Evan escorted Ezra along with the two squires around Bren, Reitz and Aerwyna were with Ezra as they pointed out the blacksmith's place the healers, where the ores came from, the taverns, the armoury, and the training grounds. The other knight escorts were astounded at what Ezra would ask from his parents, some of them had their own children. Most would not even speak yet let alone ask such complicated questions. Because of this, they were awed at their Lord as they thought that Ezra was personally taught by their Lord and Lady. There were only two knights among the group that were not puzzled, they were the ones that survived Catalyna.
'If they only knew Lord Ezra was like this even when he was a baby,' Evan thought as he involuntarily shuddered.
He had recalled the past year where he was guarding Ezra, at first he was both impressed and frightened at Ezra, if not for his help against Catalyna he would have thought he was a demon-possessed child. There were stories about Arcanists worshipping demons.
But as time flowed he became acclimated to Ezra's eccentricities. There were times he acted very smart like a knowledgeable expert, but when it came to something about magic he would fawn over it like the child that he was. It also baffled him that Ezra was not too keen on toys, but he did request some wood from his father, his father indulged and gave him some. Ezra then asked Evan if he could teach him how to carve. In a matter of three months, the baby became a master carver, but he was perplexed to see that Ezra used magic on his body while he was doing this.
He made weird carvings, things that he had never seen before. Such as a weird looking carriage which he called a 'train,' he also made insect looking carvings which he called "aircraft." Ezra explained that these were transportation vehicles and that they were "Scale models" that were one-is- to-eighteen in ratio, he did not pay attention to what he was yammering about. Ezra even attempted to make weird contraptions but he quickly destroyed it and kept on muttering to himself to be patient as it was not time yet. He did not understand this and he just rationalized as him playing. Aerwyna was overjoyed when he made his first carving but she looked at Evan with a piercing gaze because he lent him his dagger, thankfully she did not reprimand him.
There were times that Ezra was besieged by boredom and would try to escape, even though he tried to reinforce the exits and make them as noisy as possible when opened, he would still find a way outside without making a sound. There was even a time when he was about to succeed but Evan caught him in the last moment and pleaded with him. It was good that Lord Ezra was gracious and did not proceed, after which he never tried to escape again.
When Evan got back to his senses he realized that Aerwyna stopped at a seemingly random block but he quickly realized that it was where the battle with Catalyna took place in and Aerwyna closed her eyes and bowed and so did most of the soldiers and knights. There was a plaque of stone erected where a building once stood. He noticed Ezra looking bewildered at the sudden silence then it seemed that he quickly had an epiphany and followed suit as well.
Evan bowed as he closed his eyes commemorating his brothers in arms, this was the place where countless of his comrades died on that fateful day, he remembered the laughter and the sorrows and tribulations he and his fellow soldiers went through, the harsh training and the wounds they bled, they were all destroyed by that powerful woman. Evan was shocked when Catalyna revealed her power, It was truly rare that there was someone more powerful or at the same level ofAerwyna and Reitz, he only personally saw three people more powerful than them, one was the Prince of Gasmere, the Rex Imperia and the Primus Praetorian.
Even though the remaining knights were rattled when Catalyna showed her power, Bren boasted one of the most highly disciplined Knight Orders in the empire, they did not flee when facing a powerful enemy rather, they faced the opposition head on without a care for their life.
Evan then reminisced about his days as a child, he was a distant cousin of Aerwyna, a bastard of her uncle's cousin. He was trained in House Riverrun ever since the age of seven where he was forcibly taken from his mother. His mother was given compensation for the loss of manpower, and he was trained as a squire in Castle Riverrun. He was never the top performer. In fact, he was a bitter second even though House Riverrun promised that the family of the best soldier would get extra monetary monthly compensation, he never beat the first, even with his determined tenacity. Back then he was determined to take the top spot because he loved his mother dearly and wanted her to have a good life.
His mother was a fair maiden with flaxen hair. She always wore it as a braid, she was a milkmaid and wanted her son to be a helper in the farm. There were rumours that she was raped by a noble and that he was the fruit of that incident. Thankfully his mother did not abandon her even though he was an unwanted son, she truly did love Evan. As he proceeded to knighthood at the age of sixteen his mother caught a strange illness. He did everything in his power to heal his mother and even gave all of his wages except for but a tithe of it, just for food expenses. Commoners truly were fragile, magic combatants rarely contracted diseases and when they did they would recover in just days. His mother died when he was seventeen, he did not even see her on her deathbed as he was on duty on his first mission. This had left a shadow that hovered over his heart.
The next mission however his luck turned for the better at the expense of his comrade. His friend and rival died at the hands of the enemy, the top performing knight of their batch was killed. The Riverrun's discovered the aptitude of Evan to command troops and he rose abruptly through the ranks. His merits earned him to become a Riverruner, an elite knight regiment of the house, he was then assigned to be the bodyguard of Aerwyna along with four others. She was cold and indifferent to them for a while. While she seemed to be obsessed to defeat the future Earl Blackfyre, she kept on training day in day out, it seemed that she had a bet with Reitz.
This training, however, was too strenuous on her body and there was a time that her magic backfired on her and she was immediately helped by Evan and his team. After the incident, she became friendlier toward them and as time passed the team that guarded here became her most trusted people. It shocked them when she announced she was engaged to Reitz, they thought that she wanted to kill him, she had that look when she training then. Never in their dreams would they have thought that this icy lady would fall for a lord like Reitz but in the end when they saw them as a couple they were indeed a good match.
During the transition phase, they were supposed to go back to their normal routine as Riverruners but Aerwyna asked them to be her personal guard after Reitz and Aerwyna's union. The team was happy to accommodate her and this lead them to stay in Bren with their families. Evan was, however, was single and didn't have much interaction with ladies, this was probably because he was guilty about not being able to protect the most important woman in his life, his mother.
He was startled at Reitz benevolence to his people, he truly was a good and kind lord, but he was a little too emotional at times. Aerwyna told them how lascivious this Earl was but Reitz never did womanize and only had eyes for Aerwyna. He was, however, pretty perverted sometimes he would make remarks about Aerwyna's body in public, but this added flavour to his personality, overall he was content with Earl Blackfyre a competent and benevolent lord who was loved by his people.
When Aerwyna had gotten pregnant they became anxious and would be overly protective during her pregnancy, he personally wondered what kind of child she would bring forth to this world. He swore to himself whatever happened he would protect her child just as he protected her.
He never thought that the child was monstrous as he was, a baby who could control magic perfectly, who had gargantuan magical capacity but this was not his most horrifying trait, it was his intellect that truly frightened Evan, it gave Ezra so much potential even if you discarded all the magical attributes.
Riding back towards the castle he glanced at the toddler Ezra, although this mischievous monster was as he was, he was very endeared to him, He pledged his sword to the mother as he would for her child, no matter the hardships and travails ahead he would give his life so that that potential would be fully radiated throughout the empire