Arc was startled by the light. This was the first time he had seen anything like it. It was different than the lights in the house in the key way that Zerrin obviously didn't activate it. He thought the color of the parchment was a bit odd, but he didn't think too much of it.
"Jamie. It's for you." His tone matched his expression, dark. "I don't think its is a coincidence, not this time."
His father put him in Nofafi's arms as he watched with concern.
"Do you think its them?"
"No. This is definitely from the Council." He flashed disgust on his face as he mentioned this council, Breda and Nofafi had similar reactions. "If I had to guess, some unsightly characters that all of us are rather familiar with have started moving again."
The room went silent for a while as they theorized to themselves just what happened.
"I guarantee you are the only one being recalled out of the Nine Stars." Zerrin once again broke the silence.
"Why didn't they call me? I would fight!" Nofafi was outraged by this, he swore he would live and die by his brother's side.
"Calm down and use your head for a second. You too James." He was no longer using pet names for his friends. "They were definitely able to divine Marlev's death, so that means that our enemies would also be able to." He laid out this information to them matter of fact-ly, not that Arc understood what he was talking about. "Currently, James is the only one without family or a position they cannot afford to vacate without justification."
"What are you talking about!" James raged, Breda and Nofafi also looked agitated at his statement. "I have Arc don't I?"
"As far as any of the oracles have been able to tell, no you don't." He held his head as if he had a headache. "I confirmed with Kelvin that Arc is effectively invisible to all forms of divination. They all think he died during childbirth. You're gonna have to answer the recall." Zerrin almost collapsed on the sofa, covering his eyes and ruining his previously neat long hair. "It's the only way I can think of to keep Arc hidden."
"Why would you have to hide Arc? Or rather who would you have to hide him from?" This time it was Breda's turn to disappoint Zerrin. He was less peeved about her ignorance though, she always looked at the bright side of things.
"We have to hide him to keep him from pretty much everyone, at least until he is strong enough, if he gets strong enough. As for the who I'm afraid there are far, FAR, too many to recite." He turned his dead to make I contact with her. "I presume you know the type of person I'm talking about now."
Indeed she did, showing her understanding with a grimace and a bit of shame for missing something so obvious.
"How confident are you in your theory?" James asked.
"Close to certain, read the recall." He handed the paper to the group of three to read. "You have six months to report. I'd leave in the morning, you'll definitely have a few obstacles to clear on the way."
James looked devastated. He had only seen his little boy awake for less than a day in total and he was already being called to fight.
"You can carry him to Naice with me while you are on your way. He'll have to be asleep so he doesn't get sick, but it may be the last time you see him in a while. I'll take care of him and raise him in your stead."
"Why can't we raise him?" Nofafi raised some objections, clearly attached to him though he hadn't spent much time with him. "Surely we would be the better option as we've already raised a few kids, we have experience."
"No. You two are not trained in combat. Especially you Nofafi, you are a courier. If they find out his existence through other means, then it is very likely that only Kelvin and I will be able to protect him."
-----
Arc still had no clue what was goin on.
He got the feeling that his parents were extremely important somehow, and that they had more enemies than they could reasonably count. However that didn't explain their clear hatred and disdain for those he thought were on their side, namely that council thing or whatever.
He found some of the information about himself interesting. He was practically immune to 'divining' even though he had no idea what it was or how it worked.
He also found some of the information dreadful. Namely the point where this Zerrin character said he had to be forcefully put to sleep while they moved him. Was it too much to ask to be conscious for once? He really did want to see what the scenery was like around here, the angle he got from the ground only let him see some trees and the (mostly) clear sky. Oh the things he would do once he learned to properly waltz around...