(Jacob, 16)

"Excellent performance, Jacob," the Royal Guard member in charge of this weekend's practical training says as I step out of the carriage. "Based on the report, you performed exemplary. Phillip, excellent performance. You also did exemplary."

This session, I was paired with Phillip rather than Jason, both for variety of who I train with for the joint exercises and because Connor's abilities are much better than mine, which means he is a better warrior match for Jason than me.

A better match, but still not as perfect as Alex will be once he has regained his full abilities from his life as Quinn.

When I look over at Jason, he is speaking with Niko. Judging by the distorted words, one of them has generated a sound-disruption spell. A complex air spell, but within the abilities of both mages. They look serious, so I hope the situation resolves quickly.

I stretch as I think about the upcoming shower. I am dirty from camping the last two nights and performing the hunt. Phillip and I needed to chase down a particularly annoying ogre, which took us most of the day yesterday.

Looking around, I notice a man nearly a decade older than us standing outside the property to the university. He was there when the carriage transporting Phillip and I from our location pulled in, and he is looking for someone, it seems. Not all training pairs have returned yet, as only half of us were nearby.

A few minutes later, another carriage arrives. When it stops, Eden and one of the mage students exit it, and the man immediately begins walking towards them, his gaze fixed on Eden. Looking between them, he possesses a similarity to Eden. Siblings, perhaps?

I am between the two, so I walk over and intercept him.

"Excuse me," I say. "But only students returning from practical training and our instructors are permitted here at the moment. Please wait outside if you wish to speak with someone."

"My little brother," he says, his voice low and threatening, and several people close to us notice the situation with that. "Needs to come with me."

"Your 'little brother'," I use air-quotes, something Eden taught me during training camp. "Is an adult. He is also a student at university, in the S-Class level of first years. That has earned him permission to be present here at this moment. You, however, do not possess said permission. Leave. Now."

"You'd best be going, I'd say," one of the Royal Guards says, and Eden's brother looks around, only to realize that he is in the presence of more than forty warriors and mages, the warriors with swords on their hips, everyone looking intimidating. "If you don't, you will be arrested."

Eden's brother turns his gaze back to me, and it seems for a moment he will continue to insist on speaking with his younger brother. I intensify my gaze and he flinches, then decides to exit the property. He watches us from the street, and I walk straight to Eden. At the same time, I notice that Jason and Niko do not seem to have realized something happened, continuing with their conversation.

"Eden," I say. "Do you wish to speak with your brother?"

"No," he answers, looking nervous. "He's probably here to force me back home. You can bet my other brothers are probably nearby."

"You have trained for a term," I say. "And participated in Jason's training camp. You have no need to fear for your safety."

"I have plenty of reason to fear," he says. "I'm not just the youngest… I'm the weakest. They're all green in magical power."

I thought he told me otherwise before?

"Power does not mean might," I tell him. "Though I can see your source for concern. When it is time to leave, I will ask Jason about a gate back to the mansion, so that you do not have to exit through the normal means with them here to harass you."

"Thank you," he mumbles.

"You are welcome," I smile. "I am sure anyone here would be willing to help you with this situation, but I promise that I will not stop helping you until it is resolved. You have earned my trust, Eden, and my friendship. Studying to be a knight is what makes you happy and what you want to do. Your brothers are green, yes? How long have they been green?"

"Since always," he shrugs. "Maybe one or two of them were yellow when they were little, but they've always been green that I can remember."

"You are middle yellow," I say. "When you were only middle orange at the start of term. By the end of this term, you are likely to be green. Your brothers are wasted power, you are not."

"Thank you, sir," he gives me a weak smile. "Your guards are here."

I turn and face my guards, who are dressed in more casual clothes than normal. I raise an eyebrow at that. In fact, I would hazard a guess that they forgot today was Sunday and thought it was Felday, resulting in them coming here straight from wherever they were shopping. The other explanation is that they lost track of time and did not realize it was nearly time for me to arrive.

"Some angry guy just tried telling us we were not allowed here," Evan informs me. "He seemed quite insistent about it. Do you want me to chase him away?"

