The Faerie Blade

Chapter 8

The meal was a silent affair. The food was delicious, consisting of bread, stew, and an interesting pink tea, but the company was definitely lacking.

"So..." I began, spinning my spoon in the bowl of stew. "You said training. What exactly does that mean?"

Merlin placed down his utensils. Steepling his fingers, he rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward.

"The first thing you need to know is that Fae society can be vicious. Tear-out-your-throat kind of vicious. So if you are to have any hope of surviving as the young, unknown, heir to the Solar Court, you will need to be the best in the games the Fae play. Or, at least, on par with the other Kings. Swordplay and use of glamour are two areas that the Fae excel at, but we also use words and knowledge as weapons, and they can be just as potent. Almost everything a Fae does is a move in a game of chess that our society has been playing for many centuries. Hence, your days will be split in four. Weapons training, Magic, History and Tactics. We have to get you up to standard in two years, and that is not a lot of time to learn what the children of the Fae nobility do in a decade." He snapped his fingers. "Gwynerch."

A scroll appeared on the left of my bowl of stew. I eyed it with apprehension and made no move to pick it up.

"Go on," Merlin said. "Take a look."

Gingerly, I unrolled it. A list with activities and timings was neatly penned on the rough parchment.

"There are certain things that we can leave out of your rushed education, as we can explain it away by claiming that you were found, not among the ranks of the nobility, but from the population of commoners. It is a loose enough statement that I can say that without lying, because it is true that I did not find you from within the Fae upper class. These things, such as delicate negotiations and treaties with the other Courts, I can advise you on if and when you experience them. However, there will be times during Fae social events where a bid for more political power may occur among the nobles or Kings from other Courts. It will be times like these, as well as in duels, that I, as your Merlin, would either not be with you, or be able to help you."

Upon noticing my wide-eyed look, Merlin gave me a small smile that was somehow condescending, as if I was a child that had not known what she was getting herself into. I don't know, it just gave me those vibes, and it kind of pissed me off a little.

"Don't worry," he tried to reassure me. "These two years will ensure that you are competent enough to maintain your throne. You won't die or suffer much harm if you pay attention to what I will be teaching you."

He picked up his spoon. "Finish your meal. We start on glamour and combat this afternoon."

~

If I were to elaborate on the amount of information that Merlin crammed into my head in those two years, I could write several books and still not be finished. That being said, I still want you, my dear readers, to be able to begin to understand what was expected of a Fae King, I will share an account of the first of each of the four 'classes'.

~

After lunch, Merlin ushered me into what looked like a study. Shelves of scrolls lined the walls, and a sturdy oaken desk stood in front of a tapestried wall with open windows. A second chair was summoned, and he directed me to sit on it as he sunk into his own seat.

"Glyphs and the Words of Power can manipulate the world around us according to our ability to connect and channel glamour. The better our connection to the glamour of this world, the more complex and powerful the spells we can cast," Merlin explained. "The weaker our connection, the more energy we take from our own bodies to cast the spell. Essentially, that is akin to what you did when you summoned your room. Part Fae, like humans, produce their own glamour. This gives them an edge in the human world where pure Fae find it harder to cast magic due to the thinner glamour blanket, but it limits them because their own connection to the glamour blanket is very much weaker than the weakest pure Fae."