With the setting sun, the southern gates swung open. A giant of a man, atop a massive horse, strode in. He too was dressed in greens and whites. His long black hair pulled back with a silver circlet, one green eye shining brightly while the other was a dull milky white blind from a scar that ran down from his eyebrow through his cheek. He was flanked by two figures dressed in the armor of imperial legates. Behind them, countless wagons and carts poured in.

His regal and stern face melted into a smile upon seeing us. He jumped off his horse, not even bothering to have someone take the reins. Soon Lyra was scooped off her feet, Gavayn spun her around before the two started kissing. It was wholesome and romantic probably, but my own body reacted with disgust. It seemed to instinctively recognize the oddity of seeing its parents in love with each other.

He set her down but quickly scooped Larissa and I up pinning our arms to our sides. His massive bear hug pressed the breath from our lungs. “I’ve missed you all so much!” He said, tears streaming from his eyes. Thankfully he set us down before we lost consciousness.

“I missed you too father,” Larissa replied, tears also staining her face.

“I…uh missed-“ I tried to say, but Gavayn cut me off.

“Don’t son. I’ve heard of what happened; you can wait to miss me once you’ve regained yourself or we’ve made new connections,” he said with a smile, then he turned to his youngest. “Lya come here my love!” I couldn’t help but notice that she was picked up much more daintily, as he had her perch atop his arms. Lyra took his free hand in her arms and the procession continued with us at the head. As we walked through the town, he regaled us with tales of the journey.

The locals had already entered the courtyard when we arrived, but the numbers of attendees multiplied as the new settlers filled the place. When the place had filled to the brim, Gavayn lept onto one of the tables, still holding Lya. Wooden mugs, filled with ales were passed around. When one made its way to me, I couldn’t help but smell the pungent but intoxicating scent.

Going from a full-fledged adult to a child had its positives. I was once again filled with the promise of youth. I could run, jump, climb, and play to my heart’s content. Sleep came easy and my energy quickly replenished. The aches and pains of age were gone too. But, there were some noticeable negatives too. The one I never anticipated though was that this stupid fantasy world would have a drinking age. Now I was no drunkard in my past life, but beer and wine was luxury I enjoyed. In the past month that luxury had been denied me at every turn. I was allowed only the small sips from mother’s glass at dinner or the few drinks I could sneak from the larder. Now, this must have been some weird fantasy quirk of the world, as it was ahistorical.

Regardless, here and now someone had finally given me a full cup of ale. I looked around and no one seemed to notice. A feeling crept in, one that I hadn’t felt in years back on earth. It was that rebellious excitement one got at their first party. For some it came in high school during their first party, others got it college, while a fair few rule-followers never got to experience it. A smile leaked out that I couldn’t rein in.

Gavayn gave a speech and a toast, but I wasn’t or rather couldn’t listen. I was too busy spying on those around me, hopeful that no one would catch me. We raised our cups in unison and drank a sip. Except I drank more than a sip, I damn near chugged the glass right there. Thus, my mission for the night was settled. After the toast, food and drinks flowed freely in the courtyard as people talked and sang. Our family and the more important guests retreated up the path to the great hall.

Later in the night, I had left the hall and was sitting with my legs swinging over one of the castle’s terraced ledges. I just finished dodging through the crowd with two mugs of ale, barely escaping my mother’s gaze as I made my way out. My spot gave me a view of the town. Below, the people were still making merry. Torches and lanterns glowed in the moonlight, while more than a few drunks sang and danced the night away.

The mug in my left hand disappeared, but when I turned no one was there. When I tried to look right, my cheek ran into a finger, Larissa’s finger. She laughed before taking a sip of the stolen ale. I rolled my eyes at her.

“What are you doing out here? Still nervous?” She asked.

“No, father was exactly like you said. I was just trying to hide from drink thieves.”

“Its not theft if you’re not supposed to have it, but you’re still looking quite thoughtful,” she replied.

