“…WHAT?!”

“Calm down, Diago”

“CALM DOWN?!”

Sulien shot a glare of ice toward Diago, “you will wake everyone up”

The glare was completely ignored, “I don’t get it…this is some kind of joke right?”

“I am afraid not” Replied a somber Sulien.

Diago had already begun pacing the floor. At the rate he was going, it would be nothing but dirt by morning. This is why Sulien came over and stopped him by putting his hands on Diago’s shoulders, forcing him to stay put.

“Diago please, Silana only just fell asleep and its incredibly hard to-”

“Daddy?”

The voice came from the door to the girls room. It was Silana. A petit figure in a night gown, sharing her father’s skin and eyes. Truly, she was one of Diago’s favorites, even though she was an enormous tattletale. At the moment, she looked groggy and half asleep. Her eyelids were half closed and her shoulders drooped quite harshly.

“Daddy, the Jynx I trained to be my friend made lots of loud noises when I tried to put flowers in it’s hair and ran off”

Sulien looked at Diago with an annoyance that spoke loudly. Then he turned to his daughter. He walked over to her and tired to corral her back into her room, speaking softly at the same time,

“Just call her back and I’m sure she will hear you”

Silana slowly shuffled her tiny body back to her bed. As she was leaving, Diago could hear her saying,

“Here Jynxy pie, the flowers will match your eye color”

Must be quite the dream. Diago on the other had, wished he were dreaming.

“Sulien, are you absolutely sure?” Asked Diago, referring to the news about his mother.

Before he turned to face Diago, Sulien breathed in deeply and exhaled the same way.

“Yes, Diago. You are the son of Queen Fara and King Eton of Eldaren”

No. It wasn’t possible. He was just a simple boy from Tunaan. His mother and father were just travelers that died somehow, leaving him in the care of Sulien and Hyra. That’s what he had thought for his whole life. He had accepted it. He had moved on. In fact, he purposefully forced himself not to think too much about his parents. To have this put in front of him was too ridiculous. He couldn’t grasp hold of it. It just couldn’t be true. That’s when he looked at Sulien again with a searching intention. He wanted to see if there was something, ANYTHING, that would tell Diago he was lying, joking, or mistaken somehow. His searching came to nothing though. The more he thought about his parents, the more it confused him, the worse he felt. Diago started to breath at awkward intervals and his hands started shaking. Sulien must have seen the desperation in Diago, because compassion seemed to emanate from him.

“Diago, listen to me. Now is not the time to panic. Everything is going to be okay.

When you think about it, this has always been true. You are still the same person.

You just know a little more about yourself”

True, but that “little more” really really felt like “a whole lot more”…or “too much more”. Sulien saw that his tactic for calming him down were not succeeding, so he switched it.

“Hey hey Diago, its alright. Breath. Breath…there you go, in and out… very good.

Let me make you some tea”

That’s when Sulien walked over to grab a kettle and then he put it on the spit over the fire. While he was doing this, Diago was still breathing at a regular pace.

“I think…” Diago began, after a number of breaths, “I think I’m good. I mean when you think about it, this really doesn’t change anything. Who cares right?”

Sulien smirked to himself and then said out loud, “well, I’d imagine that the Eldaren’s care. I mean you do technically have a right to the throne”

Wrong choice of words. Unbeknownst to Sulien, that fact had gone entirely over Diago’s head, a head that now felt startlingly light and heavy at the same time. Wow, Diago’s head really felt odd. Are those pixies? Why are the walls spinning? Ahh floor my old friend, it’s been too long. Come, let us meet each other in a swift embrace.

Darkness.

----------------------------------------

Diago woke up on his bed.

“Oh thank the Great One… it was all a dream”

Diago sat up and rubbed his face. He hadn’t had a dream that vivid in a really long time. He started to laugh to himself a little. It’s always the same with dreams, they feel so real and convincing, but the moment you wake up you think, ‘man how could I have fallen for something so insane?’

