Tiago:

Continuing…

Tiago sat with his family, waiting for breakfast to arrive. Tiago had gone weeks without food in his previous life, and he felt just as enormously hungry as back then, although he didn’t know why.

They sat at a lavish burgundy table, a white cloth covering its surface. The walls were draped in purple silk banners with their family house insignia on its face.

The smell of tender meats and roasted vegetables excited Tiago as a large platter of what smelled like roast beef was walked into the room and served on silver platters.

He waited silently, eyeing food with extreme hunger. The kitchen staff, a server noticing his longing stare at the food, giggles at his reaction. The staff worked most days and lived in the village as well—all teenage girls who were the villagers' daughters in their small settlement.

“We must eat quickly, as after our meal, we head out immediately.” His mother, Hera, spoke as another girl set down a platter of vegetables,

“I trust you all packed appropriately.”

Joseph straightened his bowtie, smiling with an intrepid dignity; he thought he had served the young master well. Altho, the armor he had made was quite strange by Joseph's standards.

“This is mainly directed towards you, Tia. Your father and I have a meeting with a city noble that will hopefully resolve peacefully. During this time, your brother is watching over you.”

Her mother spoke pointedly as if Tia couldn’t be trusted with her own protection.

“Yes, mother.” Tia spoke quietly, and she seemed quite reserved. She must still be shocked from the previous day,

'It can’t be easy for such a young girl', Tiago thought.

A dark shadow felt as if it was hanging over his sister. He felt he should do something to cheer her up, but he wasn’t good at the whole gift-giving thing. She reacted well when he gave her his magic books, which his father gave him. He would keep that in mind.

Their mother, Hera, picked her fork up, which indicated to Tiago he could eat, and his mind forgot immediately what he was thinking about, and he began devouring everything in front of him. In contrast, his sister meagerly poked at her food.

Tiago continued to mow down his food, only slowing down when his mother noticed all the meat had gone missing, and they had only just begun eating. Scolding him for his rush.

The servers and chefs were peering around the corner, witnessing the beast in action. His father marveled at the spectacle and called out to the staff,

“Quickly, bring more! The boy is hungry.” Waving to the staff as they turned frantically, running back to the kitchen.

This continued all morning until he had finally satisfied his hunger. He discovered he had eaten them out of food for the week, which panicked his mother, but his father laughed, stating that they would have to refill once they arrived at the city.

The breakfast antics had delayed them several hours, making the estimated arrival time nightfall. This wasn’t a problem as magical beasts weren’t a problem in their area, but avoiding interactions with bandits and thieves would be best.

Magical beasts fascinated Tiago, animals that could project magic like humans, the strong of which even surpassed them. His father would talk of great hunkering beasts of ice and fire. He hoped there were dragons, he loved dragons when they were kids. He had seen magic beasts during his patrol. The birds, rabbits, and all other animals had some attribute of magic to their existence, but no dangerous creatures occupied the area around their home. However, it was notorious for bandits, and the settlement during nightfall was almost a sure death sentence.

These bandits didn’t interact much with the village as many retired military powers like Tiago's father were much too difficult to deal with. So it was a necessary stop to visit the inn if you were traveling between cities.

Tiago stepped out the door of the manor, Joseph closing the door behind him,

“Farewell, young master; enjoy the city, but be careful.” His words were filled with willful warning.

Joseph shut the door, and Tiago saw Tia waving at him from the front of a carriage. He waved back and began jogging to the carriage, taking a moment to observe the horses pulling the carriage. He could faintly see a red aura from their legs. They must have some form of magic themselves.

Meeting his sister at the door, she steps inside the carriage, sitting opposite his father and mother, who sat forward. He took a seat next to his sister.

His father cleared his throat,

“We are ready to leave,”

A whipping noise can be heard, but he hadn’t seen a driver. The cracking of the whip made Tiago's hair stand on end. He shook his head, not letting such a small blip in his training hold him back.

The carriage began moving; its slow start was quite surprising to Tiago, but then again, it only moved the power of horses.

His father raised his arms to his chest and closed his eyes. Tia, absently staring at the treeline, snapped her attention to her father, her eyes widening. Tiago notices this and watches as his father's eyes snap open.

“Accelerate.” His words shook through Tiagos body, making him shiver.

The carriage jolted forward as they began accelerating faster and faster. His mother raised her right arm, cupping her hand and rotating her arm. She took a deep breath in,

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Protect.” her words sent a shimmering bubble around the cart as their speed continued to increase. The bubble stopped the shaking of the carriage and bumping from the sheer speed. The tree line began to blur as they began moving seamlessly.

Tia looked around in wonder, moving her fingers in slight patterns as if tracing something. But Tiago was more terrified than amazed; he thought he had just started getting a grasp on magic, yet this had completely thrown him off.

He stared sullenly at the floor; he had no talent for understanding magic. How would he manage to protect Tia? He just needed to compensate for the gap with brute force. Would doubling his current training regiment work? ‘Worth a shot.’ He thought.

The rest of the trip was a blur; they sat mostly silent, other than Hera occasionally mentioning their agenda. They were expected to arrive late at the inn, based near the center of the city,

Colgrad was a minor city in the Dominion country. It was known for raising knights for the military due to its open environment; its history dates back to the very early years of the country's original reign one thousand years ago.

This is why the Tournament of Swords is held there, at an arena made especially for the tournament in its center.

The inn they were staying at was at the edge of the suburbs close to the city's outer rim. Tiago's mother was quite upset as this was right next to the Shallows, a region known for housing a large majority of the city's criminal underworld. Usually, she would stay at the Caballero Inn, a luxurious inn on the opposite side of the city, but the noble they were inquiring about had their store in the Shallows. Tore, thought it would be more convenient.

