Chapter 5.5: Blessings

It was... morning? Alright, Tobias had to admit – winter days were weird. The sky was still dark, far too dark, yet his body clock is telling him it was already ‘morning’. But then again, winter days were shorter and darker than any of the other seasons, so there was that.

Now, the bright side is, Magnus was lenient enough to at least let him wear his winter coat and boots. The not-so-bright side is, he didn’t have the under clothing for winter, and he still had to train while it was literally snowing and freezing. He still believes that training in winter is still superior to training in summer, though.

So up the hill he went. The fields were blanketed by layers of white, and there wasn’t a single patch of soil or grass to be seen anywhere. When he reached the top of the hill, he only looked down on his village. Most of the houses were still closed and smoke wafted out of the stone chimneys.

He let out an annoyed grumble. Old man Magnus really wasn’t joking when he said that he’ll train Tobias every single day. Rain or shine, sun or snow. It should also be noted that his jog was literally reduced to a slow march, as he had to make sure not to make his feet slide against the snow, or else there would be consequences.

It was... not quite exhausting. But it was slightly winding, and incredibly annoying.

And when he reached the bottom of the hill, as expected, the old man only told him to repeat it fifty more times. Was the old man angry at him or something...? He let out a shrug, and did as he was told.

So he trudged through the snow. Some things never changed, even with the passing of seasons didn’t they?

***

Fighting with blades could be amounted to two simple things; how well one can attack without exposing themselves, and how well one can defend themselves without removing their windows of counter attack.

It was surprisingly similar to fighting unarmed, except this time, Tobias only has one weapon to work with instead of two hands. A weapon that was admittedly much longer and much more lethal than his fists ever could be – so that meant a sword duel could end after, a single exchange, or even last as long as twenty seconds. It really all boiled down to how quick Magnus wants to defeat him, really.

And... just like fighting unarmed, Magnus literally held the advantage everywhere else. Tobias had gotten stronger, but the old man was just too experienced with sword fighting; his guard was too perfect, and he seemed to know how to execute parries into counter attacks exceptionally well.

It was almost as if the old man was used to fighting off multiple opponents at once – actually, now that Tobias thought about it, that actually might just be the case. There was a reason why he was an old man in a profession where men usually died young, right?

So there he was, sitting right next to a frozen riverbank with his wooden sword in hand. He idly raised the sword and took in a deep breath.

Gripping style, different guards and stances, edge alignment – these were the more ‘technical’ parts of fighting with a sword. These things could be refined with a lot of practice.

Abusing missteps, knowing what to do to counter a move, battle instincts... and so much more, really, were the more ‘experience-based’ parts of fighting. This is definitely what the old man had in spades compared to him, especially now that it came to weapon-based fighting.

He let out the breath he was holding in, and swung his sword. The blade’s winds seemed to cut through the cold, frigid air with a slight hiss, and he briefly noticed the mist being sundered into two, before being refilled.

But that’s alright; he was learning. Each time he got parried, he only learned not to do such an overextended strike. Each time he got hit, he only learned how to cover his defenses well. Each missed opportunity to attack, he only learned how to exploit the next time.

Well... this day was wrapped up according to his mentor, so with a sigh, he stood up and left the frozen riverbank. It was just about time for lunch, was it not?

... Now that he thought about that, just how late did everyone wake up during winter days, anyway? Or more accurately... Just how early did Magnus woke him up, even? A brief glance towards the sky revealed the clouded, misted outline of the sun.

He rectified what he thought earlier; It wasn’t time for lunch yet. It was only time for breakfast.

***

As expected of any typical village household, their meals during winters simply consisted of a pot filled with stew with whatever vegetable or crop was on hand. But today was fancy; there was chicken in the stew.

Strange. Tobias never saw any chickens around the village (on hindsight, he just realized that was because he never visited the stables, or any of the pens).

As it was though, he was alone in the dinner table. He had arrived too late for breakfast, and too early for lunch – that awkward time in between those two meals. Well, it didn’t really matter to him that much in his opinion. Training was all he did all day, but now that Magnus sent him off for a rare (read: first time) day off, he could now spend the rest of the day chilling with his family.

