Michael
An hour later Michael and Geron were waiting at the gate dressed in simple clothing and hooded cloaks.
Lira was the first to arrive. "Hey, Michael."
"What are you doing here, Lira?"
"Luciel asked me to join you", she gave him a sinister smile, "you don't want your beloved older sister to accompany you or what?"
"I don't even know what we are doing", Michael admitted without react- ing to her weirdness.
"We are going into the town", Lira said, while Luciel and Matthias exited the nearby door.
"What into the town? Are we even allowed to?" Michael had only ever seen the town out of the carriage or from the castle.
"Oh, it's no problem we do that from time to time but you were always too young to come with us, your mother would have our heads but I think you need this, so it's a risk worth taking", Luciel explained.
"Milady, have you informed your knight or your father where we are going", Geron spoke up.
"Sir Tristan knows where we are going, don't worry sir Geron and you are also staying here", Luciel smiled at the knight.
"You can't go down into the town without any guards, milady", Geron protested.
"We have Matthias, he will be enough and we are going to stay in the good parts of the town, promise."
"It is alright Geron we will be fine", Michael told his knight, which looked dissatisfied with the situation but nodded.
After they left the gate Michael said to Luciel, "I expected him to make more of a fuss."
Matthias chuckled, "He is going to follow us of course."
"What?"
Luciel hit her older brother, "Not so loud or he will hear you. They always follow us and think we don't notice but we are not as stupid as our knights sometimes believe."
"But why can't they just come along if they will follow us anyway", Michael asked confused at the weird hide-and-seek.
Lira rolled her eyes playfully, "because they will try harder to not stand out if they are following us in secret. So we can have our fun without having an obvious guard following us around."
"Ah, I see, so where are we going."
"We, my little brother, are going to a tavern", Matthias grinned at him. Michael just blinked at him in confusion.
Suddenly they were sitting in a loud tavern room around a table. The tavern was well visited with most tables occupied and the two tavern maidens running around to get everyone their food and drink.
The walls were full of hunting trophies, Michael could see large wolf heads and antlers that seemed to be made out of iron between many smaller pelts.
The patrons looked the part, mostly men with scarred faces and loud laughter.
"What is this place", Michael asked loudly to overcome the noise.
"It's the regular tavern of the adventurers and travelers coming through the town, you can hear many good stories here if you listen", Matthias ex- plained, easily adjusting his voice to the tavern.
One of the tavern maidens came to their table, "Welcome back, seems like your little family has expanded." The girl seemed barely older than Matthias and Matthias looked very happy that she had come to their table.
"Greetings, Sally, we wanted to get our little brother out of the house for once, he needs to get out more", Matthias smiled at the girl.
"What is your name little one", she leaned over to him with a smile. "I am Michael, nice to meet you", Michael said shyly.
"Nice to meet you too, Michael, I am Sally."
She seems nice, Michael thought.
Luciel turned to Michael and whispers, "You should keep your real name to yourself by the way, I am sure some people here know who we are but we don't want too much attention." Michael nodded, he hadn't thought about that.
Sally then looked at the rest of the table, "so what can I bring you."
"The meal of the day for all of us, a beer for me and cider for the rest", Matthias ordered with the girls nodding along.
"Alright coming right up". She turned around and walked away.
"Uhhh, a beer look at the mature maaan", Lira teased Matthias.
"Oh, shut up", Matthias rolled his eyes at her.
"Maybe you should write her a poem or sing her a song in the moonshine", she kept on teasing.
Luciel chuckled as Michael followed the conversation not really getting what they were talking about. She then turns to Michael and says, "You should keep your real name to yourself by the way, I am sure some people here know who we are but we don't want too much attention."
"Maybe you should rather think about your Balian than try to shame
me", Matthias returns fire. Lira goes red immediately, "I have no idea what you are talking about."
The teasing continues for a while longer but Michael is not interested, he doesn't get it anyway. When the food comes, they shift to Matthias telling them about the hunt for the next hour.
"Oh, you couldn't even separate a dog from a wolf, let alone an alpha from a normal dire wolf", a man on the next table jokes at another. He is a small man with blond hair.
The other man, a bulky human that could be confused with a giant, stood up and yelled, "You calling me a liar, you second-rate trash."
They were not sitting at the same table before but now they are standing face to face both obviously drunk and annoyed at the other.
The first man tipped the other on the chest. "I am not calling you a liar, I am calling you blind." Reacting to the challenge the giant threw a punch, and the smaller man dodged backward and laughed. "As I said blind!"
"Well, here we go again", Lira said and moved to the other side of the table next to Michael, away from the fighting adventurers.
"This happens often?" Michael looked at Lira.
"Yes, adventurers are hot-headed people, they will fight a little and then calm down and drink together", she answered with a shrug.
They watched the two brawlers for a while, with the large man trying to catch the smaller one and the smaller one trying to evade while continuing to taunt his enemy. Misfortune strikes the small man though, he trips over the leg of another patron and falls. The other man uses this opportunity to grab him and pull him up with a wide grin. He swung with his left fist right at the face of the small man but is stopped mid-air by Matthias grabbing his wrist.
Michael gasps, when did Matthias get there and how did he stop a punch from such a large man with one hand?
"Put him down please", Matthias said calmly to the large man, the man stared at him in his drunken state.
"Stay out of this, boy", he growled at Matthias pulling back his hand, Matthias releasing it.
"Is this what we are here for, to fight more?" He turned toward the rest of the tavern, and most of the people turned toward him. "I say we are not here to fight, I say we are here to share stories of adventures and drink of course. So let us not fight but talk, I am here today to tell the story of how Matthias Rowan, the firstborn son of Lord Rowan, nearly died against a pack of dire wolves lead by an alpha."
