Chapter 4: The Feast

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Year 437 after the fracture. Twelfth day of the sixth month.

The lands of Tellus were at peace. It had been like that for 116 years.

During the three warring centuries that followed the Divine Empire’s fracture, the nations birthed from its pieces waged war constantly to claim just a bit more of land from their neighbors or to unify the land again and create a great empire of their own. Yet no worthy Imperator had been born to claim the Imperium from the people.

It took more than three centuries and uncountable deaths for the rulers of the land to learn that as long as the six kingdoms all stood tall without a single one bending its knees to others, there would be no Great Empire again, and no descendant of the Diadochi—the six Generals who fought alongside the last Imperator and divided what was left of the Divine Empire among themselves—would submit to one another.

On this historic day, the gods descended from the Olympian Rings that hung over Tellus’ night. They brought an important message to each city in all Six Kingdoms. The demons—a force that tellians had hunted to almost extinction—had multiplied to billions in a place that the gods referred to as the ‘Dark World’, located beyond Shakor’s Wall, a limitless mountain range believed to be the end of the land.

The Aeternum exerted all his divine power to stop the demon’s Fallen Thrones from ravaging the land. He fought ten days and ten nights against the Seven Sins of the Fallen Thrones and pushed them back to their dark domains, but at the price of damaging the Olympian Gate and leaving all the high officers of his court trapped in the Olympian Rings without the possibility to send them to help the humans.

The Aeternum could only send the Aetherlings, his favored sons and daughters, to spread the news of the great danger looming over the continent. The demons had broken through Shakor’s Wall and planned to conquer the green and fertile lands of Tellus for themselves.

He made the Northern Empire, the Six Kingdoms and the Southern Dynasty to leave behind their differences and join to fight the demon invasion under the guidance of the Aetherlings.

The Six Kingdoms joined together and created the Epigoni League to equate their authority and power to their northern and southern neighbors, and so, the Three Great Powers set forth to wage the bloodiest war in Tellus’ history against the Dark World.

The continent has united for once to fight a common enemy. But I fear that this war has broken the delicate balance the continent had cultivated over centuries of bloodshed. I don’t doubt that the greatest war this continent has seen is yet to come.

Liberides, Censor of the Epigoni League

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The door opened and a wide lavish hall appeared in front of them. He had to make his best effort to avoid gaping at the numerous sculptures and paintings, but his eyes still darted everywhere.

“Archidux Marcus Jaume Tempesta, Dux Julius Ignatius Fuegni and Vice Dux Titus Pietro Riubin from Southwell.” A man announced.

The group walked forward and knelt in front of a golden and purple throne with the brown haired Rex seated.

Only two guards stood behind the throne to protect the most important man in the kingdom, but they were more than enough. Each one wore a pair of bluish silver gauntlets that represented their status as elite Silver Knights. Few men could fight evenly against the two of them and even less could defeat them—most of the later were at the battlefront in the Dark World.

The Rex stood up and climbed down the small set of stairs to stand on the same level as his guests. “Stand up.” He said.

Everyone stood up and bowed to the Rex.

The Rex went to each clan leader and clasped their hands in a friendly grip and then nodded at the four kids and the group behind them. His golden eyes along with his purple crown matched perfectly the throne in the background.

“Come, accompany us to the dinner hal. It’s been more than a year since Southwell’s dungeon break and I have yet to welcome you properly to the city.” He waved his hands and turned around. The Rex began walking towards a door to one side of the hall and the two guards from the throne followed in silence behind him.

They entered a smaller hall and sat around a long table. Servants brought tray after tray of luscious cuisine to the table to the delight of those present.

Brencis’ eyes glittered while looking at the food. For a moment, in his head sprung the absurd idea of making everyone—even the Rex—shut up to begin eating, but when the consequences of that would be something along the lines of getting his head separated from his body, he discarded the idea.

“Tell me Ignatius, which of these talented young fighters is the brilliant rising star from your clan?” The Rex looked at the red haired Fuegni clan leader.

Brencis tensed up and moved his gaze to his dominus.

Ignatius returned his gaze and pointed towards him. “That’s him.”

The Rex regarded him with his powerful golden gaze. “What’s your name, boy?”

Brencis looked back and forth between the Rex and his dominus for a moment and then made the motion to stand up just to froze midway. We’re in a feast, fool, there’s no need to get up. He reprimanded himself and sat. “I-I’m Brencis.” He said.