"No, thank you," I look around, spotting Lina arriving. Her own guards are here as well, dressed in their usual uniform. "We will be exiting through a gate, though."

"Understood," he says.

Once everyone arrives, the Royal Guards review our grades for the weekend. Everyone did well, so we are dismissed without further delay. Lina immediately enters the carriage she and I usually use, so I walk over and inform her I am leaving with Eden. I want to make sure everything goes well.

With that done, I return to Eden and we walk over to Jason, who is still talking with Niko while distorting their words.

"Jason," I say, and receive no response. "Jason, Niko."

"Allow me," Eden clears his throat when we receive no response. "The longer you do not notice the situation, the longer the delay you will have in receiving cookies."

"What?" Jason looks at Eden, then at me. Niko then seems to notice us, and both look quite startled. "Oh. Oops! Sorry, we were talking about the situation in Mar and Kelrar, and I suppose we lost track of everything around us."

That actually worked. I will need to remember it the next time Jason appears to zone out on everything.

"Eden's brothers," I say. "Are here, likely with the intent of forcing him home. Would you be able to open a gate to the mansion so he can leave directly? One of them is lurking outside of the gate."

Jason's gaze moves to the gate, then looks at Eden, then me.

"Moron," he says, then pulls out a comm plate as I remember that Jason himself is unable to cast the gate spell right now. Runes on his comm plate begin to glow. "Tiger Alpha, please open a gate to me."

"Aye-aye, Boss!"

A grey gate appears as I try to understand the stuffie golem's response. The six of us step through it as Jason and Niko resume talking in Marran, though without the distortion spell. It seems they are discussing something regarding reconstruction.

The conversation ends as soon as Tiger Alpha launches himself at Jason, sobbing in the way stuffie golems do.

"What's wrong?" Jason asks as the gate fades.

"Mama Elena is so cruel," he cries. "She wanted into your workshop and tried to force her way in when she found her key wouldn't work. Then she tried forcing me to open it. I've had to hide from her because of this!"

I look over and find Sage Elena sitting on one of the sofas, Sage Alyssa sitting beside her, and the former looks rather cross at the moment.

"Mama Elena?" Jason raises an eyebrow. "I did tell you guys I changed the sealing enchantment on the room so that those keys wouldn't work."

"How are you even able to do that?" She asks. "Miralandis guaranteed us they would work even if you changed the sealing enchantment."

"I," Jason says. "Well, as Nolan, am the one who created the key enchantment. I know their weakness and how to prevent them from working. Why did you want in my workshop?"

"I am going to go take a shower," Eden tells me. "Thank you, Jacob."

"You are welcome," I smile. "I will see about handling the situation with your brothers, as long as you are okay with it."

"Thank you," he says, then leaves.

"So?" Jason asks, and I realize that I missed Sage Elena answering his question. "That doesn't mean you can just try to break into my workshop."

"I am both your mama and one of the owners of this house," she says. "Every room within it belongs to me."

"I am an adult," Jason says. "I am deserving of my privacy."

"This is my house," she counters. "Now let me into it."

"No."

"Now, Jason," she says.

"I missed why she wants inside of his workshop," I whisper to Niko as the two of them continue to argue.

"Tiger Alpha hid one of her necklaces in it."

Why did the stuffie golem do that?

"Jason!" She snaps. "You are clearly hiding something in your workshop! Let me into it now, before your Mama Alyssa starts to deconstruct the enchantment!"

"Good luck with that," Jason walks towards his workshop, Tiger Alpha still in his arms. "I'll retrieve your necklace, though."

"Sage Alyssa," Niko gives her a slight bow as Jason enters his workshop with a barrier up to prevent Sage Elena from following him inside. "Would you be so kind as to open a gate to my home?"

"Sure thing," she smiles, then opens a gate for him.

"Enjoy your day," he tells her, then dips his head to Sage Elena before exiting, and the gate fades.

"Sorry you had to see that," Sage Elena gives me an apologetic smile. "That boy gets up to no good, and I know he is hiding something inside his workshop. Do you wish a gate to the palace?"

