Chapter 4 Birthday and Opportunities

I awoke early this morning. Today was my eleventh birthday. I was excited, not at meeting all those people, but getting gifts and my favourite food, roasted boar. The first thing I did was going to the dining hall to eat breakfast. The rest of the family already awaited me, except Silas who was still asleep.

"Happy birthday my son", dad pulled me up and hugged me. Mom was the next to congratulate me.

"Happy birthday Lucius", she gave me a peck on the forehead and a hug.

"Happy birthday brother", spoke Ivy and Iris simultaneously. I got a hug from them too.

"Thank you. When do the guests arrive?", I asked my parents.

"They will arrive a few hours before sunset", father answered turning his attention back to the egg before him.

"I have bought a toga for you. It will look lovely on you. The other clothes as well", mother said, while having an expectant look on her face.

"Dad please tell me it's normal-looking clothing", I looked at father with big eyes.

"Sorry, no idea. Didn't have time to organize that as well. I trust Ren's judgement. You will look presentable", father traded a look with mother and smiled. The rest of the breakfast passed without noticeable events. I said my goodbyes to my parents and packed my things for Niloticus' lesson. I would have to return after the sun reaches its zenith though.

I went to Niloticus and was pleasantly surprised when he had a present for me.

"What is this?", I asked as I held the colourful cube in my hands. One colour would pass over to the next. The hue slowly changing as it did.

"It is an artefact. I ordered it to be made by one of my acquaintances. A favour repaid. It will help you to train your mana sight while I'm gone", Niloticus explained.

"Did you really just gift me a learning utensil for my birthday", I stared at Niloticus. He replied in kind. Reptilian slits focussing on me.

"It still counts as a present doesn't it?", Niloticus stated. "Now enough chit-chat, try out your 'birthday present'", Niloticus stressed the last two words. He got a grumbling from me in return.

I looked closely at the cube with my ability and immediately got a headache from the brightness. Too many threads! There were way more threads then I had ever seen. So many shapes and colours as well. I turned to Niloticus for answers.

"That cube is amazing, whoever made it is a genius. Niloticus, are there spells stored inside?", I asked Niloticus excited.

"Ah, he is learning. The cube is imbued with most of the basic spells structures. Most of the higher tier spells are just combinations of those basic structures. If you learn and understand them, then you will be able to identify what a spell does. There are few spells which you couldn't analyse with that knowledge", Niloticus explanation only raised my opinion of the smith.

"What about runes? Is it the same concept?", I asked further.

"Yes the same concept, yet different. The important point is, that you have to watch with which kind of element the mana is attuned and in which form it is", explained Niloticus. "That, and your control over your own mana, will protect you from most magical attacks."

"Is there anything that could stop me, if I master this?", I asked Niloticus.

"An arrow through your heart, poison in your meal or a bolt through your brain. Just because you are practically immune to magical attacks doesn't mean there is no way to kill you. There is always a way to kill something. You can't keep up your vigilance forever", Niloticus whispered the last two sentences.

"Okay, I think I understand. Could you help me to distinguish between mana attunement? I can't get the hang of it", I asked and Niloticus nodded. In the following hours, I learned how to distinguish the 6 basic elements, in their thread forms, from each other. Teacher told me that the next step would be to learn the sub-elements and combination of elements. Lighting magic was for example a mix between air and water magic.

We experimented with the cube until the sun stood high. I asked Niloticus questions from time to time, and he would give me vague answers and tell me to figure the rest out on myself. One riddle after the other. I also finally succeeded in meditating and controlling my own mana a bit. It was far from meaningful, but the first step had been taken. I would be able to test my progress on this when teacher returns.

I asked Niloticus when he would come to the mansion, and he told me, that he may be a bit late. I said my goodbyes for now and headed home after packing my things and the cube into my backpack.

As the mansion came into view, I noticed how the servants were running around. A look at the garden with mana eyes showed me that there was a dome, mostly generated out of air magic, forming over the garden. It was probably to shield the garden from the elements. It's really a shame that I won't be able to do something like that ever.

I went to the kitchen to see how the cooks are doing. The kitchen looked like a battlefield. Everybody was running or screaming in an effort to cook as much as possible. The finished meals were held warm with the help of magic and metal canisters. Certain metals were able to confine heat. One of the few interesting things Titus had explained.

