Nirra and Ivor left the manor and entered a carriage. Looking outside, Ivor couldn't contain his excitement. It was the first time outside of the manor, his first time experiencing the world. Nirra could see Ivor smiling and chuckled. "We won't have to travel for too long, we will be taking a shortcut to get to the meeting location."
Ivor looked at Nirra with a confused look. "What type of shortcut are we taking? Is it going to be an airship?" Ivor had read about the airships that were used to transport people across the world, he had always wondered what it would be like.
"The shortcut will be faster than that. You will see when we get there, Ivor." Nirra smiled as she could see the excitement on his face.
After traveling for two hours, they finally reached a nearby town. Ivor looked out the carriage window and was excited to see the world, it had been the first time. He could see people of all shapes and sizes, there were humans, elves, dwarves, and others that he wasn't familiar with. Eventually, after another hour of travel, they arrived in front of a large building that seemed to be heavily guarded. Nirra got out of the carriage, followed by Ivor, when they approached the door, one of the guards had stopped them both.
"Verification ma'am." Nirra snapped her fingers and a small golden plate appeared. Looking at the plate the guard immediately bowed. "My apologies, please step right this way." The guard lifted his head and opened the door. Without saying anything Nirra and Ivor entered the building.
When they entered the building Ivor couldn't believe what he was seeing. In front of him was a giant golden disk that was 30 feet in diameter, with intricate carving that resembled a more detailed version of the dragon in his medallion. But this carving had its mouth open and within it was a giant green gem, and the other parts of the mane of the dragon also had the same, smaller-looking gem.
Snapping out of his moment of aw, he hurriedly caught up to his mother who was talking to a guard. When he approached he could see the guard nodding before walking away and entering a nearby door for a few seconds. When the guard entered the room again and gave Nirra a thumbs up, and with a smile, she looked towards Ivor. "I know I have taken you and your sister out, but depending on how the meeting goes you might be able to go out more." Waving Ivor towards her she stood on top of a small stand and put a hand on top of his head. She grabbed her book, opened it, and spoke one word. "Teleport".
Ivor felt something pulling him forward, and then with a bright light surrounded both Ivor and Nirra. Closing his eyes to the light, he felt the pulling stop and the light fade. Opening his eyes again he was in a garden of sorts, and twenty feet away from them he could see a human man and woman. The man was wearing a military uniform similar to Nirra, but it seemed to be more decorated, with a few more medals and a pauldron made of gold on his right shoulder. The woman left of the man had an ornate red dress, on her waist was a sword of some kind. The man and women both approached and as they did Nirra put her book back into its satchel and kneeled.
"I greet the Imperial Emperor and Empress." Seeing his mother kneeling, Ivor quickly followed suit, not daring to look up in fear. But what he heard next shocked him.
Laughing, Lander walked forward, "Nirra you may rise, you know that I don't like the whole 'Emperor' thing." Ivor's image of the Emperor crumbled immediately, thinking that he would be rigid and expect the respect of those around him. Instead, he was easygoing and friends with his mother. "Anyways, how have you been? It has been quite some time since we last met."
"Lander, you haven't changed much." Walking down the stand that she was on, she continued talking. "Westra how have you been, last time we talked I remember you mentioned something about your oldest daughter having an affinity for the arcane." Standing up and following his mother, Ivor was able to get a better look at the Emperor and Empress.
Westra had porcelain skin, with delicate blue eyes, her amber hair was neatly tied into a bun on top of her head. Now that Ivor could see the Empress better he could tell that the dress that she wore was some type of leather armor, functioning for both style and protection. Ivor could also that the sword he could see a series of runes and jewels that danced across the scabbard of the sword.
Lander seemed to be a little over 5 feet, his eyes were light gray, with dark blonde hair. His face had a few scars on it, one of which was over his left eye that reached from his jaw to forehead. Noticing Ivor staring at him, Lander chuckled, "This must be Ivor, your mother talks about you and your sister quite a bit."
Quickly bowing, Ivor repeated his greeting that was drilled into his mind. "Greeting Emperor and Empress, I am Ivor Dumein. First bo-" Nirra's laughter cut him off.
"Ivor you don't have to worry about greetings and formality yet, we are friends now, but in front of others we have to show respect." Rubbing Ivor's head, Nirra looked at Westra. "I do have a testing kit I can use. Anytime after the meeting, we can quickly check and see if she can use magic."
Westra smiled and nodded her head. "Thank you Nirra, since the meeting with the Nelvan family, she's wanted to know if she was able to use magic. And I knew you would be the best person to ask." As they talked they slowly made their way to the building that seemed to be where the meeting would be held. The talking had eventually turned silent as they neared the pair of doors that would lead them into the manor.
Lander, who was leading everyone, stopped before opening the door. "I know that this isn't your first time attending one of these meetings, but I must say this out of necessity." Lander turned and looked at both Nirra and Ivor. "Anything that is talked about in this meeting can never leave this building. If there is any proof of you leaking the contents of the meeting or the location of the meeting you will be put on trial for treason and sentenced to death. Do you understand?"
The smile Nirra had on her face disappeared quickly, and with a serious face, she nodded her head. "I vow to never tell another living soul about the contents of this meeting or speak a word of our location." Lander then looked at Ivor who vigorously nodded his head.
"Good, I'll have a butler to lead Ivor to the other children. I hope that by building connections early on, the next generation can be more stable than ours." Lander turned back around and opened the door, leading everyone into the manor