“Children's day”. Known throughout the kingdom and beyond as the day the king and the people celebrated the newest members of the society. On that day all the higher and mid tier noble’s children would be guests of the king himself. They would receive their status evaluation and, if they are lucky, catch the eye of the upper nobility and the lord of the land himself.
Similar events were held throughout the kingdom, local lords went out of their way to emulate this custom and did status checks for children followed by smaller or larger feasts for the people.
For the children this was, for the most part, a boring event followed by a celebration that they were all looking forward to. This year was quite special as the long awaited son of Alfred and Eleonora was going to take part in this joyous day.
The citizens rejoiced and, at the same time, were concerned whether the next lord of the East would inherit his parent’s talents and continue to protect them from the scourge of Albion. Under such circumstances a young boy, accompanied by his parents, went into the long corridor that led to the main hall. After a long walk the huge doors stood in front of him, Alfred and Eleonora excused themselves and joined the other parents and guardians.
Standing in front of the grand hall was the boy himself. Wearing his best clothes, which were tailored for him just the other day, Henry took a deep breath. He was the first to be called in, followed by several other higher ranked nobles who were eagerly awaiting their chance to shine.
Unlike those around him, Henry just wanted to get this whole event over with and return home. The capital was truly a wondrous place but it was much too crowded for his liking and lacked the people he grew to like quite a lot.
As the first group entered, they were greeted by maids and butlers and led to a podium which had a familiar face standing on it. On the podium stood a table covered with intricate symbols, the only tool necessary for today.
Looking over the new arrivals stood archduke Nicolas Ritter. He showed the children a bright smile and started his greetings, “Good day to you all and thank you for joining me for today's event. I know you are all eager to get this over with and enjoy some cake with your parents so I will do my best to make this evaluation over as swiftly as possible. Once it is over you are to return to the group and wait for the rest of your peers to finish their status check. I will tell you what to do next as soon as all the statuses are finished. Understood?”
“Yes!” The children replied in unison.
“Splendid, now let us begin!” Nicolas shifted his eyes to the table next to him and took a piece of parchment. “The first to step forward will be… Henry Sigurdson, please Henry if you will, join me up here.”
Without a word Henry walked up the podium steps and stood in front of Nicolas. Once he was close enough to hear his whispers Nicolas gave a quick comment. “How am I doing?” Henry smiled and gave him a small thumbs up that only the archduke could see.
“Now, young Sigurdson, place your hands on the table and relax.”
Henry followed the instruction and after a few brief moments another order was issued. “You may leave, as per request only your potential growth and level will be released.
Name: Henry Sigurdson, level:1, body growth potential: high, mana growth potential: medium.
Splendid young lord Henry, I see you will be able to fill in the big shoes your parents will leave to you once they step down.” Finishing this Nicolas motioned to Henry that he may leave the podium as his time was up.
Nicolas read the next candidate, a name Henry did not expect. “The next to join me will be Desider Lothar, please if you will, young lord.” The two boys moved past one another while giving each other a single glance.
‘This one is fierce.’ Henry was only able to take that out of his first meeting with his cousin.
Rejoining the ranks of the children, who were now looking at him with eyes of admiration and jealousy, Henry was quick to notice a child who was different from the rest. The boy was holding a book closely, squeezing it with all his might. He moved over to the boy and introduced himself, “Pleased to meet you I am Henry, what is your name my lord?”
The boy was taken aback by Henry’s sudden introduction that was quite against the protocol of this event, but was not loud enough to warrant the adults to pay it any attention. After a few seconds he replied, “The pleasure is all mine lord Henry, I am Rodger Livar.”
Happy that he got a reply Henry whispered to his ear so that the others would not hear, “That is an interesting looking book you got there Rodger, what is it about?”
Rodger, whose eyes were filled with question marks as to why Henry would pick him of all people to talk to, quickly changed his attitude. “This book is called ‘The travels of Jonah the explorer’. It tells the tale of his exploration of the most distant lands and it also has a lot of fairytales and histories of the locals added in to help you understand their way of life better.”
“Oh, how nice, I will get that book to read as soon as I can. Are there…” Henry was about to continue their chat but he was interrupted by the boy. “Forgive me lord Henry, it is my turn next, could you do me a favor, please?”
“Yes, of course, as long as it is in my power.” Henry was quick to accept.
Rodger smiled and gave his new friend his book to keep. “Please, keep it safe, I will be back soon.” Henry accepted the book and the boy walked up to the podium where his evaluation was announced by Nicolas.
“Name: Rodger Livar, level:1, body growth potential: medium, mana growth potential: low. Mana afinity: earth. Young Rodger I thank you for your time and hope to see you soon in The Academy where we will hone your skills for the future benefit of the kingdom and your fief.”
Henry looked at his new friend who was slowly descending the stairs, his shoulders were slumped and his expression was no better. After all this was his one opportunity to shine and now it was over.
“Welcome back, congratulations on your status.” Henry was a bit naive in this regard as he was taught that no man was useless and that the status was just a blueprint for how to evolve nothing more.
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
“T-thank you, lord Henry.” Rodger did his best to smile as he received his treasured book.
“You can just call me Henry, if you like.” Henry saw that Rodger was worried so he did his best to ease the tension.
The boy looked at Henry with doubtful eyes. “Lord Henry, I do not think you should waste your kindness on me, you see I am not an heir, I am third in line to my father’s estate, so my position is not that high to be of use to…” His words were cut short by a new arrival. Desider was quick to confirm the point Rodger was making and tried to give his family member some sound advice. “That is true cousin, this one is not of great use to anyone. You should use this opportunity to mingle with the future of the kingdom.”