I strolled a bit through the house and looked how the servants prepared the mansion and garden for the celebration. My mother sat in my room with my siblings. Mother compared togas with the help of Ivy and Iris. When they noticed me, I got a greeting in return and a hug from Silas.

"Hap bitday, Lusus", Silas congratulated me to my birthday, probably. I turned to mother.

"Are those togas for me?", I asked. They looked all fine. If a bit more restrictive than my normal choice of clothing.

"Yes, come over Lucius we need to see what looks good on you", mother answered, beckoning me to her.

For the next hours, I was trying out different kinds of togas or similar clothes and was prepared for the upcoming celebration. I had a bath, a fresh set of clothes and a maid tamed my otherwise unruly brown hair. We settled on a white toga matched with a red drape spotting the crest of our house. A golden phoenix on purple ground.

After everybody finished preparing and mother decided that I looked okay, it was time to greet the guests.

The first thing I did when I reached the garden was to head to father's group. The rest of the male family stood around him, while mother headed to the female part with my siblings.

"Congratulation on your birthday Lucius", they greeted me together. I had to shake hands with everybody.

The first was a copy of father if you ignore the numerous scars on his arms and the one on his nose. Duran Vespasianus my only uncle and the first general of Neapoli. He shared the mixed eye colour of father. One green, one brown.

"Still a few heads shorter than my boys! You need to eat more meat to grow properly", Duran said as he ruffled my hair. Wasting prior efforts.

"I am still growing!", I answered and freed myself from the rough hand pestering me. Uncle turned his attention back to father.

The next two were my two grandpas. Giustino Vespasianus from my father's side and Ignis Iustinianus from my mother's side.

"I have heard you started to train in magic. The boy comes after his mother's family", Ignis said.

"That boy comes after his father's family! Look at his hair and stature. Clearly a Vespasianus", Giustino countered.

"But the eyes, the door to the soul, match his mother's ones. He doesn't have a green and brown one. He has the sapphire stones of our house", Ignis replied.

Onto the next ones then. Leaving behind my grandpas and their eternal discussion about who I am taking after.

My two cousins Romulus and Remus. The children of Duran, 16 and 17 years old. They were already serving in the military. Sharing the houses' eyes but having the hair colour of their mother, blond.

"Cousins!", I said and interrupted what seemed like a discussion about military matters.

"You are wrong about cavalries superiority", Remus said before acknowledging me. "Congrats on getting a year older little man."

"Your stubbornness hinders you to see that I am right", Romulus countered. "Got anything interesting for your birthday?"

I told them what I had got. A few clothes and books from my parents and grandparents. Then mostly useless symbolic gifts from everybody else. They returned to their prior conversation. It was about infantry vs cavalry and which one was superior. I listened for a while before eavesdropping on a few other conversations.

They talked about the newest developments in Italia and around. Something about a growing interest from the confederacy in italian affairs. The confederacy was a massive realm towards the east. Some called it the remnants of the empire. Others an unstable pseudo-state.

The other news was about the north of Italia. It seemed that the northern city-states formed an alliance. A senate was chosen as government body. They would meet in Mediolanum. The reason for such was the possible threat of another invasion. The last had taken place a hundred years ago.

The middle part of Italia formed something similar around the old capital of Roma. They started to make contact with the human parts of the east. The south was divided on how to react to all of this.

It was interesting, yet much of it just speculations and rumours. I stopped listening soon, heading to mother's group instead.

Mother was talking to a woman unknown to me. She looked like an elf. The elf asked mother question after question. Some connected to the things I had heard earlier, others new. Mother replied quite vaguely, making the elven woman frown from time to time.

"Congratulation on your birthday Lucius", Marcena greeted me and I switched from observing mother to observing my aunt. Long blond hair. She handed me a box.

"Thank you Marcena", I said and moved to open the box. "A sword?"

"A gladius to be exact", she corrected.

I studied the gladius. It had a golden hilt engraved with pictures. The blade was engraved as well. Looked also more like silver than iron.

"What are those engraving supposed to show?", I asked. The scenes portrayed on both parts didn't prompt a reaction from my memories.

"There is no fun in telling you. You will have to find that out yourself", aunt Marcena answered. Just like Niloticus. I had a short conversation with her about the things I did during the last month. She encouraged me to be thoroughly in my studies.

Then Naenia and Orela came. The first is father's mother and the other mother's.

"Look how big you have become", Naenia Vespasianus remarked smiling.

