Two years passed quickly within the Agria house, during which Cain was given a rushed education usually reserved for nobility. Cramming eight plus years of information into his small brain was taxing enough, even with Alyssa helping where she could, although she was usually more of a distraction to him. Not that he minded, of course, it was fun being around her. Besides, with the exception of magical arts, he was a quick study, learning as much as Alyssa learned in a quarter of the time… after he learned how to read, of course.
The boy enjoyed the time spent alone in his personal studies, learning about the four territories that made up the macro-nation he lived within. Agria, known for its agricultural yield, Akashia, known for its magical studies and ability to train and produce magically gifted people, Militaria, the territory is known for its military tactics and forces, and, finally, Silver, the territory most known for its mining as well as engineering and architectural advancements. The territories were once nations on their own, and to some extent still were, before the Godking conquered Agria and proceeded to expand his empire into the rest. This wasn't uncommon, having happened four times in the past with other empires in different groups of nations. The Golden Empire held dominion over eight territories, the Imperium of the Dragon six, the Knightdom consisting of three, and the Tribal Alliance claiming to have several thousand. In actuality the last was formed by unifying many tribes as opposed to conquering universally recognized countries, yet they still demanded equal standing as their own nation. Most of the said tribes were nomadic, according to the various books Cain would read during his studies.
Alyssa had a tendency to fall asleep whenever Cain spoke of the things he'd learned. He didn't mind, she wasn't the type to sit still for long if she could avoid it. When she did, she'd just pass out, it's the reason why she was slow to learn bookish things. Not that she wasn't smart, her attention tended to go off towards something else when sitting at a desk was all. Whenever she fell asleep, Cain would just smile and grab a book, waiting for her to finish her nap so that they could go off and do something else.
Today was a little different, however. While getting dressed that morning, the boy's door suddenly swung open, loudly, nearly slamming in the process. He looked over at the invader and squinted his eyes for a moment. They had archery practice today, why was she wearing a dress? The braid was also what she wore was more free flowing than the one she'd wear for archery. Did she want to head to the castle town's market or something? But they had archery today, she loved archery!
She was insanely good at the sport, so good that the knights would beg her mother to let them take the girl with them whenever they'd go hunting. Whenever she did, they alway came back with a much larger haul than they normally would have. The nobles were special, so it wasn't all too surprising that she was an adept archery student at the age of ten. The fact she was so good at it that people were already arguing her to be the best archer of the age, however, was something even the nobility couldn't hope to expect. It was like she was born to fire a bow. Cain on the other hand…well, he at least knew now that the pointy end went towards the target. Even after two years of practice, it was like trying to teach a newborn child with undeveloped legs how to do a cartwheel with its hands tied behind its back. He couldn't even keep the arrow straight.
"We're not going to archery today!" Yelled the boy's partner in crime at his half dressed body. He stared for a moment before finishing pulling the top down his arms and over his head, still listening to whatever she was about to say, "today, I wanna go on a picnic in the forest!" Cain stares at her for a moment, unsure what to say in response.
"Uh… How? And with what?" He said, nearly biting his tongue as the young girl smugly revealed the basket she'd been holding behind her back the whole time. Ah, so she planned this. "... There was never archery class today, was there?"
"Of course not!" Alyssa said with a small hop, "It's your birthday! You're officially older than me for four months!" He rolled his eyes and put on a leather vest, lacing it together and tightening it with a sigh. He'd admittedly forgotten about said birthday, and the feeling he'd gotten from Cord told him that even the sword thought he should have expected this.
"I'm always older than you by four months." He said in response as he walked over and grabbed the weapon that allowed him to acquire his title two years prior. She shook her head in response.
"Nope! We're the same age except for the four months where you're older than me because I said so!" Alyssa turned around and began walking away, her left hand touching the ring connected to the chain around her neck.