“I’m worried about the capital, about the academy,” I said. It wasn’t exactly a lie as they were constantly on my mind. Not that I could come out and say the truth, that I’m worried our dad will find out I’m a fake. With our Father here to take us to the capital, those worries were also being forced to the front of my mind.

“I’m not too keen on spending time with all those stuck-up kids as well, but just like in training we must accept discomfort to move forward.”

I laid back and closed my eyes for a few moments. Between the talk of the academy and father’s affection reminded me of the novel. According to it, Caterina had spent most of her life without much filial love. Her mother died in childbirth and her stepmother never gave her support. “Do you know of Duke Severia?” I asked suddenly without thinking.

“The war mage?” Larissa replied. “Yes, father spoke of him a few times. Apparently, he’s roasted more than a few ogres alive on the battlefield, why?”

“Oh uh, I hear his children are at the academy. It’s kind of worrisome to meet such important people.” Again, it technically was not a lie.

“You mean Caterina? You should avoid her. That house is ready for a civil war, and more than a few people have been hurt by association, brother.”

“I’ve heard that too.” I replied. In the novel, Caterina is the legal heir. But with her lack of magic, she’s incredibly vulnerable to the machinations of her two youngest siblings and her stepmother. On top of that, their father was never home to keep the peace. One of the empire’s strongest war mages was constantly needed on the frontlines.

“Well with her engagement, things should calm down,” she said.

“Why’s that?”

“Her engagement to another duke takes her out of the line of heirs for the Severian Dukedom,” Larissa replied. “It’s an imperial law; the dukedoms cannot receive land or power from other families.”

I sat up. “Wait, what?” I didn’t remember that from the novel. Reclamation did show that the engagement was forced by Caterina’s father but hadn’t discussed her past in much detail. It was probably something that would be revealed in the next book.

“Whenever a duke or their heirs marry, someone must give up their power and join the other family completely. It helps keep the empires powerful families from growing large enough to threaten the royals,” She explained. “Regardless, we will hopefully be keeping our distance from anyone involved, even without a succession war, she’s rumored to be crazy.” Caterina would be entering her third year at the academy. Seems like that has been more than enough time for news of her antics to spread as far as the frontiers.

I groaned internally. This world was dangerous enough. There were like thirty adventure hooks in the capital alone and on top of that in a few weeks I’d be sharing a campus with a brainwashed psychopath. Even worse, I’m not sure I have the heart to sit back and watch her ruin her life.

“Enough of that though, Father wanted to introduce you to those legates he brought with him.”

The next day I woke up to a servant poking me. I was laying on the castle’s kitchen table using my cloak as a blanket and a loaf of bread as a pillow. I was also clearly in the way of the morning preparations.

After the conversation with Larissa outside, we went back and met them. Legates are the lowest Simple legates were the lowest form of independent commanders in the imperial army. This meant that unless they were ordered to join a larger army, they had control of their troops. They typically controlled a legion of 1100 men. They were tasked with systematically destroying corruption beasts in the wasteland regions in and around the area. From what I understood, two legions were posted in the Roose Valley with my father as the overall regional commander who controlled both the legions and his own auxiliary troops he could raise as a nobleman.

From there my memory got hazy. I remember having some type of heartfelt conversation with Gavayn, dancing at some point. But, I have no idea how I wound up on the table.

Later that day, after mostly getting over the hangover, I found myself in the woods, falx on my back, longbow in hand. Father had insisted on a round of hunting. The mostly virgin woods of the Roose were plentiful in wild boar and deer. Both had little experience with humans so they would be relatively easy quarries. All summer I had excused myself from these types of trips, often using my lack of skill with the bow as my reasoning. But the endless training had put that to bed. I was no master hunter, but I improved enough to hit most of the targets at the shooting range. Besides, Father saw this as more of a family outing than a targeted hunt.

Larissa was about thirty yards to my right. The two of us stood atop a hill thick with brush and trees that overlooked much of a forest on the northern side of the valley. Father and his two legate friends were stalking through that same forest, spears in hand. Our position was the perfect spot to kill anything they pushed out of the brush while looking for their boars.