"Would you be okay with me staying here until dinner?" I ask. "Eden seems to be shaken up by his brother's arrival, and I would like to make sure he feels comfortable before I leave."

"Go ahead," she tells me. "Cecilia, could you fetch our guests some snacks? They must be hungry after their journey."

Their maid leaves to perform her job, and I take a seat on their couch. Perhaps I could borrow the shower once Eden finishes his? We make small talk, and continue it after Eden return. I can also wait for my shower until after I return home, even if I would prefer to clean up now.

"Jason is taking his time," Sage Elena frowns, and I realize that he went into his workshop twenty minutes ago. "What do you think he is-"

The door to the workshop opens, and then Jason suddenly shouts.

"Rufus, no!"

We all snap our heads to look in the direction of the workshop, only to find a large dog with golden fur charging down the hall, its claws clacking against the wooden floor of the hall and family room. Jason chases after the dog, looking flustered, but fails to catch up before it jumps up on me, licking my face.

"Aack!" I exclaim in surprise.

"Rufus, down!" Jason exclaims, grabbing onto the dog's collar and pulling. "Rufus, come on!"

He manages to pull the dog down, and I notice its collar is the same sort of black leather on Jason's recent line of vests. Dragon leather. It has a star iron buckle as well, and a star iron loop, likely for a leash.

"Jason," the pair of Sages say in unison, and he tenses up, then slowly, sheepishly, looks at his mamas.

"You are not seeing a dog," he waves his hand in the air, as if they could make them unsee the dog.

Rufus, as I assume is the name of the dog, seems excited by everyone here, and only by Jason's strength is he able to keep the animal from jumping on everyone. The dog got me even dirtier than I already am, so I suppose it is a good thing I did not request to use their shower yet.

"That is a dog," Sage Elena says. "Why do you have a dog?"

"A dog?" Jason looks down at Rufus. "Huh. When did he get here?"

"Jason!" She exclaims. "Why did you bring a dog into the house?"

"Uh…" Jason looks around, then fixes his gaze on Tiger Alpha. "Tiger Alpha! Why did you bring a dog into the house!"

"You told me to open a gate!" Tiger Alpha protests. "I was only listening to you!"

You receive points for trying, Jason, but you picked Tiger Alpha.

"Rufus," Sage Alyssa says. "Was not in your workshop last Felday, when I entered it and before you changed the seal. When did you bring him here?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Sage Elena sighs.

"You wanted a dog," she says. "And I'm guessing he was injured and looking rather pitiful. He's quite skinny for a dog his size, and his fur isn't the best. Rather than asking because you know we'd say 'no', you decided to hide him in your workshop and use Tiger Alpha to create gates to take him outside to relieve himself. You healed him and have been nursing him back to strength."

Jason's face reddens, and watching him squirm amuses me somewhat, especially as he is doing his best to keep a grip on Rufus.

"Maybe," Jason finally says.

Sage Elena sighs again.

"And you are keeping him cooped-up in that tiny room?"

"No," Jason answers. "He's been sleeping on a bed I made for him, but I have Tiger Alpha take him to my house in the Unwild Lands at least three times a day. He gets to run free there. I took him there to go potty, then for some running and fetching. He just… heard voices and smelled a lot of people, so got excited."

Jason scratches the back of his head.

"I suppose me always using a gate through Tiger Alpha to enter and exit this past week didn't let me know he'd do this. Rufus, sit."

Rufus finally stops his struggling to move beside Jason's leg and sit.

"Good boy," Jason releases the dog's collar and pats him on the head. "Jacob, you can borrow our shower if you need to, I know Rufus got you a little bit dirtier than you were before. Come on, Rufus, back to your room."

Sage Elena looks like she wants to say something to Jason, but stops at a look from sage Alyssa. Jason manages to bring Rufus back to his workshop, then announces he is heading to his other house to give Aurum a ride for awhile.

Jason never did return the necklace.

Sage Elena and Sage Alyssa seem to have some business to perform, so I make my way to the shower as they leave, thanking Eden for allowing me to use it.

