Tale of Eldramir

Just after Evelyn and Ezekiel have left the Alkena Auction House Manor.

As Evelyn carried Ezekiel out from the manor Allon withdrew his whistle once again. Bringing it to his lips he let loose a loud shrill noise that immediately summoned several more guards to the awkwardly quiet playroom. As a half dozen guards entered, each one being a person he knew by name and had worked here for several years, unlike the two from outside the surveillance room, Allon gestured to the children.

“Please escort these children off the premises. A family issue has occurred, and we will need to ensure that they are safely returned to their homes.” Allon told his guards as he stepped away from his son and began giving orders. “Please take Shari to her room and get Milly to watch over her for now. She’s just been through an experience she should not have had to suffer through for several more years yet.”

The guards moved forwards to perform their duties. Four of them split off to accompany the four guests off the premises and towards their homes should they wish it. Whilst one of the guards, this one female, approached Shari in a cautious manner, having seen how frightened she was.

“Lady Shari... “the guard said as she approached. Shari flinched slightly as she felt the attention on her. “Can you come with me right now?”

Shari looked back and forth between the guard and her father.

“Papa... “she said in a quiet voice. “Is Aldor in trouble? Am I in trouble?”

Finally realizing that his daughter was absolutely terrified by the incredibly destructive magic and violent actions she had just witnessed, Allon moved forward and knelt down next to her. Ignoring Aldor who continued to sit on the ground where he had been dropped by Evelyn not a few minutes prior.

“No, my dear, you are not in trouble in the slightest.” He said as he held his daughter’s hand in his own.

“But... you’re mad and hit Aldor and you’re sending me away. I don’t want to go away. Don’t make me go away!” Shari was starting to panic as she spoke.

“I’m just sending you to your room dear. I’m not sending you away.” Allon said with a calm voice as he did his best to reassure his daughter.

“But you sent Ezekiel and the scary lady away. Just like Aldor said you would.” Shari said as she began crying as everything was starting to hit her all at once.

“Shut it!” Aldor called out from the side.

Allon slammed his foot on the ground, encasing Aldor’s feet in stone as he channeled his mana through the floor to manipulate the stonework.

“Aahh!” Shari cried out as she saw her father use magic on her brother.

Turning back to Shari, Allon gently reached out to cup her chin.

“Shari; Ezekiel and Evelyn left of their own free will. I did not send them away, so much as I asked them to leave. That means they agreed with me that they don’t need to be here right now.” Allon said. “If they really wanted, I would’ve let them stay. But what’s happening right now is a private matter. Like how you and your mother have little secrets where you giggle at me and your brother when we do funny things.”

Shari was beginning to calm down as her father spoke.

“Right now, I need to do a couple of things that I don’t want Evelyn and Ezekiel to see right now. But for you, I want you to be safe, protected. There was a fight in this room, so I thought you’d like to leave.” Allon explained. “Would you like to leave? Just to your room? I’ll have Milly bring you some warm milk and a storybook you both can read. Alright?”

“...Okay... “Shari said quietly as Allon nudged her towards the guard.

“Okay. Now, before you go, why did you think I was going to send you away?” Allon asked as he sent a warning glare towards his son. He received a glare right back from Aldor as he did.

Looking between Aldor and Allon, Shari was confused and scared as she slowly tried to answer.

“Aldor said that you were just being nice yesterday, and that we needed to show the Void trash its place or else you’d get angry and send us away right after you sent them away. I didn’t do anything to be mean to Ezekiel, so I thought you’d throw me away like you did with them, like he said you would.” Shari said as she nearly started crying again.

“You little-” Aldor began.

“Quiet!” Allon snapped at his son, a look of anger and disappointment on his face. Turning back to Shari he quietly explained. “Shari, look at me, do you see me looking mad when I look at you?”

Shari shook her head. “But Aldor looks angry, and I look angry when I look at him. That means that he’s in trouble, because he lied. So, from now on, I want you to tell me whenever Aldor tells you to do anything, because I need to know if he’s still lying. Okay?”

“Okay.” Shari said as she looked at the ground.

Seeing that this was too much for his daughter to handle right now, Allon looked up at the guard with a nod and a gesture. She immediately reached down with a hand to offer it to Shari as they walked out of the room. Shari tentatively reached up to hold the hand as they walked away.

After he felt they were sufficiently far away, Allon turned to the last remaining guard in the room.

“Tobbard!” he said sharply, causing the guard to straighten up at attention. “You’ve worked for me for five years now, and whilst I’d like to trust you, I’ve just found out that I’ve been betrayed by two of the new recruits, as well as my own son. Recite your oath to my house. Now.”

Tabard, never leaving his position immediately recited his oaths, channeling his magic as he did so that the flow of mana would show that his mana channels were still at Tier two. As well as displaying the runic scriptures that symbolized the Ancient’s language, which could be enforced with the proper use of magical contracts.

Somewhat reassured that he wasn’t going to be attacked by his own guard once again, Allon allowed himself to relax just a bit.

“Thank you. Whilst we will need to do a proper investigation later, for now, please take my son to the inner guest quarters. Stand at the door and do not let him leave” Allon instructed as he started walking out of the room.

“Father! Why?” Aldor called out as Allon walked away. “Why am I being punished for enacting the will of the Church?!”

“DO NOT SPEAK OF THE WILL OF THE CHURCH!” Allon yelled in anger. “You do not enact the will of the Church. The Church worships and honors all the Ancients and respects the lives of all humans and spirits. That damned cult you follow is not a Church, no matter what they call themselves. They murder, spout nonsense that goes against the Ancients’s teachings, and encourage the murder of guests, as you have so obviously tried to do.”