I waited there staring out into the silent forest, back against the tree, long enough for my mind to wander. The shaded forest had a calming effect, birds chirped while cicadas mused in the heat. The entire thing was like a natural symphony. Every now and again a twig would snap, or a bush would rustle. The noise brought me back to attention as I scanned my surroundings. So far it was either the wind or some birds switching branches. A few times it was caused by a few squirrels dropping their shells and chasing each other.

Soon enough it happened again. The snap of a twig rang out, bringing my world back in focus. Only this time it preceded another snap and another rustle. My eyes darted around looking for the movement. I spotted a brown form flashing between bushes. It stopped for a moment, giving me a good look. It was a large stag with an ornate set of antlers. I slowly knocked an arrow, drawing the string back to my ear. I breathed out to settle myself.

At my movement, the stag’s head turned, and it fixed an eye in my direction. I looked back into its sparkling gaze. My heart started to speed up. I imagined myself standing over the dead body of the stag with its gaze now lifelessly staring at me. A slight tremble entered my arms. I took a step back to steady myself with a wider stance. Only a twig caught under my foot and snapped.

The deer took off in a sprint. But just before I loosed my arrow, my left hand instinctively jerked up. It was sent flying high before sticking into a tree yards behind my target. I breathed out a sigh of relief, only to find Larissa staring at me. She turned before quickly knocking her arrow and firing it. The heavy bow sent the projectile on an almost linear path at the fleeing dear, striking it firmly in the neck and sending it to the ground.

“I think I’ll need some more practice before I can do something like that,” I call to her as we make our way to the deer. A twinge of sadness pierces me as we stand over the dying creature. Larissa unceremoniously cuts its throat with a large knife and drains its life away. A cold shiver goes down my spine as I’m forced to watch its wild eyes grow dim. Once it’s dead she sheaths her knife and hands me the rest of her gear. Then in a swift motion, she tosses the animal onto her shoulders to carry it out.

On our way back we find Father carrying a massive hog in the same way. A much smaller one is being carried between the two legates.

It was only a few days after the party that Gavayn, Larissa, and I were on the road. We left with a heartfelt sendoff. It seemed especially hard for Lyra to part from me, probably something to do with her youngest boy heading away from home for the first time. Even Lya cried at seeing her two older siblings off. To be honest, it was also hard for me to say goodbye to the old frontier town. Over the last month, I grew comfortable there. The rustic town, open airfields and large forests, the comfort of the mountains all became the norm. It was a safe place and a place full of love. Our next destination, the capital and the academy would be the complete opposite. The capital of Aurelia was a massive city with around two million residents and a high concentration of scheming nobles.

Most nobles would use a carriage for trips like this, but Father insisted on riding horseback. He wanted to arrive at the capital as soon as possible, thus the plodding pace of a carriage was out. Instead, we would be resting at imperial waypoints where we would be able to receive fresh mounts each day. That would allow us to make it to the capital in about a week. The normal pace of a carriage could take up to a month.

I found it hard to maintain this pace for two reasons. The first is that we were riding while fully armed. My father insisted that we stay fully equipped the entire time since it would be just the three of us. That meant riding in the imperial-style cavalry armor he had gifted us. While I was told the armor would be lighter and easier to move in than the armor of the legionaries, it was still quite stiff and heavy compared to my normal clothes. Heavy metal greaves, leather and metal-plated skirt, a helmet that resembled the Galean helmets from the Romans, a lorica with segmented armor around the abdomen, and a heavy green cape were all included. While it wasn’t uncomfortable at first the armor left me stiff and raw in the few places metal met skin. The other issue is that I wasn’t used to riding horses, especially for that long. Sure, my body seemed accustomed to it, but that didn’t mean my mind and soul were. And the armor, especially the skirt was not helping.

I thought I was used to this pants-less life. That was until I was forced to ride a horse every day with my thighs exposed to the saddle. Thus, there were more than a few uncomfortably rubbed spots on my body by the end of the day. Thankfully, the people of the empire did use underwear. Otherwise, the shorter tunics used in the summer would constantly be exposing way too much. And my privates would be just as raw as my thighs.