He began to panic when he saw the king still looking at him in silence and his dominus pinching his brows. “Brencis Murat ex Fuegni.” He corrected himself, but it wasn’t enough.

The Rex raised his eyebrows, waiting.

Ignatius closed his eyes and clenched his teeth, still pinching his brows.

“M-my lord.” Brencis added.

Ignatius reached his limit and let out an exasperated sigh.

“It’s okay.” The Rex stopped staring at Brencis and chuckled.

“He’s a work in progress, your Majesty.” Ignatius said.

“I said is okay, I understand his position.” His Majesty said. “However,” He turned a serious gaze to Ignatius. “At the table, I’m not your Majesty, Ignatius, I’m your cousin.” Then he regarded everyone on the table with his golden gaze. “At the table, you’re not my subjects, you’re my friends and guests.”

They could only nod awkwardly, not knowing how to respond to such a statement from the Rex himself.

“Anyway, Brencis.” The Rex changed the topic. “The engineers have told me great things of your ‘engine’ and your ‘printing press’. They say that if they can make your ideas work, then it could bring a revolution—as they call it—to the kingdom.

“Though it is a shame that the times don’t allow the kingdom to put any good amount of resources into their development.” The Rex sighed. “If this crazy war could just be over…” He shook his head.

“T-thank you.” Brencis said. His face flushed in nervousness and his heartbeat drummed his ears.

The Rex nodded at him and turned to talk with the clan leaders, mostly about idle topics and to congratulate them for recent accomplishments. After a while, the Rex clinked his spoon with a wine cup and declared the feast started.

Brencis had to sink his nails in his palms to stop himself from wolfing the food and instead began eating in the slow—and less enjoyable—way of the patricians. He looked at his mom a few seats to his right facing a similar struggle to his.

“This is also part of the emotions training.” Kiara nudged him with her elbow from the left. She wore an exquisite yellow dress and her hair styled a crown braid that made her look like a princess. With all the nervousness he had not seen her properly, but after calming down, her beauty stunned him.

He had never seen her so beautiful and radiant. She always had a simple ponytail and wore training vests or comfortable dresses that she called ‘battle dresses’.

“If you can’t overcome this, then you’re not my pupil anymore.” She frowned playfully.

“I’m not your pupil.” He pursed his lip and returned to his food.

He looked at the important people talking on the other end of the table, hoping that it would distract him from the banquet.

“… yes, I must apologize for my son’s absence. I sent him with the army to Southwell. Let’s hope that he’ll return with good news.” The Rex said. “Anyway,” He grabbed his cup and took a long sip of wine. “Ignatius, tell me your thoughts about Brencis. About his talents as a mana fighter or his prospects as a magus. I need to know if I did well to send him to the academy instead of the college.”

Hearing the Rex mention him again, Brencis tensed on his seat.

“There’s not much to tell about him that you already don’t know. He is a prodigy from one of the clan’s training camps, a simple 1st rank plebeian. But I’ve seen him grow in strength from an average commoner into an exceptional patrician child in little more than two years. I’d expect him to reach the same level of those prodigies of his age in about two more years, after that, it is up to his efforts if he can surpass them.

“As for his evoking attainments, I’d say above average, but not outstanding. It is in mana wielding that he excels. I can see the promise of a Golden Knight in him.” Ignatius glanced for a moment at Brencis. “If he keeps growing at this pace, I think he could compare to a young Norman in no time.”

“So, you’re vying for a spot among the Five, huh? The boy certainly has the potential.” The Rex nodded. “I’ve only heard of another kid awakening a sixth rank core in this generation. But, does it not concern you to reveal your long term plans for the boy in public? After all, we’re no strangers to what has happened to prodigies of the past generation…”

“Octavian…” Ignatius nodded. “But I would not worry about it that much.” The clan leader shrugged. “We’re all family and friends around the Rex’s table, right?” He smiled. “And I don't think there is a lord fool enough to try to remove a potential war asset in such times.”

“That’s true.” The Rex nodded. “It would be great if uncle’s dream became true thanks to the boy.”

“Yes, it would.” Ignatius smiled, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes for a moment.

“Speaking of Norman,” The Rex turned to look the blue haired Tempesta clan’s leader. “Jaume, what was his answer to my request?”

