Eiden knew he was going to die. At least twice. First in the hands of the Lady, second by Mama. All because of an ancient Goddess.

Not less than ten minutes ago, a magnificent rose marble sculpture of Nixe, the Goddess of the seven seas and thunderstorms stood tall and proud in the center of the Grand Fountain. Its pedestal was shaped as rising waves upon waves, intricately carved from a single piece of white stone. The sapphire-encrusted circlet on her long hair and open wings were gleaming in the spring sunlight.

Her left hand held a golden trident close to the bosom, and in her right hand, which rose above the crowned head was a silver cup turned downwards. Through the cup, a stream of bubbling water poured, creating a rainbow that shone over the circular pool beneath. The little pink moss crocus embedded in its stonework rim and the dancing blue daffodils surrounding the beautiful fountain were in full bloom, casting a picturesque view.

This famed statue was an ancient artwork found among the ruins of a temple in the foothills of the Silver Mountains. It said that the trident was initially covered with blood, spilled in the last great war, and later painted in gold to mark the Fall of the Black Dragons. After the discovery, it was moved to the main courtyard of Amenser Palace in Newheart, where Lady Eunthae, the Lady of the Dawn, and the supreme ruler of the Nesolian empire resides.

When the lessons stopped for the afternoon break, the children poured into the courtyard in a hurry to avoid getting caught up in the crossfire of the fight between Eiden and Evan. Though Eiden and Evan were cousins, outsiders might view them as arch-enemies, because of their everyday (if they get a chance) fights which were getting increasingly brutal as they learned stronger spells.

The sound of an unintelligible yelling from Evan and a high-pitched girlish scream ‘Evan, stop’, must be from his sister, Esme, was carried over the courtyard. And followed by another yell, ‘Evan, you, coward’, this time from Eiden.

A bright light of a spell, made the gaggle of students retreat farther, cowering behind the statue. The two boys came, running through the hallway, ducking to avoid each other's spells which were thrown at an alarming rate. Esmeralda's futile attempts to stop the fight weren't at all working and she ran to a boy standing with other children, with tears in her eyes.

"Raki, get my father or Uncle Hadrian, those two are going to kill each other,"

White spears of ice clashed with blades of fire. Waves of blazing fire were countered by jets of water. As the mini-war raged on, the fighters weren't aware of the fact that others were seeking cover to avoid shards of ice and sparks of fire or they were getting too close to the Grand Fountain.

"STOP, you are going to hit the statue!" an older boy yelled.

Some younger children scared by the loud crashes, started wailing and two guards who came running also stopped midway, clearly, no one wanted to get hit with a stray spell. The charged air around the two boys was crackled with magic and blurred with steam and smoke.

So, nobody saw it coming. A bluish-white streak of light embedded with branched purple lightning screeched through the air and hit the middle of the marble statue.

BOOM!

With a loud boom, it exploded into an enormous cloud of dust and the raging torrents of water started to gush out from the pedestal. It didn't stop there.

Thick tendrils of white fog started to rise faster and faster engulfing everything around the fountain. Screams of frightened children, and shouts for friends and siblings echoed through the foggy courtyard. The shallow pool that encircled the fountain wasn't equipped enough to hold much water and started flooding the garden with icy cold water.

Now, as the commotion unfolded, Eiden stood frozen to the spot, imagining extra creative ways that he would be murdered by his darling mother. The fog surrounded him as the water level started to rise over his feet.

"Evan,"

A crying voice and splashes were heard behind him. Eiden conjured a bright sphere which only illuminated a few feet before him due to the fog. Looking for the source of distress, he saw the outline of a girl and suddenly, she fell face down into the water. Eiden ran to her, knelt, and lifted her as she struggled to get up.

"Esme, hey," Holding her by the shoulders, Eiden patted her back when she coughed the water out.

"Where's Evan?" Esme asked, panting and shivering. The rising cold water soaked through their clothes. But, Eiden's attention was elsewhere.

"Esme, you're hurt!"

"What?" Esme looked down to see her originally white, now the muddy brown blouse was bloody in the chest. Without a thought, Eiden reached to examine the wound, he had already completed first two modules in basic healing.

“Hands off. It doesn't hurt," she smacked his hand.

