Alex found himself astounded by the sheer immensity of Solaris.

Although they had stuck to the man’s advice and only followed the main arterial road - itself still considered part of the Regnal Road, though with the new appellate ‘East’ - the multitude of winding side-roads, dim alleyways, and flow of people belied the city’s true size. Ellie had been keeping a running count of all the avenues she could spot, while Alex kept his eyes peeled for potential trouble, but even the young girl had given up counting when the number eclipsed sixty.

It truly must be a maze-like city, winding and disorienting for the inexperienced newcomer, and Alex found himself grateful for the vendor’s earlier directions. We’d have gotten lost in a heartbeat, he thought.

Their trek had first taken them past the Common Quarter, where tightly packed buildings in desperate need of upkeep were hidden behind the more presentable front row that backed onto Regnal Road East, or as he’d heard it called, the east road. Furtive glances and skulking figures were clearly a mainstay of the area, and a few people had ‘accidentally bumped’ into Alex as they passed it by. Thankfully, his valuables were secured, and so nothing was lost to passing pickpockets.

The transition into the Mercantile Quarter was gradual, with the quality of the building’s exteriors and occupants' clothing steadily trending toward the more expensive. Opportunistic glances were replaced by curiosity and, to a lesser degree, contempt; with the prevalence of the latter increasing as they progressed. A small Royal Army presence could be felt in their richer areas of the quarter, conducting routine patrols that often took them back onto the Regnal Road proper before they ducked down another side-street.

The greatest difference was evident upon reaching the Lords’ Quarter. Houses no longer backed out onto the Regnal Road, here. Instead, an array of luxury shops, tailors and bakeries, jewellers and restaurants, were flanked by the occasional guard outpost. There was a substantial army presence here - it was impossible to take a step without falling into the eyeline of at least a half-dozen stationary guards at any point. Servants flocked to and fro along the street, but Alex didn’t catch sight of any of the district’s eponymous Lords.

He didn’t belong here. The soldiers stationed in the area seemed to agree, as curiosity was replaced with wariness, vigilance, and a healthy degree of suspicion - this wasn’t a place for commoners like them to walk freely. He gestured to Ellie, and together the pair once again displayed their tokens openly. The stares didn’t disappear, but the intensity reduced, and some had been replaced by mild interest. It seemed enough to Alex that their passage would remain unchallenged.

Thankfully, the Lord’s Quarter appeared to be the smallest slice of the city, and they quickly emerged from the Regnal Road onto a new, beautifully cultivated stretch of the city. The road they had been following intersected with another that turned left and right, and he could make out the vaguest curvature as he stared down the new pathway. The Royal Circle, he thought, was actually a circle. That was good to know.

The ornate marble structure that he’d seen from a distance now towered before him in full view, each as opulent and imperial as the last. From his current vantage point, three were immediately recognisable - a towering cathedral, a unique-looking structure to which the path was adorned with columns, and further into the distance, a majestic palace. His inspection was starting to attract attention from the local guards, however, so he quickly moved on. One such guard took special notice of his token, and pointed him directly at the appropriate building. He nodded in thanks.

Majestic marble columns flanked the path, each one a breathtaking display of their sculptor’s skill. On first inspection, they appeared identical in their spiralling curvature, but each individual column was crowned by a lovingly crafted symbol; symbology that was replicated on the fluttering gold-on-black banners hanging from every fourth monument.

Alex knew these symbols from his mother’s lessons, though they saw little use in the world of commoners. Each represented one of the four affinities, an abstract depiction of the internal mechanics that governed power in the world; off-handedly, he reviewed his own understanding of their meanings.

Evokers, those practised in the art of evocation, possessed the gift to manifest their internal energy directly into the world. With their power depending on the radius, they could directly express their will into the area; this covered all manner of applications. Their power allowed them to conjure spheres of flame or ice, to cloak the area around their body in aspected energy, and at the higher levels, to bend the fundamental forces of reality at a distance. The third rarest affinity, Evokers often found themselves in demand.