So he took his time with his meal, which was still thankfully warm, as he savored the chicken-flavored stew filled with... potatoes and cabbages and wheat...? What a strange stew, but it wasn’t bland. It had surprising depth, actually. Cabbages and wheat provided most of the flavor, while potatoes were a delight to chew and eat. The chicken was tenderized almost perfectly, and it was certainly soaked with the essence of the three other ingredients, and in combination with its own natural flavors, truly made it the jewel of the stew.

Then again, Tobias had no way of knowing that. All he understood was that the food tasted oddly good. And – he had company.

His younger brother seated himself across Tobias, silent as he only continued to watch the older brother eat. He idly eyed Andre, and raised his left eyebrow in question.

“Hm.” Tobias hummed, and set down the wooden spoon. He idly placed his elbows on the table, and crossed his hands together to make some sort of head rest. And he placed his chin to rest there, and stared at his younger brother. “You’re acting weird. Did anything happen?”

“Aside from you being gone from home most of the time, not really.” Andre simply shook his head. “Where you been, anyways?”

He raised his eyebrow again. “Mother or father didn’t tell you anything?”

“Nothing. I even tried asking big sister Cathy, but she’s not saying anything as well. She’s only telling me ‘it’s not her position to say’ or whatever she meant.”

Tobias nodded. That sounded like their big sister, if nothing else. “Well, maybe if you pester our parents enough, they might just relent and tell you about it.”

Andre gave a frown at the words. “No fair, everyone’s keeping secrets from me.”

“If it makes you feel any better, Erise doesn’t know anything either.” Tobias shrugged, then hummed.

Actually, on second thought, she might know a thing or two. His memory was faint at the time, but he briefly remembers seeing her face while he was being hauled off by old man Magnus from the place where he got kicked off the dungeon.

But no, she probably doesn’t know anymore than that.

“Well obviously, she’s younger than me after all.” He huffed, and crossed his arms together, while looking away with an annoyed expression.

Tobias didn’t say anything more, and only picked up his spoon to begin eating again. The food went cold, but it was still good. And then, there was silence.

“You’re not gonna say anything?” Andre spoke up again.

“What’s there to say?” He idly replied, only staring at the half-finished stew with a sigh. He wasn’t going to finish this anytime soon, would he? “Honestly, you can probably figure it out yourself if you think hard enough.”

Tobias could see the gears in his younger brother’s head turning, as his face showed a rare expression; deep contemplation and reflection. When was the last time the kid actually paused to think about something?

“Does it have something to do with why I don’t see Marcus around anymore?” Tobias nodded, and the boy returned to thinking again. “Does it also have something to do with why you’re gone every day?”

“Not every day.” Tobias replied, but paused. He remembered that aside from coming home to eat every now and then, he’s actually gone from home a lot. Like, a frightening lot. “Actually, you’re right. I am gone every day.” He finally said, giving a shrug.

The boy only had a pleased expression about himself, before he blinked. “Wait, why do you sound so proud of that?!”

“Honestly, remember the time that I disappeared from home?” Tobias asked, and the boy nodded. “I might do it again.”

“What?”

“Maybe when you’re older you’ll understand.” He only gave a small grin, and flashed the boy a thumbs up, before picking up his empty bowl. Yes, he was eating while conversing with someone. “But you don’t have to worry about it anymore.”

“You just left recently though, why’re you gonna leave again?”

“It’s been a long time ago.” Tobias replied. Then a particularly amusing idea filled his head. “And besides, don’t you wanna be the eldest brother in this house while I’m gone? You get to be respected and all that.”

Andre paused. Then his face dawned with some sense of delight, and pride, as if a great honor was bestowed upon him. “If Tobias says so, then it must be important, right?”

The mentioned older brother only let out a small glare. Seriously, where was his ‘big brother’ title? But nonetheless, he nodded. “It’s an important duty to defend one’s house. I trust that you’ll do it well, correct?”

