Chapter 5

Chapter 5

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Pride is like a fine wine.

A little bit every now and then, wasn't a bad thing, in fact it could even be beneficial in small doses, too much however and you would make an ass of yourself.

A sigh escaped through my nose, as I rubbed my temples.

Demacia it seemed, forgot to bring a cup, and just decided to drink the whole damn cask.

It was the only explanation. I thought as I stared at the book in front of me, it was assigned to me by one of my tutors. The book was one on the geography of Demacia, the first two pages made a basic map of the country. It had the major cities and mentioned a few of the more notable villages, but thanks to the size it was forced to exclude the less important villages. That was why I had a much larger and more detailed map spread out on the table.

At first I only grabbed the book, but upon inspection I noticed something that I thought to be an error or a mistranslation of some kind. So I searched our family library and found a more recent and up to date map. It didn't help.

"The Great City of Demacia" I read aloud with some disbelief still coloring my voice. That was the name of the capital.

I sighed again.

What kind of prideful asshole named the city? I mean really? Was he trying to make all Demacians look bad? I was genuinely unsure what concerned me more. The fact that someone had the audacity to name it that? Or the fact that not only had people gone along with it, but actually managed to say it with a straight face.

Like holy shit. Automatically just by having "The" in the name, it made us look more than a bit conceited. But oh no, they had to go that extra mile and have "Great" thrown in there for that special dash of asshole.

If countries were people, we were Chad.

/

"-Noxus had pushed deeper into our lands than they had ever dared previously-" My tutors voice droned on for what felt to me like ages. I could hardly keep my eyes open by this point, his monotone voice doing its best to lull me to sleep. To be fair though it wasn't entirely the mans fault.

Ironically the reason I wasn't paying attention wasn't because I didn't find the subject interesting, in fact it was the opposite. I found the subject fascinating and that was the problem. I had read almost all of the assigned history books weeks in advance, to anyone else the thought of sloughing through the thick tomes would be equivalent to torture. But to me? To me it read like a fantasy novel, this world's history was amazing, even its most boring moments were more interesting than my worlds most exciting moments. Every page drew me in, I hung onto every word, committing them to memory as best I could.

"Are you even listening to me?" The exasperated voice of my tutor snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Of course I was!" I forced a smile on my face, and did the best I could to exude an innocent air.

He looked at me with a sceptical glare, obviously not amused. "Really? Then what happened at the Gates of Mourning that gave it their name?"

Truthfully I hadn't been paying him any attention, but I knew the answer anyways. "The Gates of Mourning earned their name after a battle at Demacias southern borders. Noxus sent an invading force through a pass in the Argent Mountains, Demacia wasn't able to mobilize fast enough in their surprise and so the force it sent was hardly enough to hold them back. Seeing this King Jarvan the First went to the front lines himself, in the hopes that the boosted morale would enable them to hold long enough for reinforcements to arrive." I took a breath before continuing in a more somber tone. "Sion the Reviled, charged through our ranks uncaring for anything in the way of his goal. His goal was to bring King Jarvan down. He managed to slay all of the Kings guards, and even fought the King to a standstill before King Jarvan managed to kill Sion. Unfortunately Sion, with his last breath managed grab the exhausted Kings neck. The grief stricken army held the mountain pass for another day and a night before reinforcements arrived to drive the invaders back. Thus forth the pass was renamed the Gate of Mourning."

The tutor looked at me with surprise, clearly not expecting me to actually be able to answer. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Correct, I never doubted you lady Crowngaurd." He spoke imperiously as if he actually believed his bullshit.

"Clearly." I couldn't help but say dryly. My grin became a tad more genuine as I saw him flinch at my not so subtle call out.

"Well I believe we have covered all that we needed to today." He spoke quickly as he began to pack up his things. "You will be starting your afternoon lessons soon, so I think it would be best if I let you relax a bit."

I watched in amusement as hs scurried out of the library. It wasnt that I disliked him personally, I was just really bored. Though if I was being honest, the way he constantly spoke as if I should be gratefully hanging on to his every word really rubbed me the wrong way.

With the silence of the library returning I was free to think. This last year had been a whirlwind, going by faster than any other year before it. When my fourth name day had finally arrived, my family informed me I would begin my education.

Tutors from all across Demacia, and even some from beyond were brought into our families service, everyday in the mornings I would spend four hours with the various tutors. Learning geography, arithmetic, etiquette, the varying noble houses and their histories, and everything in between. All things a young Lady of Noble birth was required to learn before they become of age. Some of it was fun, some of it was tedious.

My afternoons however were a completely different affair. I would spend the next few hours outside in the training yard, where I would be put through what was essentially a more intense version of P.E. I wasn't taught how to fight yet as I was too young, so they just worked on my stamina and conditioning. The goal was to ensure I would be fit enough for when I started combat training after my fifth name day. It was tiring, but rewarding work.

A glance at the clock told me I had a little under two hours before I was supposed to be outside. I made my way out of the library and headed to the kitchens for a snack. The chefs were always nice enough to have something set up for me around this time. I needed all the calories I could get for my afternoons.

/

The last two days of every week were the days I was allowed to rest and do whatever I wanted. I usually spent my time in the Gardens admiring the many flowers.

Or at least that's what everyone thought I was doing. In reality I was practicing my magic. I was sure my Mom at least knew what I did in the Garden as she had made sure that nobody except Crownguards were allowed to step foot in the gardens during the weekends. It wouldn't do for a servant or any of the gardeners to see something they shouldn't.