Augmenters, with their gift for augmentation, manipulated the energy within their bodies to enhance their physical capabilities. Earth for strength and durability, Air for speed and freedom of movement, Fire for explosive striking power and resistance to heat - the applications were as numerous as the energies the augmenter harnessed, and in doing so, made them the premier physical combatants. It was also the most common of the affinities.

Imbuers, those like himself, interfaced with the animate and inanimate. Their affinity permitted imbuement, the changing of an object’s properties and nature based on the aspected energy applied. It formed the foundation of modern technology, the transformation of the mundane item to the supernatural, though it was the only affinity limited by the availability of sturdy materials and the appropriate vessel. Imbuement was a gift possessed by many, the second rarest affinity.

Rulers, the rarest breed of affinity, could exert control over the energies of the world and others. They lacked the ability to manifest their internal energy in the way other affinities did, rather, they injected a small amount of aspected energy into a greater mass to take some manner of control over the whole. Where evocation dealt with external energies, augmentation with internal energies, and imbuement with manipulating the energy within objects - Rulers dealt with the manipulation of energy itself, in all its forms. It made them the least potent combatants, but conveyed a host of unique applications. The affinity of command, it was sometimes called.

There was a very small amount of crossover. Even an Evoker could affect some minor form of augmentation, enough to empower them beyond their body’s baseline capabilities, but they could not do so with aspected energy. Similar restrictions applied to all cross-affinity usage of power, to varying degrees of usefulness.

Much deeper complexities existed within the affinities than Alex was aware of, he knew. Dyads and triads, cross-affinity manipulation, the expansive range of aspected energies that he lacked the control to wield - the use of power was a subject as deep as it was vast, and required far more experience than he possessed to truly understand. Some day, though. He thought.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

With that, his attention returned to the building before them. It was expansive, an old, sprawling campus of structures that dominated the landscape, built from white marble that showed signs of regular upkeep but also inevitable wear over time. The central structure was a wide building, six storeys tall, with a similar exterior to the private manors of the Lords. That would be their destination.

***

Their arrival had seen them quickly ushered into an office on the first floor, where they had promptly claimed two of the chairs on the visitor’s side of the main desk. The office was bare and functional, lacking the personal accoutrements that one might expect from such a place, with little more than a desk and three chairs. Alex and Ellie waited for a few minutes before someone made an appearance.

An older gentleman stepped into the office, uttering not a word as he walked over to the desk chair and sat himself down. A Platinum rank-plate hung proudly from his neck. He reached into the drawer to his left and retrieved two pieces of parchment, setting them down atop the table and licking his finger to separate them. Then, he grabbed the quill pen that rested in an inkpot atop the table, and looked up at Alex and Ellie.

“Names?” he inquired.

“Alex.”

“Ellie.”

“You may call me Major Farrenhal. No family name?” he said, eyebrow raised.

Alex had asked his mother about this before, a long time ago. Lacking a family name wasn’t unheard of in Seaport, but it was usually reserved for those unaware of their parentage, and usually only in young adulthood before they claimed a name from their trade or a distinctive feature. His mother had simply informed them that they had no family name, and refused to answer further questions on the matter. It was strange, but Alex had grown used to it, for the residents of Seaport didn’t question it.

“No, sir.” Alex replied. “Not that we’re aware of.”

The man nodded slowly, jotting down their names on each sheet of parchment. Then, flicking his eyes to the tokens hanging freely from their necks, he extended a hand toward them both. Recognising the gesture for what it was, Alex and Ellie surrendered their tokens to the man, who took a moment to inspect the details engraved into the metal.

“Oh? I admit, I wasn’t expecting to see Arrius and Tyra Barker’s tokens so soon. It wasn’t that long ago their children arrived on our doorstep.” the Major said, squinting at them. “Do you know the significance of these tokens?”

“Recommendation, right?” Ellie answered, inclining her head at the tokens. “It means Arrius and Tyra thought we could join the Royal Army.”