I can tell he is grateful I am still here, or I would have declined their offer and returned to the palace for my shower. After I finish my shower, I dry off, then pull fresh clothes out of my spatial storage. The only clean clothes I have at the moment are formal clothes, but I know Eden will not pay much attention to them.

When I return to the main room, there are six men in the room, all looking like they are Eden's family.

"Thank you for allowing me to use the shower, Eden," I say as Cecilia brings me a cup of tea. "Thank you, Cecilia."

"You're welcome," Eden tells me, and by how much he is shaking, his nerves are quite obvious. "These are my brothers. You've already met Nick."

I look at the one who had begun to approach Eden at university, and he sizes me up. The expression he has and the look in his eyes tells me he did not realize I was someone wealthy, but I can also see the contempt for me there.

"I wasn't aware Eden found some noble's son to protect him," Nick snorts, his disdain in his voice. "What's it like, to never have to work for what you have?"

"To never work?" I raise an eyebrow. "While you might be someone who labors with their body, that is not the only type of labor which can be performed. I perform labor with my mind rather than my body, though I also assist in helping to protect people like you as part of my training at the Royal Knight University. Eden is a student in the same level I am, which is how we met and became friends. I am not some guard dog, either."

"I don't care who you are," he takes a step forward. "Eden is returning home to us, whether he wants to or not. He has a job with our family, and that is all he needs. Now leave, this is a family affair."

"Unfortunately for you," I say. "Eden is attending the Royal Knight University. It is illegal to interfere with a student's attendance at it. If you force Eden home, you will be arrested in accordance with the law."

"Who will they believe?" He sneers. "Some prissy noble who claims Eden was forced away, or Eden, who will say that he left of his own desire?"

"If you want to take Eden," Tiger Alpha jumps up onto Eden's head and takes a guarding stance. "You'll have to get through me!"

"What the hells?" Nick asks as he and his other brothers look at the stuffie golem.

"Ah, right," I chuckle. "I forgot that you will guard anyone who lives in this residence, Tiger Alpha. Even the maid, butler, and valet."

"I can take all six of them," Tiger Alpha's fur starts to stand on end. "Eden, use your shock-guard spell."

"I don't know what kind of fancy toys you nobles have now," one of Eden's other brothers looks at me. "But call your toy off. Now. Or you will regret it."

"I will?" I ask. "Are you threatening me?"

"Yes, I am," he growls, hand moving to a knife on his hip. "Call your toy off."

"Ooooh!" Tiger Alpha says. "My turn!"

Was it not yours already?

"Wolf Alpha!" He calls. "I need a one-way gate to the dungeons!"

Oh.

"Empty cell, please!"

Before any of us can react, a grey gate appears, and Tiger Alpha attacks the brother, shoving him through the gate. It disappears a moment later, and Tiger Alpha takes up his defensive position on Eden's head once more.

"So we can do this the easy way," the stuffie golem says as the brothers stare at where their brother had disappeared. "Or we can do this the fun way. Your choice. Personally, I'm a fan of the part where I rip you to shreds and eat every last part of you, even if Boss says that's a bad idea for me to do. Apparently, I'd not actually manage to swallow anything and need a washing."

"Are you talking with Jason right now?" I ask

"No," Tiger Alpha answers. "But he reminded me of that when I tried to eat an actual rat."

Of course you tried that.

"Tiger Alpha," I say. "You are a stuffie golem, not a living tiger."

"I forget that sometimes!" Tiger Alpha huffs indignantly.

"What did you do with Robert?" Nick demands, his right hand moving towards his own knife.

"Touch that," Wyatt speaks up from where he and Evan have been lurking this entire time. "And I will remove your hand, place you in shackles, and toss you into the same cell Tiger Alpha just sent him into."

I need to speak with Jason about the stuffies throwing people into the dungeons. It is something Papa requested of me, but until now, all of them were assassins. Now they are throwing… well, I suppose he did threaten me, and I was going to order my guards into action.

It seems Eden's brothers have noticed my guards for the first time. They are wearing their uniforms now, which means they changed while I was in the shower. While my clothes make it clear I am not a commoner in any way, their clothes bear the crest of the Royal Guard.

