Chapter 6: Birthday Party

“Ugh… this is so uncomfortable…” moaned Ren, while her mother dressed her up in a white dress and made her hair in two lovely little buns, held together with violet  ribbons.

 

“We are going to the Prince’s birthday party. You can’t go willy-nilly, wearing nothing!”

 

“Still, this dress is hard to move around and I don't like the shoes!”

 

“Me neither but it’s an official event, like it or not, follow the rules!”

 

“Booo, if i become the queen i’ll change the rules!”

 

“We’ll see that!” laughed Anya, flicking her little forehead “It will be the first time you two meet, you need to leave a good impression!”

 

“It's not like we are getting married tomorrow. I’m still just 5 and a half, and he just turned 8.”

 

“True and sometimes me and your Dad completely forget that.” sighed Anya “Honestly, you speak and act like an adult most of the time. Except when you stir up trouble left and right!”

 

“I’m just smarter than my peers. That's all! Ow!” landed another flick on her forehead

 

“More modesty, less preaching. Now come, it’s best if we arrive early then be late. This is going to be the first formal meeting and also the occasion where the engagement is finalized. Your father has been seething since monday, i just hope he can control himself enough not to cause a scene.”

 

“Hehehe, you would like tha- ow! Moooom!”

 

“You are getting more and more like your father! Move your legs more, not your mouth you little twerp or i’ll spank you!”

 

“Hauh… o-okay…”

 

…

 

When the carriage arrived at the palace the royal guard, in their golden armor, were there to welcome the guests.

 

“You should wear something like this more frequently.” smiled Anya, as she got down the carriage, holding her husband’s hand who now donned a white officer uniform, decorated with red buttons and belt and with the insignia of his military rank and achievements. 

 

“Still hate it. It sticks to your body for an hour like a wetsuit…”

 

“I thought the same, Dad!” came Ren’s voice as she hopped down from the carriage 

 

“Oh you two!” sighed Anya, rolling her eyes before they walked up to the palace’s stairs into the Assembly Hall which was now changed into a ball room. 

 

Officials and Ministers were already there standing around with a drink in their hands, talking about recent policies and happenings in the empire. There were tables around  where the attendant’s children were sitting around, forming their own little groups, talking and laughing while they waited for the arrival of the Emperor and the fourth Prince Leinor. 

 

When Xendar and his family arrived the place quieted down a little, mostly because everyone knew the little girl walking between them was named the fiance of the prince as soon as she was born and if someone brought this up to the face of Xendar it was like slapping the bottom of a sleeping bear. Everyone became a little bit excited if there would be an interesting show to watch when the Prince arrived or if Anya would be able to regulate her husband.

 

Meanwhile Ren was looking around curiously, mostly checking the food table if she could spot something that looked tasty but to her disappointment it was mostly fruits. 

 

“What kind of birthday party is this… there are no sweets around…” she moaned softly

 

“Don’t compare yours to his Dear, this is a public event, when we celebrate yours it's only our family’s business.” patted her head Xendar 

 

“Still… at least they could have presented some cookies or something!” murmured back the little girl 

 

“My, my! After half a decade you are finally willing to show your daughter to the public?” came a laughing voice from their left and a man in his 40s walked towards them in a similar military uniform as Xendar, only his decorations were colored green. His jet black hair was neatly combed backwards and his short beard had a few gray lines in it on the sides. He was a bit shorter the Xendar and the woman walking next to her looked to be in her early 30s, wearing a bright green dress that was decorated with thin turquoise, swirling symbols. Her black hair was tied up behind her back and her brown eyes scanned Anya up and down with subtle jealousy.

 

“At least  I don't need to go get my kid from the city guards every weekend when he’s out partying, Frennar.”

 

“You know how young boys are, their blood boils the hottest when they are that age.” laughed Frennar

 

“True, no wonder he is one of the decorated silk pants of the city.”

 

“Dad, aren't silk pants easy to get dirty?” asked Ren with innocence while Anya held back a chuckle 

 

“Oh yes they are sweetie, sadly they are too sensitive!” 

