The hour is early and the morning sun shines bright. Damian was snuggled in his thick blanket, sleeping like a newborn pup in winter. His breathing was steady as his arms clung on the other pillow. At this moment, he didn't want to wake up just yet. The boy slept a little late an hour last night when he'd scoured every corner of his family library's shelves trying to find books that teach magic. The boy, age of six, had great fascination with it, perhaps he dreamed he was a grand mage casting spells of great power.
His deep slumber was cut short when his door opened. A boy, a year older, opened the window inside his bedroom and let the morning rays of light hit his face. Damian scrunched his eyes, his hand instinctively reached for his face for cover. Ten heartbeats passed and he opened his fingers to see through, taking a guess on whoever interrupted his needed rest. How strange…my eyes are still blurry, but I could see someone with auburn hair looking out the window with two wooden swords in his hands. Damian thought as he rubbed his eyes to see clearly.
When the auburn boy saw his eyes open, he immediately rushed towards him with a loud and eager voice.
"Hey, Damian, wake up!" He pulled Damian's blanket and jumped on his bed, shaking his shoulder until he fully woke up.
"It's too early, Ivan…Go fight someone else." Damian grumbled and shoved Ivan's face away from him.
"I just can't wait til afternoon to fight you again, little brother. Besides, you haven't even won against me, so maybe I'll swing with less force if you still can't match my strength." Ivan grinned stupidly.
The bigger brother ended up dragging Damian out of his bedroom, still wearing their sleeping clothes on. Damn him, why is he always so eager to fight? Damian thought to himself.
Before heading towards the mansion's training yard, Ivan grabbed the two jackets hanging on the rack that fit their sizes and wore them. Ivan helped his little brother fit his jacket just as any eldest son would usually do to their younger sibling.
They were met with snow on the ground just as thick as an adult's foot level. It's only them in the yard at this moment, the servants are inside the confines of the well-heated mansion. This is their third play swordfight, the previous ones Ivan would just knock Damian's wooden sword with full force and tackle him to the ground until he yielded. He's stronger than him, no doubt, the eldest always had that kind of strength.
Damian looked at the snow on the ground. This is the sixth winter of his life, and on his first winter he was born. Both brothers were born during the winter season. The Northlands always had longer winters among the main regions of the Empire. For six months you'll be a sniveling pup or a freezing corpse unless you keep the fire in the hearth going.
Damian, still dazed after being abruptly woken up by his brother, tried to remember his dream. He thought of magic circles coming out of his staff, casting offensive energy blasts against his foes. And then there was his brother, already an accomplished swordsman, standing before him. Damian aimed his staff, summoned more circles and fired it at him. Ivan bravely charged towards him.
"Hah! You're out of focus again, little brother."
Ivan swung his wooden sword to Damian's left ankle in which he swiftly dodged. 'Huh– what– already!? There wasn't even a proper start or a signal just yet.' Damian's reflex saved him from Ivan's surprise attack, thankfully.
"Quit dozing off, you look like you're dreaming about winning against me." Ivan grinned as he continued to swing wildly at his little brother. "And i'm not going to let that come true that easy."
"You swing too wide brother, I could hit your head up close." Damian tried to hit his head with a downward slash. Ivan parried it with an upward swing.
The clatter of wood echoed in the yard as we clashed. ''I'll lessen the force of my swing" he said, and yet my hand still shakes whenever our wooden swords make contact.' Damian thought.
Truth be told, he wasn't interested in sword fighting. Damian has great interest in learning by reading books. What fascinates him even more is magic, particularly spellcasting. But his father would sooner train him rigorously with the ways of the sword than let him train uttering incantations and staffs.
"You spend so much time in the library with mum and Beatrice, I hope you could do the same during our sword training." Ivan said. "You're such a bookworm, you know that?" He swung on his right shoulder but Damian parried it quickly.
"And all you could think of is fighting, you meathead." Damian said and pulled down his eyelid then sticks out his tongue. "Besides, father wont train me until I turn seven, you'll be the first one to be trained instead."
"Then you'll be left behind even further you twat!"
Ivan thrusted his wooden sword on his brother's rib and knocked him down on the ground.
"Argh!" Damian groaned, hissing as he clutched his rib.
"Hahah, I guess that's my third win now." Ivan laughed and pointed his wooden sword at him.
Damian's back is against him, he didn't rise just yet. He waited until his brother's shadow loomed over him.
"Damian, hey, are you alright? Don't tell mum I hit you too har–"
As soon as he got close enough, Damian, in a split second, scooped up the snow and molded it into a ball and threw it right in Ivan's face. His brother caught the snowball on the bridge of his nose, leaving him frozen and blinded. Damian knocked his wooden sword and hit his abdomen, knocking him down.
