"This is unrelated and perhaps none of my business, but isn't he a bit young to have a child that's a least a couple of years old?" Amnur knew he was about twice Sebastian’s age, which for a demon was still considered young. While demons were fertile from around twenty-five years old, it was rare for them opt to have a child that early.
"Oh yeah, not that having a child was intentional, but it happened," Dumon admitted with a chuckle, "he underestimated the power of a woman in heat, more so the one you love." Amnur found himself blushing at the remark, he noticed even Kyrith appeared stirred, despite his stalwart posture. He had not been around a woman during that time of the year, as it only lasted a few days. Those experiencing it were often separated for their own safety unless they actively wanted a child. Since he was young, he was always considered one to keep away as the sweet scent of a woman could overpower his mind. "He doesn't regret having Ciel though so don't think that, it just forced him to mature faster than he possibly wished to."
"I can't imagine having a family around Nathaniel is the easiest thing though, unless Nathaniel acts happy and cheery around them if such a thing is possible." Amnur doubted even his own imagery at the end, Nathaniel would have to be a truly cold individual to be able to act that cruel to him and yet be fatherly to his own son.
"They argue a lot, I know that much. Sebastian's problem is he's basically given Nathaniel a replacement for him if he ever disagrees too much, one he can try again to mould to his desires," Dumon responded with a grimace. It was a bad situation all round, but acting too fast could force Nathaniel to move unpredictably and with dire consequences.
"All the more reason to get him on side," Kyrith piped up, "it gives us an angle to work with if we're backed into a corner too."
"Indeed, for now, however, focus on calming yourself over the next few days. I'll get your clothes cleaned up, I believe you still have something else you can wear for now?"
Amnur nodded in reply, he still had his original clothing, if it was folded up in a neat pile in his room. "Leave the rest to us, you just rest for now and get yourself a nice meal."
That sounded reasonable, his stomach was starting to inform him about his growing hunger. He spoke with them for a short while longer before bidding them farewell, feeling better about the situation than he had originally if he was still shaken up. The future was going to be a trying time, Amnur could tell that already.
Chapter 9: Making a Move
The morning of Ciel's test had dawned, and Amnur was nervous; Sebastian was due to arrive at the mage's chambers at any time. He had everything laid out on his desk, complete with a space to sit the child down on. It was the first time he had seen the child, so he was unsure of his actual size, he was just going on his age. Considering Sebastian's height, Ciel could well be larger than expected, but he could always just place him on his bed if needed.
Amnur dusted himself down, tidying up his appearance. Dumon had yet to get his formally appointed robes back to him, the notorious staining property of demon blood was giving him some hassle. Still, he looked formal enough; it would give the Prince no reason to complain, or so he hoped.
A knock on his door got his attention, and with a deep breath, he placed his hands on the doorknob. There was a sense of dread present with him; there was nothing to say that Nathaniel wouldn't tag along, it was his grandson after all. Nervously he opened the door, finding only one individual stood in front of him, fussing over the child he was holding. Visually he shared many of Nathaniel's traits; height, eye colour, length and the angle of his horns, yet he didn't worry Amnur. Something about Sebastian was different; where Nathaniel came over cold and aggressive, he seemed calm and warm.
"Greetings Sire, I have everything prepared for Ciel's magical potency test," Amnur gave a small bow, hearing Sebastian chuckle as he did.
"No need to be so formal with me, I'm not my father," Sebastian spoke up, his voice was soft and reassuring, there was no trick to his request. "I believe this is the first time we've actually met, although I imagine you know my name. I'm Sebastian, and this is my little treasure Ciel."
"Amnur," he smiled, offering out a hand for a handshake, to which Sebastian accepted. "Come on in, it's a bit cramped in here though, as a warning." Amnur stepped back inside the tiny room and watched as Sebastian followed, examining the room as he did.
"You weren't joking about the cramped part, is this room large enough for you? I could try and get you something better," Sebastian queried, stretching out one arm and touching the side wall with little effort over the bed. The other arm was preoccupied with holding Ciel, but Amnur could see he could easily reach either side of the room, with less effort than him if he tried.
