Manifester: Kings, Queens, Priests, the Warrior Class, and the Peasantry
Fenix buried his head in his arms and flicked his king.
"Checkmate," she announced as she set up for another game, "in ten moves this time."
--'I'm not very good,'-- Fenix repeated. --'I'll go easy on you.'-- Out of the twelve games in the past five hours, Fenix had barely won two. What was her definition of "a little?" Or "not very good?" His Personal Guard could defeat every Grand Chessmaster in the realm and still be able to play them again. With her eyes closed. --What kind of Mage was her Father?--
"He was a Summoner." She looked up at him as she turned the board around. "You were thinking out loud. You're white this time."
--And your eyes look like robin's eggs.-- He moved his knight upward to his left. "Do you ever speak with him much?"
Tempyst moved her white bishop's pawn up two squares. "Would you speak to a child you're frightened of?"
He moved a pawn up a square. "Your Father's been Head Mage for almost sixty years, and he's frightened of his first born? Why?"
"I'm different."
"I know that. What did you do to frighten him?"
"Would you move please?"
--Stubborn Solaris-- Fenix grabbed the board and flung it across the room, the crystal shattering.
Tempyst watched him, her expression perfectly stoic. "You broke your set and ruined the game."
They stared at each other, Tempyst's eyes darkening slightly. They never blinked, and the room suddenly got warmer.
Fenix took a few steadying breaths.
"Now I see why your Brothers and Sister are afraid of you. You should really learn to control your temper."
He glared at his Guard, knowing his eyes appeared to be on fire. "You frightened a Mage. A Summoner. How?"
"When both your Mother and Second Mother die--one from complications, one out of the blue--you're guaranteed to at least spook your Father, especially when your Second Mother's spirit speaks to only you right before she dies."
"I heard about that. Three years before the Placing. We had creatures popping up all over this place that year." He shuddered, remembering coming face-to-face with the head Fallen Angel himself. Thankfully he vanished a second later. "That did not go over well with my Father."
She still watched him. "You don't seem to speak much of your family."
He noted the change of subject. "Family? I hardly consider this a family. Daddy sleeps with one woman, gets triplet Princes. Leaves her. After two more, sleeps with another and gets a Princess. His fourth wife after that, he gets another Prince, but this one's different. He doesn't figure out what's different until a Mage tells him that these Manifesters have appeared before, and that there's another one in another Clan."
"So, instead of a family, you have a clan."
Fenix leaned back in his chair. "Ha! I wish! No, this just happens to be a group of people who are of the same bloodline." Fenix sighed. "Someone says your son's an ancient creature from an ancient bloodline of deDannan that has died out, and everyone runs away."
"It's like you're not really their child," they said at the same instant. Their gazes met again.
"When I was Placed a Warrior, my Father walked out," she stated, answering his unasked question. "It was like I had never existed. My Sister cried, my Brother looked away, my Father left. No daughter of a Mage, especially a Solaris Mage had ever been Placed lower than Artisan or Scribe."
He smiled and placed his hand on top of hers. "They Placed you wrong. You would have been a wonderful Scholar."
She crossed her arms and glanced over at the crystal shards. "You're overstepping the Boundary. You should get some sleep, Fourth Prince."
"Checkmate," she announced as she set up for another game, "in ten moves this time."
--'I'm not very good,'-- Fenix repeated. --'I'll go easy on you.'-- Out of the twelve games in the past five hours, Fenix had barely won two. What was her definition of "a little?" Or "not very good?" His Personal Guard could defeat every Grand Chessmaster in the realm and still be able to play them again. With her eyes closed. --What kind of Mage was her Father?--
"He was a Summoner." She looked up at him as she turned the board around. "You were thinking out loud. You're white this time."
--And your eyes look like robin's eggs.-- He moved his knight upward to his left. "Do you ever speak with him much?"
Tempyst moved her white bishop's pawn up two squares. "Would you speak to a child you're frightened of?"
He moved a pawn up a square. "Your Father's been Head Mage for almost sixty years, and he's frightened of his first born? Why?"
"I'm different."
"I know that. What did you do to frighten him?"
"Would you move please?"
--Stubborn Solaris-- Fenix grabbed the board and flung it across the room, the crystal shattering.
Tempyst watched him, her expression perfectly stoic. "You broke your set and ruined the game."
They stared at each other, Tempyst's eyes darkening slightly. They never blinked, and the room suddenly got warmer.
Fenix took a few steadying breaths.
"Now I see why your Brothers and Sister are afraid of you. You should really learn to control your temper."
He glared at his Guard, knowing his eyes appeared to be on fire. "You frightened a Mage. A Summoner. How?"
"When both your Mother and Second Mother die--one from complications, one out of the blue--you're guaranteed to at least spook your Father, especially when your Second Mother's spirit speaks to only you right before she dies."
"I heard about that. Three years before the Placing. We had creatures popping up all over this place that year." He shuddered, remembering coming face-to-face with the head Fallen Angel himself. Thankfully he vanished a second later. "That did not go over well with my Father."
She still watched him. "You don't seem to speak much of your family."
He noted the change of subject. "Family? I hardly consider this a family. Daddy sleeps with one woman, gets triplet Princes. Leaves her. After two more, sleeps with another and gets a Princess. His fourth wife after that, he gets another Prince, but this one's different. He doesn't figure out what's different until a Mage tells him that these Manifesters have appeared before, and that there's another one in another Clan."
"So, instead of a family, you have a clan."
Fenix leaned back in his chair. "Ha! I wish! No, this just happens to be a group of people who are of the same bloodline." Fenix sighed. "Someone says your son's an ancient creature from an ancient bloodline of deDannan that has died out, and everyone runs away."
"It's like you're not really their child," they said at the same instant. Their gazes met again.
"When I was Placed a Warrior, my Father walked out," she stated, answering his unasked question. "It was like I had never existed. My Sister cried, my Brother looked away, my Father left. No daughter of a Mage, especially a Solaris Mage had ever been Placed lower than Artisan or Scribe."
He smiled and placed his hand on top of hers. "They Placed you wrong. You would have been a wonderful Scholar."
She crossed her arms and glanced over at the crystal shards. "You're overstepping the Boundary. You should get some sleep, Fourth Prince."