Around half a year prior to today, Cain's mother had passed away. Misses Rocksalt, as Alyssa had always called her, gave Cain the ring his father gave her when they were courting one another. Marriage was not proposed with jewelry in Agria, and in the Kingdom of Heroes, it was the woman who proposed to the man. The Agrian ritual involved the woman giving their lover a lock of their own hair, in fact the braid that was commonly seen among them was usually a sign of an unmarried Agrian woman. The man would then give it back if they refused, or keep it if they'd accepted. However, a common hint that a man was interested in a woman as a marriage prospect was either antlers from an animal they slew, or something they'd crafted themselves. This, admittedly, meant that this wasn't some kind of confession on the boy's part. However, the sentiment behind the ring, how important his mother was to him as well as to the young girl, even if he hid it behind a comment of "jewelry doesn't look good on me" was still there. He wanted specifically her to have it, and she took it. Even if it was rather reluctantly.
With a nod, Cain tied his hair back. It had grown a bit since he was a child, thanks to the fact that he didn't have to shave most of it off in order to keep it clean anymore. It wasn't as long as the noble women he lived with, only reaching to about the center of his neck when he let it down, whilst theirs dipped below the chest after being braided.
Alyssa actually made him do the braid for her hair once, and while it was the worst braid she'd ever had, she demanded that it stayed. She refused to let how hard he tried mean nothing or be ruined. It meant so much to her that he even tried that she talked back to Cain's mother. This was quite the shock to all around her, especially Cain. If his mother said something, it was basically done immediately. Even Alyssa's mother had shied away from speaking out against her own maid when she was angry enough. Cain's mother once made Lady Charlotte and Alyssa both clean the dishes for a whole week after the mother and daughter got into an argument. This alone may have made Cain's mother the most terrifying woman in Agria. So when the, at the time eight year old, little girl stood defiantly against her, people were sure the sky would fall. The end of days was brought about by a tiny child acting like a princess towards a peasant pushing her thirties who worked for her. Cain could even remember diving under a nearby table in anticipation. His mother, however, nodded and allowed her to keep her hair like that for the day. She explained to Cain that night that she would have gotten mad, if it weren't for the reason Alyssa was talking back to her. It wasn't because Cain made a braid and it gave her an excuse to talk back, it was because her best friend made the braid and deserved to have his efforts recognized.
"It would be wrong of me not to encourage that behavior. Those who wouldn't face even the most terrifying of monsters to protect those they love make for poor leaders, and worse friends." It was a phrase that Cain chose to keep in his mind long after she'd said it. Likely even longer after she'd pass if he'd had to guess.
Cain held back a smile from the memory. He'd always refused Alyssa's requests to braid her hair from then on, instead opting to brush it so that the hairdressers would have one less step in the young girl's routine. It was nice, actually. Eventually, it had become a part of their morning routine. Alyssa would barge into Cain's room, brush in hand, sitting at his desk and waiting for him to start brushing her silk like golden hair. Now that he thought about it, he should have known something was off when she didn't do that this morning. In fact, when she barged into his room it was nearly noon.
"Hey, Alyssa?" He said as he stepped out of his place of rest, Cord strapped to his hip, resting in the small of his back. It felt right to have it rest that way when it wasn't in his hand. "Why didn't you come this morning?"
"Oh!" Alyssa jumped and blushed a little bit. Then she blushed a little harder, before her face turned a bright red from the embarrassment. "I was making food with help from the maid staff." Her eyes darted from his face to her feet on repeat. She didn't understand why she felt embarrassed admitting that. "I thought it would be a nice present if I at least had a hand in making the meal. But I wasn't confident enough to do it by myself." That was probably it, she decided. She wasn't embarrassed at the fact she did it for Cain, just the fact that she did it with help. Then again, the thought came to her mind that if she did do it by herself, would Cain think she did it because she liked him? Wait, no, they're just friends. That doesn't make sense, of course she likes him!
"Your face is red." Cain said aloud as the girl realized that she must have a hue more vibrant than a fresh cherry. With a squeak and a heel turn, she began quickly walking away from the boy. Only walking faster as the giggling maid staff began to gossip and tease the young lady. Cain followed closely behind her as she does, choosing to ignore the words he'd heard rather clearly.
