As Rhea continued her walk down the hallway all the while humming to little Lucas, the house staff parted way for her and gave her bows and polite curtsy's as she went by. While they walked Lucas kept his little eyes peeled hoping to see more of those strange powers these people possessed. Unfortunately Rhea never slowed down long enough for him to really see anything other than the various artworks and antiquities that decorated the walls of their home.
As they continued walking they finally arrived in front a large wooden door with runes and weird writing engraved at the top of the door frame.
*"Lets see how your daddy is doing little Mar."* Rhea said with a sweet tone before pushing open the door and stepping inside.
The inside of the room was much larger than Lucas would have imagined it would be. It had four stone columns reaching up to the ceiling. There was a large wood fire place built into the wall in front of decorative lounge chairs. The room itself was covered in bookshelf's filled to the brim with many different colored books. Lucas knew at once that this must be his family's study and was at the top of the list of rooms he wanted to visit in the near future.
Rhea continued walking into the room reaching all the way to the back where there was a large oak desk covered in files and paperwork that a man was currently shuffling through. As his mother approached the man looked up from his paperwork to see his wife and son come to visit him. He had a tired weary look in his eye but a kind smile appeared on his face after seeing his wife and child.
*"Hi honey, your up rather early." He said removing his reading glasses.*"You shouldn't be moving around too much its only been three days since the birth."* He said with clear concern for her health.
*"Your sweet dear, but you and I both know that Mary is one of the best healers in the kingdom and if something was wrong with me she would've known."* She said while hugging his head with her free arm burying it into her bosom.
*"I know, your right im just worried thats all we haven't been successful since Leah and this time seemed especially hard on you."* He said his view fixed on her stomach with nothing but genuine concern before turning his attention towards Lucas. *"Is this my baby boy you've brought to see me honey?"* He asked sweetly as he reached his finger out to poke Lucas's cheek.
Lucas just gave him an annoyed look and moved away from the giant finger.
*"Well it seems he already doesn't like me, three days and already hated thats got to be a record."* He said unknown if he should laugh or cry.
*"No dear, little Mar just knows that you haven't come to spend anytime with him so of course he's not gonna be affectionate with a father like that."* Rhea said teasing her husband.
*"Im trying, its just ever since Marcus disappeared the royal order is in chaos half want to proclaim him dead the other half want to keep searching, and everyone is looking to me to make a decision."* He said leaning back into his chair letting out an exhausted sigh. *"I dont know what I should do no matter what someone's gonna be angry and of course blame me for it."*
*"Then all you can do is make the choice you believe in and bear the responsibility that comes along with it dear."* She said caressing her husband's cheek with her hand.
Arion grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it affectionately. *"Easy for you to say unlike somebody's order who moves around in the shadows mine has to be the shield that guards the realm and inspires our kingdoms citizens." He said.
Rhea quickly pulled her hand away before smacking her husbands head. *"You fool, you know damn well not to talk about that during daylight in a unsecured location and in front of outsiders."* She said clearly concerned looking around.
Arion just let out a laugh at his wife's paranoia. "Honey we are in our own home, early in the morning, and the only outsider here is our three day old son I think we're fine."* He said more amused then annoyed by his wife's behavior. *"I think that shady business is starting to get to you maybe your the one who should be looking for a new career path."* He said with a chuckle.
His wife rebuked by smacking him again before turning her attention to his pile of paperwork on his desk. *"Are there really no leads that could tell us what happened to him?"* She asked curiously.
*"None, there is literally nothing to go on."* He said with a serious tone. *"It was suppose to be a simple infiltration mission it wasn't even a rank B assignment we just lent them a paladin to reassure their commander. But after we lost contact with the team and went to investigate there was nothing there."*
*"You mean the building was empty?"* She asked confused.
*"No I mean literally nothing, like a person had never set foot there once. There was no spell residue, no sign's of a struggle let alone a fight its like they just disappeared and thats whats making me nervous."* He said with a dead serious tone.
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*"True"* Rhea said as she pondered the implications. *"There aren't many who could take down a paladin even a newbie such as Marcus, but to do it so easily and quietly there is definitely something else at play here."* She said with a serious tone growing just as concerned as her husbands.
*"I'll speak to the association to open up a investigation when I return to my duty's."* She said trying to reassure him.
*"Thank you dear that would help a lot on my end of things."* He said giving her a smile.
*"Well nothing is going to be solved this morning so thats enough business for now, come and spend sometime with your son."* She said forcing him to close a file he was about to open and dragging him up from his desk.
