Keron stood beside his sleeping son, still trying to figure out what to do. The boy was timid, almost cowardly. A trait neither he nor Jerissa had. But here they were. When he had seen him, he had almost hoped that Jerissa had misspoke.

But then the wand reacted. The wand of Princes, one of the legacy weapons of his family. The wand was used to unlock a prince's magic potential, and it had worked excellently.

The Fae bloodline in him had come out almost entirely, transforming into the deep black mana that he knew so well. And then it merged with the power of his family, and changed. Golden lines appeared where there was black. The difference was even physical.

The wings were just one part of it. Nathan's hair had turned a deep, inky black, his eyes transforming into a brighter amber. Gold and black. A pattern that was practically screaming something at him. Now if only he understood what it was trying to say.

"I have it." the Countess said from behind him. Keron sighed. The girl just loved saying things like that, presuming that the other person would figure it out. But he just wasn't in the mood to humor her.

"Found what?" he asked, being slightly rude as he turned to face her.

The Countess' face remained the same.” The inheritance protocol. The throne passes on to the most capable of the princes that have cultivated the Law manual."

Keron sighed. The Law manual was a weird one. A manual that did not ask for elements or physical characteristics, but a state of mind. The mage must have a mind to fight for what they believe in, even if it was against the whole world, a heart of kindness, and a sense of self that was able to grow.

A test so contrived, he barely understood it. Nathan probably would fail too, there was nothing in the interactions they'd had to suggest that he would pass. Lorn was the first since the burning to cultivate it. And even he was facing difficulties reaching Grandmaster.

That was what made the Grandmaster clans special, the manual directly skipped the half-step Grandmaster stage and allowed one to reach the Grandmaster stage. The other manuals just weren't in depth enough to do that.

"The ancestral cavern will not open for another six months, Nathan can attempt cultivating it then." Nerusia said.

The Countess raised an eyebrow.

"The ancestral cavern is like the Diery vault, just far less famous, and it can only be opened once a year." Nerusia clarified. Keron felt a bit irritated. Even if their relationship with the Diery family was close, and these were special times, the cavern was kept secret for a reason. The family had nearly lost their manual in the burning, there was good reason to keep it hidden.

"I see." the Countess said. "What is your intention with Nathan? The wings will be hard to hide, and I would imagine the Fae royal family has opinions on hybrids."

Keron frowned.

"The Solerian Citadel is not suitable, it is warded against non-humans and has far too many eyes on it. Nathan would not last a day." he said.

"I can give him an artifact to help him hide his wings. The wings should only appear when he uses magic in the first place." Nerusia said, taking out one particular pendant. "Jerissa had this when she came here. Even Lorn's father could not detect her. Nathan should be able to use it to hide for a while."

"So that's it?" the Countess asked, folding her arms.

Keron's eyes narrowed. "What do you want, Countess?"

"I don't know, it just feels like you are avoiding the elephant in the room." And they were back to cryptic statements.

"What elephant?" he asked.

"That is a saying. I am talking about his familial needs, your majesty. Or do you think that he will not want to know about his father? The one he has not met before?" she asked.

Keron did not like what she was implying. "I did not know about his existence."

"And what if you had? What would you have done?" the Countess asked. "Acknowledged him? Raised him?"

"I am not sure what you are trying to say, Countess, but I do not plan to ignore Nathan if that is your concern." Keron replied.

"Oh good. I have been ignored before, your majesty, told that I was a disappointment by my own family. And trust me, I would rather that they had abandoned me from the start, instead of letting me hope that I would get their approval.

I might not be much of a threat to you now, but you cannot kill me, and eventually grow into someone that is a threat. Nathan swore an oath of loyalty to me, and I intend to fulfill my part of it. Do not play with his feelings." The Countess gave him one last glare before leaving.

"Keron." Nerusia interrupted. Keron had a bad feeling. "If you continue with your usual attitude with Nathan, I will deal with you before Althea gets a chance."

And then she was gone. Keron wasn't sure why they had presumed he would be a bad father. Come on, he wasn't that irresponsible…well, he had been a bit reticent to make commitments or take responsibility. But he was pretty good with kids. How hard could making amends with an already grown one be?

sc

An armada's worth of ships stood in one particular port of Leria county. That was not strange. The port received more ships every day. What was strange was the half-Elves that occupied the port today. Thousands of them, more than the duchy had seen in centuries. A half-Elf walked through the port, a blue scepter in hand.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

And then he slammed it onto the ground. The half-Elves turned to him, staring at him as he floated in the air.

“If I may have your attention. I am sure you are wondering what is happening." he said.

"That is an understatement, Lord Verest. Having the Solerian navy as the welcoming committee was quite concerning." a male elf wearing a captain's hat said.

"That was not the Solerian navy. Just a casual deployment of the local Lerian navy. The actual strength of the Solerian navy is far, far more than we can deal with." Verest said, still floating in the air.

"There are nearly fifty ships in this port. Is that still a casual deployment?" the elf asked.

Verest smiled. "No, that is not a deployment at all. The ships are a gift from our new lady to secure our new home."

The elf folded his hands, floating into the air. "I think I need an explanation."

"And I have one for you." Verest said. "But in the interest of dealing with this in a civilized manner, the Queen of the Elara Kingdom and the Emperor of the Zun are sending those of our kind that they come across to the Solerian Empire. The Countess Guarding Diery has given us an island to live on."

"An island is it?" the elf said, looking like he was expecting something more.