Henry listened to the two, the boy he just met, Rodger, was kind to him, while the other one, who was supposed to be his cousin, was descended from a man who was on bad terms with his parents. ‘Even if he was a good kid I would have steered clear of him, but he seems to be of the types who enjoy politics and intrigue.’ Making up his mind Henry responded.
Rodger was about to leave the duo to talk when Henry caught his arm. “Well, my father taught me something, if you pick friends based on what they can do for you then you are not strong at all, pick people with honor and loyalty. I pick my friends not by their muscles but by their heart. I can not be sure of Rodger here, but he at least is not a worm in the making.” Henry smirked and continued while looking straight into Desire’s big, round eyes, “I would much rather talk to Rodger here, than waste my time with a Lothar.”
“I see.” Holding his rage, Desire stepped away without a word.
“Lord Henry? Are you sure about that? From what I was told, you too are cousins.” Rodger tried to reason with Henry, but to no avail.
“I have no Lothar cousins.” Henry’s voice was chilly, but quickly it turned warm, “Also, lord Rodger, I asked you to call me Henry, will you humor me?”
Stunned by this swift switch of personality Rodger could only nod a few times.
***
As he did every year during the evaluation king William sat in his chair and watched the ceremony, safely hidden behind a one-way mirror. Standing next to him was his chief knight and the commander of the palace guards, captain Anthony. The two did this every year, it was a custom by now. They shared a few words and drank tea while enjoying the pleasant atmosphere away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
“Henry Sigurdson, what is your opinion of that boy?” William asked as he was looking at the scene the boy once more caused.
Anthony quickly responded while scratching his head, “He has his father’s style when it comes to picking friends and foes, that is certain.”
“He has little interest in making friends that can benefit him and his future career. I worry about the East as it is.” William gave his honest view of the situation.
“Well, Alfred is still there, not to mention lady Eleonora and the rest of the monsters we call Border Guard. He will be fine as long as he continues to grow like he has so far.” The knight wanted to reassure his king, but it only caused William to lead the conversation down a darker path.
“Tell me, my strongest knight, can you still beat Alfred?” As he said this, the king shifted his gaze from the children to Anthony.
After thinking for a moment Anthony gave his response. “No, no way I win in single combat against that monstrosity. I thank our lucky stars he is on our side every evening before going to bed.”
The king was strangely passionate about the subject. “But, you beat him once and fought him to a draw the last time you went head to head.”
“Thank you for remembering those two times, your highness. Still, my first win was when I had three years of experience as a third year Academy student and Alfred was just a first year. Even then it was a close match, much too close. The second time I only got to draw because he was alone and had to watch around for cousins and friends of the people he beat up. He had to fight with caution and still he had the upper hand, if not for lady Eleonora and her kindness that stopped that brawl, I fear…” He wanted to continue on, but the king interrupted him.
“I see, well if you had to fight an enemy like Alfred, how would you do it?” William quickly added another sentence once he saw Anthony’s expression turn into one of disbelief, “Of course I am only speaking of a future where an enemy arises and we do not have Alfred to match up to him.”
Reassured by the king’s words, Anthony started speaking. “Well, to win against him as he is now… it is impossible for anyone in the kingdom, at least in single combat. No, even if our two best men fought him, he would win. He has honed his body and leveled up quite a bit while protecting the land. Our best option against an enemy like that is to go down the dark path of dishonor.”
As Anthony stopped talking the king gestured for him to continue. He was quite intrigued by this idea his retainer was cooking in his mind.
“Well, poison sire. Get as many good men as you can, coat their weapons with the strongest poison we have and surround the enemy on the battlefield. I must stress that the poison should be of such potency that even a high level priest cannot purify it quickly. Stall for time as much as possible to prevent healing and hope for the best.” Anthony sighed as even uttering such words caused him to feel dirty.
William, seeing his man’s plight, decided to help him out. “Oh Anthony, your honor is quite the asset to have. I was merely inquiring about this to kill some time before the next batch of kids is ready.”
“Yes, your majesty, forgive me for making you worry.” Anthony relaxed a bit, but in the back of his mind he felt uneasy.
***
Henry was reunited with his family and told them about his new friend Rodger. After that they were led out of the room and joined by Nicolas. He took a brief moment to come over and give them Henry’s full status sheet. “Here you go young Henry, keep that safe with you.” With these words Nicolas left the trio and resumed his work.
“Don’t open that until we get back to Ul honey.” Eleonora cautioned Henry as they walked down the same corridor that they went through this morning. The one difference was that this time it was filled to the brim with parents and their offspring who were chatting about various topics. They all quickly bowed before the Sigurdsons and the other high ranking nobles who were now leaving the palace, before returning to normal.
Inside the carriage Henry was informed that the family would leave the capital in a few days, and that if he needed anything from the city he should make a list.
That evening Eleonora and Alfred were surprised that Henry only wanted one thing. A book about exploration.
“Honey, we can get this book in Ul as well.” Alfred and Eleonora were inside their room unhappy that Henry did not make a huge list.
“Well, he might be getting into a phase where he wants to read?” Alfred wanted to reassure Eleonora. “It might be a good thing, the journey is long and he might kill some time with that book.”
“Yes, but I wanted to take him clothes shopping.” Eleonora was now pouting. She was nothing like the elegant lady everyone in high society knew..
Alfred turned towards her, “How can you be so cute? Just how? Listen, let’s just drop everything tomorrow and go buy everything in the shopping district. We can have tailors make stuff for our boy and pick them up before we leave, or just have them ship it with the reports next month, how does that sound?”
Eleonora nodded full of joy which only melted Alfred’s heart even more.
A few days later the carriage of the Sigurdsons and two additional carriages filled with gifts and books departed from the capital. Behind them stayed a city that was not a place they felt pleasant in and before them, a vast ocean of grass and hills that they had to traverse in order to get to Ul.
They were heading home at last.