the baron returns
it's been a full month since the events of the dragon hunt, the twins settled in nicely. they ran around all over limgrave working alongside Leonel on missions issued by the Carian Hall. Lina settled in nicely as well, unfortunately she still had plenty of nightmares, but Leonel helped in any way he could even if it meant he was squished every night by her bear crushing hugs. it took time but he eventually saw her as his mother, the calmness and tranquility she brought was something he found himself craving after every battle and that was something Lina was more than happy to provide. Ana took to line like a mother figure as she sometimes joined them in their cuddle sessions below the moon's soft caress.
each day not spent out in missions Leonel spent either honing his skills slowly bringing them into mastery or learning alongside his mother and ana from lady song in all thing's etiquette or financial. something lady song all but forced upon him now that he was a baron and his adoptive mother being brought up to a noble lady alongside him. Lina found things a bit overwhelming at first but quickly adapted for the sake of her baby boy. "Mom you're beautiful, stop worrying over such silly things" Leonel said as he leaned against her closed door. "Oh honey, thank you but you must understand that this is a very important moment in a woman's day" a melodious voice said coming from within the room.
"it's just a ball hosted by the remaining noble's mom truly its nothing that grand" he said. he himself was wearing a loose-fitting shirt and slim pants which showed off his growing musculature and size. his long black hair tied up into a ponytail behind his head curtesy of his mother. his glowing cerulean eyes showed off boredom and annoyance. the door opened suddenly dropping him onto her already outstretched eyes which pushed him back up. "Now tell mommy what you think?" she said as she spun around in her blue dress. her originally brown hair now was mostly black with some brown and her originally black eyes now shone a cerulean blue just like Sarabi had said it would happen.
"Gorgeous now let's go or well be late" he said giving her a once over. she pouted and pinched his cheek," don't take that tone with a lady child, now just like lady song taught you" she said out stretching her hand. he rubbed his sore check a bit and took it intertwining their arms as they walked down the hall towards the entrance of the mansion. outside awaited the twins, silver in a bright white noble get up and dew in a green dress which accented her features. "master" the two said in unison as they bowed slightly. "Hey you two, where is ana?" he asked. " Right here" a voice was heard as ana descended the stairs wearing a golden dress accenting her hair which was braided up curtesy of Lina. "Alright then were all here, let's get to the ball and leave early, tomorrow we leave for the lion's den" he said.
Ana pouted a bit upon seeing him not give her a complement, a hand landed upon her shoulder reassuringly, she turned to see Lina give her an apologetic but encouraging smile. she nodded and steeled herself for tonight. the ball wasn't anything too grand seeing as almost 70 percent of the nobles lay in a mass grave somewhere after their "cleansing" but still nobles do know how to throw a party. now more than ever their cohesion was absolutely necessary, marriage alliances were made in between families almost daily with Lina getting several concerning her son yet she rejected all feeling like they weren't good enough for her baby boy.
the ball lasted a good bit, Leonel was practically forced to dance with overly shy girls most of the night until an incredibly shy Ana took a shot at it. lots of toes were stepped on that night but they ultimately, they all had fun. ana snatched Leonel and took him away from the party into a nearby balcony bathed in the moon's rays. " what's up ana? you've been real quite all night" he said looking into her eyes in worry. she stared back with a healthy blush as she tried to muster up her feelings. "Oh, nothing I'm just feeling a bit under the weather, and I wanted to show you the moon... yes that" she said failing in the end. "mhmm it is real pretty tonight" he said as he stared at the moon as he leaned on the railing. they stayed next to each other watching the moon for a bit longer until they were called back into the party.
Leonel was snatched up by the noble men into some party games almost instantly. ana watched him go at it with plenty of regret and annoyance. a hand fell on her shoulder which prompted her to look up to see Lina. "couldn't, do it?" she asked which got her a tearful shake of the girl's head followed by ana burying her head into her midsection as some tears spilled out. Lina hugged her back feeling terrible, truly that boy would break too many hearts for her liking. the party ended quickly after that as all the nobles wished them safe travels for the next day, they would depart from storm hill city.
the next day came quickly, they packed up what they could into two large wagons and Lina alongside ana and lady song boarded a third one. outside rode their mighty escorts consisting of Bram wearing his old crucible armor, Leonel riding Sarabi halberd in hand, silver atop his horse now wearing better armor with some enchantments alongside his new glint stone alloyed swords, and finally dew with her new star streak bow enhanced with mana to better allow for powerful shots. the trip to the lion's den wasn't a long one now that the city personally paid for a road to connect it and the town curtesy of its ever kind duchess.
