A few days later, a knock sounded in the Cohen household early in the morning. It was Elizah’s birthday, and Roxanne was already up at the crack of dawn trying to make her daughter’s day a little bit special.

She frowned when she heard the knock at the door. As far as she knew, no one came around their household this early.

She slowly walked out to the door and saw a young man’s frame in the doorway. He had gentle grey eyes, and his hair was light red.

“I’m home mama,” the man at the door said. He smiled shyly.

Roxanne recognized him instantly. Despite it being eight years since she had last seen her son, to her, he hadn’t changed in the slightest.

“Micah,” she was overwhelmed by joy as tears began to stream down her cheeks. Micah stepped forward, and Roxanne threw her arms around him. She held him tightly in an embrace until Micah smiled and wiped the tears off his mother’s cheeks. “I missed you so much,” Micahicah said.

“But, how…” Roxanne managed. She was in disbelief that any of this was happening.

“I decided only at the last minute. Where’s Elizah?” Micah asked.

“She’s still asleep. I was going to wake her a bit late because I didn’t want her doing chores on her birthday,” Roxanne said with a small smile.

“I’ll wake her,” Micah said as he walked over to the bedroom, which he had shared with Elizah when they were younger.

There he saw a young woman with blonde hair sleeping peacefully. She was far from the Elizah that Micah had last remembered.

Micah smiled as he sat down by the side of her bed and bent down to her ear.

“Happy birthday Liz,” he whispered in Elizah’s ear.

Elizah awoke with a start and flinched when she sat up. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the smiling face in front of her.

She didn’t understand who was in front of her for a moment, but as she looked at him, it soon started to make sense.

“Micah,” she said with a gasp, and Micah nodded, and Elizah’s eyes widened.

Micah opened his arms wide for an embrace with his sister. “You’ve grown up,” he said as he looked at her.

She still had the tan and freckles that resulted from the long and hard toiling in the fields. Her golden blonde hair was braided behind her as usual, but she was much taller and skinnier than when he’d last seen her.

“What do you think will happen in eight years? I’d stay the same when you’ve grown up so much?” Elizah asked, and Micah laughed. Elizah turned her face indignantly, and Micah was surprised by what he saw on her face.

He looked at a fading bluish-purple bruise on Elizah’s cheekbone.

“Liz, who did this to you?” he asked and reached out to gently caress the wound. He’d personally make sure the person regretted even trying to hurt his sister.

“Oh, that’s a long story I’ll save for later,” Elizah said with a smile, “Besides, I have to get ready to go watch the parade.”

“Wait, I have something for you,” Micah said, and he pulled out a large sword from his belt.

“I want you to have this, I know how you’ve always dreamed of using a sword like this,” Micah said and handed the sword over to Elizah. “My gift to you on this special day.”

“It’s beautiful,” Elizah said as she admired the blade. It was still gleaming and shiny like it had been polished only the day before. Micah smiled and gently rubbed his sister’s head.

“Elizah, we’re going to be late,” Roxanne called out from the other room.

Elizah put the blade under the straw mattress she used as a bed.

“How did you manage to come home?” Elizah asked as Micah began to walk out of the room.

“I managed to convince the leader to let me off for a few weeks,” Micah said with a grin, hiding his lies. The real reason would be too confusing to explain, so he decided not to go into the details. If he had told her that he had been forced to take days off by the Prince himself, Elizah would be concerned.

“Wait, so you’re going to be here for a while?” Elizah asked, and her eyes lit up, and Micah nodded.

“That’s great! I have so much to tell you while you’re here. But first, let’s go to the parade or mama is going to be angry, “Elizah said with a wide smile. Micah couldn’t help but smile as well, realizing that the decision he had made was correct.

Jayden Larkspear slowly walked down the palace courtyard. He was wearing a cloak so that he wouldn’t get caught heading to the pond. He needed some peace and quiet, and that was the only place he could go to.

The parade and the whole crowd had been far too exhausting, and he needed to relax a bit before he could return to the palace for the banquet that evening. He knew if he decided to stay in the castle, there would be someone or the other who would come looking for him and ask him about something stupid like the colour of the tablecloth for the banquet.

This wasn’t one of Jayden’s favourite things, nor was the banquet his idea. But, Cyprian and Noxaura felt that it would help to improve the public image that Jayden had. As of late, both Cyprian and Noxaura had planned multiple things to improve Jayden’s appearance with the people. But to Jayden, what meant the most to him was how people were treated in the empire. He never cared about the various banquets and parades held in his honour.

He walked through the forest as he was lost in thought about the things he’d like to change when he became the king after his father’s time. If he was to become king was the big question since his parents always felt that he wasn’t worth the position. Sometimes Jayden was hurt by those words, but at other times he thought that it would be fine no matter where he ended up. He stepped through the forest carefully and almost gasped at how the area was practically glowing.

