《Tales of Sehrlana》Day before the Journey
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Sarah woke up, Ignatius was still sleeping. William had left in the morning.
He looked so peaceful while sleeping. It will be still some time before he wakes up, today she expected him to wake even late, due to the naming ceremony yesterday. Compared to Philip he was so delicate.
The next few days would be difficult for him, as he starts feeling the magic molecules around him. Sarah remembered her first morning after the naming ceremony, it was like waking up to a new world, her whole body was having a tingling sensation and as her affinity was to earth her legs felt heavy and light periodically, she later figured out that it was the "Attract" and "Repel".
It took her some time to master her control over the "Attract" side. She took even more time to master her unique magic. She was sure Ignatius like William will be able to awaken his own unique magic.
Within the draconate clan, very few had unique magic. In her family, there were three users herself, her father, and her brother.
She missed them, her father was in her clan village she hadn't seen him since telling him that she is going to marry William. While her brother was busy with his duty to the kingdom, even after the attack that happened, all he sent her was a letter, saying he was away from the kingdom and in the beastdom of Beazard. As the commander of the order of Adamah, he was always away.
The attack on her and Ignatius could have been fatal to both of them. Though the assassins accounted for the range of her magic, they didn't have information on the change that happened to her nine years back. As she had stopped being an adventurer since she married William, the change within her was not known to the outside world. Only William knew about this.
Her unique magic's area had now evolved to double its previous range, though the intensity of "Attract" was stronger centered around her, the increase in the range allowed her to sense any movements within the range. The assassins were planning to stay out of her original range and kill both of them from the distance. Just the thought of them succeeding made her shiver.
She turned to deactivate the "Sinop" power crystal, it was a life-saving invention, without it she wouldn't have been able to hold her magic the whole night.
The origin of the assassins still remained a mystery to her, the alleged perpetrators were found and executed. William refused to share further info with her, and only that he has taken care of them.
She had known William for years, and immediately figured out when he was withholding some information. He had changed in the past five years. Since the incident of Chris's naming ceremony, William has been trying nonstop to hold his family's name together.
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These days he started resembling William's late father, Frederik Dreux. William always had a tough relationship with his father, but William used to be different.
He always stood for what was right, but after the death of his father, he changed, he was like a child, so vulnerable, it was that side of his that made her fall in love with him, so powerful yet he needed her. But now she feared that he will end up like his father, for whom the Dreux family legacy came over everything.
She could see the similarities of her father-in-law in William with the way he treated both Philip and Ignatius. He was especially hard on Philip. "Oh, my poor Philip" she sighed.
Life has been so hard for him, to be born without magic, and to such a magic-filled family, fate has been so unfortunate for her child, she would often pray to Terra to give her son fewer hardships.
Deep down she also blamed herself, as merging of her Draconite blood with that of Dreux was forbidden within her clan. She remembered how furious her clan members were, her father just kept silent. All these years no communication from him, thus the letter took her by surprise, asking to send Philip to the clan village.
Though Sarah wanted him to stay with her, she knew staying here would make life worse for him. She hoped, he would find someplace within her clan. She sensed the maids coming closer in her range, she got up and knew she needed to be strong to send her son away, that's the best thing for him to happen now.
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William looked outside his carriage at the countryside. In the distance, he could see the Royal Palace of Farlan, with the golden dome shining bright in the morning sun, even from the distance it looked colossal, a true representation of the kingdom's glory.
He could vaguely see the five figures surrounding the dome, he knew one to be their family's founding member, the infinity mage.
He knew because he had stared at the statue countless times since he was a child. He knew because his father would constantly talk about the glory of the Dreux. He knew because he had hoped one day he would be the next Infinity mage.
But life was not so fortunate for William, though he rose to level two and became the commander of the Igness order at a very young age he knew he could never become an infinity mage.
He knew because he met that thing, the abomination that killed his father, he felt like a small flame in front of the raging forest, that existence that could have engulfed everything. What can mere mortals do in front of a god? The only reason William survived was that it didn't notice him.