"You have grown to be a fine man", Orela Iustinianus added. They began to straighten out my toga and correcting my messed up hair. Thank you, Duran!

"Grandmas people are watching!", I pleaded. They shared a look and continued. The torment ended in a few minutes.

I escaped the clutches of my grandparents when the elven woman from earlier came over. I ran to the group of kids. My siblings were already here. The dark one was the first to notice me.

"I think congratulations are in order", Alaric said and bowed lightly. "Got any interesting gifts? A beast perhaps?"

"Well, mostly money, or to be precise expensive gifts I have no use for. A gladius with inscriptions which meanings delude me and a magic cube", I answered Alaric, a bit frustrated at the lack of useful presents. There were the drawings from my sisters as well, but I wouldn't tell anybody about that. One shows me in a dress and that clearly never happened.

"A magic what?", asked Alaric, seemingly a bit surprised at my phrasing.

"An artefact from my teacher. It helps me to train my magic abilities", I answered Alaric.

"Would you mind showing me?", Alaric asked me.

"Better than standing around here", I admitted. We moved into the mansion to my room. Alaric examined the cube, but couldn't tell its purpose. His red eyes changed colour to an even darker red. I used mana sight and saw a lot of dark red threads near his eyes.

"Interesting, it's a brilliant training tool for people with mana eyes I presume", Alaric eyes turned back to their normal state.

"Do you also train your mana sight?", I asked Alaric, a bit perplexed at the change in his eyes.

"No, no mana eyes. At least not what you are learning. It's an ability from my family. We can see all mana threads with them, but can't tell which element they belong to. And the forms are kinda fuzzy", Alaric explained.

"That seems rather … unhelpful", I said.

"It isn't though. At least we can see something is happening, but it's true that we can't tell which kind of spell is flung at us", Alaric said with a sigh. "This trait blocks us from learning mana eyes as well. It is really a shame if you ask me. So much potential with both abilities combined."

We left my room after that and I talked a bit on the way. He told me, that he was trained in combat since he is seven years old. When I told him of my starting age for education, he was bewildered. Alaric genuinely looked surprised.

"You started your education for magic only now and the rest will follow? Why so late? It would give you a head start", Alaric asked me. I was not quite sure myself. I already noticed that my family educated us kinda late in comparison with other houses or clans.

"I'm not sure of it myself. I guess it's because we value family more than others. It's kinda our policy. Taking it slow but steady", I gave Alaric my own guess on the topic. Could just ask mom or dad after the party.

I talked a bit with the rest of the children and had some more interesting conservations. Aellelorn told me how he is preparing to bond with a wyvern. It's a tradition of his clan to bond with strong creatures of the forests. I asked him why he chose a green wyvern for that. Apparently, his grandfather had one as well and it was one of the more famous challenges of the wood-elves to tame one. Good luck with that.

"How do you bond with a wyvern?", I asked, really intrigued by the topic. Niloticus said it would be not important for me to learn it anyway. I would get a tame one from my father when I'm twenty or later. It was a status symbol for most nobles.

"It depends. There are forceful methods to bind them, but those are less effective and the creature may turn against his master once it sees a chance to free itself. It's the easiest way and also the most stupid", Aellelorn said sounded a bit angry when he mentioned the forceful method. He saw through my expression and explained.

"We dislike it if creatures are bound against their will. The other method is to develop a bond naturally. There are many ways for that. You just have to find a way to connect with an intelligent creature". Aellelorn continued his explanation.

I learned a bit about bonding. Most stole or bought young creatures and then raised them. Ending in a familiar, as Aellelorn called a bonded creature, or with the creature attacking its holder or escaping into the wild. Failure was seen as a big shame in elven society.

"As heir to my father's position failure is not an option for me", Aellelorn said. "Not if I want to succeed him."

"Then I wish you good fortune", I remarked with a reassuring smile. The elf replied in kind and with a short Thanks.

It became late and most of the guest left. I went to bed when the last children of my age went to their quarters. Niloticus came later, but I was already in bed when he came. He told father that he would leave in three days to get a few things for his student. Mother relayed the message to me the next day.

There had also been an incident involving somebody flirting with my aunt, but it was solved by Duran throwing his chair at the offender and bellowing a challenge. Mother had smiled a lot when telling me that, father only rubbed his temples.

Late in the night. Office of duke Jagu. Nine people were currently sitting in the office. Using the event as an excuse to meet up. Jagu and Duran, Quiricus Brutii and Rastus Scipii on one side of the table.