 

“I see your parenting is the same as how you handle your troops Xendar.”

 

“That's why my vanguards are filled with soldiers and that's why your archers are filled with backdoor lovers.”

 

“Everyone knows you yourself used some backdoors in the past, farmboy.”

 

The air around them was getting tenser and tenser but Anya only watched calmly, not interfering with their argument, not even sparing a glance at Frennar’s wife while Ren just blinked her big eyes trying to figure out what's going on.

 

“Farmoby? Was Dad a commoner? I didn’t know about that… Well, I never asked. But now that I think about it, I never met my grandparents. Shouldn’t I have some? Even Mom never spoke about hers. Huh… now I'm curious!”

 

“Please, just stop you two. This is the young Prince’s night, we shouldn’t cause trouble for him.” sounded a calming, young male voice behind them and another officer walked up to them wearing the same uniform but with blue colored accessories. He looked like only in his twenties, charming and dashing with curly blond hair and aquamarine colored eyes. 

 

“Ultar.” nodded both of the same time

 

“Mom, who is it?” whispered Ren

 

“He is Ultar, the leader of the Defence Force. Usually if there is an operation going on, your father is responsible for the offense, Frennar for support and Ultar for defense. In peace times he is responsible for policing the military.”

 

“Looks young, is he a genius?”

 

“You could call him that but looks are deceiving. Your father has long passed 80. Even if he never reaches Harmony he still has the same amount of years ahead of him.”

 

“Mm. I understand Mother.” nodded Ren

 

After Ultar interfered the other guests lost their interest in the little scuffle of the two Generals and soon everyone went back to their mingling, catching up with other families, only Ren’s family were sitting at a small table quietly while Anya fed grapes to her daughter, sitting in her lap. 

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“Are we not popular amongst the others?”

 

“Kinda.” nodded Xendar while holding a glass of red wine, slowly swirling it “I came from a low background, my parents were farmers in the border region before the village was slaughtered by demons.” told with a plain voice to her daughter “That's when i joined up the military and met Dermitos.” 

 

“Who is that?” asked Ren as her curiosity exploded with full force as she never asked her parents about anything like this

 

“Oh, yeah, you still don’t know, ahaha~” laughed Xendar while stroking her child’s head. “It’s Aerthus’ name before he ascended the throne and took up the title of Emperor. He was only an officer back then, gaining military experience like most princes do. We bonded after some hard fought battles and became brothers not by blood but by steel.”

 

“Your father helped his fight for the throne and rose to General after he ascended. It’s a pretty famous tale in the Empire, a citizen, climbing through the ranks. Of course the others who are born into it, not all of them took this nicely. It's a hard pill to swallow, but they accepted it, more or less.”

 

“Dad, you are so cool!” praised Ren with shining eyes which prompted Xendar to laugh sheepishly, getting a bit shy which was as rare as a white raven “I’m sorry about grandpa and grandma…”

 

“Don’t worry sweetie, it happened a long time ago and I avenged the village.”

 

“Mm… Mom, what about you?”

 

“Well…” she smiled, looking a bit sad “I was expelled from the family and country for my actions.”

 

“What?!” gasped Ren, blinking rapidly

 

“I was the princess of the Empire’s eastern neighbor, the Kingdom of Ten.”

 

“The… Kingdom of Ten? Princess?”

 

“Our eastern borders, along the Shert river, are neighboring the Kingdom of Ten. It comprises 9 regions, all ruled by a powerful family and they are the vassals of the Naulin lineage who unified them around 2000 years ago, near when our Empire was born. It was a warring period back then and they were afraid to be annexed by Aerthus I.”

 

“Wait, then I am a princess?”

 

“In our eyes, yes~” said Anya hugging her, planting a kiss on her head “I was sent here as an alliance offering to marry the then Crown Prince Dermitos.”

 

“Wha… wha… what?!” stuttered Ren as she almost couldn’t contain herself from crying out as this was the kind of stories that sparked her fantasy the most 

 

“Ahaha, and your mother wasn't happy about it! She was pretty vocal too. When I first met her I was mesmerized immediately.”

