It was the meetings with Uncle Elvin that bothered and puzzled Eiden the most.

"How's the things going on with Esmeralda?" Uncle Elvin asked during the tea break of one of their regular late-night sessions arranged to discuss administrative decisions. Eiden almost choked on the piece of cake he was eating and managed to cover it with a little throat clearing. Uncle raised an eyebrow amused at his embarrassment.

"Err..like we are good. We did some reading together," he replied, shyly avoiding Uncle's eyes.

"I see, you two have been spending some time at the library, then." Eiden nodded. Things weren't great between Esme and him, but they weren't bad either. He was even getting used to being short compared to her, luckily he seemed to be getting taller.

"Eiden, it's almost a year now since we rescued you from rebels, you healed faster than I thought. And started magical training and studying. What I'm worried about now is your memory.”

Eiden gulped. This was always a sour topic for him to talk about.

"Uncle, I keep dreaming of some bad things, I wake up scared to death. But I can't remember dreams."

"You must be dreaming of your traumatic experience. Eiden, what I'm more concerned about is connected with your parent's disappearance."

"What do you mean, Uncle? They were lost somewhere, right?" His efforts to find any information about the incident hadn't been successful so far.

"Is there something more to it?" Eiden asked, with a tiny hope of finding his parents. Uncle took a moment before answering.

"No one knows until you remember Eiden. I have a suspicion that why your parents didn't try to take the government back, and being very secretive.

Eiden, you understand that the title of the Lady of the Dawn is not merely a bunch of words.

It's a magical title, and certain magical knowledge comes exclusively with the title that is passed from predecessor to successor. I have a hunch that my aunt passed that to your mother, before her death. We have the scepter and the ring, but there's no predecessor.

The magic that is tied to the ring will answer you, as you're both heir to the title by blood and magic. Are you following me?" Uncle stopped talking to take a long sip of tea.

"Yes, Uncle, I get that something important is missing. Am I right?" Eiden was baffled by this information.

"Yes. Not only that, you may have never heard of this. In her last years, Lady was quite troubled over the fact that there was a slight increase in Nesol children with no ability to manifest their wings. It was a much-discussed topic during the house sessions. You know, even before I sat in the House of Lords.”

Eiden wished he had read more of the house sitting records.

“One speculated reason is that the magical bloodlines are getting thinner. That's why to set an example, my aunt arranged your parents' marriage. At that time, marriages between people from our country and people from the mountains weren't very common.

But, the Lady had doubts that it was not the only reason, but something else was affecting the overall inherent magic in our land. If something tangible affects the magic in our world, knowledge about that is very dangerous. Do you get that?" Uncle paused the long explanation, for Eiden's answer.

"Because it can be used for both good and bad, like to control people." Eiden shuddered at the thought of someone trying to control the source of magic.

"Yes, I think your parents had a clue about that. Now, you're the only remaining link to the direct bloodline, and your mother probably has passed you some knowledge."

Eiden felt useless.

"Why don't you let me go through deep cleansing?” he muttered darkly. What's the big deal?

"No Eiden, it's dangerous. Your health is very important. You know that there's a need for an heir. You need to sire an heir within the next year," Uncle reasoned. Eiden felt the heat creeping all through him, and he blushed cherry red.

"Err..you mean the wedding should be arranged soon?" He couldn't look at Uncle's face.

"Yes. I know it seems to be too early. Nowadays, children like to take their time. I'm telling you first because it's related to your position rather than Esmeralda's."

Eiden slowly looked up at his uncle to see he was smiling. For a second he felt afraid, afraid for something he didn't know, and could not feel, but it was there. Must be the anxiety about having to be a young father.

He cleared his throat, trying to think what to say. But, he had no say in this. A duty, a responsibility, not a choice, not an option.

"Mm..but, I don't know how Esme would take the news. I mean it's her, has to have a baby."

"That's why you need to talk to her about that, Eiden. It's something that both of you need to discuss." Uncle said in quite a serious manner.

Good luck to me telling Esme we got to have a baby. I only got far enough to hold her hand so far, in a romantic sense. ‘Hello, how are you’ hugs aren't making any babies. He inwardly banged his head on an invisible table.

"Yes, Uncle," What else to tell? They concluded the meeting and he bid Uncle goodbye and retired to his room.

It was a bright and pleasant evening to have tea in the garden. Eiden waited for the maid to finish preparation and leave. He especially asked for Esme's favorite cake and other sweets for the tea.

"Uncle mentioned the wedding at the last meeting,” Eiden said. He thought a direct approach was the best way to explain the matter.

"I know,"

"Did Uncle talk to you?"

"No. But you will be 19 next year, won't you?"