"Guh– hey! That was cheating!"
"Cheating? I call that a clever tactic. Besides, didn't you attack me immediately even though I haven't taken a proper stance yet?" Damian chuckled, his wooden sword now pointed at him.
"That was different you twat, we were fighting with wooden swords not snowballs."
"There are no rules in a real battle, only the winners. Just accept your lost brother."
"Tch, come here you–"
Ivan tackled him to the ground and they started wrestling. He's fuming, Damian can tell from his brother's face going red. 'What a stupid big brother, can't even accept a loss from a simple morning playfight.' He thought.
Ivan shouted 'cheater' while Damian said 'loser' many times and giggled to annoy him further. The bickering won't end unless one admits their wrongs.
Eventually their sibling quarrel ended when a big looming shadow appeared before them. The boys looked above, a tall brooding man with dark hair and neatly trimmed facial hair kept his gaze locked to them. Slowly, they fixed themselves and stood up, looking like a bunch of idiots. It only needed one heavy glance from him to stop the two from fighting. His name is Lanius Vermillion, their father and the heir to the Duke of Aisdel, the western region of the Northlands.
"Hm, you're both early this morning, that's new." He sighed and patted their heads.
Damian expected a scolding or an ear pull. But with Lanius's stone face and silence is all that's enough.
"Go eat the first meal of the morning today. We're going to the city." Lanius said.
The brothers both nodded and headed to the dining hall.
After they've finished eating their first meal of the morning, Damian visits his mother, Lady Catherine, who is busy taking care of her plants inside the glass house just a few walks in the mansion's yard. Everything about her is green, her hair is green and her dress is also green with vine patterns across her sleeves.
Catherine came from a noble house of Sully with her father, Garland Sully, the Duke of Vinfast at the Centerlands. Their land is fertile, something that a farmer from the north sought to till with their hoes and grow crops. Vinfast is as green with their trees and gold with their wheat as it can get.
Damian stepped inside, the air feels warm and the sight of the healthy green plants makes up for a comfy ambience. When she saw a plant with a withering leaf, she casted a spell to restore it back to green and healthy state.
"Healing." Catherine uttered. The withered plant not only restored its original green color, but also its normal and healthy form. 'She only uttered a word, I thought there's supposed to be a chant for it?' Damian thought she skipped a chant.
She looked over at him and smiled.
"Damian, are you here to help me tend my plants?" Catherine said with a warm and comely smile.
Damian nodded and grabbed the watering can to help her. How could he refuse her when she smiled at him like that? He'd protect his mother's gentle smile all his life.
Catherine doesn't use a watering can and uses her magic instead. Her hand glowed in a faint bluish color and water poured out. The plants looked refreshed now.
"Well done, Damian." She patted his head gently.
'Mother.' Damian mused, 'isa benevolent and brilliant caster, a vessel of wisdom for those wise enough to listen.' He puffed out his small chest. Surely, Damian thought he had inherited her bright mind. She'd often tell him that he possessed a genius far beyond his years.
'If I can convince her to teach me now, the headstart would be incomparable. Damian thought, 'In this world, potential is a race against time. The earlier I build my foundation, the higher my ceiling will be. I can't just keep watching and wasting my own potential, I want to be a mage that stands at her side.'
His dreamy and profound contemplation was shattered by a voice as loud and grating as a mountain goat.
"Damian! We're heading out!" Ivan barked, leaning through the doorway. "Dont tell me you're staying behind? We're going to the city!"
Damian held back a frustrated sigh. The transition from his mother's gracefulness and magic was enough to give him a slight headache.
"Alright, alright, I'm coming." Damian said grudgingly. But before he could step out of the glass shelter, he hugged his mother tightly, clinging and sniffing her scent. Ivan grunted and grabbed him by the back of his jacket, an impatient little lordling.
"Hey– you don't have to do that!" Damian grumbled and broke free from his brother's grasp before walking outside, leaving one last glance and a smile for his mother.
"Take care, you two and behave yourself during your visit." Catherine waved her hand.
In the front yard of the mansion, there were 4 horses. Lanius and his sworn knight were waiting for these young lordlings. Both imposing men were draped in thick northern fur cloaks and brooding faces. They both have such stoic faces that seem as cold as the North itself.
To the left side is Sir Robin, the first sworn knight of Lanius's household ever since they moved into Melvor territory with lady Catherine to settle and build a family of their own. Lanius took him to his service a year before his first son was born.
"Father, what town are we headed to?" Ivan asked.
"To Kolberg, it's a large walled and prosperous city. I have some business to do and I ought to bring you two there so you'll learn a thing or two."