A few hours into their journey, Tiago had been thinking about changing his training regiment, when he noticed his sister looked quite ill, covering her mouth and staring at the floor. He leaned into her and whispered in her ear,

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah, just the speed at the blurriness is making m-” she quickly stood up and rushed to the entrance to the bubble and leaned out of the carriage, letting her breakfast out into the bubble, promptly reduced to nothing coming into contact with it.

“Tia!” Her mother shouted,

“I'm okay…” Tia pulled herself back inside and taking her seat, slouching down, craning her head back, and closing her eyes, trying to keep her composure.

“You absolutely cannot act this way when we are in the city!” Her mother continued, her voice empty of sympathy but more of annoyance,

“Just not good at going fast, ok?” Tia retorted,

“Well, you’ll have to learn to get used to it!” She spat

as if offended by Tia's agony. Tiago peered angrily at his mother, and it wasn’t as if Tia meant to do that. He opened his mouth slightly to speak up when his father interjected,

“It’s her first time in a carriage, dear, ‘ave some sympathy.”

She turned her head quickly, “Hmph.” It was rare to see her acting childishly.

“Are ya ok, Tia?” he spoke gently,

“We can stop for a moment, but not for long if you need it,”

Tia shook her head, opening her eyes and blinking a few times, regaining some composure and sitting up straight again. Putting up a weak smile,

“Mother must still be upset about the inn, so it’s understandable.” Tias' words feigned understanding, but it seemed to reach Hera, who turned back to her daughter. Quietly, she apologized,

“Sorry, Tia.” she did sound genuine, but then she quickly turned to Tore,

“She's right. I am just annoyed with our current circumstance; I mean, it's dangerous there, isn’t it, honey?”

Tore laughed, and Hera punched his arm in retaliation.

“Nothing will harm you. I am here. No one would dare attack my family.”

Tiago believed every word; this man possessed a power that seemed supernatural.

A few more hours passed. This time, however, they finally began talking. Tiago learned a little bit about his mother's history with his father, how she was a mischievous girl who got up to no good in a lineage of an overly prudent patriarchal family. But as she grew older, she gave up on her older tendency as she became a mother, she finally realized what her parents were worried about.

This relieved Tia's tension as she came to understand her mother a little bit more.

They finally arrived at the city entrance, the blurring scenery returning to normal and Hera fading the protective bubble to nothing. They approached a grand gate that stood several hundred meters above them. The gate was a stone archway that had four knights with red streaks across their armor; none wore helms and were mostly lax, and two leaned against a wall, talking to one another. One had an emblem of a sun in its center and stood properly, watching people walking in.

Tiago stared at him. His was stern and serious, with brown slicked-back hair that pronounced peculiarly red eyes. He noticed Tiago and peered back. Not breaking eye contact, he began walking to the carriage. Tore noticed Tiago staring and stood up, stepping to look out the opening, the floor creaking with his weight. The knight, now noticing his father, his face seemed to relax a second; he waved and then turned to return to his post. Tore turned and returned to his seat,

“I don’t know what ya did to spook ‘em, but I suggest not scarin’ the guards, Tiago,” He spoke more out of curiosity than seriously warning Tiago. He made note of this as they entered the bustling city streets.

Wide bricked streets with small cottage-sized houses on either side, transitioning into larger multi-floored buildings.

Civilians were walking around passively going about their days, and occasionally, you would see a young man wearing metal armor or partial protective equipment that his father had told him were knight trainees going about their duties.

“You’d be well to pay attention to them, aye; you’ll be one of ‘em one day.”

The school was multifaceted, and its facilities comprised a large portion of the city's west. The main entrance was on the north side.

His father said they were going past the center as the inn lay just south of the center, and as they began getting closer, they passed the large arena walls. It looked much like a colosseum, but with what looked like metal braces on the outside of the walls, Tiago wondered what needed that level of reinforcement.

Rounding a large fountain at its center, the carriage stopped before the inn about the same size as the one in their small town. A green sign stood above the front door.

‘Green Lilly Inn’

Tiago stepped out of the carriage first, taking in his surroundings. The inn was on the border between the large luxurious buildings/shops and the small homes and cottages, which he assumed were the fabled Shallows.

Although it did not appear very scary, there didn’t appear to be any people walking about. Which left him with an eerie feeling; he could understand why his mother wouldn’t want to be there.

His Father came out next, putting his hand out for Hera to take as she used it to step down, helping Tia down as well.

Tia dropped to her knees and cried out.

“I’m finally free of the accursed carriage.” She put her hands together, thanking whatever god that would hear her.

“Stop being so dramatic, and don’t dirty your dress.” Hera's voice rang with annoyance.

Tia stood up quickly, dusting herself off. She did appear happier than before, which Tiago thought was great news.

Tore walked towards the entrance of the inn when the door swung open suddenly. A tall, skinny man in a bright red suit who looked to be in his young 20s stepped outwards, bowing his head down. His hair was a violent spiky red, which vaguely reflected Tiago's White hair, although Tiagos was much shorter.

“Welcome, Ein Sof family.”

His father peered at him suspiciously.

“We agreed to meet tomorrow Ayther.” His father's voice was stern and serious.

“I thought it best to introduce myself as you are the Tore Ein Sof, aren’t you?” Ayther looked back at Tore before looking past him, his eyes darting between Hera, Tiago, and Tia.

“This must be the family, my-my, they do look capable.” He smiled,

His positive remarks and attitude did not deter his father's suspicion. Reading this, the man stood up and nodded his head,

“Well, I'll see you tomorrow then, Tore; enjoy your stay.”

He then quickly brushed past him, walking past Tiago; he quickly looked at Tiago, and a small smile flashed on his face for a second before he walked away towards the Shallows.

Tiago’s intuition told him not to trust him. Something wasn’t right.