21 years ago
***
Atrinaska Estermont had never been fond of the outdoors. She preferred to while away her hours in the library. Her brother could spend all of his time in the training yards if he wanted to. She was perfectly happy with a good book by the fire, even on warm days like this.
“Why are we out here?” she asked irritably.
She was close. She was so close to a breakthrough that it physically pained her. Something that could make her shine. Something to differentiate herself from her brothers and sister. Finally, something she could call her own!
Gods be damned, her eighteenth couldn’t come fast enough. Two more years! That was all she had to wait. Then the pressure would end. Either success or failure, one way or the other…
She tried not to think too hard about her talent. It would never stand up to her brothers no matter what she did. What she was truly looking forward to was learning magic. Particularly fire magic.
Sure, a person couldn’t turn a corner without finding a fire mage in Tacuria, but there was a good reason for that! Fire mages were never cold.
She shuddered as the wind cut through her dress like frozen daggers. She might as well have been wearing night clothes for all the good the garment was doing her. She should’ve insisted on the fur jacket.
“I wanted to show you something!” Sovel said, turning his charming grin onto her with full force.
“Something so important that I needed to freeze out here at the seventh hour before the sun even rises!?” she asked, determined this time to remain angry with him.
“Yes,” he said simply. “I found a new one. I think you’re really going to like it!”
Atrinaska’s eye twitched. She did so love witnessing his talent in action. It never ceased to amaze her.
“It… still could’ve waited till afternoon,” she bit out weakly.
“Come now, I can tell you’re excited,” he replied.
“No, I’m not,” she lied.
“You still can’t fib for shit, Naska,” he snarked.
“Keep up the language, and I’ll tell Mother,” she replied.
“Tell mother, and I won’t show you what I found! Then you’ll have gotten out here all cold, for nothing!” he said.
She scowled. “Would you just light a torch or something then! I’m freezing out here!”
He winced. “Sorry. This one takes a bit out of me. Need to make sure I have enough mana for it. Just a little further now, though. It won’t be long!”
Despite herself, Atrinaska beamed.
“In that case…” she trailed off expectantly.
Her brother only had half a moment to panic before his younger sister leapt upon his back, clambering up his shoulders, giggling uproariously.
“Naska! You… you can’t do this anymore! You’re too big! Gakk!” he shouted as she managed to wrap her arm around his neck and haul herself fully onto his back.
“Hmm!” she cooed happily. “Warm!”
“Your arms are like icicles!” he squawked.
“Quiet! Horses don’t speak!”
Sovelorend Estermont, firstborn son of the Duke, rolled his eyes and grappled his arms under his younger sister, pulling her up into a piggyback like he hadn’t done in years.
Atrinaska heard quiet snickering from behind them, and she turned, indignant. Her bodyguard was a boisterous man. Fiendishly good with a warhammer. He had an infectious grin that he didn’t use very often. The world brightened a bit when he did, though. He was genial and kind despite his towering nature. He was tall with a grey beard that he kept meticulously kempt. His greying hair matched it, though he was only in his mid-thirties.
“Something funny, Lundryth?” She called.
“Nothing at all, my lady!” he replied jovially. “Just wondering what the Duchess will think when she discovers her daughter is still twelve instead of sixteen.”
“The Duchess won’t be finding out!” she insisted.
“And why, pray tell, wouldn’t she?” he asked.
“Because I have leverage! I saw you return last night with crumbs on your shirt! You’ve been sneaking extra rations!”
The man’s smile didn’t waver, but he held up both hands. A knowing smirk formed on his lips, as if he were privy to some joke she did not know. “Indeed. Extra rations. Caught with my fingers in the jar, my lady."
“My silence is easily bought with your own!” she called back.
“Not that this isn’t interesting and all, but could we go? You might act like you’re twelve, but you certainly don’t weigh as much as you did back then,” Sovel whined.
“Horses don’t talk,” the young lady repeated.
“They do kick their riders, though,” he replied.
“You wouldn’t dare,” she replied, tightening her grip.
The man smirked and turned a sharp eye toward her. Where Lundryth was wide, bulky as an ox, her brother was lean. Both men stood at a similar height, and both had cords of muscle that defined them as warriors. At first glance, if she didn’t know them, Atrinaska would’ve guessed the bodyguard to be the stronger of the two.
She’d have been wrong.
It had been almost two years since her brother had been defeated in the sparring rings. By anyone.
By any three, even.
If the gods were good to her, hopefully she would get a talent even close to his Masterful one… but she feared she didn’t stand a chance. She’d seen the training he’d been put through. The rigorous study and the bags beneath his eyes. Not for the first time, she was thankful she was the fourth born.
Lundryth’s presence was more of a formality at this point, but he was never the jealous sort. If he was bitter about the prince’s incredible leaps since he’d gotten his talent, he showed no sign of it. He’d been Atrinaska’s personal bodyguard for years. She almost took his presence for granted some days, but her father had drilled lessons into her about appreciating those who served. Simple kindness went a long way.
“I’ll remain silent if I can count on the same this evening!” the bodyguard said, distracting them both from her brother’s terrible threat.
Atrinaska’s eyes shone with mirth. “You overreach, sir! I cannot condone this continued behavior! Not even at the expense of my–waggh!”
Her brother took off running, interrupting the conversation and leaving the girl scrambling to tighten her grip around his neck, leaving the bodyguard howling with laughter.