Eiden mumbled sorry and got up supporting her. Everything around them had vanished in the fog, only voices and cries could be heard all around them. Esme got close to Eiden, holding tight his hand, as she called for Evan again. He tried to muster all his magic to condense the fog around them, then it could fall as rain but failed as it kept getting thicker. Soon, the children began to cough and sniffle, struggling to breathe dense humid air.

Suddenly, a shrill whistle was blown.

"Silence," a loud voice boomed.

"Attention please, everyone. Calm down. Stay where you are. Don't do any magic."

Eiden recognized his father's voice. However bad the fog was, he desperately wished it would remain, so he wouldn't be seen and dragged away to the gallows. Esme must have felt him tense, she poked his hand.

"Good job, future lord. Wrecking the palace," she whispered.

"What, It was Evan," Eiden blurted out.

Splat.

Aww. Esme smacked him hard on the shoulder.

"Are you blaming my brother, Eiden?" Her shrill voice must have been heard by everyone in the fairly quiet courtyard, grimaced at that thought, he pleaded.

"Shhhh, lower your voice."

The cool breeze started to blow and circle them, and the sound of gushing water also was fading. An announcement was given again to stay still, and they noticed the water level was reducing. Must be by his mother who was a powerful water elemental. Eiden gulped the air like a fish out of water.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

"Wait till I tell them, I tried to stop, but you didn't listen." Esme wasn't helping his rising panic either, as she quietly cackled.

No one needed to tell him, because he knew it was his fault. He shouldn't have risen to Evan's bait. However, the impenetrable white fog remained the same and for a moment, Eiden thought his wish had been granted. A guard appeared in front of them, startling Eiden.

“Young master, young mistress, this way, please. Follow me.” He bowed to them and they followed him hand in hand. Eiden's heart raced looking around thinking of a way to disappear, as they crossed the containment wards, revealing the people gathered in the hallway.

"Evan,'' Dropping his hand, Esme ran to Evan who stood a little distance away from them, and threw hands around him sobbing.

Eiden struggled with the urge to run far away from the unfriendly eyes of the gathered crowd, now directly aimed at them. He looked down at the ground, searching in his mind for any spell that could make a hole in the ground to bury himself.

"Honey, you're hurt!"

Eiden raised his head to see his aunt exclaim, holding Esme at arm's length, making her cry louder. Gah. She is faking to make everyone blame him, not Evan, Eiden fumed inside. Why does she take Evan's side when it's him who always starts arguments and fights, he stomped the wet grass.

The crying and possibly hurt children were being comforted by parents, and the guards were ushering everyone away from the muddy mess in the courtyard. Eiden watched his mother who appeared from the fog after her hard work to stop the flood, talking to the crowd and calming them down.

A young girl in a mud-stained dress ran to her crying. She spoke to her in a soft soothing way. Eiden wanted to run to his mother too, but he was not going to be welcomed into her arms now.

“It's magically generated fog, and will take some time to dissipate.” Mother answered someone, consoling another child.

Mother must be determined to let Eiden rot alone in wet and uncomfortable robes, he huffed and shuffled his feet. The crowd was slowly dispersing and his parents were walking towards him. Eiden tried hard to stop the tears waiting for a hair breath away to fall, and he found that somehow he was glued to the ground.

"Eiden Northstar, what a fine display of good behavior and responsibility!"

The temperature around him dropped to the freezing levels as his mother spoke.

"Look at me, when I talk, Eiden."

Her voice itself made him shiver. He lifted his head to meet her eyes. As their eyes met, Eiden couldn't hold back the tears anymore and burst into sobs.

"Mother, I'm sorry. Mother, please, I really am." Knowing that nothing he said could right the wrong he did, made him cry harder.

"Go home, and clean yourself. Stay in the room until Her Ladyship calls." There was no shred of warmth in his mother's voice.

But, who was he to complain, when he didn't deserve it? His father tried to speak but was silenced by a glance of his mother.

"Yes mother," he said, sniffling.

Eiden's living quarters were just a little distance behind the main residence of the Lady and all the way, he cried silently, which was very embarrassing. The guards, though they knew him well, didn't speak a word until they simply gave his mother's orders to the butler.

He dreaded the meeting with the Lady, the only little comfort was that Evan also was going to be there and get scolded. But, he was going to be scolded more, and punished harder.

