Forgive my cutting straight to the quick, my dear, but I am writing to let thee know I will be unable to visit thee next month as we had planned. Last week we noticed that Vedru had taken it upon herself to feed Idris as though he were once again only a year old, at which point we discovered that she has been handling many tasks which would require the use of his hands for him, going so far as to dress his toy soldiers and move his horses through their miniature obstacle course, and so we called for Kiru immediately and she has observed him for several days but yesterday morning she at last brought to us her conclusion and oh, Vedero, it is exactly as we feared.

He seems not to be in any pain yet, for which we are thankful, but we must nonetheless prepare for the day. Bless her, but K has come out of retirement of her own volition to put together a care team for him. She believes it a fair sign that we have discovered the issue so early, prevention being a simpler task than attempting to restore function already lost. With the proper support, she says she sees no reason Idris will not live to adulthood. I must hope it is an honest estimation, and that she does not mean only to spare M the worst.

M is distraught. He blames himself, of course, and will not hear sense. If one of us must bear responsibility for our son’s condition, would that it were me; would that he would let me take it from him. I at least do not have to be Edrehasivar.

And what a time it is for one to have to be Edrehasivar! Hast heard of the ordeal in Zhaö? May these filmmakers meet with even a fraction of the distress their carelessness has brought my husband. A mere hour sat with the grief this trial has wrought in him would grind their miserly bones into dust. Let them be the ones who must sit in impassive silence while the rest of the world attempts to bash their heads in—let them be the ones who cannot flinch in public, who cannot so much as frown without the entire nation taking notice! But here I am taking my own frustrations out on thee.

We all miss thee terribly, V. Art doing tremendous work with the University, and I would never ask thee to remove thyself from it for even a second, but selfishly I wish I could have my sister. An thou’rt in a place to join us in the weeks leading up to Winternight, thy presence would be most welcome. The girls ask for news of thee every time they see me holding a letter (which, as might imagine, is often), and thy little nephew still recalls thy name and announces it proudly whenever he passes by the tapestry that charts out the constellations on the night of my wedding to M. Until such a time as art able to visit, I ask thee to pray for my husband. He needs whatever support he can muster, but he cannot ask for it himself.