“Stupid! Brother! I was… negotiating!” the girl cried, her auburn hair flying, face burning in the cold wind.
“We only had a half hour! It would’ve been less than ten minutes if I’d allowed you to continue,” he replied, coming to a stop a short few hundred meters away, in a clearing that the two of them were well familiar with.
“Well, this better be good then!” she said, letting go of his neck and dropping to the snow-covered ground.
He smirked. “It’ll dazzle you like nothing you’ve ever seen. Alright. Look here. Quick, before Lundryth catches up to us.”
He turned to a small area between two trees. He touched one tree, and then the other. Within moments his portal appeared. A purple-white barrier, letting no light through, erupted into existence, the two tree trunks making up the outer walls of the gateway.
“This talent of yours is marvelous,” Atrinaska said as she approached the portal.
She’d always been fascinated with it, but she’d also always believed her mother’s adage. A talent is amazing, but eventually, the wielder must grow to eclipse it, else they will stagnate and rot.
Her brother could open a portal to… somewhere else. If he could do that, why couldn’t she? It had to be possible. All of the old stories and legends had references to portals and gates and the like. Most of that knowledge had been lost in the cataclysm, but there were so many references to it in the old histories! Added to the proof of its possibility right in front of her, every time her brother summoned something new from beyond, she was certain she could duplicate the effect.
“Alright. Try not to wake the entire castle, okay?”
“Sovel, if this is another one of your… your…”
The girl’s words faded away, forgotten as the first hoof exited the portal. A long snout, and pearly white fur. A horn on its head, that came straight out of Gran’s fairy tales.
“Oh my gods!” she squealed loud enough to wake the castle.
Her brother grinned, but she paid him no mind as she ran up to the gorgeous animal. A unicorn. An honest-to-the-gods unicorn!
“He’s… he’s so beautiful!” she cried. She’d first wanted to touch the animal, the same way she had when her mother had given her her first pony when she had actually been about twelve. Something stopped her, though.
This was no pony. The creature had a sort of ethereal reverence to it that defied logic and stilled the whims of even her greedy little heart.
“M-may I touch… you?” she asked the unicorn. She didn’t know if it could understand. Perhaps her brother controlled all of his creatures, even though he insisted he did not. The request felt right, though.
“I can’t keep him out for long. My mana reserves are running low already. It is well you ask him, though. He took quite some time to become used to me. Don’t be surprised if he doesn’t–!”
The creature trotted forward with a happy whinny and placed its nose gently under Atrinaska’s beckoning hand.
“Well, you little traitor,” the heir to the duchy breathed.
Atrinaska giggled and happily petted the legendary creature. This… this had been worth leaving her books for.
“Thank you,” she said, turning back to Sovel, even though she found it hard to take her eyes away from the beast. “Thank you for showing me this.”
Her brother smiled, genuinely, and for the first time in a long while, Atrinaska felt like he might truly be happy.
“Any time, little sister,” he replied. “It’ll have to go now, though. As I said, I can’t keep her out for long.”
She backed away, accepting the lie gracefully. Her brother’s reasons for hiding the details of his talent were easy to guess. She hoped he would eventually feel like she was trustworthy enough to share the full extent. That particular lie was well known to her, though. There had been too many inconsistencies over the years. Too many widened eyes, filled with panic as he frantically attempted to mimic the effects of mana starvation.
At a gesture, the filmy white portal began to fade. The unicorn gave a pleased whinny, rearing back happily. Atrinaska laughed in delight as the creature also began to fade from existence, first becoming transparent, like a ghost, and then disappearing entirely.
“How many free points?” she asked happily once the creature was gone.
“Four!” he replied immediately.
‘So probably eight or ten,’ Atrinaska thought. She didn’t say anything. Not even being the Duke’s firstborn son would save him if it were discovered how potent Sovel’s talent was.
“Prince Sovelorend!” came a sudden shout. Lundryth walked steadily through the brush to join them in the clearing.
“Yes?” the prince asked. “Is something the matter?”
“Thought I’d warn you ser. The duke was searching for you. He stepped outside right after you and the young lass ran off.”
Atrinaska cursed, feeling a pang of sympathy for her older brother. Every time it seemed like he might get a moment’s peace, father or mother came with their endless demands and expectations. She felt almost guilty to be so unburdened by them. It was as if Sovel was taking all the burdens that should’ve been spread amongst all four of them.
“Well, we’d best see what father needs then. Naska? Come. We’ll get you back to your cozy library as soon as we can, hmm?” he said.
“Thank you for bringing me out here today, brother,” she said. “It… was more than worth it.”
“Any time, Naska,” he replied before turning and walking back toward the castle. His shoulders drooped just a little, but it made all the difference. The vibrancy seeped out of him, and he suddenly looked more like he was heading for an executioner’s block than for a conversation with his father.
Atrinaska followed, and Lundryth took his usual position behind her, making sure to stay close.
She blinked as she realized he was right behind her. She felt his breath just above her shoulder.
“You needn't take guarding me quite that seriously, ser!” she joked, hoping the pun would lighten her brother’s mood a tad.
"Apologies! My lady,” said the man. He took a swift step back. “You walked a tad slower than I expected.”
She smiled up at the big man, and he grinned back down at her.
Her brother didn’t seem to notice either way.