“That’s right, girl. You get to skip the usual admittance requirements, which I can see neither of you currently meet.” His eyes slid over their necks, noting the absence of rank-plates. “However, there’s more to these tokens than just that. I take it Arrius failed to explain the difference between silver and gold?”

“He didn’t tell us what it meant, no,” Alex said, nodding. “Just that we should bring them here.”

The Major sighed, setting both tokens down on the table. “Of course he did. Damn that Arrius. Right, listen up, because this is important.”

“The silver token is a standard recommendation. That permits you to enlist in the ranks, beginning at the rank of Private. You’ll be assigned to a combat unit who will bring you up to speed, and that’ll be that. Understood?”

Alex nodded.

“Good. Girl, your token is different. It’s what we call an officer’s token. Ordinarily, it would see you fast-tracked through officer training in a mere year, and grant you the rank of Lieutenant upon completion.” He paused. “Only, the Army isn’t in the habit of granting command to little girls. Given your age, you’ll be enrolled in one of the four Royal Colleges, until you achieve the necessary requirements.”

Ellie nodded, wide-eyed, and the man grunted. He made another mark on her page. Then, he turned to Alex.

“I’m assuming the pair of you are related, so let me assure you, the girl will receive the best education available in the Kingdom. In doing so, however, she will no longer be under your care.”

Alex was startled by the realisation. Ellie and him, separated? He didn’t like the sound of that - in fact, that was one of the major reasons he opted to follow this course of action himself. He opened his mouth to protest, but Ellie’s hand landed on his arm.

“It’s okay, Alex.” she said gently, smiling at him. “I think this is a good thing. In fact, I expected it. The army will make sure I’m safe, while you can focus on yourself. I think we both need that at the moment.”

“Indeed.” the Major concurred, sniffing. “Trust me, boy, you won’t have time to worry about anything other than your own duties for a good, long while. We’ll make sure you have visitation rights, but for now, this is how it must be.”

Outnumbered two-to-one, Alex’s brow furrowed. This wasn’t his intention at all. He’d expected that Ellie wouldn’t be immediately enrolled into the army proper, because even these people couldn’t be mad enough for that, but this was news to him. He wondered if Arrius and Tyra had given Ellie the gold token for that very purpose, and the answer seemed to be obvious. Still, to have the two of them separated?

The rational part of his mind kicked in. Emotionally, he didn’t trust the care of his younger sister to anyone, not to mention a group of complete strangers. However, that wasn’t what was happening here, was it? No. They had made the decision to join the Army, which under any view would involve temporarily trusting their lives to the organisation, and this was just an extension of that. The fact his sister would receive a full education? That could only be a good thing. He struggled with the idea for a moment, before inclining his head. Perhaps it really was necessary. Ellie rubbed his arm for a moment with the same gentle, understanding smile, before they both returned their attention to the Major.

“Good. Well, lad, this isn’t a complicated affair. Your sister will take more time to process, but for you, I’ve only got one more question. Do you have any past history of crime to report?”

Alex froze, and the Major cottoned on to the reaction. He rose an eyebrow.

“It’s best that you tell me now, so we can sort it out sooner rather than later. The Army takes a dim view of its soldiers keeping secrets, recruit.”

Alex sighed. “Desertion, sir. I abandoned the militia of the town of Seaport when the invaders landed. To protect my sister.”

The Major cocked his head and smiled knowingly for a second before scribbling down a note on his parchment. “You’re not the first young man to run away from home to join the army, and I’m not sure we can rightly call it desertion if you left the militia to join the army proper. I’ll sort it out. However,” the Major stopped, and his eyes turned serious.

“Don’t think you can desert the army and make it out. It’s a trick that will only work once. Understood?”

“Understood, sir.”

The man nodded. “Very well then. Private Alex, no family name, I hereby assign you to the 119th Combat Unit. Report to the…” he seemed to think for a moment. “East Gate, I believe. Further orders await you there.”

Alex swallowed. Did he just say the East Gate?