Does Esme look sad? Eiden couldn't exactly recognize her expression. But, he had a sudden feeling that she wasn't happy.

"Yes. In summer." Eiden leaned, set his hand over hers, and peered into her soft hazel eyes.

"I know it's sort of early. Are you okay?" He asked with an honest concern about her opinion.

"If I say no, would that matter?" Her voice had a rough and hard edge.

"No, but Uncle would pair me up with someone else," he shrugged. Esme tore her hand away.

"Would you just let my father decide everything, it's your life, your kid, your title. What's wrong with you?"

The last bit was almost a shout full of emotion. Eiden never heard Esme talk that way, and he was too dumbfounded to speak. Her eyes were blazing and magic was flaring. For the first time, he thought she looked very humane and fragile, yet beautiful like a crystal rose.

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"You're beautiful," What, did he say it out loud?

Esme stood up lightning fast and took the glass of water.

With water dripping on his face, Eiden watched her disappear round the bend. Wow, that went well, shaking his head, Eiden left the garden.

After Esme's emotional outburst, Eiden lost interest in his study plan for the night. Instead, he immersed himself in one of his favorite books, which he usually read when his mind was troubled, but his mind kept wandering back to Esme.

Eiden had already tried a few other methods to relax. He had a long hot bath, a long walk in the garden and now reading, but none worked so far, he buried his face in the pillow which stifled his frustrated groans. Throwing the book away, he wished he had someone to talk to, just talk. He wanted to smash a training dummy into a million pieces, but late-night physical training was banned by his uncle.

His uncle…controls every aspect of his life…so what…he has no one but his uncle...your life…your title...Your kid..kid.

He froze. A kid…a true heir of his bloodline and magic. What if. What if something happened to him, like… like his mother? Gone. Leaving him with the title, but he's older, strong, and has free will. Then there's a child, a defenseless infant with his inheritance; immense political power, wealth, and nobility. But alone, without anyone to teach them morals, to teach right and wrong, to guide or just to love them unconditionally.

Eiden was suddenly suffocating. He felt like drowning in deep dark depths of unknown fear. Is there a conspiracy to eliminate him? It can't be. I'm not bad, I'm good, right? He can learn, he listens to others' opinions, and he's strong, so he can be a good Steward. But, someone killed his grandmother, attacked his mother, and tortured him. Someone with no name and no face, because he doesn't remember. They were better. Better than him. Still, they had to die.

Shaking uncontrollably, Eiden realized his breath was getting shallower, his heart was pounding. No, please don't panic. He urged his subconscious. He didn't want to spend another day with healers hanging around him. Calm. I want to calm down. I need to keep my guard up. I need to find out if someone is planning to hurt me. Is my uncle a friend or foe?

After a disastrous breakfast in the next morning with Lord Elvin, because of his poorly concealed panic, Eiden arranged another meeting with Esme. He greeted her in the usual manner and pulled her seat. He held her hand only to let it go occasionally to take some food or so. The tension between them was obvious, but he didn't want to talk about previous events at once.

"Shall we go for a walk?" Eiden held out his hand. Her hand was warm, but her magic was tense like brittle old sticks.

"About last time, Eiden, I apologize for my behavior." Esme's words were sincere, yet he felt strangely disconnected.

"It's okay, Esme. Really, I understand if you think I'm inadequate for a partner. I'm sorry about that. I'm younger than you. But, I'd like you to reconsider. I'm growing up. You know, I can beat Evan any given day." The last sentence, he almost whispered (it was the truth, and he knew it).

For the first time that day, Esme laughed but underlined with pain, he thought. She stopped walking and turned to him, threw hands around his neck, and burst into tears. Eiden managed to get her to sit on a bench, put both arms around her, and held her to his chest.

He let his magic envelope her, like a warm wool blanket, and stroked her hair, kissed the top of her head, and murmured loving words. Esme smelled nice like newly blossomed magical roses. They sat like that for a long time. Finally, she lifted her head.

"Done crying?" he innocently asked while offering a handkerchief. Her sad smile made his heart ache with an unknown pain.

"I'll walk you home."

They walked holding hands in companionable silence, along the long open strip of garden from his quarters to hers.

"Thank you for walking me home, Eiden," They stopped outside of the inner wall of the wards at Esme's house.

"You're welcome, my lady," he bowed graciously. Esme giggled and kissed his cheek before turning away.

Eiden started walking back along the same path, and not a few steps ahead, he came face to face with Evan, who looked at him with unmasked hatred and animosity in his eyes.

"Hello, Brother," Eiden was in high spirits and he couldn't stop himself from greeting Evan with a charming and smug smile, with his most hated greeting of all time. He took a step forward and passed Evan, almost colliding with his side.

