"Now remember, be on your best behavior. To these people, your mentality is just as important as your prowess. They'll be watching you from the shadows during their stay. Assessing everything you do. Accept it. No matter how crude or invasive it may feel, accept their challenges. Show them your greatness."
"Yes, Father!" I passionately beamed as I skipped to his side and found myself almost stepping over him the moment the antechamber doors were opened.
So many things were happening at once that it was hard to maintain my composure. My long-awaited 15th birthday had come and gone, leaving me with irreplaceable memories and a burning desire to awaken my dormant cores and be admitted to the academy.
On top of that, I was finally meeting the Grand Duke of Odissi, whom I've heard much about from my father's vassals and others around the castle.
Of course, Prince Abulot was here as well and was as tall and lanky and as disinterested as he always was. Amun of Odissi, however, was a peculiar one. According to what I've been told, he had yet to meet anyone of royal blood outside of his own family. According to what was said, he was a genius who spent all his time reading, learning, and training not only his vassals but an entire class of students at Corvus Tower as well.
Looking at him, one would hardly expect as much to be true. Sure, he felt strong and yes, he looked good. As a half-elf, one would surely expect him to be both of those in excess. But, I couldn't help but feel a certain… aloofness in his persona that was somewhat off-putting. It felt a bit like Abulot's behavior. Only, Amun's behavior was lacking any sense of recognition or respect for my father's presence.
Even after making eye contact with him.
"You're the infamous Amun of Odissi, I presume?" My father placed a grin on his face as he settled himself before the Grand Duke.
"I am, your Imperial Majesty." Amun curtly turned to face my father and just… stood there, stone-faced, while Prince Abulot leaned forward in a bow behind him.
Causing a subtle rise in the room's temperature.
"Hmm?" Father softly grunted. "You do not bow before your Emperor?"
"If my understanding is correct, your Imperial Majesty." Amun began without pausing or averting his penetrating gaze from my father's, "You and my Great-Grandfather possess dissimilar titles, but similar ranks within our monarchical system. That said, there's no need to bow when a superior enters the room if another of the same rank is present."
"Oho?" Father chuckled in an all-too-familiar way as he gestured around the room. "And where is this Great-Grandfather of yours?"
Still stone-faced, Amun nodded to the pillar beside my father. Or rather, to the shadow cast by it. "He's in the form of a wraith, floating behind that pillar. Laughing at me. Or…" He paused to tilt his head. Invoking a shift in his unchanging face for the first time. "Maybe he's sobbing?" Amun pondered and paused again. And slowly, his face churned from confusion to sheer amusement before he began nodding slowly. "Yes, your Imperial Majesty." He finally said. "I'm sure that's it. My Grandpa Lich is sobbing because I voided his beloved undead frost giant. Seeing me must've made the bitter memory return."
"You think you're funny, Boy?" A different growl loomed from behind the pillar. Pulling my wide eyes around to bring the Necro King into view. Only for him to disappear and arrive before his descendant within the next instant.
Amun apologetically bared his palms and backed away shrugged as he said. "It's the only way I could make you show yourself."
Though the sincerity in his voice seemed genuine, the devilish smirk was still in full bloom on his face. Shocking me just as much as it did Prince Uplos.
"Gahahahaha!" I heard my father's resounding laugh and watched wide-eyed as he approached the Necro King to place a hand on his shoulder. "You're every bit as bold as your… Grandpa Lich." He bellowed a final time. "You'll do just fine in Ulai, Amun of Odissi."
As the temperature, my awe, and the other feelings within me died down, they were replaced with a wide variety of other things. Awe, bemusement, admiration, disbelief, contempt, and more worked to strip any words from forming within my mind as I watched him gracefully lower his torso into a bow and waited for my father's recognition before righting himself.
"It's an honor to meet his Imperial Majesty in the flesh," Amun said in the same cold, analytical tone as each of his forefathers. A side effect of their affinity with the darkness, Father made sure to remind me time and time again.
"The honor is mine." Father humbly shook off the gesture before continuing. "I must say, I had doubts regarding the accuracy of the claims behind your prowess. But the hour of darkness you imposed on us all quickly made me think otherwise."
"That was a miscalculation on my part, your Imperial Majesty." Amun bowed again. "It shall not happen again."
'Wait!' I recoiled. 'That was from Amun!?!'
"No matter." Father waved that too aside. "In fact." He paused to lean closer to Amun, a satisfied grin spread over his face. "I can see that it did you some good. Your well is a marvel to even me."
'Of course, I wasn't the only one!' I suddenly gasped.
Fathers words and actions were like a slap to the face that both shamed me and brought me back to my senses in the same stroke. As smoothly as I could, I put on my glasses and leaned a bit closer towards the Grand Duke of Odissi before reaching up to the frame to activate enchantments.
The very instant my vision was overtaken by the blue field of energy, Amun's face collapsed into a stern, scornful gaze aimed directly at me.
Or rather, at my glasses.
However intense it was, the moment passed as quickly as it came. Amun's placid expression returned as his attention moved back to my father. Leaving me a little taken aback and completely free to study his mana well to my heart's content.
