Meeting of other young Nobles!
Memphis had now become nine years old. Apart from meeting Ralph and going round the city with his family, Memphis rarely came out of the Lerain family mansion. His second bedrooms were the cultivation room and training area. That was where one would always find him.
Irias Lerain sat behind his desk reading a letter he had received. The letter was from the King of the Daris kingdom. He wanted to meet all the Noble families in the kingdom apparently to discuss an urgent issue and also allow their kids to meet each other and interact as they would be taking over from their parents and would need to foster good relationships when they grew up. This event was going to be held in the Jade Pavillion in the royal palace. Irias was pleased as this would allow Memphis to at least meet other young nobles of his age and form good relationships as he had become more like a recluse. Had it not been for them dragging him out sometimes for parties and gatherings, he probably wouldn't know the capital or any other noble.
Irias was also worried. For about sometime, many talents and geniuses had been going missing. Whether those from noble families or those with common backgrounds, as long as they had talent or showed promise in magic, they would go missing. Irias suspected that this was one of the reasons why the king had specifically asked them to bring their children to the gathering so as to warn them to be on high alert. Unfortunately, it wasn't only Daris kingdom that faced that problem but rather most of the other kingdoms complained of similar problems too. Now the rate of those disappearances had increased and it was high time for that to be stopped.
When Memphis was informed of the party and meeting of other young nobles by his mother he sulked. "Can't I choose not to go?" "No. These summons are from the king himself. If you don't attend, we are being disrespectful. Just bear with this and avoid clashing with them. Some of them have a huge ego," said Sarah Lerain, Memphis' mother. Memphis knew nothing could be done about it and decided to prepare for it.
The next week, when it was getting to dusk, Memphis was trying on custom made family clothing made for him. White shirt with a golden design with the letter L embroidered on it, a golden waistcoat and pure white trousers with it. Memphis looked immaculate and pristine with his hair neatly combed and his green eyes sparkling. Memphis sighed and stepped out of his room, heading for the outer entrance where his family was. His father and grandfather were dressed in pure white robes with golden designs at the back. The Lerain family Crest which was a golden L on a shield was on their robes. His mother wasn't present and so were his uncles. He was leaving with Arudiz, his father and grandfather for the gathering. Even though they were all mages with his father and grandfather at the Mythical level, they got into the family carriage which was white with a golden rim, having the family crests on each side and pulled by six General class Light horses. Light horses were magical beasts which were pure white on colour with a golden horn like that of a unicorn. They were one of the fastest land animals in Balvan and were very rare to see, much more obtain.
After Arius saw that they were all ready, they got into the carriage and Arudiz got into the front to act as the coach. The guards opened the huge gates to allow the beautiful carriage to quickly pass through into the night. As the went Memphis asked his father, "Dad, why is the king after all the nobles in the kingdom?" This was because it was very rare for all nobles to be assembled together in one place unless there was an extremely important reason to meet. His father smiled at him, glad his son was discerning and wise enough to understand what was going on behind the scenes. "Sorry Memphis, but I can't really tell you much but you will know when we arrive at the Jade pavilion," replied his father with an apologetic smile.
The Light horses were very fast beasts so it didn't take long for them to arrive in front of the palace gates. Five soldiers stood guard at the entrance, all of them exuding the power of Peak Mythical mages. "Please show us your invitation," said the leader expressionlessly. Arudiz smiled and handed over the card to the guard. "Lerain Family, Lords Arius, Irias and Memphis. Everything seems to be in order," said the soldier as he handed the invitation back. One might think that the security was lax but it wasn't. The invitation cards were imbued with strong curse magic so that if anyone other than those invited tried to infiltrate with a stolen card, they will die a painful death of shrivelling and drying up till they were empty husks of themselves. Not that anyone would be crazy enough to infiltrate the king's palace but still, precautions were taken to prevent any unforeseen circumstances.
Without a hitch, the Lerain carriage passed through the gates where a servant led them to where to 'park' their carriage. Memphis and his father and grandfather got off the carriage while Arudiz went inside first to notify the one in charge of their presence. "The Lerains have arrived! Lord Irias, Lord Arius and Young Master Memphis are now in," came the loud voice of the announcer to those inside. Ralph Zeron smiled and clenched his fist in excitement. There were murmurs in the enormous building. The jade Pavillion couldn't be said to be a pavillion. Instead, it was an enormous building which was light green in colour and designed with the skin and body parts of a Jade Dragon.
"Arius sure took his time," commented Jared Malcom, the head of the Malvom family. He was a huge man, almost seven feet tall with bulging muscles which his brown robes failed to restrain. At the table where the young nobles were gathered, the kids were discussing Memphis Lerain. "I heard he has four elements with gold Affinity for all of them. He must be really strong," whispered one kid from a small noble family away from the capital. "So what if he has four elements? None of us here are pansies," snorted Claud Kincaid from the big Noble family of the Kincaids.
The Kincaid family didn't get along too well with the Lerains so it wasn't surprising why Claud showed such open hostility. Memphis entered with his grandfather and father and he was directed to join the young nobles at the far side of the huge room. Walking majestically with an air of nonchalance, Memphis nodded at the young nobles and took an empty seat. Ralph moved to sit by him while a servant brought a tray with a glass of spiritual wine which enhanced ones magic and was very sweet. Memphis knew that the other nobles were all observing him, watching his character and behaviour but he took no notice of it. "Haven't you seen another Noble before? Stop staring," reprimanded one girl. She was in a crystal blue dress with a little tiara on her blond hair. The other nobles averted their gazes from Memphis and continued with their little conversations. This surprised Memphis but he didn't show it. The girl walked up to Memphis and stretched out her hand. "I'm Catherine. Nice to meet you," she said. Memphis smiled and shook her hand. "Memphis, " he replied.
Catherine took it upon herself to sit by Memphis to introduce the other young nobles around the table. "The one beside you is Ralph Zeron of the Zeron family," she begun, pointing at Ralph. Memphis nodded at his friend and Ralph winked. She pointed at the guy in the corner who ignored everyone and wore black and silver robes. "That's Steven Syphar of the Syphar clan, the guy beside him with the muscle is Dennis Malcom. That other brown haired girl beside him is his sister Jenna, all from the Malcom family. On the left, the annoying individual with the red hair is Claud Kincaid and his brother is Dylan, the one by that girl with the silver hair. That girl is Amy Ryder and her brother over there is Flynn," Catherine took her time to introduce all those around the table to Memphis. "Thanks a lot, Catherine," he said. She smiled at him and replied, "You're welcome."
"Hmpf!" snorted Claud Kincaid with his arms crossed in annoyance looking at Memphis with anger. "Ignore him, he's just a sore faced person," said Ralph Zeron. Memphis just smiled and took a sip of his wine. The tension around the table eased and they continued to make small talk with each other. Memphis continued to talk with Catherine. It turned out Catherine was the princess and last born of King Muriel of Daris. She was a dual element Mage with the elements of Water and Blessing.
"Look at him, like an idiot," muttered Claud under his breath. He hated to see Memphis freely talking with the princess like that. Jenna giggled at his sore face. "What's funny, muscle brain?" he asked fiercely. "Nothing," Jenna shook her head with a smile.