The walk wasn't a very long one, there was a small clearing in the forest that hardly a bear or wolf ever frequented. In fact, it was quite pleasant. Especially when Alyssa calmed down and began to talk to him like she normally would. She was happily chatting away with the boy about little things. Silly things. While she didn't like to study, nor hear about any of the bookish stuff that Cain liked reading about, she was quite the fan of adventures and stories related to them. It was part of the reason why she wanted to go on this walk with Cain, the birthday thing partially also just an excuse. Cain didn't mind however. He liked seeing her happy. Alyssa was his best friend in the whole world, perhaps even his only friend. He was fine with that, at least for now.
Alyssa was quick to set everything up, even snickering at the small bit of red wine she'd nabbed while the maid staff wasn't looking. Only to get a disapproving glare from Cain, that made her put it away with a pout and replace it with a bottle of grape juice instead. She did this sometimes. Especially after figuring out what the word "moderation" meant. She claimed to know her limits, but Cain had seen adults with much cooler heads claim the same thing as Alyssa only to be bent over a bucket and losing whatever lunch they may have had left in their guts. One of which having actually been his late mother. The thought caused him to look at the ring Alyssa carried around her neck and smile.
The day was nice, however. The picnic went off without an issue, and the whole day was spent celebrating Cain's birthday with just the two of them. Of course, Cain was mostly just trying to keep up with the ball of enthusiastic energy that was Alyssa. The girl was only a couple steps away from being a perpetual motion machine. Constantly moving, constantly doing something, running, playing, shooting arrows, and talking on and on about such silly things.
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"Your magic might be manipulating her feelings about you." The voice of the sword told the boy as he was finally about to settle down in his room and rest for the night. Only stopping after hearing the words that came from the toneless, accentless voice that belonged to Cord. Cain's head turned to the sword. There was only one word that need be said, and Cain said it.
"What?"
The sword then began to explain to Cain about a power that its previous master had and used with reckless abandon. A power to make people like you purely by exposing your magical energies to them. It forced a change in their minds, men who once hated the man-god began to pledge their lives and die for him in wars and conflicts. Women who wanted nothing to do with him earlier that morning were inviting him into their bed chambers not a few minutes later. Kings offering their crowns to the man, not to appease him, but because they felt as though his godlike demeanor was truly worthy of rulership and conquest. Cord confirmed that he almost never earned the loyalty of his soldiers, subjects, husbands, or wives, only making them believe that they'd never hated him to begin with. What's more, unlike Cain, the Godking was capable of a magical control beyond the understanding of even the greatest scholars in Akashia. So while the manipulation was entirely by the choice of the Godking, Cain may have been doing so unconsciously for the two years he'd lived in the palace with them.
Thoughts filled his mind, all of them various versions of what ifs and how comes. Justifications for various actions people had taken towards him, how they ignore his less than courtly mannerisms and allow him to get away with talking back or running off alone. Even the current high noble lady seemed to allow him to get away with certain acts and behaviors that she'd never allowed Alyssa, her own daughter, to get away with. The leniency became even more blatant after the loss of his mother. Allowing him to skip out on lessons and even isolate himself from others during his grievings. Everything Cord explained, and his elaborations, it made every second of this revelation worse and worse. Cain wanted to run. He wanted to run to Alyssa and have her tell him that the sword was wrong. That it was mistaken. That he wasn't as bad as all that. But in Cain's ever spiraling examination of the situation, in his rattled mind still dealing with the loss of his beloved mother and confusion over being thrust into an unfamiliar setting and unfamiliar customs, he thought the words that would destroy any hope he'd had of being comforted by her words.
"What if she only tells me what I want to hear?"
The boy, not realizing that what he wanted to hear may be what he needed to hear from her, began to teeter between going to his friend and beating down his emotions. A fear he'd never thought he could feel in his still developing mind encroaching upon him. Tendrils of doubt and confusion constricting upon his brain as he asks himself questions a child his age should never have to ask themselves. Questions that he'd never wanted to contemplate, questions that he'd never even fathomed could be contemplated until this very moment.
