family along with me. Before all the gods, I swear this to be true.

With warmest regards, Therese Serena Anjella Remillard Beyroux