Brie's Powers

Nicholas was seated to King Alexander's left, beside him was General Feroy.

Surprisingly, the moment he sat down, Nicholas remembered a few details about the man. He was the cousin of King Alexander on his mother's side, a general from the Bellator Clan.

"Prince Nicholas, I'm surprised you could join us tonight." General Feroy said as he gave Nicholas a malicious smile that made his skin crawl.

Bellator Mages were supposed to be fierce and strong, none of these adjectives matched what Feroy was. He seemed more like a spy and a coward than a warrior mage.

"Why is that, General Feroy?" Nicholas struggled to stop the bitterness in his tone from seeping out. From what he could gather the old Nicholas was not a smart or aggressive man, or at least he wasn't to those he didn't trust.

"I was speaking to your chief councilor earlier today in the library, Rion? Eon? Ah, Dion!" Nicholas struggled to keep his temper in check, he knew that the General was struggling with Dion's name on purpose to insult him.

"Anyway, he said you were still quite unwell this morning. It's quite odd hearing about a Corporalis Mage that gets sick." The general pointed out, much to Nicholas' annoyance.

To his surprise, the king spoke up in his defense.

"We both know that Nicholas has a different illness, it's not of the physical origin, it's one related to his mana." The King explained. "I blame myself, it's because he was taken from the palace at such a young age that he didn't have the right nutrients to develop."

"Father, it's not your fault." Nicholas said as he tried to be the dutiful son.

The king gave him a sad smile before nodding.

"So you are well now, Prince Nicholas?" General Feroy pressed.

The king showed no indication of helping Nicholas, he knew that he was now all alone in speaking to the General.

"I am feeling better, yes. Thank you for your concern, General Feroy." Nicholas nodded as he worded his response as carefully as he could.

The room fell silent as the king stood, for the moment, Nicholas was safe from Feroy's questions and insults.

"Ladies and Lords of Merlen!" King Alexander said as he greeted the guests.

In their seats they all gave him a bow as a sign of respect, offering their necks to the king and his family, submitting to them.

"Tonight we celebrate an amazing woman." King Alexander said as his voice boomed across the banquet hall. "A woman who was a miraculous healer and the mother to my fourth son, Prince Nicholas."

Nicholas felt a tightness in his chest as his mother was mentioned by the king.

In his mind, an image of a beautiful woman, frail but beautiful. Her eyes were the same as the rest of the Corporalis Mages, white and gray, but her's looked more hollow than magical.

She had long brown hair that was pulled to a ponytail behind her head, it helped her heal better, Nicholas somehow recalled.

"Liira, my beautiful Liira." Nicholas heard the king say, his pain evident as his voice cracked.

Nicholas caught a glimpse of one of the king's other wives scowling at the mention of his mother's name. The other princes tried to hide the disgust in their expression, but it was clear to Nicholas, his mother was someone the other wives were jealous of.

"Tonight, we celebrate the great healer she was. She might have left us too soon, but she will always hold a place in my heart." King Alexander said as he raised a glass.

The rest of the guests and his family followed as they all toasted to the memory of Liira, fourth wife to King Alexander.

Nicholas couldn't help but wonder if his father truly felt the pain of his mother's death, or if it were just some act he played in order to keep the Corporali Mages in line.

As the night droned on, Nicholas was left alone with his thoughts, constantly trying to summon more memories to come to light.

"Father, you should really reconsider who sits next to you at banquets such as these." Brie's familiar voice fluttered across the room. At first Nicholas was hopeful at the familiar face, then he recalled how she had warned him that they were not supposed to be friendly.

Nicholas quickly doused all hope that Brie would carry any semblance to being kind or friendly in public.

"Now, now, Brie, be kind to your brother." The king knew that Brie was referring to Nicholas since she had always picked on her so-called weakest brother every chance she got.

"Why do you even tolerate him, father, he can't even defend himself." As she finished her sentence a dark energy wrapped itself around Nicholas, making him struggle to breath.

Ganti Mages. Nicholas grumbled in his mind as he recalled the dark magic that his sister was able to perform. They were known as the mages of death, able to have command over the dark forces and move a person from the land of the dead to the living and vice versa, but their magic had a steep cost.

"Brie!" The king shouted as the dead chicken on the table began to reassemble its bones and come to life, becoming a soldier for the princess.

Nicholas could feel as Brie's life force, a force more delicate and dangerous than mana, slowly dwindled.

For some reason he channeled some of his own mana to keep her life force stable and intact, that was the price of her magic.

Brie's eyes widened as she felt the change. She quickly recovered from the initial shock of Nicholas being able to use his magic, she used her own dark aura combined with what Nicholas presumed to be the Cruor magic to throw him across the hall, severing their link.

Nicholas landed at the center of the hall, below the elevated royal table, surrounded by nobles, generals, and other dignitaries that were too tense to speak or stand. They all watched as the princess made her brother look like a common mage.

Brie was panting as she glared at him, despite Nicholas' attempt, using her magic had cost her. Her eyes became dull for a short moment as her skin too paled, it took a few seconds for her to recover, something everyone in the hall witnessed.

"See father, he can't even defend himself from me!" Brie boasted.

"Take her back to her rooms!" The king commanded Brie's people.

Among those that were coaxing the princess to come was a familiar face whose eyes were a different color and hair had become dyed, Ryenne.

Nicholas' eyes quickly went to her, like a moth drawn to the light. Something about her simply attracted him, he wondered if he had been this attracted to her in the past or if it were some new taste he had acquired from the other world.

Eventually, Brie's people managed to usher her out of the banquet hall. No one moved to help Nicholas, he had to pick himself up, not eve Dion or any of his ministers rant to his aid to give him a hand.

"I guess that was a fitting end to tonight." Owain mocked as he looked down at Nicholas from the royal table.