the caravan approached the town and those who hadn't gotten to see the progress like Lina where left shocked. the burnt-out small village had been replaced with a small city with a large castle atop an artificial hill. large walls surrounded it all with four large main gates. the walls themselves where reinforced with charged glint stone which would provide a passive mana shield to it all. the houses where mostly made of stone to prevent any form of fire but thankfully one of the masons knew how to enchant stone to keep it cool in hot days and warm in cold days. large towers housing mages were erected totaling six in total, they were spacious in size as well and the mages who inhabited them decided to create small academies within them dedicated to teaching glint stone sorceries to any with the talent and dedication to learn.
outside of the town spectral squadrons of banished knights wandered the outskirts protecting the flourishing farm steads curtesy of Leonel. the streets held glint stone lamps at its edges which absorbed ambient mana passively and let out light in return illuminating the night. freshly trained knights serving as guards patrolled the streets curtesy of fort strong iron. Leonel spent a week teaching them the basics of glint stone manipulation and those that grasped it to a decent level were promoted to squad captain and the best one, a stern woman by the name of Numel grasped it rather well and incorporated it to her sword and shield style, Leonel immediately made her the guard commander, a position she took to swimmingly might he add.
as they entered, they were met by two large glint stone golems Leonel had created in memory of the manor guards. the large main gate was open with knights guarding the gate and checking all who entered. the knight in charge upon seeing the silvery blue lion crest upon the wagons immediately let them pass and set knights to escort them towards the castle. as they passed, they could see many people from all over the world pass by them. some who realized who the wagons belonged to bowed before moving on with their life. Lina was completely shocked, what was but a smoldering ruin a month ago was now a bustling small city with plenty of people within it. Leonel steered Sarabi in pace next to his mother's outstretched head.
" Quite the difference, eh? I spent quite a lot on it to be built up to heights never before seen, it's still the same land you grew up in mom but now it has a different look to it, people flocked to it due to the nonexistent taxes and plenty of opportunity" he said explaining the drastic change. " Ana helped me set up all the business and paperwork required to set it all up and the duchess of storm hill city graciously sent her workers alongside the ones i hired to work on the place, halfway through the job a group of mages from the academy arrived hoping to teach and thus the towers were created as well" he said as they passed by the bustling city center market.
"This... is amazing honey" is all she said as the castle fully came into view blowing her away once again. the thing was massive in size. atop the artificial hill it cast a shadow over the large town easily blanketing half of it in soft shades. the walls where thick and sturdy encrusted with glint stone although this one was darker showing off its power. the moat separating it and the town was inlaid with incredibly sharp cerulean glint stone and all that connected the castle to the outside world was a glint stone bridge which was controlled by the gate guards making sure that no one but a member of the guard could attempt to cross it.
guarding the gate where two large spectral knights wielding great shields and large spears. upon seeing their lord, they stepped aside allowing entry. the wagons pulled into the large courtyard as they dismounted with Sarabi heading for a glint stone like cave at the edge of the courtyard ready to get some well-deserved naps in. servants and guards stepped forward to help in the organizing and unpacking. Ana stepped out and stretched before looking at the sky to check the position of the sun and then heading off to her new study.
"Let me show you around mom I know you'll like it" Leonel said taking her arm and intertwining it with his intent to surprise her. Bram headed for the guard barracks intending to " whip em up into shape" now that he was here, and the twins decided to explore the city. Leonel took her all over the castle with first being her room in the living quarters a bit far from her own much to her disappointment, next was the main hall (picture dragons reach from Skyrim except less wood and more stone). after that was the large library which he spent a good amount of coin on, the large shelfs lined with books from all over the land's between.
soft couches and chairs at its center allowing for leisure reading and glint stone lights hanging from the ceiling providing plenty of light. next came her favorite part, an empty garden with a large crate of seeds at its entrance just for her. " This one I requested personally knowing that you love to garden, there's seeds from caelid, limgrave, liurnia, and even leyndell all for you to plant should you wish it mom, what do you think?" he asked. she turned to him and hugged him fiercely as she sent kisses raining down on him letting him know full well what she thought about it.
sometime later they were all gathered around the dinner table laughing and enjoying the feast before him, he could even see the twins smiling which was utterly rare to see. at that moment he truly felt content, this is what Ansel said when he said that power is best used to protect. deep within him a deep ambition rose. he needed more power if he wished to protect them all of that he knew. still for now it was best to enjoy the moment and deal with the future tomorrow which is totally the reason he stole a chicken drumstick from Ana and very adult like wrestled the angry girl for it upon the floor. Lina shook her head in exasperation over her son's antics but a soft smile soon took over, happy to see that under that cool shell of armor lay a boy who only wished for happiness.