Even a commoner from the furthest reaches of Varil would know it – everyone is taught it before their coming-of-age ceremony to ensure they know they are speaking to authority. They may not know the meaning of the specific version of the crest, but they will know the crest.

"Royal Guards?" Nick mutters. "What are they doing here?"

"Protecting their charge," I answer, and they all look at me. "Allow me to properly introduce myself, Nick. I am Jacob Varil, Crown Heir and First Prince of Varil."

A blue gate opens in the gate space just then, and Niko steps through, cleaned up and dressed in casual clothes. As with mine, his outfit still states his status as nobility of some form.

"Whoa," Niko says. "I was expecting Jason to be here, not… who are these people?"

"And allow me to introduce Eden's second-most powerful friend," I indicate Niko. "Niko sul'Mar, Third Prince of Mar. I would suggest that you five leave. Right now. If I find out that you are attempting to force Eden to leave ever again, you will not be happy with what happens next."

"They are attempting what?" Niko asks, then looks at Eden. "You wish to stay and study, do you not?"

"Yes," Eden answers, and Niko looks at the 'guests', his anger clear on his face.

"Niko," I say. "You will probably rant in Marran again if you begin what you were about to."

"And whose fault is that?" He asks.

"Theirs," I look at Nick. "Now leave. Do not return with ill intent towards your brother. If he disappears without warning, I will know that he was taken by force. I will authorize his magical signature to be used to track him down."

"I have already memorized theirs," Tiger Alpha says, then lowers his voice. "They are no longer safe. No matter where they might hide, if they hurt Eden in any way, I will find them, and I will teach them the errors of their ways."

"Thank you, for the unnecessary input," I say. "Nick, I believe you were instructed to leave. Now do so."

"Abusing your status to interfere with a family matter," one of the other brothers scoffs. "I can understand why people want your family removed from power."

Wyatt and Evan immediately have him pinned to the ground and are pulling shackles from a spatial storage when he attacks, using magic in an attempt at forcing them back. Everything meets chaos then. By the end of it, four of Eden's brothers have fled, and the one who attacked has a bloody lip, black eye, probably several broken bones, and a pair of mithril draining cuffs on his wrists.

"Are you okay?" I look at Eden, who is applying holy magic to his left arm.

"I will be once this heals," he tells me.

"Want me to summon Tasha?" I ask. "That seems a nasty burn."

"We do not need to trouble her," he tells me.

"Indeed!" Tiger Alpha proclaims as he jumps off of Eden's brother and onto Eden's lap. "I can do the healing, myself! You won't find any bones missing after, either!"

What?

Tiger Alpha heals Eden's arm as a pair of Royal Guards enter the mansion to escort Eden's second moronic brother out. I inform them that the stuffie golems already sent one into the dungeons, and they can put his brother with him. They leave, and I look at Eden, who is stroking Tiger Alpha's back.

"If you want me to treat them lightly," I say. "Tell me now, Eden. Otherwise, they will be treated as anyone else who made a threat or such a comment."

"Let them suffer," he says. "They lost the right to call me their brother a long time ago, and they should suffer the punishment for the crimes they committed."

"Okay," I nod. "Then that is settled."

A gate appears in the gate space, grey this time, and Jason steps through. He takes one look around, then sighs. Which stuffie made that gate?

"I missed something fun."

"You cause plenty of fun things already," Eden tells him. "Your mamas said that they want to talk with you about Rufus when they return."

"Tell them I'm sorry, but I was too tired to stay up until midnight for them," Jason says. "I'm heading to bed now. Tiger Alpha, what happened?"

"Eden's brothers arrived," Tiger Alpha answers. "Attempted to bully Jacob and Eden-"

"Shame they didn't know who they were talking to," Jason says.

"-then one threatened Jacob," Tiger Alpha continues. "So I had Wolf Alpha open up a gate to the dungeons in the royal palace, and I threw the brother into it. After that, another one made a treasonous statement, so Wyatt and Evan attempted to arrest him, and he attacked. The others fled as I kicked his booty and put some shackles on him."

So it was Tiger Alpha who did that! I was wondering where they came from. Everything happened just a little too fast for me to fully register.