We made it to the southern gates of the Roose Valley before nightfall. The gates were a simple fortification that guarded the valley pass and signaled the end of the Roose and the Palisades mountains. These gates used to be the most important fortification in the area. It guarded the untamed frontier of the mountains from the rest of the empire. But now that the Roose had officially become a province, the majority of the garrison was moved to the northern gates that protected the valley from the wastelands. From there, we descended the mountain trails until finally making it to the foothills where our backwoods road met up with one of the imperial highways.

Highways were of great importance in the empire. They were well built and well maintained all from the imperial coffers. They also featured plenty of Inns and waystations that were subsidized by the government to make travel safer. Our first stopping place on the trip was one of these way stations. Way stations were just fortified inns with ample stables. Over the next few days, we kept up the quick pace, spurred on by fresh horses at each inn and the well-maintained roads.

On the trip, I was reminded just how vast and diverse the empire was. The empire was multiracial, multilingual, and encompassed various climates. The Roose Valley was akin to one of those picturesque alpine valleys. The empire stretched south and west from there and into vastly different climates. There were the beautiful white sand islands of the Shelf-Sea, the arid hills of the Arretian Peninsula, the massive frozen peaks of the Spine Mountains, the tropical jungles of Alizon, and the arid deserts of the Twin Rivers in the south. The central region that we were riding through was dominated by rolling hills, farmland, and stretches of untamed forests.

Humans made up the majority. There were still a few Lysians hanging on like us, though we were basically human. A few full-blooded elves, a large minority of dwarves, Nagas, lizardmen, and even some drakes lived inside the empire as well. Not to mention the number of hybrids. Humans in this world seemed willing and able to mate with any type of humanoid. The most prominent example of this in the empire was the Arretians; humans with draconic features that played an important role in the empire’s creation. Their greatest rivals, the elvish folk of Kyrene, were created by centuries of interbreeding between humans and elves. While a few dwarves and elvish had settled in the Roose with us, I had yet to meet the rest.

We stayed at one of the imperial waystations that night. Our horses brought us to its gates on tired hooves as the sun set ahead of us. The station had a small curtain wall surrounding it with a guard standing lazily in front of the iron gate. He wore the classic reds of the imperial army overtop his light mail with his spear leaned against the wall. He straightened up a little when he spotted us trotting towards him before calling out. “Travelers looking for lodging?”

“We are.” Father answered back.

“Prices are on the wall.” Then he pointed to the graffiti writing that took the place of a menu of sorts. Various items with corresponding pictures and prices were listed.

“Three beds and three fresh horses by the morning,” Father replied before counting out a few silvers. Then he reached into his shirt and removed his necklace. It was an elaborate pendant bound by a thin leather string. “Keep the change, but we’ll take priority for fresh horses.”

The guard took a step forward to accept the coins and inspect the pendant. His eyes went wide with realization, then he snapped to attention. “Y-you grace us with your presence sir knight.” Then scampered out of the way and bowed. Father gave a slight nod, before leading us into the complex. The interior was dominated by a large stone watchtower with the inn built around it, while the stables and a small barracks connected to the surrounding wall.

At the stables, hands appeared to lead our horses, while some servants carried our bags for us into the inn. Other travelers were about carrying bags or grooming their horses, though it was clear we were the only ones receiving the presidential treatment. Word must have spread to the inn as well because by the time we stepped inside a table had been cleared and a meal awaited us.

“Why did he greet you as a knight, father. Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to be called a lord or count?” I asked as I began slicing open a loaf of bread.

“Well, I am a knight,” he replied, his mouth full of meat.

“I meant, isn’t your title more important than your knighthood?” I replied. With the bread sliced, I began layers pieces of the pig meat we were eating onto it.

“For other orders that would be the case, but Father is a knight of the royal family, the Order of the Purple,” interjected Larissa. “It’s one of the highest honors in the empire.”

“I knew you were a knight, but I didn’t know it was that big of a deal. There are plenty of knights under our command,” I replied.

