Chapter 24:

  Eli was kept fairly busy in the days leading up to his match with Kara. The morning after Aria had slept over she had left the keep early, claiming she needed to go and do the rounds for her father, and refusing to even stay for training. After breakfast Sela informed Eli that he should get ready to head out instead of heading for magic studies. When he’d asked where they were going, his mother had simply smiled, and told him it was something he had asked about months earlier. Shrugging he did as he was bid.

  Later that morning Eli sat across from his mother, hands neat in his lap, his persona as a composed, noble child firmly in place. The carriage rattled down the stone road, morning fog lifting slowly from the fields Two hours from Lera, the air smelled cleaner, colder, touched with woodsmoke from the village ahead. It had been a while since he’d needed to be Elias Rodrigo, young scion of House Rodrigo, and not just Eli, but he slid into the role like a well worn glove.

  When they arrived at their destination, Eli was both elated, and curious. The orphanage stood plain but sturdy, its yard already alive with children’s laughter. Staff hurried forward, bowing low. Sela inclined her head in return, offering them respect without extravagance, Eli followed suit when they turned to him.

  “Shall we,” Sela said, gesturing the small group forward, and indicating to the house retainers that they should move forward. At once, the Rodrigo staff peeled off toward the back, unloading sacks of flour, beans, soap, candles and more staples for the pantry and for hygiene. While there were some surprises for the children, most of the things Sela had brought over were the kinds of necessary supplies that most people took for granted, until they no longer had them, or had to ration them. It was a feeling Eli knew firsthand from long campaigns with poor provisions. It had been the first and last time he allowed himself to be cowed by poor logistics officers with superior rank and titles.

  Eli stood beside his mother, watching her lead from the back while allowing the orphanage staff both the dignity and perceived authority to set the stage for what was on paper a visit, but was in reality an inspection. It was House Rodrigo’s duty, and privilege to fund the many orphanages and care houses within Adler, and he was proud that his family took their oversight seriously enough to perform these visits.

  ~

  When the small group got to the yard, children paused in their play to eye the newcomers. When the novelty of their presence died down, Sela leaned closer to Eli as the duo observed the scene. “Watch carefully, Eli. What do you notice about the children.”

  Eli’s gaze tracked them one by one. There were maybe 19-20 children in the yard spanning from toddlers to early teens. There was a younger boy gently rocking a toddler until it stopped fussing, the two had the same skin tone and hair colour, and he had to wonder if they were family. There was also a girl who had stationed herself between two older boys. It sounded like she was mediating an argument; the tone of her voice was firm but fair. Another child was on the steps leading up to the building, Their head was bent over a slate, and they were thinking very hard about something. At the fence-line, a quiet wiry boy stood alone. His eyes were sharp, and he gave off the impression that he might vanish at any moment.

  “It is hard to know without prolonged observation, but there are a lot of different traits here that might make some of these children good retainers. What do you see?” Sela asked, her voice pitched low so only he could hear.

  “I see patience, mediation and good people skills. There is bravery, or maybe just spine. Dedication and intelligence. Stealth,” he laughed at that last one, thought the ability to go unseen through blending in or fading out was one of the more useful, despite being difficult to teach.

  “That’s very good, Eli. All of these things have their place within an organization.”

  Eli realized what his mother was trying to do. It was something she hadn’t done until a few years later in his last timeline. It was a lesson on profiling mainly. It was easier to do with children, as most of them had not yet learned to be guarded, or sophisticated at social deception. They were just as complex, but slightly more transparent. She was also teaching him about people management and talent acquisitions.

  He wondered what changes he had shown since coming back that had made her think he was ready for the lesson so much earlier this time around. Was it a positive change? He stiffened, thoughtful. Maybe he was taking more initiative? Was it too much? Had he changed too drastically?

  He had thought he was doing pretty well when it came to interacting with his family, however he knew that if there were any people who notice even the slightest change it would be his parents. He just didn’t realize how much of an impact his new drive and attitude was having on how his parents viewed him.

  As his mother continued his education, he wondered how he could use his new, slightly-more-mature image to his advantage. Perhaps he could move forward with some of his plans sooner?

  ~

  Later, in a side room, the older children gathered. Some of them had been outside with the other kids earlier in the day. Many of them had gazes that were defiant, or wary. Some had already begun carrying the weight of grief. The awakening test in this area of the region had been conducted the week before and these were the children that would not be headed to any academy. They were the ones who had returned from the awakening test as unawakened with dormant or inert mana. For some of them they would have a second opportunity to awaken should they make their way to the capital of Adler for the annual awakening in the grand hall.

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  The second test was generally only done by the desperate or uneducated. Though it was statistically improbable, it was somewhat of an open secret that spontaneous awakenings were still possible for those unawakened who went through their first testing. However, after a second awakening attempt using the stone, if a person failed to awaken it was no longer possible for a person to spontaneously awaken later in life. The origin of this phenomena was unknown, however his experience trying to look into it made Eli believe that the Families and powerful houses had some idea, but much like the dangers of double awakenings weren’t publicised to the common people, this information was guarded by the houses.

  Some of the children here had tried their luck twice, and had come back unawakened. Their path to power through mana and the arcane forever barred. Most of them had been unawakened past the age of ten for a year or two and were just under the age where they would need to leave the orphanage. Not all of them had undergone double awakening, but as far as they were aware, the ritual was the beginning and end of their futures with magic.