Like my father said, Amun's well was unlike anything I'd ever hear of, much less seen. By estimation, my mana well was around two-thirds the size of his. Only, his held a potent mix of glowing fluid that left me in a state of stupefied bewilderment. It looked and felt like his well was hardly containing an unstable mixture of lightning, water, ice, crystals, and raw, concentrated mana.
And I couldn't help but think about what would happen if it were released.
'What is that?'
"Thank you for your kind words, Your Imperial Majesty." Amun bowed again, ripping my forming thoughts apart.
Finding myself back in the moment, I turned to see my father gesturing to me. Noticing my cue, I gathered myself as quickly as I could and put on a welcoming smile just as my father said. "This is my daughter."
"Grand Princess, Roheisa Deapou." I lowered my head in a bow. An action he immediately reciprocated, much to my delight.
With his stature and dress, he was the spitting image of his father and grandfather. He was probably around 175 centimeters tall with a lean build; only, there was a curious amount of muscle packed onto him that betrayed the likeness of his father. His visage was tinted a dark brown, like mine, and had the sleek and elegant features one would expect of a half-elf: pointed ears, elegantly contoured eyes, and a finely carved facial structure that gave him a natural regal appearance. That appearance was only amplified by the famously stylish dress of the Cole House and the hairpin-crown tied off on the top of his head, allowing a curtain of locks to drape atop his shoulders.
"Now that the introductions are underway." Father bellowed, turning to guide us to our entryway. "Through here."
Without hesitation, Amun and Prince Uplos followed after my father. Determination and indifference were written across their respective faces.
'Amun of Odis.' I said to myself, stepping into line beside him. 'Just how strong are you? I have to know.'
As I'd done many times in the past, I had to beat my face to a standstill and endure the deafening eruption of the Imperial Orchestra's ceremonial opening. I and the others went through the dull motions of turning and waving, waving and turning at the gathered masses until we took our seats off to the side of the twin thrones.
Just as our vassals stood just before and below us, Archduke Cole and King Uplos stood below my father and the Necro King as the Imperial Songs were brought to a close.
Around both of our positions was the largest crowd I've seen to date. A crowd consisting of hundreds of noble family members and commoners from both empires, dozens of guilders, military scouts, and most importantly, several mages, wizards, and witches from the Marulean Guild Association. All standing and waiting with the rest of us.
The moment it was over, they all joined the natives in seating themselves and waiting impatiently for the proctor to go through the address and begin the ceremony. Made evident by the subtle cacophony of murmurs rumbling through the hall.
Much like mine, Amun's vassals were restless from the excitement of it all. Their master, however, was as placid as could be. There was an unnerving calm to him as he sat there in silence, moving his eyes back and forth over his vassals.
Curious, my eyes followed his, and I found myself studying each of them in turn.
True to hearsay, Amun had thrice as many vassals as Prince Abulot and I. Though only four of them were present for the ceremony.
The first was the assumed knight. A red-brown-skinned boy who was just as tall as his master and held the same steeled gaze; only, he was far stockier and looked at the world through vibrant, lightning-blue eyes. His hair was similarly locked and trimmed to the same length as Amun's, albeit trimmed along the sides and neatly tapered. Leaving a linear bang to hang over his ear.
The second was the tallest of them all. A slim boy with light-brown skin and a half-shaved head like his companion on the left; though, that was where the similarities stopped. While the knight's hair was long enough to hang loosely, his was short and only partially locked. While the former had a square jaw and prominent features, the latter had high cheeks and a pointed chin. He wore glasses, unlike his counterpart. And his eyes were tinted a sandy-beige color like the Prince's.
In short, they couldn't be more different from each other.
Amun's third vassal looked strikingly similar to Sarah. Complete with caramel-brown skin, voluminous hair, and ice-blue eyes. Even the forehead was the same. Unlike her mother, however, she was as carefree and stone-faced as the two to her left.
Quite the disposition for a serving girl.
The last vassal under Amun's wing seemed to be the closest to normal of them all as he sat there with mixed amounts of worry and anticipation. He was rather small in comparison to the others. Shorter than Amun and both slimmer and less defined than his master. He had a short afro atop his head and a particularly large set of eyes that were tinted a rather unremarkable gray.
Rather than being subjected to another glare from Amun, I turned away from my impulses and turned to him, opening up with the same chatter that the rest of the hall was going on about. "What do you think our awakened cores will be?"
"Who knows." He curtly shrugged. "I'm only wondering who should go first."
"Well, there's only the eleven of us," I said. "Our vassals can go first. Naturally, that would make Prince Abulot's vassals the first in line."
"You can follow if you wish." Amun kindly offered. "It makes no difference to me."
"Then it's settled, thank you." I nodded. Then sidled a bit closer to privately whisper. "My father seems certain that I'll awaken cores for lava and magnetism as he did. The thought of disappointing him is… daunting."
"I'm sure everything will work out for the best," Amun stated. "We just have to be patient."
"Oh?" I scoffed. "What makes you so sure?"
"I have faith."