"I have everything I need; the lack of free space just encourages me to get out I suppose." Amnur chuckled, drawing in a sharp breath afterwards. The lack of space also meant he had nowhere to hide away when needed, not that he expected Nathaniel to relent due to a locked door. Sebastian's wary expression showed that he picked up on the second half of that statement, so Amnur thought to quickly change the topic. "If you want to place Ciel down on the table, I can get started."
Sebastian did as requested, giving Ciel a soft kiss before backing away to give Amnur the space he needed. He, however, kept an eye on Amnur. The sudden conversation change didn't go unnoticed, but he didn't feel threatened by the mage. Ciel cheerily cooed from the table, curious about his new surroundings. Amnur smiled at the innocent child, he knew nothing of the cruelty of his grandfather, so he had no reason to fear.
"To check that be test results are accurate, I'll just test my own blood first, if that's fine with you?" Amnur queried, lifting a phial and giving the liquid inside a swirl; the base reagent needed for the procedure.
"You know more than me, so go right ahead, I'll trust you."
With the permission granted, Amnur took one needle and dipped the end in alcohol and set it alight, sterilising the end. Ciel chortled at the sight of the flame, which made Amnur crack a smile; he had good taste. Once the needle had cooled, he pricked his finger and collected the single, pitch black drop in his phial and swirled it until the solution changed from black to a brilliant, bright cyan. "That looks as expected," Amnur spoke as he swirled the phial a few more times, closely examining the colour. His blood always showed up exceptionally bright during this test, but that was a false result. Normally, his blood came up nearly white when he let his mana fully flow; however, allowing that was dangerous on his health, so he kept his mana restrained using a specially designed amulet. "Now it's your turn little one."
Ciel bounced about on the spot as he watched all the things going on, his bright eyes lighting up as Amnur sterilised a new needle to prevent any contamination. Amnur took his hand and faced the child's palm upwards, giving the tips of his fingers a quick examination to check if there were any anatomical complications to consider. As he went to prick one, Ciel suddenly lurched to hold on to Amnur's hand with his spare hand, causing Amnur to freeze up.
"He won't give you any trouble, he just likes to mimic things he sees; in this case, he just wants to hold your hand because you're holding his," Sebastian spoke up from the bed to reassure him.
"I'm just worried about hurting him, I thought he might've moved towards the needle," Amnur responded. In reality, he was just shaken over the whole ordeal of a few days past. Having Ciel suddenly grab him had startled him; there had been a child present at that village too, the sensation of his small, delicate fingers had dragged it back to the forefront of his mind. Taking a deep breath, he steadied himself and primed the child's hand. "This might hurt, okay?"
With a swift prick, he was done. He swirled the new phial with one hand while holding Ciel's hands with the other, rubbing the injured finger. Ciel didn't react to the minor feeling of pain, he was too preoccupied with his fascination over Amnur, which was a relief. If he had created in any fashion, Amnur would've been unsure how to react, aside from straight out panic.
"There's not enou
gh here to call him a mage, but he's got enough mana to be able to cast some spells, probably similar to you if I had to guess?" Amnur said as he stared at the dulled cyan hue, turning the phial towards Sebastian for him to examine the result himself.
"Yeah, I can cast a few bits, nothing special but enough to hopefully give me that bit of an advantage in a battle. There's quite a difference between you and us, isn't there?" Sebastian gestured to Amnur's original phial, it was notably much brighter than Ciel's.
"I'm a bit of a special case, I'll admit that one. Other mages wouldn't come up as bright," he replied; it was the result of his mother's selective choice in a partner, his father being a powerful mage increased the chance of her children being born the same. "At the end of the day, it's how we use our talents, rather than our initial mana."
"Agreed, though my range of talents is perhaps lacking, we've not had a Court Mage here for some time. Can't really tell you why either, I don't know myself," Sebastian admitted, it was a fact that worried Amnur. Nathaniel had stated it was due to a lack of suitable mages, but if Sebastian didn’t believe that to be the case, then the King had selected Amnur specifically. Given his treatment over the first mission, his ideal was someone who didn’t question his orders, a mindless soldier capable of killing without mercy. “Could you possibly teach me some things?”