“Just about anyone with enough money and training can become a knight or in the Aretian dialect they’re called equites, but that’s just the lowest class of nobility,” my father replied. “Knightly orders have qualifications you must meet to join.”

“So how do you join the Order of the Purple?” I asked.

“A few different paths, but essentially you must perform a feat of incredible prowess and a feat of unmatched loyalty. You can prove your prowess in any way, on the battlefields, in duels, even the arena,” he explained.

At that, I started to chuckle and then laugh a bit too hard. Here I had been worried about my status at the academy. In the novel, the place was incredibly hierarchical, students from the oldest and richest families were always the faction leaders, able to amass followers of students. They simply had political power, even inside the school. This entire time, I thought I was going in as the son of a poor, weak, and first-generation count. I was the son of the hero of the realm. I might even be popular.

“Oh no… the students will think I’m good at fighting!” I exclaimed, my thoughts spilling out. I slumped onto the table and sighed. I was the son of a hero. People will have expectations! They’ll challenge me to duels! I’ll probably lose and be a laughingstock.

Now it was Larissa’s turn to laugh. “You are correct to worry about the academy, but trust me, brother, you are good at fighting,” she said.

“What do you mean? I’ve yet to land a single hit on you,” I replied.

“Just trust me,” she said and exchanged a glance with Father.

"Now, finish your meals quickly, we're leaving first thing in the morning so you'll need to get some sleep as soon as possible" said Father.

"I've been meaning to ask, why are we in such a rush?" I replied.

"The legates and I explained everything the night of the party, don't you remember?"

"Let's just say, I may not have been paying attention at the time," I said. Larissa let out some more chuckles in response.

"There's been an emergency summons from the Emperor, I'm not sure what's wrong but it better be worth disrupting my time with the family," he replied.

"Shouldn't you leave us behind then, I'm sure you could get there faster without us," I said.

"What? and miss a chance to make some memories on the way?" He said as he rustled my hair with his massive hand.

Later that night as I laid in bed, I pulled out a small leather-bound journal. It was my current playbook for the future. I had not just spent the past month in the Roose training. I was also getting my bearings in this world. That meant collecting as much information as possible; but more importantly, it meant hours trying to remember all the details about this world from the books that I could.

If things followed the course of the novels, Catarina would already be crazed . She will have been under the effects of the love curse for years now, meaning she thought of little else than Rollo. This would be her junior year, which meant she had already ruined her reputation and caused quite a few controversies. No one had been killed or injured yet, but she used her power and wealth as a Severian to hurt anyone she deemed a threat to her love. This would only be exacerbated this year as Rollo’s childhood friend Gyra would be a freshman. Catarina’s few wisps of sanity snap at seeing their close relationship. Innocents would be injured, and people would even come close to dying in her effort to remove Gyra.

The way I saw it; I had two choices. I could take the ring off her finger myself, or I could try and get someone else to do it. The first obstacle in either plan was Catarina herself. She wouldn’t willingly take off the ring and hadn’t in years. The second was that I had no proof of the curse. In the novel it’s described as an incredibly subtle and advanced curse, it would take a master mage to even detect it.

The problems did not stop there. I honestly wasn’t sure if she would be safe without the ring. Someone clearly had it out for her. That family dynamic was too messed up, so any number of her relatives could be gunning for her.

There was also the possibility that the adventurer’s guide and modules Jaimie made were in this world. I cannot emphasize how irritating this could become. There were more than a dozen adventuring hooks in the capital alone, a few even reference the academy. Most of these hooks were bad news, and I probably couldn’t just leave them be. There was at least one death cult, multiple crime bosses, and even an illegal slave-trading ring just to mention a few. There were even worse things going on in the background that I shudder to even think about like high-ranking assassinations, ancient monsters waking from slumber, even an invasion event.

Inside the journal, I folded up and stashed a few different maps of various places in the empire. With it, I was able to mark various approximated locations of interest. Mostly treasures and dungeons, but also even a few bandit camps. But the adventure hooks and treasure maps would have to wait.

The first and most obvious problem to solve would be getting that ring away from Catarina.