"Amazing! I want to visit their marketplace and buy something incredibly fun, like a polished sword, a nice plate armor–"
"You won't buy recklessly, I'll make sure of that." Lanius furrowed his eyebrows. "You two better behave yourselves, we're visiting the Redwoods there."
"I'll change my mind if the two of you behave and won't start a fight." Lanius ruffled Ivan's hair.
"I won't start a silly fight with Damian, I swear it." Ivan mumbled.
'A marketplace huh? Perhaps I could buy a magic book there.' Damian thought.
Ivan saddled on Lanius's horse, while Damian on Sir Robin's.
They set off to Kolberg while the day was still fresh.
...…..
The ride was three hours long before they finally reached Kolberg. The city has two main districts that are separated by a river and a bridge. At the outer district where the less fortunate settlers made themselves shabby and crude houses, there were loud bellows coming from large beasts. Damian looked on the distant east side and saw gigantic mammoths either sleeping at the covers of tall pine trees or drinking fresh water from the river.
'I wonder if I can snuggle their thick fur…' He thought.
They continued riding at the main road and crossed the bridge to enter the fortified city. Inside was nothing more than a bustling road. It was filled with sellers that were selling fruits and foraged goods, fishes and crabs that came from a coastal town, and woodcrafts made from the hands of hardworking craftsmen. There were vagrants who got caught by the townsguard being dragged away too, most of them looked like children or teens alike.
They continue trekking down the busy road until they've reached their destination.
The manor they were headed to sat on top of a hill. It was the tallest building of Kolberg, the Redwood Manor. As they got closer, their banners can be seen outside the gates and on the two tall towers with pointed spires. Black on the left side and white on the right, with the head of a red direwolf facing sideways.
The Redwoods were once the most powerful noble house in the western north and the largest armies until Ericus Vermillion, the slayer of dragons, took over the entire region by the Emperor's order six-hundred years ago and made himself their Duke. The Redwood family line continues to serve loyally.
Once they got inside the manor's front yard, a red-haired and bearded middle-aged man greeted them with a loud and boisterous voice.
"Lord Lanius Vermillion, the Redwoods welcome you to our hearth and table!" The red-haired lord's voice boomed, carrying the authority of a man who ruled with iron and might. He stood no taller than Lanius, still an imposing man nonetheless. The lord offered a deep, practiced bow, and his sons followed him.
One son, the youngest, was a vision of martial prowess. Encased in a full suit of polished plate that has not seen battles just yet and armed with a sword whose guard is gilded steel and a handle of deep red. A heavy cloak of thick brown fur was draped across his shoulders, making him appear more beast than a man, a direwolf in human form even. Beside him stood his brother, frail, pale and wrapped so tightly in black furs that he seemed to be drowning in the pelt of a winter wolf.
Lanius and his party swung down from their saddles, the leather creaked in a sudden silence. The stable boys scurried to catch the reins of their mounts and lead them towards the hay and water of the stalls. Damian's gaze shifted, his eyes locked onto the man in armor. On his chestplate, there etched deep the snarling red direwolf. The sigil of a house bound and ever so loyal to the Vermillions.
'That Redwood knight, he must be very strong.' He thought.
Damian looked at his left and saw Sir Robin's stoic face judging the Redwood knight's smug face. He's already sizing up this young knight it seems.
"Lord Cedrick Redwood." Lanius said, his voice cut through the air like a winter chill, "I have received word about your newly knighted son. Shall we discuss it now and be done with it?"
'So it seems we're getting another knight, interesting…' Damian thought.
Cedrick offered a broad smile, not minding his icy and straightforward tone, "Straight to business, aren't we? Truly, Lanius, you never change." He gestured towards the looming limestone walls of the estate. "It's bitter out here, why not step inside the manor? We can settle these matters in the dining hall. Business is always smoother when paired with the finest cut of venison and best quality vintage the Redwood cellars have to offer?"
"The cold doesn't bother me, but it'd be rude on my side to refuse your hospitality." Lanius said.
The group moved inside the manor, their footsteps echoing at the stone floors as they continued towards the dining hall.
Lord Cedrick took his place at the center of the long table, the undisputed head of the Redwoods required to be seated here. Lanius claimed the seat to his immediate right. To the left, the newly knighted Redwood son sat beside his lord father. Ivan, Damian, and Sir Robin filled the remaining seats on the right.
The servants move with practiced discipline, placing silver platters of tender, glistening venison from the early morning hunt. The aroma from the herbs paired with the meat filled the air with a pleasant and appetizing smell. The aged wines were filled in the silver goblets of the men, while Damian and his brother were served chilled grape juice.
