"To know the truth of history is to realize its ultimate myth and its inevitable ambiguity."

Roy Basler

The sun disappeared from the sky. Everything was dyed a burnt color. It looked striking against Argus’s hair.

The mood was solemn. Nathair didn’t dare to speak. He held his breath while waiting for Argus to speak.

Taking a gentle pull of the pipe, Argus spoke in a low voice. “I am the fifth son of a viscount. My mother was a maid who climbed into my father’s bed for a better life. She got her wish. For a few years after she gave birth to me, she lived a lavish life. When I was eight, she was framed for infidelity and killed.”

There was no emotion on his face as Argus spoke. “I had a lot of resources. I was expected to be grateful since I was better off than commoners. In the family, my status was worse than a commoner.”

Nathair shuffled forward. Sitting on the edge of his seat.

A small smile played around his lips as he looked in the distance. “Your mother. Your mother is the firstborn daughter of a Marques household. She was not the type of person that I was ever supposed to be with. We met in secret, knowing that we would part someday. Then we found out she was pregnant. Neither of us knew what to do.”

He paused, lost in his memories. “We decided it was time to end our relationship. You were to be aborted, and we would go back to the places we were meant to be.”

He let out a bitter laugh. “That is when a Court Mage showed up at your mother’s door. They keep an eye out for special talents, but magic is not so easy to track. Especially in children. I don’t know what they saw or how they did it, but they sent an entire Knight patrol unit for your mother.”

“What did any of this have to do with a prophecy?” Nathair didn’t know he had spoken out loud till his father shot him an amused look. He covered his mouth with both hands. Determined to stay quiet till the end.

“It was an ancient prophecy. Most people believed it was more legend than truth. Whether it was the truth or not, the prophecy was important. Everything our family managed to build was centered around that prophecy. As such, whoever the prophecy was about would be given the title. If they followed the orders left by the founders of the family, I was supposed to inherit the title. For it to be passed down to you.” Argus laughed uncontrollably for a moment.

To Nathair, his father’s laughter sounded hollow and bitter.

“That would be the ideal situation, but that would never be allowed to happen. I would most likely die in a suspicious situation. You would be adopted by my father or eldest brother. If they could turn you into a puppet, you would be allowed to live. Any rebellion would lead to your death.”

Now he was wondering where the court magicians came in. This was a lot to take in. “What about my mother’s family?”

“Exactly,” he said, sounding satisfied.

“My family would never have gotten their hands on you. Your mother had a higher standing. By right, the bastard in her belly should never be allowed to live, but you were too strong. In the politics of the capital, having you as a weapon was more important than the circumstances of your birth.” Argus fisted a hand, his knuckles turning white.

“Your mother was quickly engaged to a duke’s second son. The family belonged to the crown prince's faction. He was only ten years old at the time. Despite it being easy enough to prove who your father was… Well, it doesn’t matter.”

He saw the anger in Argus's eyes and decided to stay quiet.

“In the end, it turned into a dog blood fight. The noble faction. The crown prince’s faction. The second prince's faction. Your mother’s family and my family. It was a fight for benefits.” Taking a puff of the pipe, he expelled his anger with the smoke.

“A lot happened in between, but your mother and I eventually stole some things and ran away.” A smile of triumph made Argus’s face light up.

Wasn’t his father cutting out the most important part of the story? He sat on the edge of his chair.

Nathair was interested in how timelines worked. His parents from his last life had a similar but less dramatic story. His parents eloped while his mother was pregnant. Though, his grandparents eventually accepted their relationship.

“You were born while we were traveling between continents. Something went wrong, and all the power you displayed from before disappeared. We thought that the mode we used to travel might have had side effects.”

Nathair was overwhelmed by what he was hearing. There were parts of the story that were casually passed over. He felt they should have been given more importance. He went to speak but was cut off.

Argus held up a hand. “We don’t know what happened. There were magic fluctuations at intervals while you were in your mother’s womb. It was a bit scary. You would hijack your mother’s magic and use it as your own. It concerned us for a while, but eventually, we realized that it was your version of kicking or playing around.”

At least he got the answer to the energy source that had allowed his mind to function in utero.

Argus stood, pulling him into a back-breaking hug.

“There was an accident, and you were born prematurely. We were so worried. After that, your mind was a little slow, and you didn’t show any talent.”

Nathair knew what happened at that point. If he knew the boy he was living with was replaced, how would Argus react?

“As you were, there was little chance you would Manifest. We thought it best to live a simple life here. Now that you have gotten better, your mother and I are currently rethinking that.”

The information that he’d been given was so much that he had a hard time processing it. There were several things that he wanted his father to clarify. So of it, he didn’t feel right asking about. He stuck to a simple question. “Manifest?”

Argus rolled up his arms to show two opals embedded in his skin about an inch above the crease of his elbow. “When you Manifest, a gem like this appears on, a part of your body. They can also be implanted on special occasions.”

“How do you manifest?” He couldn’t help but ask. There must be some benefit to it.

Nathair reached out to touch it. He was surprised when his father let him. It was clearly a stone, but it felt like skin to the touch. He ran his finger over the gem and felt how it raised off the skin.

“The process is simple. A person with mana will channel some into a child. A little each day for a year. This will trigger their own mana core. This process should lead you to Manifest.”

He noticed several inconsistencies in his father’s words. It was clear from what was being said that not everyone could Manifest. “Should?”

Argus ran his fingers over the gem in his arm. “Manifestation is the difference between higher and common magic. Both your mother and I can use higher magic. Up to this point, I doubt you or your siblings have seen us use it.”

“Commoners rarely Manifest. Those that do often go to a college to get in by the special admissions program.” Argus scoffed.

Nathair could already guess the second part. Mages would be brought to work for noble families as aids or retainers. If they were particularly gifted, they might even end up working with the royal family.

Those that were decent people might send support to their families. Or move them closer to where they were stationed. Others wouldn’t want it to be known that they came from common stock.

“It isn’t known why some nobles don’t Manifest and why it happens spontaneously in commoners. We know it has to do with blood and inheritance. For a pairing between a commoner and a noble, it depends on how powerful the Manifested person is whether or not the child can Manifest.”

He would have to disagree. Manifestation sounded more like an inherited trait. For commoners to Manifest was not a random occurrence. The genes necessary needed to be passed down. This could happen through bastards of nobles and those expelled from the nobility.

The gene is associated with a recessive trait. Noble families were careful to manage their marriages. Due to both parents having a recessive gene, all children Manifested.

Nathair’s mind drifted. It was hard to focus on any point of his father’s story. He wondered about the depression of the gene. He would need to brush up on his biology since that wasn’t his main field of study.

What was the difference between the higher magic that nobles used and the lower magic of commoners?

What did his parents steal?

Would he be allowed to Manifest?