“I mean really; an Onterrin? Being a prince? And of Eldaren of all places. Dreams can be so weird”

Diago shook himself and made his way to the door. He was still a little shaken from his dream, but thankfully it would all be forgotten eventually. He reached for the door and pushed it open, while simultaneously rubbing his head. Why did it hurt? Is that a lump? He finished opening the door and walked down the hall. Where is everyone? He turned the corner to see Sulien in conversation with a strange girl. What’s with her skin?

…

“Ah there you are, I hope you are feeling better. Your friend here was just introducing herself” Said Sulien with a cheery grin.

Ahh floor, we meet again.

----------------------------------------

Diago was out for a lot less time with this faint, mostly because he didn’t face plant like he did before. Thankfully, Sulien caught him before he could reach the ground.

When Diago came too, the look on his face was full of consternation and irritation. Sulien sat him on the couch and set to work making him some tea. He missed out on it last night. While Sulien was busy about his work, Aylah turned to Diago

“What’s with the fainting? This isn’t a normal thing for you is it?”

Diago looked up at her, “I don’t know what is normal right now”

Aylah just looked at him for a second or so, but then decided to leave the topic.

She glanced over her shoulder at Sulien who was making the tea.

“He seems nice”

Diago grunted in the affirmative

“And he is your…?” Aylah trailed off while posing her question. Diago guessed that she and Sul hadn’t gotten to that part of the introductions.

“he is my adopted father”

“Ahh…” Aylah left that there. Those kinds of conversations can be awkward and neither of the two were sure they were at that kind of level of acquaintance yet. The next few moments were taken up only with Sulien’s humming. What in Tunaan was going on? All of this was really happening? These kinds of thoughts were going through Diago’s head when finally Sulien turned with three cups of tea on a tray and offered it. Diago took his and gulped it down, kind of wishing it was cold cream cider and rather disappointed that the wish wouldn’t come true. Aylah took her’s and sipped it.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Thank you” she said to Sulien, who nodded in reply.

Sulien’s smile then faded a bit as he started on a new topic, “so how do you two know each other? Those markings on your skin… they are quite unique”

“I am from Onterrin” Said Aylah, clearly unafraid to tell Sulien. Diago supposed that she didn’t see the point in lying or anything because of the closeness of Sulien’s relation to himself. Sulien raised his eyebrows, but by the looks of it, he had already supposed that Aylah was from that wild country.

“And to how you know each other?”

“She threatened me with a knife and we have been best buds ever since” Said a very sarcastic Diago.

Aylah rolled her eyes, “You really need to get over that, its not like I was actually going to hurt you!”

Sulien raised his hand to stop the two of them, “While it is completely understandable that someone might want to threaten Diago-”

“Hey”

“-I would still like to know the reason”

“I…wanted to talk” replied Aylah

“…about?” Sulien prodded

Aylah wasn’t responsive, clearly reluctant to proceed. Diago was the one to roll his eyes this time,

“She was called by a fade too” he said, trying to cut to the chase, “She wanted to know about the armor”

“How did she know you knew about the armor?”

Uh oh

“I heard him mention it to Hult” said, Aylah

Jynx droppings

Sulien shot an angry glare at Diago, “I told you not to talk about it again!”

Diago raised his hands in defense, “technically you only said that you didn’t want to hear about it again”

“I feel like you should be able to figure that I don’t want you talking about it period!” Exclaimed Sulien

“I only talked to Hult and he is no snitch”

“It’s Rant Diago! Everyone is a snitch!” Was the angry reply from Sulien, just before he threw his hands up, “The Honor Guard will probably be at our door in the next few days!”

“In my defense, you never told me that the topic of the armor was under a ban”

“I shouldn’t have had too if you were any better at obeying!”

Soured by the conversation both Diago and Sulien turned away from each other, through neither walked away. Meanwhile, Aylah, seated between them, decided maybe it was time to change the subject to keep the two arguers from getting any worse. Besides, time was running out.

