Dawn rose without brilliance over the small Aurelyon manor.
A pale mist still wound its way between the trees when the imperial convoy stopped before the gates. The banners bearing the central sigil fluttered softly in the wind, indifferent to the fates they were about to carry away.
Aerys stood upright, dressed in a dark tunic without ornament.
No jewelry.
No ostentatious symbol of rank.
Only his silver hair, tied with restraint, and his amber eyes betrayed his bloodline.
Ighoras stood behind him.
They did not look at each other.
"Once you pass through this gate, I will no longer be able to intervene," the guard finally said in a grave voice.
"I know."
"Do not try to shine. Survive. Observe."
"I will come back alive."
Ighoras slowly nodded. He briefly placed a hand on the boy's shoulder—a simple gesture, almost paternal—then stepped back.
Without ceremony.
Aerys boarded the convoy.
The doors closed.
The journey lasted several hours.
From his hometown of Ashber, where he had grown up far from the gilded castles of the nobility, it took time to reach the center where the preliminary examinations were held. Ashber was only a small city located on the fringes of the Central Dominion. The selection site was in Rikyos, the second most prosperous city of the Dominion, just after Vichoras, the imperial capital.
Inside the reinforced carriages, Aerys thought of the other heirs of the Empire:
ducal princes, children of ancient lineages, prodigies from the lesser nobility… and even a few rare commoners of exceptional talent.
I cannot falter, he thought.
It took them nearly six hours to arrive.
When the convoy finally drew near, Aerys could not help but admire the view through the window.
The morning mist had long since dissipated, revealing the city in all its splendor. Red-tiled rooftops formed an uneven sea, pierced by towers of pale stone and domes weathered by time. Broad paved avenues crossed one another with almost solemn rigor, wide enough to allow entire convoys to pass, lined with porticoes beneath which merchants and passersby were already seeking refuge from the rising sun.
At the center, the great square was awakening. Massive colonnades surrounded it, their long shadows tracing sharp lines across the ground. Vast merchant airships floated slowly between the towers, carried by Essence. Their reinforced hulls gleamed in the light, engraved with imperial symbols and names painted in gold leaf.
Stone aqueducts ran along the slopes, bringing water down from distant heights. Beyond the walls, orderly fields and straight roads stretched toward the horizon.
Everything breathed order, power, and ancient grandeur—as if the city itself had been built to remind everyone of their place in a world ruled by law, discipline, and ambition.
Farther off, an immense circular structure rose, its superimposed arches seeming to defy the centuries, while banners bearing imperial symbols snapped in the cool air.
Aerys remained silent for a long moment.
Behind that imposing beauty, he already sensed the intrigues, the struggles, the broken destinies.
If it's like this here… then what is the capital like?
He finally looked away.
Aerys remained silent for the rest of the journey, his gaze empty.
He felt a dull tension within him. Strangely, the fragment remained silent throughout the trip.
Besides… I should find it a name, he thought.
I can't keep calling it simply "the fragment."
A few moments later, the convoy stopped.
On the entrance esplanade already stood dozens of young men and women. Aerys clenched his fists.
The opening ceremony was about to begin.
All the candidates—aged fourteen to nineteen—coming from the noble families of the Central Dominion were gathered, accompanied by a few selected commoners.
"Is that him?"
"The servant's son…"
"He survived…"
The murmurs spread like wildfire. Aerys felt his breathing falter, but he showed nothing.
They were led into the great inner courtyard.
A man stepped forward.
He wore a black robe trimmed with scarlet. His gaze was hard, devoid of any warmth.
"Stand straight."
His voice cracked through the air.
"I will be clear. Listen carefully. I am Master Arkhavelis, imperial examiner."
He swept the assembly with his eyes.
"Today, the preliminary selection tests will take place. Some of you will be eliminated. Those ones will gain nothing. They will deserve nothing."
A heavy silence settled.
"But for the others…"
A harsh smile stretched his lips.
"You will discover it soon enough, my dear goodsir."
He raised his fist.
"Hail victory."
"HAIL VICTORY!" they shouted in unison.
Aerys took a deep breath.
I'm finally here, he thought.