"There's a plot to end magic?" Duke Aldric repeated after King Wilhelm staring at him. He wanted to break into laughter but from his friend's serious expression, he could see that he wasn't joking.
His voice was measured as he wondered how to address the statement tactfully. "Wilhelm, what are you saying?"
The flickering torchlight along the garden path cast deep shadows across the King's features and the Duke could see that the issue was making the King seem weary and much older than he actually was. He had been thinking about it for quite some time.
The King sighed deeply as he looked at the Duke. "I see the doubt on your face. I had it myself when I first heard it." The words hung in the air between them.
"What is it? Explain more," The Duke said impatient at how the King was dragging out the whole thing.
"I'm saying, Aldric, that something unnatural is happening," Wilhelm said, his voice quiet but firm. "The High Council of Saints summoned me to the Grand Temple two moons ago. They presented me with something I could hardly believe at first. Every child born within the last five years across the empire has been born without a mana core."
Aldric stiffened. His stomach twisted in a way that had nothing to do with the food he had eaten at the feast he had just left behind.
Lucien.
The memory of his son's assessment struck him with force and he felt bad at the way he had ignored him ever since he find out that the boy had no mana core and wouldn't be able to practice magic. He had taken the news quite hard since it had been a public humiliation and a stain upon the Vaelcrest lineage.
He couldn't recall anyone in the family's lineage who didn't have a mana core so he had distanced himself, not out of cruelty but out of confusion, uncertainty, and if he was honest with himself, disappointment. He now knew how stupid he was for not attempting to find an answer when he had first discovered it.
The King patted his shoulder to console him. "Don't beat yourself about it. You're thinking of Lucien."
The Duke looked at him quickly, surprised that he had plucked the thought out of his mind then remembered the time period he had mentioned earlier.
"Yes I figured you'll be having that problem with your son."
"The past five years? So that means Dorian too—"
"Yes, him too. You know that cannot be allowed to happen. How is he supposed to rule without magic when I'm gone." King Wilhelm asked, his throat tight as he contemplated the situation. "If the other houses got a whiff of this, there'd be a big problem on our hands."
"I agree, I surmise the High council brought this to you or you've confirmed this news with them at least?"
"The High Council brought the matter to me. They kept their findings secret until they could confirm it was not an isolated phenomenon. Naturally I swore them to secrecy while we look for a solution quietly. Good thing the bulk of the masses can't afford the services of a priest to assess their children so they're in the dark. The ones who have found out already would be too proud to come out publicly with the news so we have some time before the news spread."
Aldric exhaled sharply. "Who would do such a thing? Magic is the lifeblood of our empire. Without it, our lands and defenses will crumble."
The King's expression darkened. "The Sons of Arcanum."
The Duke stiffened in disbelief. The name alone conjured legends of heretics and fanatics. The Sons of Arcanum had once been a powerful faction, a brotherhood of scholars and mages who had sought to control dark magic; Nether and sneered at the Empire for using Ether. Their rebellion against the empire nearly two centuries ago had ended in their complete eradication—or so history claimed.
"That cannot be," Aldric said. "They were destroyed and wiped out. Every child in Celestia knows that they are now extinct."
Wilhelm gave a humorless chuckle. "That's what we were led to believe. But they have returned, the High council also confirmed this."
Aldric narrowed his eyes. "Forgive me but I'm beginning to doubt the veracity—"
"We caught one."
The Duke was speechless as he opened his mouth in amazement.
Wilhelm continued, his voice even lower. "Three nights ago, the royal guards intercepted an intruder inside the castle. He wore a hood and he was attempting to enter the royal wing."
"An assassin then?"
Wilhelm shook his head. "No. A spy from the cult. He was dressed exactly like them. You've seen the drawings of their attire. The insignia of the Sons of Arcanum was burned into the inside of his forearm. There is no doubt. The man was subdued, but before he could be interrogated, he bit into a poisoned vial in his mouth and died instantly."
Silence stretched between them and the Duke tried in vain to dispel the growing unease in his heart. "Gods. If they have returned… What is their goal? Why would they seek to end magic?"
"I don't know anymore than you do but I believe we'll find out soon enough."
The Duke nodded slowly, his mind already racing with the implications. The return of the Sons of Arcanum was not just an imperial concern. It was a catastrophe in the making and if they had already succeeded in severing the magic of an entire generation…
He swallowed hard, the image of Lucien flashing in his mind once more.
"We need to move carefully," Aldric said at last. "If they have infiltrated your castle, then their reach may be farther than we suspect."
Wilhelm nodded. "Which is why I've come to you."
Before Duke Aldric could respond, a sudden commotion shattered the quiet and they both looked back as they heard running footsteps behind them. A moment later, the garden door burst open, and Queen Margaret stumbled into their sight.
Her golden gown was in disarray and her chest rose and fell rapidly as if she had run the entire way.
Tears streaked her usually composed face and King Wilhelm rushed to her side in alarm.
"Margaret! What has happened?"
The Queen lifted her head and fell into his arms.
"It's Dorian," she whispered, her voice breaking.