Lord Cedrick offered a brief and solemn grace, his voice steady as he blessed the food. When the prayer concluded, the rhythmic clatter of silver against silver began.
As they chewed the tenderness of the venison, Cedrick turned his attention to Lanius, his expression shifted into a proud father of a warrior.
"Allow me to formally introduce my second son, Sir Elric Redwood." Cedrick said, gesturing his hand towards the young knight. "He has been trained under my own guidance and the rigorous hands of my Chief Knight, Sir Roger Karson. His mastery over his aura is already at Senior Level."
Cedrick paused for a moment, making sure the weight of that rank sank into their ears before continuing.
"Even without the aid of aura reinforcement, his natural and raw strength is formidable. He can cleave through boulders as well as lift them and break them using his fists." He reached out and tapped his son's shoulder, the metal spaulders making an awkward clank that echoed through the hall. Elric almost spat the wine he was drinking as his father's heavy hands tapped him, and yet laughed it all off.
Ivan, meanwhile, looked at Elric with awe and admiration. He's already thinking of training with him.
"This lad looked like he hadn't fought battles in his life. How old is he?" Lanius said.
"He's sixteen years of age and was recently knighted. My son is a prodigy you see? He'll be of great use to you under your service." Lord Cedrick said and grinned.
Lanius looked at Elric, silently judging the truthfulness of Lord Cedrick's claim.
"I have no doubt that he's strong, he's a Redwood afterall. Perhaps he'll be stronger under my wing." Lanius said. "So, what will you have me offer in exchange for your son's loyalty to my family?"
Lord Cedrick looked at his eldest son, Maximilian, the pale and frail-looking one, prompting him to speak. Even in his frailty, he looked strangely attractive with his calm and half-lidded eyes.
"Lord Lanius." Maximillian said. "It was me who proposed this idea and the reason why we are discussing it here inside our household."
"Speak what's on your mind." Lanius leaned back, his eyes narrowing. He was the heir to Ericus, the blood of the Duke of Aisdel, and he was no stranger when it came to court matters. Every noble house in the North looked at his lineage and saw a ladder to be climbed.
"I wish to betroth my firstborn daughter, Agnes, to your eldest son," Maximilian stated clearly. "She is only two years his senior, but I am certain they would be a perfect match.
At the mention of a wedding, Ivan's ears perked up. He snapped his head toward Maximilian, his eyes wide with sudden interest. Until now, he had spent the meeting distracted, admiring the polished armor of the handsome red-haired knight, giving little thought to the knight's own sickly older brother's future.
Meanwhile, Damian observed the entire thing in silence. His eyes fixed towards Maximilian, weighing the man's cunning and ambition.
"Ivan is only seven and soon to be trained in swords. It's a few years too early to do this betrothal."
"Yes, it is. That was just my suggestion. We can wait for a few more years until they are officially betrothed, as you said."
Maximilian nodded, conceding the point. "Indeed, it is. It was merely a suggestion on my side. As you say, we can wait a few years before the arrangement is made official."
"Where is your daughter, she ought to know what was discussed here."
Lanius shifted his gaze, looking around the room. "And where is your daughter? She ought to be present if her future is being discussed with."
"Oh, right… she went for the marketplace with her butler, Benneth. My daughter has always had a certain fondness for the bustle of the city than the formalities of the manor.
Before the adults could continue their diplomatic maneuverings, a young, energetic voice cut through the tension.
"Then I'll go find her at the marketplace then!" Ivan declared, already halfway out of his seat.
'This is my chance' Damian thought. 'I can finally take a stroll in the marketplace to find myself a grimoire' Damian rose from his seat to follow his brother.
He didn't care for the red-haired knight nor the political maneuverings of the nobility. To Damian, all the talking of betrothals and bloodlines were nothing more than a white noise. The marketplace wasn't just a place for trade and commerce. To him, it was a labyrinth of possibilities, a place where the rare and forbidden could often be found. He needed a grimoire, a book where one can learn various spells, or even a basic mana control book to start with. This is what he needs.
Lanius sighed, the weight of the discussion settling on his shoulders. He turned toward his knight.
"Sir Robin, follow them. Ensure their safety." He pulled a heavy silk pouch from his coat, the dull clink of gold echoing in the quiet room. "Take this. Should something catch their eyes, see to it. Unless it's something that a boy shouldn't trifle with."
Sir Robin bowed, his hand hovering over the hilt of his blade as he accepted the coin.
Damian, already halfway through the door, felt a surge of silent irritation. A guardian meant eyes on his every move. If he was to slip away into the back alleys for a grimoire, he would have to outsmart a seasoned knight first.
'I'll get my grimoire no matter what...'