Allon’s voice was cold and gravely, his mana flared slightly as he lost his temper.

“As it is. It seems like your mother and I have been far too lenient with how we have educated you regarding etiquette and behavior towards guests, or all walks of life.”

Allon paused in his march from the room as he turned briefly to look at his son.

“Perhaps what you need, in order to understand that you should be respectful to all others, is a bit of hard life and discipline. Maybe, when your mother returns, I will need to bring up the topic of letting you go work for your uncle for a few years. Maybe then you’ll realize the error of your ways.”

Shocked at what his father was suggesting, Aldor didn’t speak up, finally realizing that any more talking would just get him into more trouble than before.

Watching his son fall silent, Allon turned once again and marched off with a huff as he thought about how much trouble this was going to be, and how much he was dreading the talk he was going to be having with his wife.

Telling the woman you love that her godson was nearly murdered by her own son wasn’t something to look forwards to after all.

It was several hours later in the evening when Sherra returned from her duties as part of the patrol guard for the city. Whilst she never really needed to perform such duties, being married to one of the richest men in the city meant she really didn’t need the money, but she was part of the guard since before she was married, and she didn’t wish to give up just because she was a wife and mother now. She loved the city and her team members too much to just leave them.

However, that didn’t mean she didn’t have moments that she regretted not being home more often. Being a city guard captain meant that she had training in all sorts of skills that could be used to ensure that her home was safe and secured from all sorts of threats, as well, it meant that she could work from home much more often.

The current talk with her husband was one such instance. She always loved her son, and whilst she tended to ignore his behavior towards some people, she just thought that it was due to the other kids he spent time with.

She knew full well that the higher nobles didn’t look well upon Void mages, or those from lower walks of life. But to actually want to kill a child, just because he was a Void mage that was fairly talented? That was something she did not expect. Worse yet, her son was tied to a damned cult of all things.

“We need to call my brother.” Sherra said with defeat and frustration in her voice. “I will also be handing in my resignation with the city.”

“Dear!” Allon stood up from his desk in shock at his wife’s words. Not so much the brother part, but the fact that she was going to resign. “I know exactly how much you love your job; do you really think-”

Yes, Allon, I really do think I need to quit. For Ancient’s sake you’ve just discovered two disloyal guard members, and our own son has been forging your seal to get what he wants for who knows how long!” Sherra exclaimed as she threw her hands in the air. “Who’s to say he hasn’t forged any official documents in your name? Can we afford to be locked into any agreements that we can’t backup?”

Allon sat back down at his wife’s words. Unfortunately, she was right, and there was just too much for him to handle regarding the auction house for him to deal with the guards and his children all at once. Having Sherra back at the manor full time as she took over security for the family would be more ideal.

“Luckily, it hasn’t come to that.” Allon said to his wife who looked at him in curiosity. “I’ve had Aldor locked in the inner guest room for the last few hours. There aren’t any windows, so we don’t have to worry about him sneaking out. I then had his room searched, and whilst we found some disturbing letters between him and a girl, who remains unnamed because they used codenames of all things, the only other incriminating thing we found was a mundane stamp with my seal on it. Enough to fool a household order, maybe a few letters, but not enough to lock us into anything magically binding.”

Sherra slumped down in a chair at the relatively good news.

“He still needs to go. We can’t handle things right now. With us needing to investigate our own guards, as well as the Church of Light cultists getting more influence in the city...” Sherra trailed off as she mentioned the Church of Light, a look of worry and concern crossing her face.

“Wait, what?” Allon said in confusion. This was the first he’d heard of the Church of Light gaining influence.

“It was something that I spoke of with Warren today. It seems like Void mages will not be given complementary education like other children. They will have to pay some absolutely exorbitant fee to be given the basic education that all children get.” Sherra explained as Allon’s face grew more and more horrified by the moment. “Apparently this was an order given by Duke Harper Harkem’s brother, Count Forret Harkem. Which, because of Lord Harper’s current absence due to the extended conflict near the Lost Wild’s border, means that it won’t be overturned anytime soon.”

Clasping his hands in front of his face, Allon let out a frustrated sigh as he thought of what he could do. It seemed like having his wife join the family guard full time really was the only thing they could do in this instance. Sending Aldor away for a time was also looking like a better and better idea. He was old enough to attend an official magic academy, but that would only encourage his currently abhorrent behavior.

“It seems like we have little choice in the matter. Please, send a letter to your brother, and see if he and his mercenary band can take in Aldor for a time. I don’t want him entering conflict this soon in his life, but I really don't think of anyone who I would trust to take a firm hand with him.” Allon said with a weary voice filled with frustration.

“Also, I think there’s something else we need to do.” Allon said with a level of cautiousness in his voice. Sherra just looked at him curiously. Hadn’t they already figured out how they would address their current issues?

Allon stood up for a moment, going to a seemingly random spot on the wall, he waved his hand and the brick folded outwards, revealing a hidden safe. Opening the safe via the use of several magic sigils drawn with his own mana, he reached inside and withdrew two badges on which the symbol of the Church of Ten was engraved. These were special passes that would grant them access to the Spirit lands, beyond the publicly accessible areas.

Sherra let out a quiet gasp as she saw the two precious items in her husband’s hands.

Allon handed one of the special passes to the Spirit lands over to his wife. A solemn look was plastered on his face as they both hesitated briefly before binding the badges to their mana.

“It might be time we try our luck with the Spirits once again.”