His stomach churned, thinking about the statue. By the name of Azur, how did that statue explode? It was opened to the public who visited the Palace and historians from all over the world often came to study the sculpture and its carvings. Shouldn't there be protections around it? Sitting in the room, with no one talking to him, Eiden was getting restless.

His eyes teared again thinking of what kind of punishment he was going to get. Send him away to the mountains? Grandfather will hear about this too, and will get angry. He is pretty sure Uncle will do nothing with Evan. Left deep in his thoughts, Eiden nearly fell out of bed when he heard the tap on the door.

"Young master, the Lady is waiting."

His parents were waiting for him in the living room. Eiden shuffled from one foot to the other.

"Mother, I.."

"Her Ladyship called a meeting for our family and Lord Elvin's family,“ Mother interrupted.

Mother was still mad, Eiden knew because Mother only used formal addressing for the family when she was furious

"Yes, Mother," he mumbled, as he lagged behind them. Eiden wanted nothing but to hug them and beg for forgiveness, and to be reassured. An impossible goal to reach, probably for weeks to come.

As they entered Her Ladyship's meeting room reserved for the family, Uncle Elvin and his family also arrived. The door at the far end of the room opened and Lady Eunthae entered. Everyone stood up and bowed when she sat at the head of the table.

"Eiden Northstar, Evan Goldstein. Stand up.

I was told that two prominent members of my family had destroyed a thousands of years old statue and a symbol of our culture.

Is that true?"

Eiden thought he was going to wet his pants. He knew Evan too was quivering in his boots. Her Ladyship's voice was calm but cold and hard, and her eyes were blazing in anger.

"Yes, my lady," Eiden and Evan admitted the offense.

"Whose spell hit the statue?" she questioned. The boys looked at each other at the same time.

"Err..mine," Eiden admitted.

"Explain,” Lady Eunthae ordered.

"We were blocking the spells. One of my spells, Evan, thwarted back after colliding with one of his. I shielded it with a mirror shield. The modified spell hit the edge of my shield and reflected sideways. It must have hit the statue."

Eiden explained with greater difficulty. He practically felt the radiating disappointment of his parents who were sitting behind him.

"Who started the fight?" the Lady asked. They squirmed trying to look anywhere but at her. A moment passed in silence.

"I did," Evan blurted out, making Eiden almost gasp in surprise.

"It's only an argument before. I fired the first spell," Evan said meekly.

"This is not the first fight between you two, is it?"

This calm and quiet interrogation was more terrifying than yelling.

"No, my lady," they answered in unison.

"Why does this keep happening? Is the Palace too small for the two of you? Do I have to send you to North and South to keep you apart?"

The thought of sending him away made him shudder.

"No, my lady, I'm sorry," Eiden pleaded her.

"You destroyed public property. Apologizing to me has no meaning,“ she said a little louder, the anger creeping into her voice.

"Lord Elvin, call a house sitting for Eiden and Evan to appear and claim public apology," Lady Eunthae commanded and turned to them.

"This whole event is very disgraceful to the palace. What do you think people will say? Her Ladyship's grandchildren are fighting like wild animals. The only relief is that none of the spells hit another child. I'm very disappointed with you both." She sighed and continued.

"Lady Enya, make preparations for Eiden and Evan to work in Newheart Central Hospital for a month, as community service. From tomorrow, your lessons are canceled. You will start working in shifts."

Eiden stared at his grandmother open-mouthed. Central hospital?

"I will send for the groundskeeper to analyze the damage to the inner courtyard. Under his supervision, you two are going to clean the place completely without magic and repair all the damage."

"What?" they both yelled simultaneously.

"Yes. Without magic. Two of you keep fighting to see who's stronger, don't you? Magic is not a weapon for tyranny. What is the use of me telling the public that when my house acts to the contrary?" she asked them looking at their horrified faces.

"Another incident like this, you will be sent out of the Palace until you learn to behave. Do you understand?" Lady Eunthae's authoritative voice echoed through the meeting room.

"Yes, my lady," they replied quickly.

Later that day, while eating in his room, because Mother didn't allow him at the dinner table, Eiden thought he was going to find out how the world would turn out if people had no magic.