Once he was done with the golden cage, Lucen did not return to his room as usual. Koril left him to return on his own, so he decided to explore the castle.
From the walkways and high terraces, he traced the path down to the bottom floor, and with each floor he descended, a growing buzz reached his ears.
Voices travelled up the stone, and the bustling sounds of life filled his ears. Finally, he reached the ground floor.
The stone chamber had high banners and colossal armour sets looming over the crowd of people at the bottom of the stairs.
Lucen peeped down the stairs, not a single soul out of the hundreds was taking it. If he came down the stairs, he'd be identified as a Lightcloak, and word would reach Duran in seconds.
He returned upstairs, finding one of the smaller, metallic service doors. They were built for humans, and would explain how such a large servant caste could move soundlessly through the castle.
He couldn't figure out how to open the door, however, it had no handles and was just a smooth, tall metal door.
After trying a few methods, he stumbled onto the right way. By pushing the door till you heard a clicking sound, then moving aside as it popped open.
"Smart, I think?" he muttered.
The tunnels beyond were lit by glowing stones. It was a tight metallic tube that ran for miles.
The thrum of the crowd vibrated through the walls into his bones. The metallic steps spiralled downward, and Lucen suddenly felt like the dark metal walls were closing in.
It grew more overwhelming with each step, but he found the exit soon. He pulled the handle backwards till it clicked and stumbled out of the tunnel into a crowded hallway.
And before anyone could take more than one look at him, he was sucked into the crowd's flow. For a second, the noise crushed down on him. After eight years of space and silence, he was washed away by the swarm of people.
The hot smells of bread, stews and flowers pushed and pressed on him. He managed to get to the wall and followed the crowd to the colossal wooden doors of the Keep.
Lucen had been asleep when he entered the castle as a baby. The very sight of the door had weight, like he was stepping into a legend, something that couldn't be moved by man.
He was outside.
The air was cold and sharp, the wind and its dust rolling over him. The ground, the walls of the keep, the cloth of the people passing through the gates, were all a dense, black grey.
Lucen walked carefully to the little shop closing down, where a young boy was pulling down rafters.
"Hello," said Lucen timidly
The boy, a bit younger than him, turned, brows furrowed. "Lightcloak? Down here… are you Halfblood?"
Lucen nodded, no point in denying it.
"Been cooped up in a room all year… where's everyone going?"
Lucen cringed internally. Why was his voice so weak and squeaky?
"The town in the valley—Most of us live down there," he said, fastening a lock to the bolt. "I'm Liam. What're you looking for?"
"I wanted to know if there were any Lurker Hounds in the area," Lucen answered, glancing back at the high windows of the Grey keep.
Liam took off his hat and went behind the shop stall to change. "Well—they roam the plains. The Lightcloaks think they're too weak to hunt, but they probably don't like how smart they are."
Liam's voice paused as he pulled his dirty shirt over his head.
"Simple magic's easy for them to dodge, and bigger ones are a waste of mana—at least that's what the Commander says. So we deal with them ourselves."
"Are you looking to kill some?" Liam asked excitedly
Lucen didn't answer, waiting as the boy came back around the stall, his dirty brown hair and easy blue eyes were charming. He spoke very well for a child and was quick to answer.
"Thank you. I'll see you around."
He left, thoroughly disappointed in his inability to sound human.
"Wait! You never told me your name," Liam reminded him.
"Don't worry about it, call me anything you like."
"Goldie?"
Lucen paused, about to turn back and snarl at the boy, but let it go.
Back inside the castle, he followed many doors and passed between the lower sections of the towering building.
He found the kitchens easily, enjoying some of their more strange foods and their wary company.
"Oh, it's not that dàngerous in the valley," one of the chefs explained, "The Hounds ain't hard to scare away."
"There are the Crunchers, though," a boy said, while kneading dough.
The chef gave him a harsh look that intrigued Lucen. "What are those?"
"Old legend, don't worry about it," the chef said, but sighed, seeing Lucen's insistent stare.
"Crunchers are monsters under your bed, stories yer mum tells you to keep you from roaming at night. They eat the bones of the men they kill and wear their skins. It's why they call 'em crunchers—the sound."
"Don't worry about it, though," the baker boy exclaimed, "Lord Chester, when he returns, will kill them all."
Lucen narrowed his eyes. Chester? It wasn't the first time he had heard that name, but now it warranted some investigation.
At the end of the day, when the sky darkened over the grey castle, Lucen walked up to the gates of the Grey Keep.
He swallowed hard, glancing behind repeatedly and tried to step through the gate.
His body froze, limbs no longer his and a frustrated cry escaped his throat.
He stepped back slowly, face dark and murderous. It seemed like he was not allowed to even leave the keep.
One of them would have to break first, though—the world or his will.
■——■
Six years later, Lucen had become a regular customer at Liam's shop and brought his mother too.
The Lightcloaks didn't feed or acknowledge their existence, so usually Selene had to go down to the kitchens and cook for them herself.
Lucen rubbed his sandals against the coarse earth. He was covered in sweat and dirt from Warren's combat classes.
He was at a table with Liam, playing a casual game of Highcraft—a chess-like strategy game that was popular among nobles.
"Hehe, why are you playing so slow?" Liam snickered, "Take your loss gracefully, Goldie."
"My name is fucking Lucen," he replied, "and are you so proud to finally beat me, after i've been training all day."
"Ahhh, sorry, I forgot. We're L-brothers!" Liam exclaimed, "Don't worry, brother. Unlike you, I won't rub losses in your face."
He considered picking up the wooden staff at his side and smacking Liam across the head. But simply grumbled and played his next move.
"This is why I hate kids. And do not call us L-brothers"
"You're a kid too."
They both turned back at the moment as three boys sauntered over.
"Get us something to eat," one of them said.
Liam gave Lucen a look that said, Don't touch my game, and ran off to serve them.
Lucen eyed them warily. Those were Set's friends. Lucen had recently bested his half-brother in a duel, so this was probably an attempt to get back at him while avoiding looking shameless.
Lucen was right. They complained about everything Liam served and hurled insults at the much smaller boy.
"Your mother made this trash," one of them laughed, "no wonder you're so skinny. You—"
Lucen's fist shook the table, silencing them. "That's enough. Fuck off."
Even though he was a bastard, these boys were still unwilling to disrespect a Lightcloak—they were from small Knight families after all.
Lucen had since realised only Set could speak to him disrespectfully. He hated conflict, but the people of this world respected direct orders. He only hoped this wouldn't be a constant issue when he wasn't around.
They took their food and allowed Liam and Lucen to get back to their game.
"You aren't afraid of getting into a fight?" Liam asked timidly. He was just a year younger than Lucen, but Lucen always felt much more mature.
"I can beat almost anyone these days," said Lucen absentmindedly, trying to find a way to win the Highcraft game.
"I remember when you sucked at duelling and Highcraft. Now you're so pompous and annoying."
Lucen smirked a little, but a frown soon found its way back to his face.
"This is my last year of training after all. Next year we get our Channeling techniques and I'll become a Knight."
Liam beamed. "You're the best at everything. They probably have to give you some legendary technique that can use all elements and Divine magic at the same time!"
Lucen knew that wouldn't happen. He was expecting them to ignore him completely and not give him a technique.
He stared over the horizon, eyes glowing in the faint light. Only two more years till the Devourer system's prediction came through.