 

“But, but, what about the Emperor? And the marriage? How did you end up with Mom?”

 

“I ask myself the same question a lot of times…” sighed Xendar, smiling at Anya “I still don’t know why she fell in love with me.”

 

“A woman's heart is unpredictable~” giggled Anya, looking lovingly at her husband. “It wasn’t as complicated as you think. Dermitos likes submissive women. I was anything but that and he didn’t want a wife who he couldn’t control.”

 

“Damn… ouch! Mom!”

 

“This is your fault XenXen! I told you to not swear in front of her, she's picking up your bad habit!” 

 

“Moooom, go back to the story!”

 

“Khm… anyway, everyone was thinking about how to annul the marriage and to be honest things just snowballed as I got closer to your Dad. Finally when Dermitos ascended the throne and announced i would be wed to the newly appointed General of the Vanguard Xendar it was a pretty intense period.”

 

“Yeah… I bet!” rolled her little eyes which made Xendar chuckle a little 

 

“Your mother made a tough choice.” whispered Xendar as he held Anya’s hand “She forsake everything to stay with me. She was of direct lineage from the Naulins and because of me she was stripped from her name, her records in the family lineage, and she was forbade to ever set foot in the Kingdom.”

 

“It was my choice… and I would do it again XenXen.”

 

Xendar didn’t speak more, just leaned forwards to give a small kiss on Anya’s lips while Ren was watching with apologetic eyes.

 

“Mom, sorry I asked…”

 

“Ahahaha, don’t be sorry, I have my own family now!”

 

“Don’t worry Mom, I’ll make them come and beg you to return!”

 

“Oh you little! It’s not important anymore! What matters is that you have a happy life!” giggled Anya and she wanted to speak more, but the sound of trumpets cut her short signaling the arrival of the Emperor and fourth Prince.

 

Everyone stood up for the arrival of the royal family. The first who came in was the Emperor, wearing a golden robe with a half smile on his face. Behind him came a young lady also in a golden dress, with loose, black hair, golden eyes and pale, fair skin while behind her came the young Prince. 

 

He was wearing white military uniform similar to Xendar’s,  held on him with a small, golden belt that looked a little bit funny on a young child but nobody dared to laugh. Leinor was the Emperor’s fourth son, while the firstborn and second child, being twins, were already 20, and his third brother already passed 14 and had his Coming of Age ceremony half a year ago. All of his brothers were away from the capital, but even if they were not, probably only his eldest would come and congratulate him. 

 

“He looks a little bit timid.” thought Ren as she watched him with a smile, as this was the first time she met with her so-called fiance. 

 

She wasn’t wrong, it was clear to tell, Leinor wasn't a fan of the idea of walking before everyone while they watched him. His shoulder length golden hair was combed backwards and held together with a golden band. When his amber colored eyes met with Ren’s the little prince was taken back for a second but soon he turned away his head that started to redden a little while following her mother’s steps.

 

“Thank you everyone for coming!” said Aerthus IX in front of everyone “My youngest son has aged another year, it won’t be soon that his Coming of Age Ceremony will be held and he starts taking responsibilities just like his brothers.” which told the underlying message to everyone, the fourth Prince was more talented than the third. “Please everyone, when that time comes, do look out for him.” smiled Aerthus and the nobles and officials replied smilingly one by one, as nobody would dare to say no. 

 

“Well, before we start the party, why not liven up the place a little more?” laughed the Emperor “There are a lot of younglings here, I heard some are even gifted with great talent like the son of the finance minister who, being only 13, already started cultivating.”

 

His words started a round of murmur and made the minister’s chubby face bloom into a smile while his son next to him looked on proudly.

 

“I’d like to see the next generation of my beautiful country! A friendly little spar and demonstration may be in order, what do you all say?” 

 

Xendar was furrowing his brows while listening to the Emperor’s voice, not knowing if he is doing it deliberately, knowing something, or is this just a coincidence. Anya also was thinking hard but that's when they and others heard Ren speaking up loudly and excitedly.

 

“That sounds fun, I wanna play too!”

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