"Was I ever really loved?"
A question someone whose mind had fallen down into a precipice of self doubt and loathing could fathom. Even if only briefly. He should vanish, run away, leave, disappear completely from the world he'd entered as completely as possible. He should-
"Cain!" He jumps at the sound of the uncannily mechanical voice… raising? He hadn't even realized it, but the emotions he'd felt were flowing into the sword, something he'd not realized he could do subconsciously. "Don't run away from this."
"What?"
"Figure it out, child. You have options. The noble woman has connections. If you just abandon everything as you are, you'll never be able to fix this. You'll never be able to play with Alyssa again." And he didn't want that. "Speak to the high noble lady, speak to lady Charlotte. You don't have to explain what we talked about, but you disappearing will only make things worse. They'd search for you if you went missing. Go to the other Territories. Do what you do best. Learn." And maybe he'll learn to control it. Then he can go back to his life here. He'd have to stop speaking to Alyssa… he'll apologize when he's sure he's normal. For now, he needs escort and passage to another territory. He'll go to Akashia first, the territory most well known for magic. "Good. You're thinking clearly again. Like how you did when we first met." Right. Cain had to be calm. As calm as a child could be he guesses. He'll speak to the noble woman. He probably wouldn't need to push too hard. Learning the customs of the other territories would be important. Classes he'd taken have even said so, and how better to learn than to just go there.
It broke his heart, but he was resolved enough, or as much of his little self he could muster, to get this solved. And protect Alyssa in the process.
And so, for the week after, Cain ignored his friend. His routine of brushing Alyssa's hair stopped. He left whenever they were alone in a room together. He avoided talking to her unless absolutely necessary. And when that long week of self torture ended…
"Mother!!!" Alyssa bawled as she barged into the women's room. Her face covered in snot and tears as she grabbed onto the dress of the woman who birthed her. Burying her face into the dress and making a mess of it as she cried, "Cain is missing! I can't find him anywhere and he's been acting strange all week! I'm worried he got hurt or someone stole him!" She tugged on her mother's dress accidentally. Her upset state caused her to forget that Cain getting hurt in such a manner was rather unlikely. The older woman looked at her daughter in shock. Had the boy not told her that he was planning to leave? Did he not even say goodbye to her?
"Sweetie, Alyssa, Cain is going to Akashia…" She said to her as she crouched down to be eye level with her daughter. "Did he not tell you?"
"No! What do you mean?! Why would he do that?! When?!" She was almost screaming. Her mother wasn't going to scold her for yelling like this however.
"Last night. He told me that he wasn't sure when he'd be back. I thought he told you and was worried you'd sneak away with him…" She admitted, leaving out the part where she would have let Alyssa do so to stay with her friend.
"No!" The girls screamed again as she grabbed onto her mother. "He said he'd never leave me! He promised, he promised! I thought we were friends!" The tears of the young girl broke the hearts of all the adults in the room. All of whom stomping down the rage they felt at the selfish boy. Would it not have been easy to simply tell Alyssa goodbye? And to ignore her for a whole week before just disappearing like that? How cruel!! "Well fine! If he hates me so much then I never want to see him again!" The girl proceeds to scream as she sprints out of the room. One of the maids sprinting after her as well to make sure she doesn't hurt herself too badly.
A day of bawling, crying, and curses that the maids didn't realize the ten year old knew passed in agony. It took a whole day for her to finally stop crying. Balled up in her room, her clothes ruined from the sobbing. Her only friend had left her, without a single word, letter, nothing. Vanished from view without even the common courtesy of a goodbye. Her eyes eventually fall on the ring. Misses Rocksalt's ring. The ring he gave her. Rage, pure rage, overwhelming rage filled her for the first time in her tiny life. She stood, ripping the necklace off her as she moves to and stands in front of the window. Reeling her arm back to throw the ring as far as she possibly could. Stopping before she releases it. Bringing the small object to her chest and collapsing to her knees before beginning to cry softly again.
"Jerk…"