Geoffrey woke me the next morning as he said he would. With him was Lara, who had also just been woken.

“Good morning.”

I received a fiery glare as a response to my greeting. I figured I’d leave it at that. Wouldn’t want any stray icicles coming for my head.

Lara and I ate our breakfast in silence. That was fine with me, I’m not much of a talker either. She obviously held some contempt toward me. I didn’t really blame her. I was an outsider here, threatening to throw whatever balance she had out of… well, balance.

“Lara, you’re studies will resume next week. The Queen has advised you take a bit of a break. Melinda will be looking after you the rest of the day. Kieran, you will be coming with me. You will start a special study course to make sure you are… up to speed.”

Geoffrey’s tone at the end of that sentence gave me chills. Lara grinned slightly at that remark. A maid walked in and escorted her out of the room.

“… good luck.”

Lara looked back and gave me a pitiful look before she left.

Up to speed was an understatement. For the next week, Geoffrey put me through a course from Chaos’ prison. He put me through six years of education in seven days. I held my own, though. The one thing I did remember were all the these things that he attempted to teach me. Who or when I learned these things I had no idea. By the end, I had successfully survived Geoffrey’s educational gauntlet.

From then on, I began taking classes with Lara. She still had a frosty attitude towards me, but we grew accustomed to each other as the days went on. We were taught a variety of subjects by special instructors that had been hired to educate the royal family specifically. I felt rather out of place but I didn’t want to disappoint Miss Emily so I stuck with it. These classes went fine, I kept up with Lara rather easily, something that seemed to further agitate her. The only thing that was a struggle was our last class of the day. We were taken outside to practice control of our Blessings. Lara was easily ahead of most children her age. She was already able to conjure and control ice, a Blessing only given to those of royal blood. Meanwhile, the most I could do was hide in a shadow. I was still unable to conjure whatever element my Blessing had given me control over. It didn’t help that our Blessing instructor was a retired head of guard here in Atlantea, Mathias. And he really upheld his military principles.

“Boy! We’ve been at this for weeks now! Lara had progressed far beyond the level of someone her age but you haven’t made any progress at all! I don’t care who you were Blessed by, they obviously don’t have much hope in your abilities if the only skill they’ve given you is hiding. If you don’t start showing me something I’ll be having you spend your time cleaning the palace.”

His threats were empty, that much I knew. But hearing them every day has started to get to me. It’s not like I don’t want to find out what my abilities are. I want to be useful as much as he wants me to be useful. It just feels like my own body is holding me back. From my past, to the power I was Blessed with… not having access to what should be my own mind and body was absolutely infuriating. So I concentrated, fueling that desire to unlock my own potential. I tensed my whole body, waiting for something, anything. But nothing happened. Mathias placed his hands on his hips and sighed.

“I don’t know what my Lords see in you, boy. Go take a run, the least you can do is stay in shape.”

I didn’t have anything to say. I was just as disappointed as everyone else. I jogged off. I passed by Lara who gave me what looked like a genuine look of pity. I was just glad that Miss Emily wasn’t here to see me fail. She had left with King Kailo soon after we arrived, I assume for the urgent meeting they had discussed when I arrived. Something about an alliance? Once I was out of sight, I took off into a dead sprint. My physical abilities were the one thing I had confidence in since I was Blessed.

I quickly scaled the palace wall closest to me and quickly ran into the city. I wasn’t supposed to leave the palace, but I found it so stuffy there the majority of the time. Too many schedules and people telling me what to do. So, on occasions when I can get away with it, I like to venture out into the city. Atlantea is one of the largest cities in the world, but also one of the most difficult to travel too. I’ve found that most of the citizens in this city are Blessed or followers of the Sea God. Usually only merchants and the few travelers are of other followings. I like speaking to the merchants the most. They tell me their stories about traveling through different lands that worshipped different Gods. Many of these merchants were Blessed by the God of Travel, Hermojin. They enjoyed spinning their tales and were often glad to speak with someone as young and interested in their stories as I was. The clothes given to me at the palace aren’t too regal, they didn’t want me standing out too much. I dress like the son of a noble class of Blessed.

I pushed through the crowded streets until I found the familiar stall I was looking for. A jovial old man with a long gray beard was seated in front of a table full of different jewelry. A customer seemed to be haggling over the price of a certain piece but was getting nowhere. I figure I could run an assist here.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Sir, if you aren’t going to buy it for the asking price, please step aside. I’ve been trying for days to get the man to sell it to me for its true value but he won’t budge. And to think I offered him twelve-hundred drachs…”

The man grew flustered at my interruption.