"For now. As I understand it, she bought the entire archipelago for us. And better yet, we have autonomy over it."

The elf's ears perked up. "Now we're talking. Tell me more, better yet, tell me how you did it."

Verest laughed. "In good time, Jerus. In good time."

Jerus smiled and landed as the half-elf crowd finally relaxed. But then he floated up again.

"Why is that fish dragging so many carriages of herbs towards us?"

Verest turned around, looking at a merman dragging a train of carriages towards them while in a tub of water that was propelled by water.

"The Countess has gone mad and bought every herb in the city." the merman said as the half-elves parted before him, looking at him weirdly.

"The Zerolian Duke had his herbs eaten, so he is buying up every herb he can get. The Countess has a spat with him, so she is buying them before he can. But she doesn't know what to do with them, so she is giving them to us." The merman clarified further.

"Well, I suppose we can try growing them. The herbs should sell well." Verest said before Jerus could get a word in.

"Wait, us? The Countess is giving these herbs to us?" Jerus asked.

"As I said, there is a lot to explain." Verest said.

sc

Queen Elara stood in the air above the ruins of her capital, watching as a war wrecked it. Serel wasn't the problem, the idiot could barely handle anything himself. But he and his backer were good ways to get her enemies out in the open. And then kill them.

"Are you going to just let them do this, Nena?" Viscount Beret asked. "This is your capital! What kind of Queen lets her people die like this?"

"The kind that evacuated her people long ago." she said, "Poison and Illusion, remember? What did you call them? A coward's elements? But I fear these coward’s elements fooled you today."

The Viscount's eyes widened. "Are you really so daft as to hold a grudge for so long? That was over a century ago!"

Nena laughed. The man had been trying to depose her for over a century. Three daughters, seven cities, nine hundred and twenty-three subordinates, and even more foot soldiers. This was what she had lost to him. The war had been going on for too long. A bloody war in the darkness, but it was finally ending.

"As if you haven't been making things worse for yourself these years," Nena let mana through the city and into the air.

"This fire will burn through my kingdom, burning away filth like you and your allies so that we may arise an Empire.

The Viscount did not hesitate, water curled around his feet, ice precipitating in the air as it shot towards her. But Nena just looked towards him, and activated a teensy tiny bit of mana she had placed on his body long ago. The Viscount doubled over, spitting blood as he coughed violently.

"What is it, Viscount?" she approached him in the air, speaking in a deliberately sweetened voice. "Are you feeling ill? Were you perhaps…poisoned?"

"The plan will never be successful. The other Empires will not accept you. The stores were burnt long ago, we don't have food. There are refugees pouring in from the west, the war is at our doorstep. This Empire of yours will never survive!" the Viscount spat out.

Nena just made tutting noises. "How negative. Don't you trust your Queen? Why do you think I waited for so long? The Selorian Empire will accept us. The Diery county will sell us food. And as for the war, will any of the nations dare go against a coalition of two Empires?

I have already talked to the Empress of Night, we will stay away from the war that is ravaging the central continent. The Zun Empire can go die in the war if it wishes, but I doubt even that Emperor is so foolish."

The Viscount's aggrieved eyes stared into her as he breathed his last. Nena returned to watching the show. The battle was over, her forces had won the second she activated the mana poison. Not every person had a lethal dose, but her forces were not weak to begin with. The cleanup did not take long.

Mana flew in the air as the capital was reconstructed. A magic show unfolded before her eyes, walls growing back and palaces rose, mages acting together to rebuild it. A larger, better capital. A capital worthy of an Empire. The Elara Empire.

sc

A man lounged on a chair, staring at the sky as if seeing something other than clouds.

"Isn't it fascinating, Leron? How things can turn around if you just nudge things around a little." the man said.

Wind blew through his hair, as if ruffling it in sadness. The trees seemed to weep around him. Fire warmed the air, but it did not grow too far either. Water did not flow, laying in a clear still pool near him. But they did not leave. The elements stayed, grieving with him, as if they had a close relationship with him.

The man titled his head, as if listening to the wind talk. And then suddenly started laughing. A hollow laugh, desperate for joy but not finding it.

"What is so funny?" another voice said, suddenly appearing in the area.

"Oh, nothing you want to know, Grandmaster Jerun." the man replied, his smile turning stiff.

"Is that truly necessary? I am your friend, you know. Even if you do not count me as one." Jerun sighed. "I just wanted to inform you of recent events, but I see I do not need to anymore. That descendant of yours is quite curious."

"Leave, Grandmaster of humanity. I am not related to that girl, nor am I a part of your filthy race." the man's voice was cold. Mana seemed to shake with his words, running away as the power of a Grandmaster appeared.

"As you wish," Jerun said, flying away. "But do not think I do not notice your magic on her. Even if she is not your blood, your beloved entrusted his family to you. And we both know you won't let it fall. Even if you are angry at our entire race, you are angry because we killed him. Even if you deny it, there is a reason his legacy lives on. There is a reason you keep that name, Grandmaster Diery. There is a reason you still live. "

Jerun disappeared in a gust of wind. The man just leaned back, his eyes shaded as he turned his head around, staring at a single flower-shaped palace reaching towards the sky.

"Come on, hurry up, girlie." he murmured. "I don't know how long I can resist anymore. There are some wounds even time can’t heal."

A wind blew through the glade, towards a single table, surrounded by flowers of every color and shape imaginable. The wind blew around it, as if asking the pot of ashes on it to answer. But even the wind could not bring the dead back to life.