“Yes sir!” The younger brother gave a salute, then proceeded to run off with a wide smile. Tobias only saw him off, and gave a wry grin of his own. Children really were easily distracted, weren’t they?

Well, it didn’t matter too much. He knows that there would be great danger ahead of his own path, so it would be better for Andre to simply think he’s off doing whatever he thinks Tobias is doing.

***

“Is this supposed to be one of those ‘talks’?” Tobias asked, while he was seated right in front of his father. He casually eyed the fireplace in the room, the large sized bed fit for two, the desk and chairs they sat on – definitely the master bedroom in the house, if nothing else.

“What ‘talks’ are you talking about?” Pierre retorted, with an amused expression of his own. The man knew what Tobias was thinking about, and Tobias knew that the man knew that he knew. It was all an amusing mind game to his father, after all.

“Never mind.” He shook his head. “Anyways, why did you call me here?”

“It’s your fifteenth birthday today, so I figured to have those talks with you.” Those words made Tobias pause, and freeze. Then he began to count with his fingers, and let out a small ‘oh’. Pierre blinked, then laughed. “Wait, don’t tell you forgot your own birthday?”

“You try training with Sir Magnus for seven days, sixteen hours a week.” Tobias grumbled, his lips turning into a frown. “And even you of all people would forget something like that.”

“Aye, but the thing is, I’m already old and my knees already hurt. I would die on the first task that old man Magnus tells me to do.”

“How are you weaker than him? He’s much older than you!”

Pierre chuckled, then cleared his throat with a cough. “Anyways, jokes aside. You’re fifteen now. You already know that you’re considered an adult now, right?”

He nodded. “I know. Is this gonna be some talk about responsibility or whatever?”

“In a nutshell.” He gave a small shrug. “You inherited your mother’s one track mind, and my lack of subtlety. Not a very good combination, if you ask me.”

“Not my fault.” Tobias gave a shrug, mirroring his father.

“So basically, you’ll be leaving at some point to get stronger, right?” Pierre said. Then he froze. Then he began to think to himself. Then he let out an exasperated sigh. “Fuck... I’m terrible with words sometimes...”

“Language.” Tobias humorously pointed out, and his father only gave an eye roll.

“Oh shut up, you’re already an adult.” He retorted back, and then he straightened his back. He gave another cough. “What I’m trying to say is, try not to piss anyone off. Especially those who are royalty or noble born or whatever.”

“Hmm.” He said nothing, only humming. After a few moments of silence, he pointed at his father. “You sound like you’re talking from experience.”

“Aha, aha.” Pierre coughed for the third time. “And uh, since you’ll probably, no, not probably. You’ll definitely kill some bad people or two at some point, I’d advise you to not make any unnecessary enemies, and to run away when you put yourself in danger or even worse, death.”

“Yeah, I know. Don’t worry about me dying out there. What you should worry about is old man Magnus killing me at some point during his training.”

“Wait, is it really that bad?” Pierre asked.

Tobias paused for a second, before leaning in to whisper. “No comment. Mother might decide to retract her approval in all of this.” They both shared a laugh at what transpired. “Anyways, Mother’s out to get me a present or something, isn’t she?”

“You got that right.” He nodded. “Along with your sisters. All of your sisters.”

Tobias let out a hum. “So, you’re telling me everyone that’s left in this house are the boys?”

“You got that right again.” His father let out a mischievous grin.

“I see. And I don’t like that gleam in your eye.”

“What if I told you where the family wine cellar is?”

Tobias stared at his father with a complicated expression. “I have two questions. One; we have a family wine cellar? Two; you know that Mother is going to kill you, right?”

“Fair point.” Pierre admitted. “But I think your words would hold more weight if you weren’t excited.”

“Oh, shut up.”

***

“Oh for... Pierre, why are you already drunk? It is only afternoon!” Elizabeth yelled in the distance, and they could idly hear his father slur a response. That being said, Tobias flinched and covered his ears when he heard it. Looks like they just recently arrived.