“T-Twelve hundred?! He’s only asking for six hundred!”

“Exactly! What kind of merchant doesn’t know the value of his own merchandise? I feel terrible for scamming the poor man but there’s no cure for stubbornness. Of course you were here first, sir. I won’t try to steal it from someone else who had such an eye for jewelry.”

The gears turning in the mans mind were visible on his face. I definitely looked trustworthy, given I looked like I could afford what I pretended to offer.

“I-I’ll do the six hundred.”

“Oh, looks like I’ve struck out this time. But not to worry there are plenty of brilliant gems here worth much more than they look.”

After paying and receiving his jewelry the man gave me one last glance. I gave him a quick wink and he walked away looking like he had just been let in on a big secret.

“That was rather crooked of you, boy. I like it. I have half a mind to hire you here full-time.”

“I don’t know if you can afford me old man.”

That response earned a hearty laugh.

“How’ve you been Kieran? It’s been a few days since I’ve seen you.”

I took a seat on a box behind the stall.

“Busy.”

“Oh, I’m sure. You Blessed kids have it rough.”

“How did you know I was Blessed?”

“Oh please. You think non-Blessed family can go around here threatening to throw twelve-hundred drachs around?”

He got me there. Although I’m sure he assumes I’m Blessed by the Sea God which obviously isn’t accurate. Before Miss Emily left, she made it very clear that I was to tell no one of my circumstances so that would likely work out better.

“I figured you would have left by now, Dionte. You told me before that it isn’t like you to stay in one spot for too long. What was it you said? You might miss your next big score?”

“Well, my boy, just so happens my next big score was right here. Here, let me show you. I think you’ll like this.”

From beneath the table, he withdrew a small box. It was locked by a crest, depicting a crossroads. Dionte rolled back his sleeve, revealing a tattoo of the same crest. He held the tattoo up to the box and it clicked open. Must’ve been some kind of trick given by Hermojin to his followers. It’s handy, maybe I’ll pick up something similar, if I get any sort of abilities at all.

From the box, Dionte withdrew a necklace fastened around a black gem. It was stunning. The gem was cut perfectly. It was so dark it felt as if it were sucking in the light around it. I couldn’t stop looking at it. The longer I stared the more the world around me disappeared until all that was left was darkness. The sounds of the bustling street around me grew muted. Instead it was replaced by a voice. The voice hummed in a low tone that made even the darkness around me vibrate. My body was still stuck in a trance, as soon as I heard the humming noise I’d been unable to move. The humming stopped and I felt a set of eyes on me. I couldn’t see anyone but I knew something was looking at me.

“A visitor? I haven’t had a visitor in so long… but you are not who I was expecting. It appears the gem has been revealed a little prematurely.”

I couldn’t respond. The voice was so disorienting, neither male nor female, my mind couldn’t comprehend what was happening to me.

“… Your soul is shade. Why would my child leave her mark on you?”

I couldn’t take much more of this. The more it said the more it felt like my body was going to explode.

Oh, my Kieran. You should not be here. It’s too soon.

My mind immediately felt at ease when I heard her voice. Come to save me once again, I almost looked forward to these situations if it meant feeling her presence. But even with her reinforcing my being, the voice that had spoke to me had taken its toll. My whole body was wracked in pain and I felt like someone had just hit me over the head with a boulder.

Remember this moment. You will return here one day. You will confront the being before you and you will conquer him. And the world will be changed forever.

“Bold words, child. I am the catalyst of creation. There is nothing that can destroy me. But do try. I feel no emotions but I’d like to think that I find joy in watching my creations struggle before me before everything returns to nothing.”

That was the last thing I heard before the darkness around me gave way to light and I once again heard the bustling of the world around me.

“… Kieran? Are you ok, my boy?”

Dionte’s voice pulled me out of my trance.

“The gem. We must get rid of the gem. It’s a key…”

The pain I’d felt earlier hit me like one of the metal vehicles traveling at a high speed. I coughed and spit up blood. My legs gave out and I collapsed to the ground.

“H-Hey, boy! Someone call a guard, he needs help!”

In my fading sight I saw a group of guards rushing over to the stall.

“We found the boy! Alert the Queen, we will bring him back now!”

And, once again, I was unable to stay conscious.