The enthralling scenic beauty of the pond still managed to surprise him, despite the number of times he’d come to the pond. It felt relaxing by the water, like a second home but not exactly. Sometimes it felt more like home than the palace ever had been, so that’s mainly why he had come here instead of going back home to rest.

He pushed the vines that led to the clearing and saw someone already settled in the grass.

“Elizah?” Jayden asked, and she turned around to look at him.

The bluish-purple bruise was concealed by powder, and for once, her hair wasn’t as messy as usual. Most surprisingly, she had a warm and joyous smile alighting her face.

“I came here because I like the peaceful silence. It seems somewhat welcoming,” Elizah said as she almost jumped up from the grass, “Am I not supposed to? If so I’m sorry, I have been coming here to find some peace and quiet even in the last few days when you weren’t around.”

Jayden shook his head and smiled slightly, “That’s completely fine. Sorry, I had some work my father wanted me to do so I headed over to the camps where the troops are.”

“Wait, you went down to the area where the troops were training? By any chance were you part of the reason Micah came home?” Elizah asked with a surprised glance.

Jayden was surprised by her question, “He came home? He had been so stubborn when I went to see him, maybe Ivan had managed to convince him.”

The very thought of that made Jayden laugh, but he looked over to see Elizah confused.

“Well, I didn’t understand a majority of what you said but I see you did help, so thank you. I thought it was a miracle of the spirits,” said softly.

“I promise I didn’t do much,” Jayden said, but he was more intrigued by something else Elizah just said rather than her thanks.

“What do you mean by ‘spirits’?” Jayden asked, confused by the girl’s words. Elizah gave him an incredulous look as if he had just questioned something that should have been obvious.

“I’m surprised you don’t know about them. The four guarding spirits of the magic types. I suppose you’ve heard of them?” Elizah replied, and Jayden just shook his head. Elizah blinked a few times in absolute shock.

“They maintained balance and made sure the power fell only into the right hands. It was an important part of the history of the island. My mother has told me multiple stories about them, it seems they were something my father enjoyed.,” Elizah continued.

“Oh,” Jayden said, listening keenly, but he knew if he asked her more about this, she might think he was strange. Instead, he decided to look this up in the archives under the palace about the magic types and the stories after he headed home.

A silent solitude existed between them for a couple of moments until Jayden suddenly remembered something he was carrying.

“I brought something for you,” he said as he took out a sheathed dagger.

The sheath was painted to match the pond’s beauty in hues of blue and green, while the blade inside had a hilt shaped like a wolf-like the Larkspear crest.

Elizah gently took it and observed the gleaming blade.

“Keep it with you at all times, it might come in handy when you pick a fight. It’s of no use to me anyway. It might as well come in handy to someone who has the spirit of a fighter,” Jayden said with a smile.

“It’s beautiful,” Elizah said, and her eyes were gleaming, “Did you paint the pattern?”

“Yes. It’s something I enjoy doing,” Jayden said.

“I have something for you as well. It might not be as great as what the palace cooks make but it’s something small,” Elizah said as she took the blade in her hands.

She took a small pouch from the larger bag she was carrying and handed it to him.

“It’s my way of saying thanks,” she said, and she stood up, “I have a couple of errands to run and Micah will be worried if I’m out for too long. I’ll be here later if you have anything you want to say. You’ve been really helpful, now it’s my turn to return the favor. I’ll see you around here tomorrow?”

Jayden gave her a nod and watched as she disappeared behind the thick vegetation before he opened the small pouch she had handed to him.

Inside, there were small biscuits that were powdered with sugar and some with jam on them. Jayden smiled as he closed the pouch once more and kept it by his side.

While he had initially come here with the thought of getting some rest, he had something else in mind. He made sure that no one was around and then began to focus. There was something that had been bothering him lately.

He seemed somewhat easily agitated and on edge than usual. He wasn’t able to sleep well either. It was like there was some strange energy flowing inside him.

He closed his eyes and waited for a couple of moments until he felt a sudden warmth in his palm. He opened his eyes with a jolt to see a spark of a flame floating above the centre of his palm.

He brought his other hand closer to the flame and began to touch it. The spark grew to form a small ball of flame in his palm, and Jayden just observed in awe.

Is this magic? Jayden wondered.

The ball of flame suddenly vanished when a breeze caught him by surprise. All of the energy that had been flowing inside him suddenly sunk away, and he felt exhausted like he’d feel after a long day of training on the grounds.

He managed to remove one of the cookies and nibbled on it as the sugary taste filled his mouth.

He found strength once more. He slowly stood up and surveyed the area to check if anyone had noticed what he’d done and if any imprints were left behind that showed that he’d stayed there.

He started walking back home with a new thought in his mind.

I need to learn more about this as soon as possible, He thought to himself and hurried back to the castle to see the archives immediately.