After a while, Caelorn and Lyra stepped out of the Duke's quarters. Their faces were calm, but I could sense something hidden beneath the silence in their eyes. Still, I was excited, almost giddy, because the thought of my future had started to feel real. We packed our things, mounted the carriage, and made our way back home.
But once we arrived, something felt… wrong. The house was the same, the village was the same, but my parents weren't. Their eyes didn't shine like before. Their voices, though gentle, carried an invisible weight. I told myself it was nothing. Maybe they were just tired.
That night, we sat together at the table, eating in silence. Boiled potatoes and stew. The warmth of the food couldn't mask the chill in the air. When the plates were empty, I excused myself, saying I needed to prepare for the next day. My heart was restless.
I climbed the stairs to my small room, but just as I was about to step inside, I froze. There was a sound — muffled voices from behind the closed door of the main room. I tilted my head, listening carefully.
It was my mother. Lyra. Sobbing.
My father's voice followed, low and heavy, trying to soothe her, though I could hear the tremble in his own words.
The sound shattered me. My chest ached as if someone had carved it open. I wanted to burst through the door, to ask what was wrong, to tell her not to cry… but my legs wouldn't move. I couldn't bear to see her face streaked with tears. I stood there a moment longer, then retreated quietly into my room.
I buried my head in the pillow and let the silence swallow me whole until sleep finally came.
From that day, everything felt different. The air at home grew heavier, colder. My parents tried to smile at me, but I could see through it. Their smiles were painted on, brittle, ready to break at the slightest touch.
I decided to give them time. Maybe whatever troubled them would pass.
The next morning, I changed into my cleaner clothes. A strange urge pulled me to the church. I don't know why — perhaps I wanted to ease my heart, or maybe I was just seeking something stable when everything else felt uncertain.
I knelt in the church's quiet hall, whispering my prayers, trying to clear my thoughts. The stillness gave me some peace… until I left.
On the road back, my heart skipped a beat.
There she was.
The girl. The one who had once ordered her men to attack me. Her cold eyes swept the street, and for a second, they locked onto mine. My chest tightened. Without a second thought, I turned and bolted. My legs carried me faster than I thought possible, weaving through alleys, cutting corners, until I reached home.
I burst inside, panting, my face pale. My parents were there, sitting in the main room again, but they looked… drained. Depressed. Their bodies were there, but their spirits seemed far away.
I wanted to ask them what was wrong. I wanted to shake them until they told me. But instead, I forced a smile, sat quietly beside them, and let the silence fill the room.
The next day passed in a blur, a wind rushing through my fingers, gone before I could hold onto it.
And then came the day.
Together, we left for the Duke's estate once more. This time, there was no light chatter, no playful banter. Only silence, heavy and sharp. When we finally reached the forest clearing, the Duke was already waiting. He spotted us from afar and lifted his hand in a graceful wave.
We approached slowly. My heart beat faster with every step. My father, Caelorn, gave me a quick look, his eyes filled with something I couldn't quite name. Then he called out..
The silence in the room was heavy, thick with things unsaid. I stood there, my small world tilting on its axis. Then, a sound broke the stillness—a soft, choked sob from my mother. I watched as my father, the man who had taught me to fish and to mend a broken fence, knelt before me. His calloused hands, usually so steady, trembled as he took mine.
"Kairu," he said, and the name felt both foreign and familiar on his tongue, a secret he had always known. "My son."
Tears I didn't understand welled in my eyes. "Father? What's happening?"
He looked at me, his gaze filled with a painful, proud love. "You will be attending the Aurelius Academy of Arcane Arts."
The name itself sounded like a legend. "What… what school is that?"
"It is a place for those touched by magic," he explained, his voice low and reverent. "A place for you to become what you are meant to be." He then held out a piece of parchment, filled with elegant, looping script. "You need to sign this."
My hand shook as I took the quill. I didn't understand the words, but I trusted the love in my father's eyes. I signed my name—the name I had always known. Then, he signed his own name beside it with a finality that made my heart ache.
He looked back at me, his expression solemn. "From this day forward, you will be known as Kairu Edryas."
The name echoed in the silent room. Edryas. The Duke's name. A cold dread trickled down my spine. "Why?" I whispered, my voice small. "Why must I take his name?"
My father's shoulders slumped. "The Duke… he has adopted you, Kairu. Without his name, without his standing, the doors of Aurelius would never open for a commoner's son, no matter how gifted."
The truth hit me then, not as a gift, but as a loss. I was being taken from them. I was being reborn under a different star. I looked from my father's heartbroken face to my mother's tear-streaked one. The anger and confusion rose, a hot tide in my chest… but then it receded, washed away by a wave of devastating understanding. They were doing this for me. They were giving me away to give me a future.
I didn't say another word. I just nodded, the motion feeling jerky and unnatural. Then I turned and ran. I ran out the door and through the familiar streets, the new name burning in my mind, a brand I hadn't asked for.....