As the weeks went by and the date of my departure crept ever so closer, I continued my daily routine. Walk to the main hall, speak to Clive, paperwork, sword training and magic training. Day in and day out, I followed this routine. Sometimes it was interrupted by one of my siblings, or my father. Today however it was Marissa, which was a first.
"b..but mistress, mister Leon is in the middle of his sword practice." a worried servant blurt out.
"I am the mistress of this manor, I will go where I please, and this boy has been called upon to see the Duke." Emotionless words from Marissa.
I could hear them approach, I pretended to have not heard their conversation. It's not like I cared enough to listen from the start anyways.
"Leon." Marissa practically growled towards me
"Mistress Marissa, what do I owe the pleasure for your visit?" I said, taking a slight bow.
"I take no pleasure in seeing you, however the Duke has requested for you to visit him" she looked me up and down "However, do something about your appearance.." she trailed off with disgust
I looked down, I was dirty and my skin glistened with sweat. She wasn't wrong, I was not in a presentable manner. "Of course mistress Marissa." I said, but she had already begun walking away. I get it, I'm the child your husband secretly had with another woman, but I was still his son regardless. A deep sigh left my mouth, I was tired of her but I knew I wouldn't have to deal with her for much longer. I left the training grounds and passed by the manor guards, ever so diligently training. "Good work today Leon!" many of them would say as I passed, however today someone else spoke up, my old instructor and the captain of the Guard, Tykir, he was a tall and large built man. A full red beard and short cut hair, almost shaved I would say.
"Leon, I assume you've kept up with your sword forms have you?" He boomed
"Of course Captain Tykir, I greatly respect your teachings and you as well, I always practice them." I replied
"Good, keep it up then." His reply was straight forward, Tykir was always like this, straight to the point type of man.
I carried on, hurriedly cleaned myself up and dressed appropriately. I thus left to my father's study to see why he had summoned me. I reached the door to the study as usual I knocked twice, "come in" I heard from within. Opening the door I first saw my father, he was in his chair behind the desk, his hands resting on the top of the desk. I bowed and greeted him "I am here upon your summons." I stated, as I scanned the room I noticed another man sat in the chair off to the left side, I hadn't seen him before but I could tell he was someone of a high position by the manner of his dress. He was certainly older than my father, dark blonde hair graying in parts, and a large gray mustache. I assume my father had noticed I was looking at the man and quickly spoke up.
"This is my old friend, the former royal guard captain, Jacub, he's here to speak to you actually." my father said
"I greet you, sir Jacub, I am Leon." I said
Jacub looked at me, and back to my father. "I can see he is certainly your son, almost a spitting image of you when you were learning under me!" He let out with a hearty laugh.
"He certainly is!" my father said with a smile "however you know who his mother is, and it's of utmost importance we continue this in a more serious tone." he continued
"Leif.." Jacub had started, that was my father's name and I rarely heard it.
"Have you not told him who his mother is!?" Jacub replied in a shocked yet questioning tone.
"It would have only put him in harms way if I had, I wanted to tell him eventually, so I waited until his coming of age ceremony." he said in a matter of fact manner.
I interrupted them, "Wait, a second, who is my mother?"
They both looked at me as if I had said some sort of blasphemy, I knew by now the answer would most likely be one I had not expected. In all honestly I was bit unsure of whether I wanted to know now or not. This is it I thought to myself, the truth I had wanted to know for all these years, something I was prepared to search for on my own.
A sigh came from my father, Jacub looked to him as if to confirm it was all on him to speak.
"Your mother was Caitlyn Ahlgrim, the third princess of the Andouran Isles." he said
I stayed silent, listening. My father continued
"Years ago, my father sent me to tutor under Jacub when he was the captain of the royal guard, during which I frequently interacted with Caitlyn. She too was learning from Jacub, as in Andour women too were able to become warriors and the king saw fit that his daughter could learn the blade. However as the years progressed I found myself to have fallen in love. We were sent with Jacub on a two year long journey to the lands of Silmeria, a close ally of Andour on the main continent. In those two years we grew closer and secretly we had eloped. At the time I was meant to marry Marissa, however I had never met her and I certainly didn't want to marry someone I had never met. Caitlyn ended up pregnant and you were born. Yet tragically on our voyage back our ship had been attacked by something.. something unnatural and when I had awoke I was alone with you, washed up on the shore. I spent the next two years searching for Caitlyn, but I failed. I had resigned myself to the fate that was and continued on with my life." My father, somberly said all this.
"So... where is my mother.. is she even alive?" I had asked, desperate for an answer yet unsure if I wanted to hear it
Jacub spoke up first "We believe she may be, reports recently flooded in about a woman who matches her description, however it appears she was last seen in Varland."
Varland, the northern most duchy in the Andouran Isles, a land of the most feared criminals. How had she ended up there, why was she there? Millions of questions ran through my brain but I didn't understand why this was only being told to me now.
"Why was I never told?" I asked
"It was too dangerous, it wasn't safe" Jacub said
my father then chimed in "Your uncle's faction, the second prince, is not too fond of the princess. Knowing she had a child would endanger the claim of the second prince. He was born from a concubine and not the queen."
"What about the first prince then?" I posed the question
"The first prince has died..." Jacub butted in
Both men looked somberly, they had both been close to the first prince, he was said to have been the best fit for the next king of the Andouran Isles. In this moment I knew nothing else, and nothing else mattered to me. I had the answer I had always wanted but it left me with more questions. What was the purpose of telling me now, I had no desire to be a King, I wanted to explore the world on my own and garner experiences on my own. I didn't want to be tied down.
"So why tell me now?" I asked
"Your destiny has always been strong, and it seems now more than ever that you must sacrifice much more. I had always wanted to tell you, but I worried for your safety." My father said
I get it.. the Kingdom was unstable right now, but I still didn't understand what else they wanted from me. Then it clicked, what if I found my mother? Would that suffice, could she take the throne and establish peace?
"What if I find my mother?" I blurted out half expecting them to turn the idea down
"Thats exactly what we're intending" Jacub and my father said in unison.
Alright, so be it. I was planning on leaving anyways, might as well right?