“Norman’s hard headiness is well known, and he never wanted to take a disciple. All I could accomplish was making him agree to test the Princeps. He told me that if he passes, then he would accept your request.” The blue haired Jaume said with a slightly sour expression.

“Worry not, my friend. You’ve done more than enough, and I owe you for it. It is hard for a young Golden Knight to take a disciple. Testing him is good. Now it’s up to him to earn Norman’s respect.”

“The Princeps’ fame precedes him. I’ve heard that he is a superb fighter for his age. Norman will surely accept him.” Jaume said.

“Yes… his fame.” The Rex said. “Or should we call it infamy?” He took a bite of meat and chewed slowly.

“He-he.” A girl seated to the Rex’s right giggled. “Everyone fears my brother.”

The Rex sighed and rubbed his trimmed beard. “It’s not a good thing…”

Brencis stopped eating and looked at the princess. Her beauty did not lose to Kiara’s, but she had a different kind of charm. Where Kiara was intense and confident, the princess had innocence and purity—if anything, only their eyes had a resemblance. Kiara’s amber eyes were similar to the golden of the two royals sitting together, only darker. But the princess’s beauty was not what attracted Brencis’ attention, their conversation did.

He once had the opportunity to meet the infamous Princeps they talked about—a meeting he would never forget. Before that time, he had only feared for his life once, when he almost died fighting a blue mane in the past.

But a single gaze from Princeps ingrained a fear in his heart unlike anything he had experienced before. ‘The Bloody Prince’ they called him. Not out of spite, but as a result of his actions.

… …

Soon after all the guests were done with their food the Rex stood up, leaving a third of his food still on the plates—Brencis felt it almost a crime to leave such a lavish food behind, though he supposed the servants would get through it.

The Rex thanked everyone for attending and declared the feast over, dismissing most of the guests. Then he walked to another room with the three clan leaders, a grim shadow looming over his face.

Brencis walked at the front of the group along with the other three kids. Behind them were the members of their families that came with them.

“You know clan leader Ignatius is being extremely optimist by comparing you to lord Norman, right?” One of the boys glanced at Brencis and said in a derisive tone. He had the characteristic light blue hair of the Tempesta clan and a pair of hateful green eyes that for a moment sparked a long forgotten contempt inside Brencis.

Brencis wanted to snap at him and tell him that no matter what he said, he was still the one favored by the Rex. However, he refrained from doing so. He still treated with reverence the gap that separated the nobles from the commoners, even if it made him the main target of his new patrician peers’ mocking and mistreatments. He still couldn’t get accustomed to being a Squire of the Rex, which in the first place should give him the advantage in terms of personal status with most of those who mocked him.

“What? Jealous that the Rex didn’t even spare a glance to a simpleton like you?” Kiara arched her eyebrows, her tone not losing a bit in derisiveness against the boy’s.

The boy paused and stared at her, taken aback. “It’s not like he looked at you as well.” He snorted.

“What does it matter? The Rex seemed more than pleased with our clan. If I were you I’d be worrying that Southwell doesn’t end up under our clan’s control.”

“What? We’ve got one of the few Golden Knights in the kingdom. Your clan will never control Southwell.”

“Last time I checked, a single Golden Knight can’t win against all our Silver Knights. In case you forgot, our clan has twice as much Silver Knights as your clan.” Kiara said.

“Well… it doesn’t matter. A Golden Knight is still better.” He stopped walking, raising his voice.

“Will you shut up already?” The last boy of the group spoke. He was tall and muscular, looking a good deal older than the others. He had dirt brown hair, cut short in the style of legionnaires. If Brencis didn’t knew better, he would have thought that he was really a legionnaire instead of a boy still of age to enlist in the academy. “Neither of you is a Golden Knight or a Silver Knight. What use is there to flaunt your clan’s strength when you are not the strongest? They’re just empty words. You should be worrying more about the academy and how will you face it. You surely have heard of the stories.”

Kiara and the blue haired boy shut up at his words and began walking again. They were certainly not the strongest—not even among the four of them. He was. And in that regard, he had a point.

They were taught from a very young age that if they wanted to be worthy of their clan’s nomen, they first needed to prove themselves. For that reason, every child born from a noble couple—while patricians in front of the law—held no nobility title. They had to earn it as every citizen of the kingdom. Admittedly, with a considerable advantage in terms of resources.