Aylah cleared her throat, “Anyway, Diago we probably should get going, the bandits-”

“Bandits? What bandits?” Said Sulien tuning quickly to Aylah

Diago turned and glared at Aylah, who had realized she chose the wrong topic to switch to. Diago then said to Sulien,

“Aylah and I found a camp of bandits yesterday, they were looking for Trig for some reason”

Aylah then chimed in, “I thinks very possible that their presence and the appearance of the fade are linked and that following them might be our next step in finding the armor”

“You mean to tell me” began a still somewhat heated Sulien, “That the two of you are planning on following and spying on a group of bandits? That’s a terrible idea! What if you get found out?”

“Diago might, but I know I wouldn’t” noted Aylah, confidently

“Oh step off it Tantoos!” Came the exasperated voice of Diago

“You first Sunburn!”

“Quiet you two!” Intervened Sulien, “Good Great One, You two are barely old enough to ride a Talard and you are the only ones the fades called?”

Sulien shook his head annoyed. Thankfully, Aylah and Diago’s argument seemed to level out Sulien’s mood. Maybe it was witnessing another argument that reminded him how useless it is to get riled up at the moment. Cooler heads are clearer heads after all. Aylah and Diago were still staring daggers at one another, but otherwise obeyed Sulilen’s command to be quiet. Sulien continued,

“Now, back to the whole bandit thing. I still say that is a horrible place to start looking”

“But sir-” Aylah began to say

“However…” In the pause that followed, Sulien seemed to have a shift in his thoughts, “however, I know where you should start looking.” Diago and Aylah looked at each other, both noting the difference in the tone of Sulien’s voice. They looked back at Sulien as he continued, “yesterday, a pair of Honor Guard came to the house asking if I had seen a man named Trig anytime recently. They should have known that everyone knows Trig by now with how often he’s been strung up. They said he was last spotted at the Jynx race tents and that no one had seen him since. I told them I hadn’t seen him either. I asked them why they were looking for him and they wouldn’t respond. They started to walk away, but something seemed off, so I asked them what their rank was. They didn’t seem to know how to respond. Then one of them said that they were both rank Ward. They wished me good day and walked off”

“Ward? That’s Eldaren military rank” said Diago

“I know…that is not a mistake and Honor Guard would make”

Aylah was the next to speak, “then those two must have been bandits in stolen armor”

“That is what I am thinking, yes” replied Sulien

Aylah looked over at Diago, who returned the glance, and said “I guess we need to start at the Jynx racing tents then”

“I know”

“Well there is no use wasting time, let’s go”

The pair of them began to walk toward the door, but the commanding voice of Sulien stopped them.

“Hold on a moment! Diago…I need a word”

Diago knew he didn’t have a choice. Though, even if he did, he would have gone.

Argument or no, Sulien was still his father, whether it was by blood or not. They left Aylah by the door and retreated to Diago’s room. The space was not very big, containing only his bed and a small dresser and those two things took up most of the room. Sulien closed the door and Diago prepared himself for whatever was about to come.

“Diago…I don’t want you to go” Sulien began.

“Sul, listen-”

“Let me finish please” interrupted Sulien, “I don’t want you to go because I have a bad feeling about it. Be that as it may, I know you have to do this. I know a fade’s call and there is nothing I can do to stop you that won’t end horribly. With that in mind, I have some things I want you to hear. Firstly, know that I care about you like you are my own. The only reason I got so upset just now was because I truly care about your safety and I can’t rest well if I am not sure that you are actively being safe yourself. I can’t be there to make you that way all the time. So I need to you to promise me that you will be safe”

“…Define that for me?”

“Diago” Sulien said the name in a warning tone

“Alright, alright…I will do my best”

Sulien nodded and then continued, “Secondly, we didn’t get any time to talk about your parents”

Oh right, that thing he was trying not to think about. The thing that was likely going to be a huge pain in his mental backside. The thing that marked him. The thing that made him a little sick at they very mention of it. That thing.