"I see," Jason says, then looks at Cecilia. "Could you bring some snacks up to my room? I'm a bit hungry, but also tired. The rest of you, I hope you enjoy the rest of your day, and I'm sorry you had to deal with them, Eden. Hopefully, this is the last we hear of them."

Eden nods, and Jason makes his way towards the stairs, and Niko follows him, asking about some project. Something about comparing legs, though I might have misheard that. I probably misheard that.

"So," I sit as I look at Eden. "I wanted to talk with you about something. Something a bit more serious than usual."

"Okay," he says.

"As Crown Prince," I tell him. "It is my right to select a Champion. The duty of a Champion is to participate in any duels against me which I do not wish to act in or have duties which prevent my presence for. The position also requires the Champion to act as my guard, more so than Wyatt and Evan currently are."

His expression changes to shock and confusion, as well as worry.

"It is not a position to be chosen lightly," I tell him. "I have been looking at possible candidates for it ever since I turned thirteen. Some are nobility, some are even royalty. My cousin Franklin is one candidate, as is Evan here.

"Whoever I choose for this position," I say. "Will have those duties, as well as responsibility for any children I have, should something happen to me. If my heir takes the throne while they are a child, my Champion would act as both their guardian and the Royal Reagent.

"It is a position of immense trust," I tell him. "And each candidate is assessed over a long period of time before I choose them. These are only some of their duties. Over the last couple of months, I have determined that you meet several of the qualities I am looking for in a Champion. If you would like me to add you into the pool of candidates, just let me know."

Eden frowns a little, and I can anticipate some of his confusion.

"The position does not require noble or royal background," I say. "Even if nearly all Champions have been nobility or royalty. Admittedly, you are the first commoner I have thought about putting into the pool of candidates, and you would be the first commoner in six generations of monarchs in the pools of candidates."

"Are you offering me this because of my brothers?" He asks.

"No," I answer. "I am offering you this because I have gotten to know you, Eden. You are someone I feel I can trust, both with these duties and as a person. The training camp made me consider it, and I did some research over this past week to ensure that it was legal to add a commoner into the pool of candidates."

I chuckle a little.

"I was not expecting to find that the very first Champion was a commoner," I say. "They were knighted and named nobility later on, and that is the name everyone knows him by, rather than his original, commoner's name. Me coming to you about this is not a spur-of-the-moment thing, it was not caused by your brothers' arrival here."

I open up my spatial storage and pull out a paper, which I hold out for him. He takes it from me.

"All you need to do is sign that," I tell him. "And you will be added into the pool of candidates."

Eden reads over the paper, which already has his name written on it. It will act as proof that I am not doing this randomly or on a whim. I have spoken with Papa about adding Eden into the pool of candidates for my Champion, I am that sure I want him in it. I do not know if he will be the one I select, but I want that possibility there.

The paper he is reading is the agreement form for being a candidate for my Champion, and judging by how long it takes him to read, he reads it over several times. When he finishes, he pulls out a pen and signs it, then hands it back to me.

"Thank you, Eden," I smile. "Carry on with me as you have before. Do not think you need to act differently just because you are a candidate now. Changing how you act is actually a quicker way to be removed from the list."

"I understand, sir," Eden tells me. "And thank you, for helping me with my brothers."

"You are welcome," I say.

"You're welcome," he corrects, and I smile a little.

"Yes," I say. "You're welcome."

"What will happen to them?" He asks. "The two who were arrested?"

"Threatening me," I say. "Is an act of treason punishable by execution. A possible defense for him is that he did not know who I was, which can lighten the charge. Ultimately, it will be Papa who decides which to go with if an interrogation yields that he genuinely was not aware of who I was. For the other brother, he will be interrogated by our chief interrogators to find out whether he has any connection to resistance movements or possible coups or assassinations. Then, he will be executed. What he said was a direct attack on the royal family, and there is no forgiving of that."

"Okay," he says. "Do you have plans for the rest of today? If not, I was hoping you could finish teaching me one of the moves you were teaching me during the training camp."

"I have plenty of time," I tell him. "Shall we move to a suitable training place, then?"