Amnur snapped out of his thoughts, first staring at Ciel who was still fiddling with his hand, before turning his attention back to Sebastian. “Do you happen to have a blade on you? There’s one special technique I could teach you there.”
Sebastian shifted to one side and pulled back his jacket, revealing a set of blades sat in ornate, leather sheaths. He placed a hand on one, sliding out a blade made from an obsidian metal and offered it to Amnur. The blade was curved and deadly, easily capable of inflicting grievous wounds; it was a reminder that he was Nathaniel’s son, regardless of the apparent difference in personalities. Seeing his nervousness, Sebastian lowered the blade and awkwardly scratched his hair. “Sorry, I forget these blades are rather ruthless in appearance, they’re supposed to be capable of defending me, after all,” Sebastian apologised to the mage, letting out a sigh as he relaxed back.
Amnur softly hoisted Ciel off the table, cradling him in his arms as he strolled over to Sebastian. “He’s heavier than he looks.” He chuckled, giving the child a cuddle. “A brave little soldier too, you’ve got the perfect young boy here.”
Sebastian calmed at Amnur’s cheerful mood, glad he hadn’t spooked him too much. “I do feel very lucky to have him, he’s such a joy to be around.”
As he reached the bed, Amnur placed Ciel down between them, watching as the child merrily greeted his father. Gently, he took the blade from Sebastian and held it at arm's length. With a puff of breath, the mage concentrated mana down onto the blade, creating tendrils of flame that crept across the cool metal. Once the magic reached the end of the blade, it formed into a film that coated the sword, increasing its range and potency.
"Can I do that?" Sebastian spoke as he watched on in awe.
"That'll largely depend on you, those with large amounts of patience master this better," Amnur replied, curious to see how he would measure up to his father when it came to this ability. He passed the blade back to the Prince and detailed the instructions to him, watching intently to monitor his progress. Sebastian did as he was told and soon a wisp of darkness slithered down to the edge of the blade, creating a sharpened edge of magic once it reached the end.
"I did it!" he exclaimed a grin spread across his face. Amnur examined the magical film closely, searching for any signs of imperfections. To his surprise, he spotted nothing of note.
"Impressive, you could make the enchantment stronger, but the spell itself is solid. That's unusual for a first-timer, I'll admit that one."
"Do you mind if I ask how I did in comparison to my father? Not that I want to boast to him or anything, more if I should be expecting him to boast similar feats," Sebastian enquired. Amnur hadn't expected him to ask, but his curiosity was interesting. "I won't repeat anything to him if you're worried about that at all."
"He was... poor in comparison to you. It took him quite a few tries and a bit of a tantrum if I had to describe it. This spell needs large amounts of concentration, and he wished to rush it," the mage admitted with a pause, his response had portrayed Nathaniel in a negative light, but Sebastian's mood did not appear to change due to it.
"My father being impatient over something, that sounds about right." He laughed, shaking his head. "I wouldn't take his aggression over that too personally, he just prefers things to work first time regardless whether that's your fault or not."
If only Sebastian knew the truth, the aggression Amnur had been on the receiving end of was far from impersonal. Sebastian clearly didn't hate his father though so bringing it up would prove a poor choice, whether he had any problems with him Amnur was unsure. He opted to take a deep breath, preparing himself for his next question. "Has his short temper gotten him into trouble before?"
"He argues with me on a regular basis over the same issues, and I've known him to get into some internal difficulties due to it, though those serving seem loyal to him to what I've seen. The angels have been attacking us recently, but that's not a new fact, whether Nathaniel's attitude has provoked it more than usual or if Uriel just has some scheme he's acting out is hard to judge, however."
"With you? That comes as a surprise to me," Amnur replied, carefully baiting the conversation to give him some information he could use.
"He thinks I'm too soft considering my position, but I disagree. If anything, he's too cold at an individual level in my opinion. The other issue he tends to bring up is his distaste of Kaiser that I was supposed to 'kill the beast, not invite it to live in my house,' as he says."
