1 Chapter One : I am--

I am Marcus Milonius Alcyone

I am the youngest child to Appius Alcyone and Geelyn Alcyone. My father is a renowned scholar, one of the best in the land and my mother is the 7th daughter and princess of a small but wealthy merchant commonwealth nation called Cairer in the east of the great Helios Empire.

From a young age I outshone my siblings and peers in tasks such as mathematics, literacy and politics. My parents, grandparents as well as the other nobility hailed me as a genius, somebody blessed by the gods who will bring prosperity to the land. I too believed them, after all why would they lie. My head was filled with so much grandeur and praise, I grew conceited and my behaviour was only condoned by my doting parents. I surrounded myself with those who would only affirm the great things said about me and appease my ego.

That was until I met him

I was 16 and it was right at the end of the fall when my father told me that he would be moving to the mainland capital and wanted me to join him. He explained that the only son of The Lord of Caspian had grown displeased with his tutor and his father had requested my father's services as his tutor there. His son Aurelius was about my age and he wanted me to accompany him and try and gain Aurelius's favour. I was young and wanted to experience more of the world so I accepted.

The capital was disgusting.

The streets were filled with dirty beggars and shameless prostitutes. It was nothing like the beautiful and clean island beaches I was used too. Instead everywhere reeked of poverty and poor hygiene except for the square closest to the Lord Emperor's residence.

It was a beautiful but old castle that was almost the size of half the town itself .It was the first thing you could see when you approached the city as the towers of the castles looked as if the where reaching and caressing the sky. It was the only place in the city that poverty did not reach as it was protected by a squadron of knights who stopped the debauchery from getting too close to the Lord Emperors castle.

_______________________________________________

The Caspian family were vassels to the Lord Emperor. Every male member swore an oath to become the Emperor's sword when they turned 18. It was a tradition that went back decades and ensured the Caspian families authority as the second most powerful name in the Empire.

Their villa had a simple pottery tiled roof but was made out of cream stone, similar to that of what would be used to make a temple, displaying their wealth. Though it was still extremely large, the design was not as extravagant as I was expecting it to be but elegant and simple, with thick vines creeping up the side of the building adding a certain homely charm. It was placed on a slight hill in the forest away from the townsfolk.

Upon our arrival we were greated and escorted by one of Lord Caspian's servants to the courtyard where Lord Caspian would be waiting for us. The courtyard itself was the size of a small field and there was about 30 boys ranging from the ages of about 7 to 17 sitting an chatting on the trampled grass.

Before we had arrived my father had explained Lord Caspian's "work". About 15 years ago he began hearing prophesies from the Goddess of War Cairo, and one of the prophecies among many others was to take in orphaned lower rank Noble boys. He was praised all over the Empire for his generosity and kind spirit but my father explained how the arrangement was not as simple as it seemed. First off all orphaned boys had to either be exceptionally smart or have had at least one generation of military in their background . In return for lord Caspian feeding, clothing and providing them with an education and shelter they were all expected to return the favour by serving the Great Helios Empire as Military Advisors or Commanders one day. It was not a bad tradeoff as my father told me and it is estimated that Lord Caspian had provided Helios with up to 8,000 Military Advisers and Commanders as of date.

Seeing as how much my father sang this man's praises I was extremely excited to finally meet the Great Caspian.

Lord Caspian did not meet my expectations.

If you looked hard enough it was easy to discern that Lord Caspian had once been a handsome man but age had not been kind to this old Caspian. He was tall but his drooping stature overshadowed this. He had no hair left except for a few tufts near the centre and back of his head and his eyes were dull and glossed over as he wore a faraway stare. I would've mistaken him for blind if he didn't abruptly clocked his head in my direction and wear a sparsely toothed yellow grin. He greeted my father and then me as they began discussing something I bore no interest in. Suddenly Caspian waved over a small female servant and beckoned her to get something. She returned with a young man at her side.

Aurelius.

He was and still is the most beautiful and handsome man I had ever seen.

I was paying enough attention to know this was Lord Caspian's youngest and only son Aurelius. If I hadn't been told I never would've guessed the relation as they bore no resemblance.

He was tall but at this point still shorter than his father even with his hunched posture. He looked to be 16 or 17 ( I later learned that he was 15) and looked at me with his sharp, green, vibrant eyes, with a look of disinterest. He sported dark red curly locks that loosely flowed down his back and framed his face. His skin was pale and rosy and in his youth his skin was adorned with soft freckles that speckled out across his cheeks.

Back at home in Cairer my admirers constantly praised my handsome but my features paled in comparison to Aurelius's beauty. My blond hair looked sandy and dull in comparison to his red's vibrance and his green reminded me how common my brown was.

When I snapped back to reality, my father had already left with Lord Caspian to the Andron to discuss Aurelius education further and I was left there in the courtyard with Aurelius. He paid me no mind and instead engaged in a conversation with one of the many youths who were now crowding around Aurelius and looking at him in awe. Instead of listening to the conversation I instead chose to pay close attention to his moving lips. They were small and plump with slightly down turned corners. I also remember thinking how soft they probably were and how nice they must feel to caress and kiss and ..... my cheeks turned rosy at my provocative thoughts and I noticed his lips were no longer moving. I looked up we locked eyes as knowing smirk appeared on those lips.