Light flooded the bedroom as the curtains were drawn back.
"Time to wake up, Master Nicholas," a familiar voice reached his ears. "A young man's first step into adulthood only happens once."
Fighting against the blankets covering the bed, a pale young man with silver-gray hair, and a lean, athletic build, eventually surfaced. He blinked several times before his eyes cleared, settling on the speaker. An older man in a crisp, clean butler's uniform, clean shaven, black hair graying at the temple, stood to the side of the bed.
"Good morning, Sir."
"Morning Kalvin," Nickel yawned out. He shook his head to clear the fog from his brain, and yawned again. Like all other mornings, Nickel's first action was to check his status.
[Status]
[User: Nicholas Silver]
[Age: 16]
[Pathfinder Rank: 1]
[Affinity]
[Fire: A-]
[Water: B-]
[Earth: B]
[Wind: B+]
[Light: A]
[Darkness: A]
U_S@%L*!_: ?5:(0
Surprisingly, at the bottom of his Status, Nickel found a section that'd never been there before, leaving him shocked. Just as he noticed it, it shimmered and vanished from the screen. Now he was shocked and bewildered.
'I know I check it everyday, but I didn't expect an actual change. Why did it disappear?'
Putting those thoughts to the back of his mind, he asked Kalvin, "Any word from Will and Liz?"
"The Wolf Pack arrived at 3:18 am. Master William and Miss Elizabeth will be here for lunch at twelve, and will stay to accompany you until the party at 1:30."
Nickel groaned, and shifted over to stand from his bed. His room was sparsely furnished. Just a bed, a single wardrobe, and a night stand. Each carved from dark wood and accented with blackened-silver knobs and handles.
He stood up and shuffled over to his wardrobe.
Throwing open it's doors, he rooted around for training clothes. "Do we have to have a party, Kal?" Nickel asked over his shoulder. "Couldn't we just let this one go… unobserved."
The butler turned away from the curtains, and sighed. "It's not everyday you awaken for the first time, Master Nicholas. I understand your trepidation, but it would be remiss of me to not celebrate your birthday. Especially with the Sir and Madam…" Kalvin's face subtly drooped. " …away."
Nickel's expression tightened, his hands ceasing their movement. He took a deep breath, held it, let it out. Resuming his searching, he tried to prevent his anger from creeping into his voice. "Well, how are preparations for the party coming, then?"
Kal's face brightened slightly, relieved by Nickel's seeming acceptance. "I have handled all I can on my own. Miss Leah will arrive with the maids at ten."
"Good, good." Nickel tried to sound cheerful. "I'll be down in a minute."
Kalvin left for the kitchen, worry for his young employer occupying his thoughts. Nickel began to dress, all the while pondering the strange disappearing section of his status.
—
Nickel came down the stairs to the west kitchen, which served as the family's private dining room-kitchen. A hand-carved elven-wood table that seated six stood in the center of the room. Along one wall was an east-dwarven oven and stove, a coffee maker from the southern dwarves, a sink Nickel's mother acquired in exchange for a disaster scale, and a dishwasher.
Smelling the scent of bacon, eggs, toast, and tea mixing in the air, Nickel took his seat at the table and stared dubiously at his cup.
"Which tea is it this morning, Kal?"
"Elven, Sir"
"Aerendia, or Selenti?"
"Hmm…" Kalvin glanced at the tin laying on the kitchen counter, "Aerendia, Sir."
Nickel picked up his tea cup and sipped from it, grimacing.
'Well, at least it isn't Selenti.' His mother's favorite tea was– Is Selenti, and drinking it led Nickel's mind to places he'd rather avoid.
Kalvin had been trying to find a suitably high class tea that Nickel actually enjoyed. Trying being the operative word.
So far, Nickel had tried both the quality elven teas, western dwarven tea (which may or may not be alcoholic, depending), several teas from the different human kingdoms of the eastern hemisphere, and even tea Kalvin somehow procured from the Sovereign Song clan, no doubt by taking advantage of several favors owed to the Silver family.
At this point, the only type of high society tea Nickel hadn't tried was Draconic tea, and only because unawakened weren't able to safely consume it. He'd become absolutely sick of tea.
While scarfing down his breakfast, Nickel tried to once again return to the conversation they'd already had. Several times. "Is having a party absolutely necessary, Kal? It's not like today's different from any other day."
"As I've told you before, Master Nicholas," Kalvin sighed, shaking his head, "As the current head of the Silver Family, it is important for you to keep up appearances. A party is an excellent way to show the outside world that the Silver Family is just as prosperous as it always has been."
Nickel stopped eating and looked gloomily at the butler, "If the Silver family is prosperous, it's because of Will and the Wolf Pack, not me." he sighed, " And it's not like we're inviting the whole town."
A hint of anxiety creeped into Nickel's voice. "We aren't inviting the whole town, right?"
Kalvin chuckled. "No, Master Nicholas, we are not. The party is invite only. Just the Wolf Pack, the Coin Purse, and a few other guests from the guild."
Nickel exhaled, a look of relief on his face, and resumed eating. Fortunately, the only people who'd be at the party were family. Or, as good as, anyway. He might be the only person with Silver blood left, but at least he hadn't been alone the last two years.
Seeing Nickel finish off his food, Kalvin took his plate and placed it in the sink.
Turning back to face Nickel, he said, "The maids will arrive in an hour to begin decorating for the party. Master William and Miss Elizabeth should return to the manor in time for lunch.
"The other guests will begin arriving around one this afternoon, and the party will begin promptly at 1:30. So, you are free until lunch, though I would request you don't leave the manor grounds."
"I'll be in the yard then."
"The yard", as Nickel preferred to call it, was the manor's training ground. A standalone walled courtyard, it was isolated from the rest of the manor grounds by a spatial barrier, placed on it by Nickel's great-grandfather.
Whenever he passed through it, he was always reminded of how powerful his family once was, and how far from that level of power he was.