"Please sit down, Master," Greg asked, as he fixed the jacket Eon had grabbed. He knew that he would have to have this conversation. The feelings his master had for the young female mage that he had grown up with were strong and unyielding.
Unfortunately, those that had not been born into Noble families were not made known of the special circumstances of upcoming female mages. He motioned to Eon to take a seat, and started a pot of tea for his tale.
Eon fidgeted with annoyance, but relented at Greg's insistence, and waited for the tea. Greg made sure to choose a calming blend to ease the tension. Finally, after serving the tea, Greg sat down across from his master.
"A long time ago, there was a time where mana was abundant among the people of Autra." Eon nodded, remembering his history lessons from the Academy. "Soon, the Kings of Autra noticed that the amount of people being born with mana were decreasing at a rapid pace."
"King Otto the IV was the first to propose this. It was found that those who had children with strong female mages had more children that contained mana. So it was said that they must control the population by marrying the strong female mages to strong male mages. That is how the Nobility came about."
"Young male mages were then tested and trained to determine who was worthy of the females that would create abundant mana in their children." Eon was gripping his hands into fists. "A law was passed that each female would be trained and given to the most likely candidate that would create powerful children."
Greg explained how, over the generations, the amount of women born to the Nobility decreased, causing fewer and fewer female mages. How each female found and trained at the Academy was then given special education on how to best birth multiple children.
He even went into detail about how the nature of the education had changed to please Noble men. Eon was beyond angry. He couldn't believe the amount of information that his precious Rielen had endured. How they took away the innocence she once exuded.
The changes he had seen in her. The way she changed from an innocent girl to the woman he now saw. He understood now that those changes had been directly related to this "education'' she had received. He wouldn't let any of those bastards see that education at work!
"Rielen in particular is exceptional. The fact that they allowed her to enter the Elite Academy must mean they mean to groom her into the next partner for the new King. Of course, if she somehow manages to be chosen. That is a different story. Then, they would all descend to be the father of her children."
"It is a guarantee that any children of hers would be the next ruler after her, if she were to actually obtain the ruler status." Greg had noticed the tea was not working. He stopped his explanation. 'Perhaps,' he thought, 'I should have not gone into that much detail?' He had only known so much because his father had talked about it the last time he was home.
"Of course, Master, the possibility of you becoming the next ruler isn't impossible," he added, to refocus the young master he had tied himself to serving. Eon's face had changed from pure rage to determination. Greg was pleased that he had ended up under Eon.
Greg's father had sent him into the attendant program to find the next King. Actually, most of the attendants in the Elite Academy were Noble children who had not made it past the Academy. They often served their families in this case.
Greg began clearing the cups and tidying the room. Eon, at some point, had left the room to think. Greg had told him that all of this was ordered to be kept secret, and the reason that the boys and girls of the Academy had been separated was because of an incident where two of the students had secretly dated, resulting in the girl becoming pregnant. Since she had become defiled in the King's eyes, the Academy had become segregated.
Chastity was very important in the Nobility. Women should remain pure until marriage. Men, however, were not held to these standards. It was a ridiculous double standard that made Eon's head hurt. To make it worse, the girl who had become pregnant was punished, while the boy had only gotten a slap on the wrist!
The child was separated from the young mother, and she was married off to a lesser Noble, who had several concubines already. Basically he was the highest bidder at an auction. The disgust he felt for this system filled him with rage once more.
Not only did he have to be careful, he would also have to watch out for his relationship with Rielen. He was not a stranger to the physical feelings his body had started to show towards her. He could not shame her and watch her taken from him. The thought of never touching her was hard to take.
Thinking of the things you can't have often makes you think about them more. Thoughts he had never had about Rielen filled his thoughts. He spent most of the night trying to not think about it. He said "no" to himself several times. He wanted her, and he didn't know how he would stop himself if they were alone again.