Eiden knew that was arrogant and, he shouldn't provoke Evan, yet, he couldn't help but feel rebellious. He also thought that Evan was the guy who was most likely to make the mistake of revealing a hidden plot. He was blunt, an action figure. Uncle was too strategic, slippery, and calm.

Eiden and Esme met almost every day the next week, and more than a few times, he got kisses on the cheek. He didn't even ask permission to hold her hand anymore and was itching for their first kiss.

It was late at night and Eiden was checking on some new wards.

"Arrgh, useless all of this." The wooden box of crystals was slammed shut and thrown to the floor.

He couldn't find any of the five crystals he needed, did he use all of them, or did he never have any, to begin with? If only he could get to the infirmary storage, he could simply tell it's for emergency test magic to healer Selene and borrow a few pieces.

The problem was to evade his guards, who accompanied him almost everywhere except to the bath. It was a headache to take four guards to the infirmary to get a crystal. Fortunately, he knew one secret doorway to enter the infirmary without alerting the guards. This path, they kept mostly known to only his family and a few trusted servants.

It was his mother's idea. Since she was a healer, and had the same high security, she came up with a plan to make a magical doorway. The doorway opened to the second storage room behind the large storage closet of herbs and other potion ingredients which were specifically used for the most complex magic. Therefore, not many people were in the room at any given time.

Eiden took his list and carefully opened the door a little to hear if anyone was inside the storage room. To his surprise, some people were inside and talking.

"My lord, pardon me, but this ritual can be too intense for the young lord. If he didn't have poisoned blood, it could be easier on the body. But now, some elements can adversely react, especially because the memories are related to the trauma. Besides, he's still recovering."

Healer Nayom, Eiden recognized the voice. And his uncle. What's going on?

"I wasted enough time waiting for him to remember. He's strong enough to get through. Prepare the ritual, Nayom. Next full moon, I want it done." His uncle's voice was stone-cold and hard.

"Yes, my lord, the ingredients list of those isn't here."

"I'll get them."

"Yes, my lord."

Someone left the room. Healer Nayom he guessed.

"Evan, get these tomorrow."

"Load of good it's going to be if the little shit ended up dead."

"Evan, I told you once, leave Eiden alone."

What. Is uncle on his side?

"So you can break Esme's heart. Dad, what the hell, you let her get close to the little demon, every day."

"It's your sister's business, not yours, Evan. The direct bloodline needs to continue."

"We are direct too, everyone is a descendant of those people, isn't that what the story says."

Wait. What story???

"We are too far removed, not as close as Enya. Eiden is perfectly compatible with Esme, the child will get a good combination of his magic and ours."

"And you think Esme will have it, just like that, without Eiden? Dad, she's been crying."

"She will get over it. You spent your whole life with him, still hate him, and this is just a year. It's you keep interrupting everything, Evan, constantly antagonizing the kid."

"Well, at least I'm trying to kill him in the open, not stab in the dark."

"Evan shut up. Don't make me send you away young man. Get these tomorrow, now get out."

A moment later a door slammed. At the same time, Eiden closed the door he was hiding behind and fled to his room. His whole body was shaking. They just wanted his child. Memories and a child. Was that all his worth? After that? Eiden shuddered.

He was beyond terrified, and with no one to turn to, he was alone. But, he couldn't stay. The memories, what about memories? No. Leave them. Forgotten and gone. The full moon was only in two weeks. He couldn't act like everything was okay. Uncle would know by tomorrow.

He should leave the Palace. It was good that he replenished the emergency satchel. A few books and clothes. His crystal collection. Eiden groaned in frustration. He never learned long-distance teleportation, only short jumps. Eiden took a long moment to steady his breathing. He was not going to die in their hands. Neither would he bring a child to this world to be taken advantage of.

Eiden waited an hour past midnight. Healers did rounds at midnight and they wouldn't be in hallways for a while. He slowly poked his head out of the secret doorway. There was no one in the storage room. He exited and quickly crossed the hallway to the backdoor of the storage area. This way only used to bring ingredients before processing. So, it was open to the outside.

Knowing the posts of the guards in this area, he decided to cross the hedge and walk some distance to get out of the teleportation-prohibited area. The night was clear. He crossed the open area stealthily. Even if his camouflage worked, the shadows he cast couldn't be avoided. It's good I'm smaller, he slowly climbed the hedge, jumped quietly, and ran to the treeline. Moving among the trees with the grace of a fighter, he finally sensed the end of the ward restrictions.

Eiden looked back. The Amenser Palace stood hauntingly beautiful against the clear night sky. His home. His legacy.

Taking one more step forward, he vanished into the silent darkness.