As I had intentionally been overly kind to everyone in our employ practically since birth. I was reasonably sure I had endeared myself to them enough that they wouldn't rat me out to the Mageseekers even if they knew. But there was no point in taking risks.

With my eyes shut, I focused on the calm thrumming magic under my skin. With a slight nudge I agitated it, it was slow and sluggish at first, like it was waking from a long nap, but eventually it started moving, faster and faster it went until it was a raging whirlpool under my skin where before it was a placid lake. I could feel its effect immediately as my body grew warmer taking away the bite of the chilly morning air. But the true effect was when I opened my eyes.

I could see the world with much greater clarity, the colors seemed brighter and more vivid. The greatest change however was the motes of softly glowing light I could now see falling from the sky like some strange snow, or slowly falling rain. At first I had been confused by it, but after some experimentation I came to the conclusion that I was seeing for a lack of a better term the magic in the sunlight. I could see the same motes of lights coming off of other light sources as well such as candles and torches, though they were much smaller and dimmer than the ones that came from the sun. Even the moonlight and starlight generated the slowly falling motes of light, though I noticed they felt noticeably different when they touched my skin.

Where the sunlight felt happy, warm, and welcoming like a hug from a loved one. The night lights while still feeling welcoming, they felt more distant and cool, but somehow still managing to be soothing all the same.

With a smile, I brushed my hands through the falling lights, warmth shooting up my hand at the contact. The passing of my hand seemed to create a sort of turbulence as the motes swirled in the air where my hand had been before calming and falling back to the earth like usual.

I wanted to try something new today. I had noticed an anthill forming in near one of the rose bushes, and it had given me an idea. Holding my hand in a circle over the anthill I concentrated on the motes of light near my hand. With an effort of will I nudged them so that they began to gather above my hands and stream single file through the gap in my hand. The effects were immediate as I could see the blinding point of concentrated light form over the anthill, and thin trails of smoke begin to take shape.

I grinned at my accomplishment. Beware Luxanna Crowngaurd, Destroyer of Anthills. I couldn't help but laugh.

In my state of euphoria, I didnt even so much as cringe at the nails on chalkboard worthy sound that escaped my lips.

/

Apparently fifth name days were an important affair for Demacians. Some books theorized it's a holdover from our past, when infant mortality rates were much higher, and making it to five years old meant you would likely live to see adulthood. Other books claimed it was a simple cultural thing, something created through superstition that managed to stick in our society.

Personally I didn't really care what the reason was, I just wanted to know why my mother was in my room holding that pink monstrosity, and why she was looking at me with that predatory gleam in her eyes.

"No." I spoke that one word with as much authority as I could manage.

"Yes." She responded with even greater authority.

We stared at each other in silence for a moment. Then I booked it past her and out of the room. Or at least I tried.

She caught me by the scruff of my shirt and lifted me off the ground. I glared at her. "I. Am. Not. Wearing. That." My glare was scorching, but the fact that I was being held aloft one handed probably negated its effectiveness.

She sighed, "If I put you down will you promise not to run? We can discuss this rationally."

I had no intention of discussing anything, but I nodded if only so I could have some semblance of my dignity back. Once on the ground I went to sit on my bed, Mom sat next to me, hanging that thing over the back of a chair.

"Why do you want me to wear that? What's wrong with my other outfits? I've worn them to events before."

"There's nothing wrong with your other outfits." Seeing my mouth open, she quickly continued "However none of them are up to the standards necessary for your fifth nameday. There are going to be a lot of important people attending and you need to look your best."

I bit my lip, and glared at my hands in contemplation. Glaring, not pouting, I did not pout. On one hand I really didn't want to wear that thing she called a dress, on the other if there truly were important people coming then I did have to measure up to certain standard.

I looked up to her, ignoring the victorious glimmer in her eyes. "Fine. I will wear it." And just like she had interrupted me earlier, I stopped her before she could speak. "But on one condition. And it's non negotiable."

"Name it."

"The pinks gotta go."

"But-"

"Non. Negotiable." I cut her off sharply.

She remained quite in contemplation. But she knew how stubborn I could be if I really wanted something, or how petty I could be if I didn't get it. "Fine." She pouted at me, probably trying to pull at nonexistent heartstrings. "But I really do think it wou-"

"No."

Her pout disappeared, replaced with an easy grin. "We really need to work on your negotiation skills there kiddo. You can't play hardball in every situation." She ruffled my hair fondly, completely ignoring my indignant scowl..

"Perhaps. But in this case I thought it was worth it." I stared at the puffy Pink creature on the back of my chair, and had to repress a shudder at the thought of wearing it. Changing the subject before I gave in to my desire to set it alight seemed like the best idea. "You said we were gonna host important guests? Anyone I should know?"

"A few of the more notable noble houses, the Laurent', Buvelle'." She trailed off in thought. "Oh and the Lightshields."

The last part was said so casually it took me longer than usual to process. When I finally processed her words my gaze snapped to hers in horror.

"You wanted me to meet the royal family for the first time dressed in that!?" My screech was probably heard across the entire mansion. Even with all the hours I had put into training my magic, the light streaming through the window visibly brightened.

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AN: I hope you all liked the chapter.

Remember to review or pm me if you have any ideas, comments, complaints, or if you just wanna talk. I love hearing from you guys and it motivates me to write.

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