On the other side sat a demi-human, a dwarf, a dark-elf, a sea nymph and a human.

"How is the situation in the east?", Jagu asked the woman with a reptilian head, Silvestra, she lead a powerful house in Syracusa.

"Our informants have concluded that only the elves and humans are making preparations for an invasion of Sicillia and Italia", said Silvestra, accentuating the letter s strongly. Duran continued.

"We can't rule out indirect support from the other races in the empire, but the forces will consist out of humans and elves. That is good news", Duran was visible relaxed. The neutrality of the three other major factions in the east was reassuring. Fewer troops for the enemy. Quiricus interrupted Duran's thoughts.

"While that is good, we still have to repel them fast and fully destroy their Legions", he dampened the mood, but caution would be advised if your biggest neighbour attacks you. Rulvir, the dwarf, asked next.

"How is the situation of Roma and the southern cities? Will they deflect to the east or stand with us?", he looked at Rastus.

"The cities in and around the duchy of Neapoli give us their full support. Most others would deflect if given a chance", explained Rastus. "We should strike first and secure the south for us."

"Not so fast. Most of us choose to trust in Jagu's words. They are willing to join a defensive alliance and cooperate, but nothing more", the count of Bari, Nautikos, said. "We do not want to see one conqueror replaced by the next."

"The agreement stands as drafted, as do the ones I have with Sicillia. We will work together against outsiders under my duchies' banner. Until the outside threats are dealt with. All who will help us won't be harmed or threatened", Jagu reassured. "You will have to support us financial though. My house requires recompensation for helping."

"I will take your word then", Nautikos said. Not sounding pleased with the situation or reassurance.

"What about the rest of Italia?", Rastus asked further.

"Roma and the region around it are an ally to the east. They will strike, when the east lands in the south and be a bridgehead for future invasions, if not dealt with soon", Jagu answered. The mood soured again.

"So you suggest to invade Roma? That was not part of the agreement", Nautikos reminded.

"It is. Securing Roma is the only way to end the threat. You should know that. The southern cities know that", Jagu explained. Nautikos glared back.

"If we beat the invasion back fast, then we could probably surprise Roma while they siege the border fortifications", suggested the elven woman, Firnadena. Interrupting the strife between the humans.

"That might even work. Only problem the east is attacking with 5 legions", Duran said. "How much can we muster?"

"2 mixed legions with a quality and experience that surpasses the eastern legions", answered Titania, the sea nymph. "Our training finally paid off. There should soon no longer be a problem with the fighting capabilities of our legions. Or the command structures. The fleet will be ready as well"

"That is great. Now we should have a chance. It was the right thing to combine our troops into one force. It will give us the advantage needed against the east", Jagu said. "Duran and Titania will lead the legions and fleet south as agreed. Firnadena and Rulvir, you will use local troops to slow the advance of Roma down as long as possible." Jagu looked around to see if anybody objected. Nobody did. Only Nautikos seemed deep in thought but didn't object either. Quiricus looked at Jagu.

"Jagu you do realize if we are successful in our plan, then Sicillia and half of Italia proper will be under one banner", Quiricus looked at Jagu with an excited and worried look. Titania spoke in a grave and warning tone.

"Vespasianus we do not wish for the Western Empire to be resurrected. We will be watching, if you keep your promises", Titania said and all people except Jagu and Duran left the room.

"Brother this is a turning point in history. We could either really go through with the alliance or use the weakened state of the non-humans in Sicillia to remove them", Duran spoke and looked at Jagu.

"Duran, I know how deep your hatred for the non-humans is. And as a father, I can understand your feelings, but they are misplaced. You will get your revenge in time. They are allies for now", Jagu pacified his brother.

Duran looked at his brother for a while. Several emotions flashed through his eyes. He clenched and unclenched his fists and finally left the office. Jagu sighed and hid the documents for their plans in his safe.

"This is a dangerous game I'm playing, but how can I resists if the reward is half of Italia. The count could turn out to be a problem. Sicillia is easy if I can convince the three great cities. If...", Jagu said to himself deep in thought. "I can't make mistakes now."

Times were changing.

-----------------

Duran stared at the family picture near the front entrance. For minutes, he looked at the picture of the family.

My children were so young at that time, he thought.

Romulus, Remus and Solana. A silent tear flowed down his cheek. He turned away from the picture and left the mansion.