Adrian and Lance were off to war. Now that Lazar also left to attend the Imperial Mage Academy our house felt lifeless. Luckily he was still allowed to visit us once a month. I remember the joy of seeing him come home with notes in his briefcase recorded from his lectures at the academy, he always loved to share them with me.

Meanwhile, at home mother increasingly pushed more lessons involving reading, dance, and mannerisms for me to do. That day I bared with it because my big brother was visiting us tomorrow, and summer was here, which meant that he would be staying for not only a few days but an entire month.

Soon after our family would be in for a surprise. We received a visitation request from the third prince. It was too sudden and there were no clues in regard to its purpose.

Father planted himself at his desk all day thinking hard. His anxiety was telling him something malicious was behind this visit.

Maybe he worried that outsiders caught wind of his secretive arrangement to put Lance and Adrian away from the frontlines. Maybe because of that this was some kind of loyalty test. After all, this household had never received the presence of any royal family member before.

Why now?

Mother tried to comfort him, reminding him that the prince's visit could be just about anything. Assuming any more would be overthinking.

Shortly before the arrival of the third prince, my mother gave me lengthy lectures about how I should behave in front of a royal family member.

I was annoyed that she did not have an ounce of trust in me. Despite that, I held it all in, because I wanted to observe this meeting as well.

After being notified of his highness’ arrival, the entire family quickly hurried out to greet the prince.

An escort in such elegant armor jumped out to open the main carriage door.

"His highness has arrived!"

The door swung open and the prince emerged with a confident swagger. He was tall and his eyes were sharp, his features were handsome, and he seemed confident in his appearance.

"It's such a pleasure to meet the Lockhart family finally!"

"Your words are too flattering, your highness. The pleasure is all ours." Father continued to bow.

"Oh please! Contrary to what it looks like, I'm only here as a friend of Lazar. Or at least someone hoping to be."

"Lazar?" Father stood straight again, with a confused look.

Mother and father glared at their sone with immense pressure but it was obvious he was just as confused as they are.

An awkward silence filled the air. Lazar could not decide whether to accept or question the prince's words.

"Oh no, I apologize! I did not know how serious my words were."

"Please do not apologize your highness. The fault is on us for misunderstanding your intentions." said father yet still confused.

"I take responsibility for everything I said." said the prince. He then placed his hand on Lazar's shoulder and began speaking in hushed tones to him, making sure the rest of us could not hear.

The prince was brought to our family meeting room where everyone took a seat.

"Were any of you made aware about what I wanted to discuss?" Asked the prince.

"No, your highness." Father replied.

"Good."

"I'll get to the point. I have heard many great things regarding Lazar Lockhart at the academy. Using the power given to me as prince, I would like to offer him my support in serving our empire."

The prince was also attending the Imperial Mage Academy and was in his final year. Word about Lazar the talented freshman had reached him.

Father's face turned to concern.

"Your highness, forgive me if I am again misunderstanding your words, but are you requesting my son Lazar to fight in this war?"

"Fight? No, of course not!"

The prince looked displeased with himself for his vague choice of words. He quickly transitioned to a reassuring tone.

"Lazar should co-lead a medical corps. He would be stationed far from the front, improving the well-being of our wounded soldiers. I may be the youngest prince but I assure you that I will make it happen."

Both father and mother's eyes widened.

"Your highness would entrust such a position to our son whose only 14?"

Mother wanted to say more but she knew it would risk coming off as blunt rejection. If you wish to reject a royal family member's request then you had to do it carefully.

"Of course." replied the prince. "Lazar has helped with research regarding the development of self-administered healing potions. All the professors I spoke to praised him for his new ideas. Not utilizing his talents would be a waste."

Neither of our parents had heard about this until now. Perhaps it made them wonder how well they really knew their son.

Lazar was called a genius because of his ability to learn new things quickly, but there was another side of his brilliance that he hid from most people.

There is a common belief among intellectual mages that magic, once fully understood, would replace all other classical sciences. 

Lazar did not share this idea, for he believed the way forward was to apply every branch of science, including magic, to engineer inventions that benefitted the masses. For him, the end goal was an invention imbued with magic that could be used by anybody.

Such ideas were considered taboo and the area of study was referred to as “artificial magic” in the academic space, with the implication being that only magic sourced directly from a human was considered “genuine”. With father being a prominent member, Lazar feared disapproval and kept his ideas to either himself or me. However, with so many resources offered at the academy, Lazar slowly became more open about his hidden passion.

 

Silence filled the room as father was still speechless, thinking of an appropriate response.

…

“Excuse my rudeness your highness, but could we speak alone?” It was the first time Lazar, the conversation subject, had spoken up.

This entire time he looked deep in thought, ignoring the discussion so far. I wondered what could the prince have possibly whispered to him outside.

“That sounds fine to me. Lord and Lady Lockhart?” He glanced at my parents.

Father reluctantly agreed.

We left the room and father paced back and forth with hands behind his back outside the closed door. Mother sat on a nearby chair, biting her nails.

They were worried for a good reason. I was too young to see the hidden cost that came with the prince’s offer, but my parents knew exactly what it was.

Politics.

Another war for the throne was coming, and compared to his brothers, the third prince was far lacking in allies.

This offer acted as both an investment and a stepping stone to building a solid relationship between him and Lazar.

Acceptance would also portray our family to align with the third prince, and while this came with benefits, it introduces us to new unknown enemies. It was too risky considering that the third prince was the least influential.

Their private discussion had concluded and the prince exited the room with Lazar following behind him.

“It was such a delight to converse with the Lockhart family. I look forward to seeing Lazar’s growth as a mage.” said the prince, smiling.

Mother’s eyes widened. Her fear had happened.

The prince left and shortly after my mother berated Lazar.

“Do you realize what you have done!?”

She tried to pry into the topics of his private discussion but he would not give it up.

“That is enough, Beatrice.” Father intervened.

Mother fired back, “Now is not the time to be soft on our kids. You should also understand the situation our son has put us in.”

“I understand it as you do, but did you or I have the courage to answer the prince’s proposal when given the chance?”

Mother backed down while father assumed Lazar’s acceptance to be out of fear.

Lazar spoke up, “You are mistaken.”

“What?”

“I was not pressured in any way by the prince, father. It was purely my wish to accept.”

Father and Lazar both went on back and forth. Father was concerned yet curious about what the prince could have said to him to make this decision but never got a clear answer. 

In the end, Lazar’s wishes were respected, with the justification being that the discussion should have originally been between him and the prince.

It was the first time I have ever felt such sadness. I was already so lonely when Lazar went to the academy, only being able to visit us once a month, and now I am supposed to wait even longer.

I held in my tears until I was alone. Lazar could not even look me in the eye.

 

Betrayal.