The Duke's thoughts turned inward, and a twinge of guilt gnawed at him.
He glanced at the family portrait on his desk, his eyes lingering on Cathy's image. "Emily is too passive with them. She doesn't care about them as she does with Raphael." He shook his head, blaming her for not stepping up as a mother to the twins after Cathy's death. "She never took responsibility for these twins, as she blamed them for her death and showered her love only on Raphael. I, too, never took the time to spend time with them either. I can't blame them for what they've become."
His thoughts drifted to his own neglect. For the past few years, he had been consumed by the wars to the east, fighting against the Jotnar race of Jotunheimr and their alliance with the ice elves. The constant conflict with these fierce enemies had kept him away from home for long stretches of time, and his children, especially Rael and Eon, had only grown more unruly in his absence.