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After that William had lost all his way and had felt completely hopeless. He who boasted of such strength felt powerless for the first time, it was Sarah who showed him the way, without her he would have lost himself. "Oh, my dear Sarah". He will do anything for her.
When he had heard about the attack on her and Ignatius, his blood boiled. He was away that night, the attack was planned in his absence. He was furious at Roger, how could he have allowed the attack to happen? Was he putting too much faith in Roger's Strength?
When Malqaf told him the perpetrators were from the "Esfir" family the subbranch of the Dreux, all he wanted was to kill, which he did, he killed all the elders. He made their families watch, he made them realise what strength is and what will happen if they harm his Sarah.
William also blamed himself, how could he have let it happen? how did they even think of laying a finger on the Dreux Family? He knew it was because he showed weakness. He knew it was since the naming ceremony of Philip.
Philip, his firstborn, William was so happy when he was born. He remembered Philip as such a calm kid, he never acted like a baby, even as a child it felt as if Philip understood things around him like an adult. William had such high hopes for him, his next heir, how could he turn to be a nonmagic user.
Without an heir of strong bloodline, the standing of his family reduced, the church withdrew its support. With the Church's withdrawal, many followed suit. William who was in line for being the next Archmage was neglected, he felt isolated.
Was it his fault he wondered? No, this is the world of the strong, only the strong rule. It all happened because of a weak succession because the next heir was weak, it was because of Philip if only he was not born. "Oh Philip my firstborn" William would curse himself, what did the child do wrong, No! William is the family head he cannot show weakness, he cannot be weak, he cannot be weak like how he was after his father passed away. Yes, the Dreux family needs him and his strength.
That's why even though Sarah was against it, he wanted a new child.
Ignatius will change everything, all his struggle comes to an end, Ignatius will be a great mage, perhaps an "Infinity"? William couldn't but dream of his family's glory once that happens.
Even more fortunate was the fact that Philip was being sent to Sarah's village, invited directly by her father. After a long time, he felt fortune was favoring him again.
For now, he had to put aside his thoughts, his destination was not the palace but the church. The glory of Druex would be restored, no it will be rewritten.
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Roger was up and at the master kitchen, instructing the other servants of the house. They would often slack and do choppy work if Roger was not around. It was not easy to find good servants for the mansion, so Roger would ensure he trained the existing ones hard.
They knew their routine well, post the morning briefing he would keep positioning himself to overview various work around the mansion.
His prime goal though was to ensure the needs of Master William, Mistress Sarah were taken care of at top priority at the same time ensure Master Philip and Master Ignatius's needs were fully dealt with.
But today Roger had a different schedule, he needed to prepare for the journey tomorrow along with Master Philip. It was going to be a long journey of around six months to reach the village.
This journey also meant that the letter Roger sent to Sarah's father was received. He had to do it as staying in the mansion was not a good idea anymore, since the attack, the mansion had more guards, bothersome were the Sicarii order, it will not be easy even for Roger to outmaneuver a group of them.
Roger was taken by surprise by the attack, more surprised that the "Nirmana" didn't intimate him anything about the attack. He feared if it has been infiltrated, but he found it hard to accept that it was possible to infiltrate the ancient order.
What felt odd was that the assassin he faced was weak, he also felt a presence who didn't reveal itself, someone strong, it was almost as if they were judging his strength. It felt muddled up, almost as if the attack was meant to be a failure. Even odder was how quickly the blame was put on the "Esfir" branch, he felt great sadness thinking that a whole branch perished in one night. "Were they framed?" he wondered.
He didn't yet have the answers. He hasn't been able to contact the order for almost six months, this journey would also help him get answers.
It was important that Master Philip leaves the mansion, as his training was put on hold after the attack.
More unaccounted events are bound to happen and master Philip needed to be prepared. The "Unstet" draws close.
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