Approaching the palace, Vesryn merely gestured for the guards to open the gates without a word being spoken. I couldn't hear any gears turning to open the gate that was similar in shape, though smaller in size, to the one at the entrance of the capital. Behind it stood a magnificent palace with a general visage akin to gigantic tree roots that spread outward from the center toward the rest of the city.
The palace, like an enlarged and magnificent version of some of the houses I saw, towered over the rest of the city. The root-like structure that formed the core of it was, in reality, the base of an incredibly large tree; the canopy of which spread out like massive, circular awning. Nearing the top, I could make out a few smaller structures, though what purpose they served I could only imagine.
I learned, quickly, might I add, that I did not hide my amazement well, as my brother tapped the base of my chin, forcing me to close my mouth. "Careful, you don't want to accidentally eat a bug, do you?" he chuckled. Wordlessly, I grunted, but continued to follow both him and Vesryn towards the palace, where two figures stood at the top of the stairs with a pair of guards at each of their sides.
"Welcome, Bernar and Thoma Fayren, synners of Codrean, to Myrdin Palace," a soft voice said. From so far away, one might have thought that even shouting wouldn't have carried a voice so well, but elven mana manipulation was still something I struggled to wrap my head around. Following the captain and my brother's example, I got down onto one knee, placing my right hand across my chest.
"It is a pleasure to have you here again, Bernar. After so many years, we were beginning to think you weren't coming back," Aurae said, her voice flitted through the air like a feather. "It is both an honor and a pleasure to be in your presence once more, your majesties," Bernar said, his tone and enunciation unlike anything I'd ever heard him emit before.
Where the hell did that come from? I asked myself.
"Please, rise. I would like to get a better look at you both," Elhael said, leading his wife by the arm down the steps as we rose to our feet. Their presence was astounding, but not oppressive. It was, for lack of a better word, awe-inspiring.
The king and queen neared us, and I could see their fine faces up close. Aurae's silver hair and mismatched eyes coupled with her flawless, porcelain skin and fine bodily proportions would have made her stand out against a crowd of a million. Elhael, on the other hand, still looked the same as I had last seen him at Coltend during the meeting, but his silver hair was now tied into a braid, pulling his hair away from his lime-green eyes.
"As for you, I've seen you once before, though I can't quite recall where," Elhael finally spoke, his hand gesturing to me. "I'm astounded at your majesty's memory," I began, doing my best to mimic my brother's tone and intonation. "We've met once before, during the initial counsel at Coltend Castle, though I did not expect my face to be remembered, your majesty," I continued humbly.
I could have sworn I saw my brother giving me a look of approval, but I was too scared to turn my head to make sure that's what I saw.
"Indeed, I remember now. Although, at the time, I had no idea you were Bernar's brother. There was a bit of similarity, to be sure, but I hadn't had the time nor mental presence to confirm it back then," the elven king stated, his features scrunching a little as he pieced memories together.
"Oh, I see, your majesty," I said, feeling the weight of his words.
"In any case, welcome to Caegwen. Anwill, our retired Master Synner, spoke quite highly of you and your skills during his time with your people," Elhael continued, gesturing with one arm widely. "It is an honor to be here, your majesty. Thank you for allowing me to come here and train under Anwill," I said, continuing my humble tone.
"And what makes you think he'll be the only one training you?" an intense, female voice spawned just behind me, followed by a crushing amount of mana.
Who the hell is she? I didn't even sense her presence, much less hear her approach, I thought, frozen in place at the intense aura exuding from this person behind me.
"I-I-I… I meant nothing by it, my lady," I stammered, struggling to maintain my composure and not allow my knees to buckle under the weight of the pressure. While Elhael pinched the bridge of his nose, Aurae and Bernar's expressions, at least from what I could tell, were of expectant amusement.
"My lady? Is that any way to address your mother?" the voice scoffed, her tone turning a bit more playful as the pressure released. "M-mom?" I said weakly, turning around as I felt her presence backing away from me. "In the flesh," she said, giving me a warm smile.
Memories of my distant childhood flooded my mind, as I saw the familiar grin strewn across her fine features. Her steel-colored hair, braided on both sides and tied behind her head, accented her strong, yet feminine jaw-line. She was wearing a similar set of armor that Vesryn was, though she hadn't put on her rerebraces and couters, only her gauntlets and pauldrons.