However, they wouldn’t simply shut up and walk straight just because one of the strongest among their peers said so. It was his mention of the academy that made them pensive. They did hear the stories. The Royal Academy was a place where you either break down or come out as a Centurion. And considering that the whole kingdom had barely more than two thousand active Centurions among a population of tens of millions, the numbers of failures had to be very high.

Though failure did not mean that everything was over. The very best among them could also become an officer of the legions. Still, that did not make the rate of graduates that much higher.

Their talent gave them an advantage to become stronger more quickly than others, but it was assuming that they could endure the same training as them.

“You think it is as bad as they say?” Brencis whispered to Kiara.

She nodded. “It could be worse. Those who can’t keep up with the training end up as guards defending some unimportant door or as candy-scratcher debauchees. I’ve seen them. They’re one of the unhappiest persons I’ve ever seen, as if they were stults.”

“I-it can’t be that bad…”

“It is worse.” The blue haired boy stepped in. “I’ve heard that they beat every fresh recruit until they throw up blood. If you can’t take that beating you’re out.” He looked at Brencis’ expression and grinned when he saw the paling face he wanted to see. “And that’s not the worst-”

“The worst is that they hate children and beat up every recruit until they’re rid of their immaturity.” The brown haired boy interrupted. “They’ll probably take a good while to be done with you.” He arched his eyebrows, mocking at the blue haired boy with his gaze.

“Ugh.” The blue haired boy grunted.

“They also like picking on the strong ones. To let them know that there are oceans beyond their well.” Kiara said. “I heard you’re pretty strong yourself…” She returned him a mocking gaze just like his own.

The brown haired boy’s eyebrows twitched and he snorted. “Bah, they’re just stories. We will know how things really are next week.”

“Yeah, stories…” She chuckled.

Brencis smiled lightly and continued walking in silence. He found it hard to join their battle of wits when he still couldn’t even talk normally with the two noble boys. It had taken him a few months to get accustomed to talk with Kiara, and she was on the friendly side of the nobles.

The others he had met always liked to make fun of his origins as a commoner, or how weak he still was compared to them, or for how low his voice was. Pretty much anything was a good excuse to mock a shy upstart like him.

It didn’t matter to them that he had a sixth rank core, something almost unique in each generation, and that could very possibly make him a Golden Knight in the future. A bunch of fools in his opinion.

He kept walking in silence, the trio still bickering and trying to be the one left with the last word. He turned twice to look at his mom, her face infused with pride for what her son had achieved, ignoring the pains that said achievements brought.

He still preferred to have stayed at home, living a normal life far from the heavy responsibilities that would come to him eventually. But he didn’t have a home anymore. The world was changing too fast and he needed to keep up with it if he wanted his mom to stay safe. He’d heard of how life for commoners had become after the war began—almost as bad as if they were stults. He did not want that for his mom. He was the only one left to protect her after his dad disappeared.

The group left the throne room and began to part ways. Brencis and his mom continued to their rooms, located in one of the farthest corners of the palace. A sharp contrast with the other nobles’ rooms, located more to the center of the palace. Though it was to be expected. The others were closely related to the clan leaders of the three remaining great houses in Southwell, while he was a simple Squire. A Squire of the Rex—more important than a regular Squire—yet still a Squire.

Brencis slugged through the beautiful corridors, now with time to look at the statues, carvings and decorations, and enough privacy to allow himself to gape at them. His mom walked beside him, pretty much doing the same until they arrived their rooms.

“Would you like to talk a bit?” She asked. “It’s been quite some time.” Her eyes seemed a little somber even though she smiled and spoke casually.

Brencis paused for a moment and nodded. It had been months since they last talked properly.

He spent most of his day training with Kiara and learning from the wide array of instructors lord Ignatius had prepared for him—what they taught back at the training camp was not enough to prepare a child to enter the Centorbis’ Royal Academy apparently. By the end of the day he would return with barely enough strength to dine and slump on his bed right after, never spending with her more than a few minutes.

She smiled and moved to her door. “You see, these noble rooms seem to have more furnitures than I thought a person needed. Maybe you know what they’re for?” She laughed and entered.

He smiled and followed, preparing himself mentally for the idle chatting that mothers seemed to like so much.