  Sela addressed them with respect, explaining House Rodrigo’s orphanage policy: subsidized housing until fifteen with that extending to eighteen for those with apprenticeships; both would be supported with wage accounts, a chance to begin their adult lives with dignity for two years past the end of their state conservatorship. Not every House in the kingdom did this; in fact most houses did not. Adler was one of the few territories with publicly funded orphanages and the only one that offered aid past the age of 14, when all unawakened citizens were legally able to enter the military.

  Of course, while house Rodrigo was seen as ‘progressive’, even they didn’t usually have one of the heads of house coming to recruit new talent from regional orphanages. While Sela liked to do at least one personal inspection of each orphanage a year, generally there would be a house recruiter making more regular visits to scope out potential talents. Today, however, since Eli was there it was obvious she was stepping outside of her usual duties to show him how such things were done. It was something he appreciated, if not for the new knowledge – as he’d already done more than his share of recruiting in his past future – he appreciated that she would take the time to give him these experiences.

  It was with this spirit of progress in mind that he decided to do some recruiting of his own. There was no reason he couldn’t secure some assets for his own projects while he had the opportunity. If this worked out, then Eli would ask his mother if he could attend her future orphanage inspections, and perhaps inspections of healing houses, and other institutions as well. Let his house benefit from public recruitment and their generated goodwill would allow him to benefit through private talent acquisitions. He just had to be discreet.

  “Mother,” he called as she was preparing to begin with individual interviews with the talented few she saw potential in.

  “Yes, Eli?” She turned to face her son, only to see him staring wistfully out the window and into the yard where the children were still playing.

  “May I speak with the younger children?” He asked, turning to face his mother, his face maintaining its earnest expression even as his mother’s began to show hints of amusement.

  “I suppose you are a child as well,” she said, shooing him off before he could even protest the insinuation. Shaking his head, Eli took the dismissal and headed towards his goal.

  ~

  Outside, the boy was in the exact same area that they’d left him in earlier that morning. He was somehow obviously present while seeming to slip into the background so effectively that he was more scenery than individual. The unobtrusive child had thick, straight black hair in a shaggy cut that flopped overtop of his ears and hid his brown eyes. He had pale skin that was just beginning to pick up a tan as new rising, the season of sewing and gentle rain, slipped into Solun, the season of growing and sunny days.

  “Hello,” Eli said, squatting on the grass in front of the child. The boy startled, dropping the intricate wildflower crown he had been weaving to squint up through his overgrown bangs at Eli. Finally recognising who he was looking at, the boy scrambled to his feet and performed a terrible approximation of a bow. His forehead would have hit Eli’s sternum had he not dodged out of the way of the jerky motion.

  “Milord!” Said the boy in a voice that simultaneously managed to be a whisper and a squeak. Eli grinned and couldn’t help but chuckle at the kid’s reaction.

  “It is fine. Please stand,” Eli said. Grasping his bicep and tugging him upright. “Shall we?” Eli asked, already sitting down in the patch of grass opposite where the boy had been sitting. He had a feeling that if he had waited for the boy to retake his seat, he would be left waiting for a long while.

  The boy opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again and seemed to gape for a while, glancing around himself a though someone would witness what was happening and do something about it. Then he shut his mouth once more, and sat back down, his hands instinctively reaching for the meticulously put together crown.

  “What is your name?” Eli asked, once the boy had settled, and some time had passed.

  “I’m Crow, milord.”

  “Just Crow?”

  “Just Crow, milord.”

  “Well met Crow. My name is Elias Rordrigo, and I think you are very special.” Eli didn’t waste a moment. “How old are you, Crow?”

  It took the boy a moment to respond after the shock of hearing Eli’s opinion. Him special? A frontier orphan, who half the time people forgot he existed? He couldn’t keep the scepticism off his face or out of his voice as he answered Eli, but answer he did.

  “I’m eight years old,” he said.

  “Ah, eight. We have some time then.” Eli sunk into his thoughts for a moment. “Crow, if you awaken when you are ten do you want to work for the houses, or would you rather try it alone?” If Crow was what he thought the boy was, than there was every likelihood that he would be able to make a solo career, there would just be way more incentive from the houses – and potentially even the Families – to join one of them.

  “I guess it would be nice to join a house. If they were fair, I guess.”

  “You guess?” Eli smiled, the boy just nodded. Eli’s grin grew bigger. “Okay, Crow. How about this, if you awaken before you turn ten, I would like you to come to the town of Lira and announce yourself at the Rodrigo Keep.”

  Eli reached into his pocket and from his spatial pouch he produced an emblem. It appeared as a small, thin, polished stone rectangle, about the size and shape of a bookmark. The emblem itself had subtle rune script inside. Its purpose was purely meant as proof of identity – both for the person holding it, and the one giving it out.

  “If you awaken during the ceremony, use this when you get to the academy. It will tell them House Rodrigo is your sponsor.”

  “My what?”

  “Do not worry about it. I will try to come back sometime and talk more with you. For now, take this.” Eli held out the emblem.

  Slowly the boy reached forward and as he grasped it, Eli bound the emblem to him. He nodded to himself before looking up to gauge the position of the sun. Shrugging, he decided to spend a bit of time getting to know his first potential recruit. Kara was a house servant, and Aria didn’t count. She was different… More. But Crow? He felt like progress.