Lucas got another full view of his father as he stood up from his desk. He wore a light brown jacket with matching pants and a white shirt underneath. He stood at 1.93 meters tall towering over his wife and sported a lean muscular frame. It was clear as day to Lucas that he's father must be a experienced warrior who had seen many battles. He kept his dark brown hair combed back exposing his handsome face he was clean shaven for the most part other than his small mustache and goatee. The thing that stuck out the most though were his green eyes that shined like emeralds and despite their tired look held a certain vigor behind them.
*"Alright, alright dear I understand."* He said standing up from his chair stretching.*"Let me see how my little boy is doing."* As he took Lucas from his mothers sash and held him with both hands raising him into the air.
He wore a warm fatherly expression on his face while he held his son babbling to him and making funny faces. This was all new territory for Lucas as he had never once seen a look like that from his last father so it made him uncomfortable more than happy. Though he knew he had to play his part as well to stay on this man's good side until he was old enough to fend for himself. So when ever he babbled and talked sweetly to him he just babbled back and did the best baby laugh he could muster. After raising and lowering Lucas more than enough times he held him securely in his arm before turning his attention back to his wife.
*"By the way dear where is Leah at?"* He asked curiously
*"Where do you think, shes out practicing her swordsmanship again with Zach."* Rhea said annoyed *"I wish she would at least try to be a bit more ladylike instead of blundering around swinging a sword all the time."*
*"I think its cute and I think you should be glad to have a daughter so focused on achieving her goals."* He said with a laugh while gently rocking Lucas in his arm.
*"Easy for you to say im the one who has to pick out the potential marriage partners and not many boys are interested in a tomboyish lady who'd rather gut a Buk then sew a single peace of clothing."* She said exasperated holding her hand to her forehead.
*"Shes to young for boys anyway and if a boy cant accept my flower for who she is then they dont deserve her."* He said sternly dreading to the bottom of his heart the day his little girl would start dating boys.
*"It wouldn't kill her to wear some makeup and a few day dresses every now and then."* She grumbled annoyed how much her husband supported their daughters unladylike behavior.
*"Whatever the case lets go get some breakfast im starving from all the desk work and need a snack, im sure im in for another long talk about our daughters beloved pants again this morning."* He said fed up with the constant war of words he had to put up with between his wife and daughter whenever they sat down for a family meal.
Rhea just puffed her cheeks up annoyed that Arion had predicted the next topic she wanted to discuss with him about their daughter's behavior. They left the study and made their way to the huge dinning hall on the first floor of the estate. The room was large and opened widely at the walls giving of the impression of vastness to visitors. On the walls hung more artwork and artifacts decorating the room displaying his family's wealth and prestige. Over the fireplace hung a huge family portrait of his family the panting portrayed his father standing while his wife sat in a chair and their daughter a few years younger stood between them. Over the course of the meal Lucas watched as his mother and older sister argued over her lack of a dress again while his father tried to just enjoy his meal and ignore them.
After the meal was finished they all went their separate ways his sister went to attend her etiquette classes, his father had some business outside the estate to take care of, and his mother had to make some private call that he couldn't be present for so she handed him off to one of the maids to be looked after. As the day went on his mother made time to come feed and sing to him again but when the sun started to set she put him into his cradle and left him to sleep for the rest of the night.
As he laid alone in his crib Lucas decided there was no better time to practice his breathing and maybe even start to nurture his sentry. As he closed his eyes and took a deep breath he visualized where is sentry was supposed to be located, but all he found was a empty vessel like a pitcher without water. Every time he tried the different breathing exercises he knew the shape would flicker but go out like a fuse that wouldn't lite. He began to think hard on what he was doing wrong then he thought back on the spells the midwife had used and the common spells the servants used to do chores and clean when around him. Every time they said those strange words a connection would form briefly between his sentry and the spell. Like his sentry was calling out for this new strange energy.
He decided to focus on that feeling and matched his breathing to the bits of energy as they entered into his vessel. Slowly he gathered more and more pieces together until his vessel was nearly filled then the strangest thing happened. His body became filled with power and he felt it course through him from his head all the way to his toes. His body began to glow in an orange light that shined brighter and brighter until it filled his room in a blinding light before suddenly disappearing. Afterword Lucas could feel there was something different about him now his body felt stronger and a strange energy filled him with every breath he took. He decided to visualize his sentry again to see if he had ignited it but what he saw left him shocked and confused.
Rather than appearing as a sentry should which was a white ball of energy where you slowly add rings of power encircling it like a planet the more it matured and grew. Instead he found a orange orb like gem that shined dimly. It reminded him of a topaz jewel that had no luster to it. Then with every breath he took he could see the energy enter and feed this strange crystal where his sentry was suppose to be. This development left Lucas confused but satisfied with the results.
"Well its a start." He thought proudly.