“I can’t pretend to know how you feel about it, so I won’t even try. This is something you are going to have to face”

Not if he had anything to say about it. As far as Diago was concerned that little factoid about himself was going to pass into the realm of forgotten nothingness as soon as he could manage the feat.

“I want to caution you. Don’t tell anyone about your parents. It’s not wise and it’s not safe. As long as you can, try to forget it entirely”

Done.

But then a thought occurred to Diago, “if you wanted me to do that, why would you tell me the truth then? I could have gone a whole lot longer before having that particular bolder dropped on my head”

“Because of what I said last night. A fade showed up…that’s as much a ‘right time’ moment as I can think of. Which leads me to the third thing I want to say. Your mother left you a note. She likely wrote it after she found out she was sick. She must have known she wasn’t going to live long after giving birth to you. I have kept it safe these last fifteen years and I think the time has come to give it to you”

Diago thought about that…a note from his mother? Did he even want to read it? No, of course not right? He wanted to forget about all that. Push it to the side and all that. That was is mindset as he said, “not now, but I will take it later on”

Sulien looked at him, he considered for a moment and then nodded. Then he continued, “lastly…about Aylah”

Diago’s head turned a little sidewise at the turn of topic.

Sulien’s pause was a little annoying, mostly because his mouth began to grow an annoying grin. Then he said, “she’s pretty”

Oh, you have got to be kidding me.

“Sul, don’t even start with me right now”

“Hey, hey, I’m just saying what I see. It seems you both are going to be spending a lot of time together. Lots can happen”

“Sul I swear-”

“Hold on, there is a serious note to this. Look after each other, okay? I get that she annoys you, but you are in this together and you need to trust her as much as she needs to trust you. So..behave”

Diago couldn’t argue with that. “I’ll try…But she needs to behave too”

“I am not her parent”

Diago rolled his eyes, “I know…anything else?”

“Nope, that about does it. I guess you have to be off to the racing tents. Like I asked, be safe”

“Not always in my control”

“I know”

Sulien pulled Diago in for a hug which he returned. Then the two of them made their way back to Aylah. When the found her she was closing her ears and humming quite loudly. At first, Diago though it was ridiculous, but then he remembered her insane sense of hearing and was grateful that she decided to give them the privacy. If the rolls were reversed, he probably wouldn’t have been too curious to restrain himself.

Aylah notice them coming and stopped her silencing act. She got up and readied herself. Diago walked up to her and they both turned to Sulien. He looked them over, alternating between Aylah and Diago and then said, “listen, I do not like this at all, but I can’t stop the fact that you both were put on this task. Come back here when you are finished at the race tents. I don’t like that you are doing this by yourselves, but at least you have each other, so watch each other’s backs.

“We will” said Aylah, though she cast a sideways glance and Diago, which he admitted was probably called for.

“Now go, I don’t want you back late!”

They left after that. What none of them knew however, that Diago and Aylah weren’t going to be making it back that night. In fact, that was the last time they would be seeing Sulien for quite some time.

One of the last things Sulien thought as they were parting was how much he cared for Diago and how he wished that they would have more than just him and Aylah on this mission together.

----------------------------------------

Around a gruff looking man, who was standing alone in the forest in the early morning, fireflies lit up everywhere in response to the sudden change in temperature. It was suddenly growing very warm. While the warmth may have been a pleasant temperature, it still set the man on edge. He wasn’t very old, but he had enough years behind him to make him cautious. All of the sudden a mist bellowed from the ground and swirled until it formed the shape of a woman. The man was too stunned to move. His hand drifted toward his knife slowly, but something inside him made him stop.

That’s when it spoke. It’s words were chilling and warming at the same time and filled his mind and heart. It was as if his entire existence hinged on the words it was said.

“Thatch…there is something you must do”