Chapter 25 - Awakening Gifts
It was on a bright, sunny morning during the Emberhart family's ongoing stay as highly honored guests in the elven kingdom of Evermore that Lord Alaric was unexpectedly forced to make urgent preparations for a temporary yet immediate return to their ancestral estates back in the human kingdom of Valonaria.
An emissary had arrived in the predawn hours bearing grave news of a small but violent peasant uprising brewing on the western borders of Emberhart lands. As Lord and defender of those territories, duty left Alaric no choice but to swiftly depart and quell the rebellion before bloodshed took root and stability became threatened.
Though extremely reluctant to prematurely cut short this long-awaited reconnection with his wife's cherished family after so many years kept apart by distance and circumstances, Lord Alaric knew with somber resignation that his first and foremost responsibility was to uphold peace and order in the lands under his stewardship according to ancient oaths of fealty sworn to the high king himself.
And so with profuse apologies and promises to return just as soon as order was restored, Lord Alaric bade temporary yet heartfelt farewells to his gracious hosts the Lord and Lady Feywood, before sharing an embrace with his crestfallen wife and son, entreating them to remain safely behind here in these ancestral elven lands until stability was assured back home.
In her husband's necessary absence, Lady Ellara made the decision to seize this opportunity to stay on a while longer, wanting to reconnect more deeply with her parents on an emotional level and continue exposing young Eric to the language, culture, and magics of her maternal kingdom now so unfamiliar to him. She sensed somehow that this visit was a pivotal moment for their family, with untold implications for her child's destiny.
So life swiftly settled into a comfortable routine over the subsequent days and nights as the Emberhart contingent now made up of solely mother and son became even more immersed into the daily ebb and flow of the royal elven world they found themselves temporarily living in.
One day, as Ellara took afternoon tea privately with her own mother, Lady Feywood leaned in with an intense glint reflecting many years of wisdom and intuition shining forth from her piercing emerald gaze. In a serious tone, she confided, "Daughter, ever since young Eric's arrival here, I have sensed with growing certainty that your boy contains as of yet unlocked wells of immense magical potential flowing strongly through his veins, passed down from our family's ancient mystical bloodline. The time is nigh for his gifts to be awakened according to the sacred rites."
Lady Ellara's response was tentative, for she well understood the gravity of what her mother proposed. The Elven Magical Awakening rituals marking the passage into awareness of one's innate talents were never undertaken lightly or for trivial reasons. Lady Ellara herself vividly remembered her own childhood experience being led by the hand into the incense-wreathed sacred grove by the High Priestess herself, so very many decades ago now it seemed.
Yet somehow in her soul, Ellara recognized the essential rightness of her mother's words. Eric was special, that much had always been clear, from his first precocious words and steps forward. Perhaps this mystical birthright could serve as a guiding light illuminating his unique life path from here on forward.
And so, setting aside any lingering doubts, Lady Ellara haltingly gave her formal maternal consent for Eric to soon undergo the Elven Magical Awakening ritual overseen by House Feywood's honored High Priestess, saying simply, "If you believe in your wisdom that this rite of passage is now necessary and proper for my son, then I place my trust in your judgment, Mother."
She knew they must gently begin to prepare Eric, though much about the ceremony would remain shrouded until the appointed time...