Wrongly in Love

24- Reminiscing

After a few days of being confined in the castle, Gusion took a walk. As he did so, he vividly reminisced his childhood days back at his own household. Or rather, used to be his own household.

He lived at the castle with his six brothers- Arthur, William, Edward, Charles, Sebastian, and Alexander. His brothers lived luxurious lives at the castle- being pampered all day and training to be the best mages in the kingdom. They practiced spells and their parents were always proud of them. In short, they were the polar opposite of Gusion.

Gusion never truly enjoyed living in such a big residence, unlike his brothers. The villagers in town would often daydream about the luxury in living in a palace, or the pleasures of feasting, dressing, and celebrating like Kings. But to him, it felt like prison. He always had to follow strict royal protocol, he had no real friends (aside from some of his brothers and the others chosen by his parents), and he always attended magic lessons which his parents had insisted he take for his own good. Well, he sucked at those lessons. He barely listened as the instructor exasperatedly explained, for like the thousandth time, how to aim spells properly and to disarm opponents.

The idea of magic didn't fascinate Gusion much until he turned 18, when he wandered around the palace, and by accident, came across the sword display gallery his father forbid him to enter. But out of curiosity, and with his father's words barely ringing in his ears, he pushed open the big, gold door.

He was in a large, circular room. Around him were weapons in glass cases, most of them swords. Each of them was in perfect condition, with a little description at the bottom which signified each's importance. Gusion was amazed by the number of jewels encrusted in the sword's blade, and how it shone under the torches' light. He even tested a few, and as he did so, he imagined himself standing in battle, ten years later, brandishing this sword at enemies. It was the first time he had ever held something so majestic. But after a few more minutes testing, he began to feel a tiny bit bored. The swords were beautiful, but something inside him- a tiny part of him- didn't feel like this was the right weapon for him. Gusion sighed. Slowly and reluctantly, he went out and carefully closed the door behind him. He didn't want anyone to hear him coming from the sword gallery- he wasn't in the mood for being punished right now (he was punished very often, mostly because of his pitiful magical abilities). Gusion groaned inwardly, trudging back to an afternoon of unbearable private magic classes.

But as he walked across the inner garden to get to the royal library, where the classes were held, he noticed a strange object lying underneath a tree. Curiously, Gusion inspected it. It was a short knife with a sharp tip- a dagger.

Who would leave such a dangerous thing lying here? Forgetting all about his classes, he picked it up and studied it. It was nothing like the swords he saw in the gallery- it was very rusty and had no diamonds and rubies. When he held it out under the sun, it showed no glitter.

But it sparked Gusion's interest more. Ever since then, he began practicing aiming his dagger at the archery targets (he had to make sure no one would spot him, so it was no easy feat). He polished the dagger and multiplied it with magic (two of the only spells he knew how to use) to make it look brand new. As a few years passed by, his aim improved greatly, and little did he know that his father had been watching him all along with a look of disapproval on his face.

Then at last, Gusion was ready to face his father. He explained how enamored he was with his daggers, and how he planned using them in training. He also wished to stop the magic classes, he said, and he sincerely hoped his father wouldn't get very angry for defying his wishes. It was his dream- it felt like the daggers had given him a purpose in life.

But his father was not pleased. He raised his voice to Gusion, and- long story short--he got exiled from the Paxley household. He never even got to say goodbye to his brothers, and he was left with nothing but his own trusty weapon. He never even got a chance to say goodbye to Lesley.