Her chestplate held different details than Vesryn's, with an insignia on the left side of her chestplate that signified her position as commander. She was tall, about as tall as I was, incredibly fit, and held her toned arms wide in an expectant embrace.
I dashed into her arms without a second thought, and I felt them tightly wrapping around me, matching my embrace.
"I can't believe it's you! Y-you're here! I-..." my words trailed off. I couldn't find anything to say, after all, it had been about fourteen years since I last saw her. The only thing I could do was try to hold the river's worth of tears back from spilling onto her armor. "I'm here, it's okay," she said, her once strong voice trembling with the words as she held me tightly.
In all honesty, I could've stayed like that for an eternity, but the reality of the touching family reunion was that it wasn't going to last that long in front of the fucking king and queen of Caegwen.
"Let me get a good look at you," she said, pushing me back, revealing her own bloodshot eyes staring straight into mine. She patted my shoulders and gave me a once over glance, at my black, leather jerkin. "What happened to your hair? And why are you so skinny? We need to put some more meat on these bones. How the fuck did you make it to second stage being this lanky?" she asked as bluntly as a smith's hammer.
"Hard work and dedication?" I answered with a shrug. She chuckled at my answer, and held my face in her hands. "Regardless, I'm proud of you, Thoma. I'm… sorry that I've been away for so long," she said dejectedly, turning her head away from me. That was when I noticed it. "M-mom…?" I stammered, shocked at the sight before me.
Pointed ears, I thought, the two words hammering countless questions into my head.
Her ears, however, were not like Elhael or Aurae's ears, which protruded out a little more. Rather, hers were much more akin to Thorn and Ren's ears, which pointed sleekly towards the back of their heads, only protruding about as much as a normal human's. She must have seen my expression, because hers contorted into anger immediately.
"Wait, you don't…?" she asked, as if having heard my thoughts. Her angered expression turned even darker, as she cupped my face once more, turning my head to either side. "That son of a bitch. Gods, I married a real winner back then," she sighed. To say I was confused would've been the understatement of the year. "Who and what are you talking about?" I asked, my face still squished in her hands.
"Do you remember your father taking you to see an old man in a hut?" she asked. "I-I do. Father said it was for my own good, or so he made it seem," I replied, to which my mother seethed. "Siraye, what is this about?" Aurae asked.
It was the first time I'd heard my mother's name, her real name, that is, and it felt like a piece of my personal puzzle just fell into place.
"Your majesty, you know I don't ask for much, but I would greatly appreciate your assistance here in just a moment. I've just figured out what happened to my son," she answered. Aurae, queen of Caegwen, nodded.
Never would I ever have thought that my mother would have such a strong influence, even over the royal family.
"Thoma, I need you to do something for me," she said, looking me in the eye with a mixture of anger and determination. "Of course. What do you need me to do?" I asked, matching her energy. She placed her hand on my chest, and immediately, I felt another placed on the top of my head. It took me a second to realize it, but it wasn't my mother's hand, it was the queen's.
"I need you to be as still as you can. Oh, and bite down on this. This is about to fucking suck," she said, pushing a leather glove up to my face. The fact that she spoke the same way Bernar and I speak with each other, immediately made me feel more at ease with the whole situation, prompting me to bite down on the glove.
"Ready, your majesty?" my mother asked, glancing over my shoulder. "At your command, Siraye," Aurae replied. With a final nod from me, my mothers eyes glowed more intensely as she drew an immense amount of manafrom the Ethereal. The last time I felt anything even remotely similar was during Taegin and Ardrin's battle in the palace, but even that began to pale in comparison to what was happening here.
I could feel it begin to wrap around my core, flowing through and around it like a rapidly moving stream. That stream, however, soon turned into a raging waterfall as I began to feel something inside my core shattering like glass. I followed my mother's order of staying still, but a sharp pain began to resonate from my core out to my extremities in waves.
I bit down harder on the glove, and struggled to stay awake. While my entire body was going through a change I couldn't quite explain, there were two things I noticed through the pain. The first was that even through the pain I could feel something was happening to my head, but exactly what I couldn't quite tell. The second thing was that my brother, for whatever reason, was grinning widely as he fiddled with the small pendant he always wore pulled out from under his jerkin.
A final push of mana into my core flushed an insane amount of pain through my body, more than it was already going through, and I felt… warm. I could tell something had been released, but what exactly, I had no clue. "Ohohoho shit, look at him," my brother quipped excitedly. Both my mother and the queen moved away from me, my mother's eyes widening as she let out a sigh of relief.