He instantly had the attention of the whole tavern as he began character- istically telling his story, even the giant put the other man back on his feet and listened. Matthias looked right in his element with all eyes on him, he virtually glowed.
"This is why Matthias always comes here, to hear the stories and now Matthias has some to tell himself", Luciel said with a smile but Michael was completely focused on his older brother. Matthias had taken the situation into his own hands and defused it, not only that he captured the whole tavern in his story, and even though he himself is just a teenager all these adults are listening to him. He will lead the house one day and Michael wants to be there at his side.
Sola
Sola was again waiting in front of Lord Rowan's study, she wondered why he had summoned her. After being escorted in she made a small bow in front of the count, sat down, and asked, "How can I be of service, milord?"
He held up a letter. "A week ago a letter from the holy mountain arrived in regards to Michael."
Sola tensed up and leaned forward, waiting for him to continue. He unfolded the letter and read it out loud. "Lord Cedrik Rowan, we have received your reports on Lord Michael's condition and the accusations that court priest Albion has raised. After extensive discussions in the ranks of the inquisition and order of purity, it has been decided, that the concept of the demon child will continue to not be accepted by the church. That said the accusations of Father Albion will not be further investigated."
Sola breathed out heavily, she hadn't noticed that she had held her breath.
"In regards to Sister Sola's report on Lord Michael's light awakening, the order of purity and the church in its entirely would like to extend their congratulations, with this letter will be a gift delivered for young Michael." Lord Rowan took the little box in his hand and weighed it. "Do you have any idea what is in there?"
Sola nodded, "It will probably be a symbol of Idas blessed by a high- ranking member of the order of purity. It is meant to keep evil from the wearer and is a different version of our pendants, for non-members of the order." She points at her sun-shaped brooch.
He nods and continues reading, "Sister Sola's request to be placed in Lord Rowan's court to be the teacher for Lord Michael is granted, and will remain there until he successfully passes the rite of purity. Signed by high priest Eria."
He puts down the letter. "I will inform the court and especially Father Albion tomorrow about this and hopefully put an end to these vile rumors. One question I still have though, what is the rite of purity?"
"It is the final trial a mage has to go through to become a church-accepted mage and be under its protection. The concrete details are a secret I am afraid."
Lord Rowan nods, he didn't expect anything else from the secretive mages.
A knock on the door diverts their attention away from the letter. Sir Godfrey enters and announces, "Milord, Lord Michael is outside and requests a meeting."
Lord Rowan signs and motions the knight to send him in.
Michael
Michael walks into the study and is surprised to find Sola also there. His confidence sinks a little and he wonders how she is going to take this.
"What is it, Michael? I am very busy", his father asked him with a slight
annoyance.
"I have an answer." He stopped in front of his father's table. "An answer?"
"To the question from earlier today, why I want to learn everything". Lord Rowan inspects his son with awakened interest and he signaled him to continue. "I want to learn everything for Matthias and the people of this land. He will be the lord of this house one day and I will stand by his side and counsel him on everything he needs to know. Like Viscount Telp is your right hand, I want to be the same for Matthias and the more I know the better I can fulfill this role." Michael stood there after finishing and waited for his father's judgment, not being able to read his expression at all.
After a while, Lord Rowan asked with an expression of stone, "You are prepared for a life in servitude? To live for another man's glory while you are always just the advisor? Can you really put your own interests into the background?"
This was the moment it would be decided, Michael knew that but what was the answer his father wanted to hear? He always embraced strength in everything, so would he accept his son wanting to serve for the rest of his life? It didn't matter to Michael, he would say what he felt in his heart, not what his father wanted to hear.
"We do what we must! For the protection of those that I am also respon- sible for I will fight any battle, make any sacrifice, give up my personal glory and even my life."
With a fire eruption in his father's eyes, Michael knew he had won.
Then a bellowing laugh broke the silence. "To think that out of all of my children you, at the age of 6, would be the first one to get the true meaning of our house words. You have changed a lot since your coma and to call you a child seems evermore strange. I don't know what happened to you while you were asleep to have let you become so different but I truly know one thing, you came out a better version of yourself and I am proud."
Michael teared up at the words of his father but fought to keep his com- posure, he couldn't say a word or it would all break out.
Lord Rowan turns toward Sola, who had been silent throughout the whole
exchange. "Sister, my son requested funding to hire more tutors, what do you think about that?"
Michael looked at her, he hadn't talked with her about it first, but he probably should have.
She smiled. "Honestly, I am relieved. I was planning how to bring up this subject with Michael myself. To say that Michael learns fast is an understatement, I am not qualified to teach him everything he wants to know but I believe that with the best education possible, he will become a great help to Lord Matthias.
Lord Rowan nodded, "I believe so too. Your request is granted, I will personally take care of the recruitment process for your head tutor, I have someone in mind already."
"Thank you!" Michael says excitedly and jumps up. The two adults laugh at his vigor.
"Oh right, a letter from the church came, concerning you", his father mentioned. "It agrees that you being a demon child is complete idiocy and they send congratulations on your light awakening with a gift." He pulls a little box out of a drawer and hands it over.
He opened the box with enthusiasm and found a little Idas sun pendant, he could feel a faint energy coming from it as he takes it out of the box.
"What is it?"
"It will protect you so keep it close", Sola answered with a proud expres- sion. He put it on and felt a little safer already, but if that is really true or just an illusion be couldn't say.
He thanked his father again and then leaves.
Michael was excited, everything was going well today. His brother and father came back safe, he is going to get a handpicked tutor and the rumors are proven false. He went to bed with a huge smile this night and was welcomed by his dreams again.