“Oh Cal sit”
I sat on a chair and waited for mom to finish writing, she placed her pen down and looked at me
“So how was the trip to the village today?”
“Oh it was great …. I met lots of people today”
“I am sure you did”
Mom sat there for a while listening to what I had to say
“So, is there something else you want to tell me?”
“Am I that easy to read?”
“No, but your clearly anxious about something”
my mother sighed before she have me a letter, she didn’t say anything so I read the letter
To Rand Gareth Reed
It has reached my ears that your wife has brought you a son, I wish to see this child bring him to see me at castle Reed, you may have shown your back to this family but this child still carries the name of house Reed, bring him to meet me at once, I await your arrival at castle Reed in less than a month from the date on this letter
do not deny me this.
Countess Christine Reed countess of Midland and Sabina
“This countess …. She is family?”
“Yes she is your grandmother”
“You don’t want her to see me”
“ah … you see your father had troubles with his family that is why he left; his family was against our marriage too …. So you see why I am worried”
“But …. Can we afford to anger her anymore?”
“If it comes to it we can leave this country, I don’t want her to take you away from me”
“is there a need for that surly if I go she will let me come back after a visit”
“You want to go”
“Well she is my grandmother and I like this home”
“But what if she forces you to stay with her” my mom’s eyes were starting to get teary
I stood up and went around the desk and hugged her “nothing can keep me away from you and dad”
My mom hugged me back “I should be the one giving the assurances” she said before laughing for a bit, it was a forced laugh one that showed how worried she was.
“Beside I can always use magic to rum”
“Oh no if anyone is using magic it’s me, I won’t let you go without me”
“but wasn’t she against your marriage with dad, wont it be sufficient if dad and I went alone”
she hesitated for a bit before she spoke again
“No, I knew I had to face that woman one day, so I’ll face her standing next to me”
We broke our hug and mom seemed in a better mood “you should go to your teacher; she will be waiting for you now”
***
“oh your late, come sit and let us continue, last time we were working on shaping Mana, we’ve done excellent progress in that but I think we should …. “
“Miss Dibila”
“Ah …. Is there something wrong?”
“You see I’ll be leaving soon to meet someone bothersome so I was hoping you could teach me something more useful”
I explained the situation to my teacher who sat their quietly
“I see I heard about the iron countess before but I didn’t know she’s your grandma”
“the iron countess?”
“Oh its said she rule with an iron fist, I see why your mother is worried”
“very well, I guess I can teach you some defensive spells but you must be careful of the Mana you use in every spell”
“I am ready, I am sure of it”
“Alright let’s start with Reflect, it’s a defensive spell that forms a field around …. “
And so I started learning real spells … only five days before the day of our departure to meet grandma, hopefully I’ll be ready for the worst.
The day of the journey has arrived, I have learned several cool spells and I knew that my teacher was holding a lot back “this should be enough to impress her” she said to me
Dad had prepared a carriage and hired a coachman to drive as there, it was a five day journey, dad wanted to come with us but mom insisted he stays because of the constant beasts showing up near the village, dad reluctantly agreed to stay behind so it was just mom and me, we planned to stay at an inn every night and arrive at the castle at the sixth day.
Some of the women from the village came to speak with mother before she left, I got my cheeks pulled more than once, after that it was just family, dad hugged mom and whispered something to her then he gave me a hug “a big mug of bear is waiting for you when you come back, until then take care of mom” dad had a serious look so I didn’t make any jokes
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Hera came after “Take care madam, young master”
“Thank you Hera, make sure my husband doesn’t drink too much while I am away”
I went to Hera and hugged her feet “goodbye Hera”
“Nnn… take care young mater“
“Don’t forget to train every day” my teacher said to me and I nodded to her
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t excited …. I watched from the window as the house and then the village fell over the horizon, nothing but the road and the empty fields, mom was reading one of her books so I decided not to bother her and get to training, I channeled the Mana forth, which came easily to me now, I held it for a moment then stated shaping it and reshaping it, several spells could be done like this …. Basic spells, anything more will need a spell to give a precise Mana release and control but in theory it is possible to cast a spell without an enchantment but it is dangerous a single mess calculation a single slip in Mana release and the spell could easily backfire.
When I opened my eyes again the sun was almost gone from the sky, I guess I time flew by and I didn’t sense it, though I felt a pain in my bum from sitting all day
“It’s getting late but thankfully we’re near our first stop” my mom said and I noticed that she was staring at me
I poked my head out of the window and looked ahead, our first stop appeared ahead a small village called Devon-Ride if I remember correctly, a village but it was much bigger than Zama and this one had a wooden fence around it and guard towers poked from behind it.
I looked at mom who must’ve seen the curious looks I had
“Devon-Ride is closer to the great forest and beasts sometimes show up here in packs”
We passed the gate after the guards inspected the inside of the carriage,
“Here we are, the coachman said”
looking out of the window I saw a large building, three stories high …. This is high compared to the rest of this place; I also noted the sign swinging above the door “the wayfarer”
Good name I thought to myself as we made our way into the common room of the inn, lots of eyes turned towards us for a moment before going back to their business, there was a big crowd watching a lady sing and the place was almost full of men.
Mother stopped one of the serving girls “I’d like a private dining room”
“Just a second madam” she said before scurrying off, seconds later another girl came by
“Please follow me” she said as she led us to the back of the building and into a good size room, there was a large table at the center
“What do you have for dinner” mom asked as we took our seats
“Only mutton stew I am afraid, the place is crowded today”
“That will have to do then” the serving girl left shortly
“Do you remember our lessons the last few days?”
I nodded to her
“Repeat them to me”
“from this point onward we will be in Midland territory, Grandma’s territory”
“And what define this territory?”
“Beside its location near the Grey Mountains and the great forest, lots of trade comes through here towards and from the capital”
“And who are the lords of this land”
“house Reed”
“And what is the sigil of house Reed”
“A Red dragon on black”
“Good … your Grandma will expect some knowledge on the house but nothing extensive”
“are they real …? I mean the Dragon’s” I was curious, I knew about magical beasts and saw many of them in one of mom’s books but the Legendary beast was never mentioned until I saw the sigil of house Reed.
“Well …. Most people consider them myth at least in this part of the world, but where I come from in the magedom, dragons are bread by the Magus council for war and as a source of magic power”
Our food arrived at that moment and both of us were happy to stop talking and fill our bellies
“you were about to say that the dragons are used as a source of magic”
“yes, the heart of a dragon is said to be able to power an entire city for a decade”
“Power a city …. How advance are these magi of the Magedom”
“Maybe one day ill see your home land” I said to mom
“Pray that you don’t, that place has nothing but suffering”
***