"Kill him? Kaiser is a demon, is he not?" For Amnur to hear that his problems were not the first time that Nathaniel had considered killing a demon in cold blood was chilling, more so to bring others into the act as well.
"We didn't know it at the time, there had just been rumours of a mysterious beast living on an island that was a reasonable distance from here, so a group of us decided to investigate it. As it turned out, the beast was a demon, just one that belonged to an ancestral bloodline," Sebastian mused, a slight smile beginning to spread across his lips as he recalled the memory. "He was initially afraid of us, despite his ability to take us down without effort if he wanted. It was his first real contact with members of his own race and given our intent, I don't blame him. Long story short, I ordered the others to stand down and spent some time alone with him, eventually gaining his friendship and I invited him to come back to live as apparently, that island was not his home. The only thing I can't understand is my father's continued distaste for Kaiser, given his strength, I would've thought he would be popular."
Amnur went to say something but swiftly silenced himself; Nathaniel's distaste for Kaiser was that his raw strength was not his to own, that belonged to Sebastian and Sebastian alone. Such raw power was a threat to Nathaniel if Sebastian ever decided to turn against him, so it came as no surprise that he disliked it.
"Sorry if I'm rambling on or anything, it's just refreshing to be open with someone new," the Prince smiled at Amnur, who returned the gesture.
"Oh no, I don't mind, it's nice to get to know people and learn more about the history, since I'm an outsider and all," Amnur replied, watching warily as Sebastian shook his head.
"You may originate from another continent, but you're no outsider," Sebastian corrected him, causing Amnur to chuckle.
"Thanks." Sebastian didn't know the truth, but it still warmed him to hear such words, he just hoped that everything would resolve itself in the end. This was one friendship that he hoped to foster. Compared to his father, Sebastian was nice to be around, and Ciel was certainly adorable. He had yet to meet his wife, but he imagined her to be similar.
"Ah, I should probably get going before Rin wonders who st
ole our little bouncing son and me away. I did tell her that this would probably be short after all," Sebastian spoke up at the moment's silence, hoisting Ciel into his arms.
"I still haven't met Rin, things have been rather busy recently," Amnur replied, slipping past Sebastian in the cramped room to ready the door for him.
"I'll have to set that up some time, I think she'd like you."
Amnur gave Sebastian a bow as he left, a gesture which he swiftly waved off. He watched them disappear from sight and sighed, debating his next action. Kyrith would be interested in what they discussed but moving immediately was not advised, just in case, someone was watching. He opted to sit and wait, mulling over everything that had been said and the recent events. It was a lot to take in, he still couldn't shake his disgust over his actions.
Chapter 10: The Second Mission
The last few months had been quiet for Amnur, Nathaniel had not sent for him to perform any tasks, nor had he even spoken to the mage. It was not a fact he minded, but it certainly made him wary as to why. One thing he had noted was that it was quiet all around, either Nathaniel had held back recently, or he had done it all in secrecy. Either way, Amnur knew to keep his guard up as this respite would not last forever. Where possible, he utilised the free time to get closer to select individuals. Kyrith proved a stout friend, helping him overcome his emotions and pain, although it still bit deep. One thing he did notice with his new companion was that he was very mature for his age, it still came as a surprise that Kyrith was around half his age. Dumon too was a great friend, giving him fatherly support with his wise words and caring attitude. Family was one thing Amnur missed dearly, he felt so isolated on the Central Isles, but he knew he would not be allowed to leave, not alive at that.
Amnur let out a sigh, pausing for a moment to take in a refreshing breeze that swirled past him. He was sat on the open plain just beyond Shadekeep, relaxing in the warming sun. Summer was in full swing on the Central Isles but compared to the south, the heat was bearable. Enjoyable, even. As he laid on the lush grass, he kept one eye on the sky; while he doubted that angels would attack so close to the keep, he was also aware he was highly visible. Others regarded him as they passed, but paid him little heed aside from silently querying his choice to sunbathe in both the heat and the full sun. The others outside that were relaxing stuck to the shade, or not so open areas.
Skies of Fyir Box Set Page 7