“Are you alright?” Catherine asked, as she moved to sit right next to him. The dinner table had many chairs, and yet – there were wine-stained glasses about. She didn’t say anything about it.

“I’m fine.” He replied, although his voice came off with a bit of a slur. “I think... I’m not too sure to be honest.” He looked around, and found the different empty tiny glasses of wine. He only had one, don’t judge him... or two. Or three... but no more than three, he swore. “By the way, I heard you all went out.”

“Oh, right. I remember something.” She said, and then proceeded to plant her hand on top of his head, giving him an affectionate head pat. “Happy birthday!”

“Thanks.” He replied, but otherwise didn’t move to remove the hand which placed itself on his head. He simply didn’t want to. Then he idly looked around, and noticed something. “It’s also technically your Birthday, right?”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Catherine said, as she waved her hand, as if to dismiss the thought. “You might be gone from home for such a long time, so I guess it’s fine to just celebrate yours. And besides, my birthday was technically yesterday, you see.”

“... Late Happy Birthday, then. But I still don’t know why that’s the case.” He replied, while he tried to think about it. Then when he couldn’t think of anything, he only shrugged, and looked around. “By the way, where’s Erise?”

As if on cue, two people walked out of the corner which led to the dining room. It was his mother, and his younger sister. They were still dressed in their outside winter wear, and snow clung to their fur-lined cloaks, before shimmering as they melted into water.

“Your father is an idiot.” Elizabeth said, and Tobias gave a sagely nod. She gave him a small glare and opened her mouth to speak, but he spoke faster.

“I tried to warn him.” His words had an unexpected effect; her glare softened, and she seemed to hum with some semblance of surprise. He pressed his advantage, hoping that she would forgive the minor flush he had on his cheeks. He was still rational, after all. “He didn’t listen to me.”

“Is that so? You look like you’ve abstained from getting yourself too drunk, at least...” She hummed, and then gave a nod to him. “Happy birthday then, my dear son Tobias.”

“Why did that sound like you wouldn’t greet me that if I was also drunk?” She gave another glare, and he shook his head frantically. “No, no, I was just joking.”

“Big brother!” And there it was; the characteristic younger-sibling-trait where they just latch on to their elder siblings’ backs for no reason. A few months ago, he would almost lose balance whenever it happened. But nowadays, even with his little sister literally tackling his back, he didn’t even flinch and just stood there.

“Hey there.” Tobias greeted, as Erise decided to perch her chin on his shoulder. His hand raised itself and ruffled through her hair, earning him a wide grin. “Where you been?”

“We got a gift for your fifteenth birthday!” She replied eagerly, and flashed him a thumbs up.

Tobias gave a sigh. He really forgot that his birthday was today. But nonetheless, he only smiled at Erise, then to Catherine, and finally to his mother. “Thank you, everyone.” He said, and bowed his head. He received a pat, a smile, and a nod from his family members in relative order.

That being said, why did it feel like something was missing...? As he pondered on in relative silence, he heard the mad scramble of footsteps, before a new, familiar face showed itself on the residents.

“Hey!” It was none other than Andre. Then he raised his finger, and pointed at Tobias. “You... It’s your birthday today?!” He promptly received a light head chop from their mother. “Ow.”

“How could you forget your own brother’s birthday?” She chastised him, and gave another light head chop, earning another ‘ow’ from the younger boy.

Tobias gave a shrug. “If it makes you feel better, I also don’t know when exactly is your birthday – ow.”

“What kind of older brother are you?” Elizabeth said, and then sighed, as she withdrew her extended hands from each of their heads. “If I know something, then you boys are like your father. No, stop laughing. That was not supposed to be a joke. It was not a compliment either!”

“Never change, mother.” Tobias smiled, and then looked at everyone in the room. He was thankful for his family, who had humbly gathered here to celebrate his birthday. Well, maybe except for his father who literally passed out from liquor. He was probably sleeping just fine, so don’t worry about him.

Some small part of himself told him that it might be the last time he’ll celebrate his birthday with his family for the longest time, so he promised himself that he would enjoy it.