“Here—it was this one.” He placed the photo in front of his parents. His father picked it up and stared at it with his mother. The photo was faded but the people in it could still be seen. One was a tall man with long auburn hair who wore a dark cloak and slacks with a weapon wrapped in a silk cloth on his back. The other was a woman with silver eyes and golden hair, who held a small child with a small patch of dark-red hair similar to the man’s.
“This is…” Victor whispered and looked at the book on the desk. “This must have been left by Elijah before he left.”
“I didn’t realize this was here.” Lilli sighed, took the photo, and looked mournfully at the woman. “Joche.”
“When I saw those two in the photo, I realized I looked like both of them,” Devol said quietly and folded his arms. “I didn’t start out thinking they might be…the ones who bore me. Not until later.” He looked at the sword. “Then, when everything happened with the majestic—Achroma—and dad mentioned his Templar ‘friend,’ it put another piece into place. After that, when I was on the journey to the Templar Order and everyone freaked out when they saw me, the sword, and the insignia on the map—”
“Wait, boy, you knew?” Wulfsun asked and leaned forward.
“You don’t have the greatest poker faces,” he stated with a shrug. “Vaust and Nauru made me think they knew whoever had the map, but you and the others were a little too obvious.”
The Templar captain sighed in irritation and ran a hand through his hair. “You noticed that, eh? I thought you were a wee too wide-eyed to pay it much mind.”
Jazai leaned closer to Asla. “Between this and last night, I’m beginning to wonder if it is only a ruse on his part.”
She frowned but responded with a half-shrug. “I think you may not be completely wrong in this case.”
“Did you have to add that last part?” The diviner sighed and took another bite of the apple.
Victor looked at his son. “Devol, even if you were only suspicious, why did you never bring it up?”
Devol stared at him for a moment, honestly baffled by the question as if that had never occurred to him. “Does it matter?” he replied and all gazes settled on him again. “As far as the majestic is concerned, sure, but my ‘real’ father? He isn’t that to me.” He walked around to take a seat in front of Victor and Lilli. “Not to be ungrateful to them”—he gestured to the picture—“but even if I did know they were my birth parents, they aren’t the ones who raised me. You are.”
His father’s jaw clenched and his mother formed a smile, even with tears in her eyes. She wrapped him suddenly in her arms and he reciprocated after a moment of surprise. “Like I could think otherwise.”
Jazai and Asla smiled and when they heard a sniffle behind them, they turned to see Wulfsun wiping his eye. “You are a softy under all that armor, eh?” the diviner teased.
“Can it,” the man ordered gruffly, folded his arms, and stuck his chest out.
Devol chuckled as he looked at the Templar and then at his parents. “With that out of the way, there was something I wanted to ask you.” His mother leaned back to look at him. “I’ve been training with Wulfsun and others in the order but he was rather insistent that I get permission from the two of you before he took me on as an apprentice. I wondered if we could talk about that now.”
Victor drew a deep breath and nodded. “I see you’ve made your choice then?” he asked.
The boy thought about it before he nodded softly. “I know it’s happened fast, but I do feel I can do more with the Templars and they have been good to me. I want to return that.”
Lilli shook her head and giggled between her tearful sniffs. “To think I was worried about you joining the guards,” she whispered and glanced at her husband. “What do you think?”
Victor looked at Wulfsun, then at Devol. “It’s not unheard of for magi as young as you to set off on your own, but I wish we’d had more warning,” he admitted and his gaze drifted to the picture. “Elijah did what he thought was best. He wanted you to have a real chance at a traditional life but you fell into this anyway. Even with Achroma bound to you, you had to call out to it first.” He nodded and grasped his son’s hand. “This is your call to answer, son. If you wish to walk this path, we will support you however we can.”
Devol nodded, tightened his grip around his father’s hand, and looked at Lilli. “Mother?”
She simply nodded and although her tears still fell, she gave him a silent blessing, the most she could give at that moment.
Wulfsun stood, walked closer, and placed a hand on the boy's back. “I promise to look after him and we have a portal near the city. He can visit any time he wishes to.”
“Thank you,” Victor stated. The Templar nodded and left the family, taking Jazai and Asla outside for a spell to allow mother, father, and son to have a moment to themselves.
Chapter Sixteen
The group spent the night at the Alouest abode. The following morning, after a feast of a breakfast, they set out to one of the prides of Monleans, the Renaissance Central Station. Even though they arrived fairly early in the morning, the station was already bustling. Whistles and orders rang out as adventurers, merchants, travelers, and many others hastily found their routes and the right places to await their trains.
Devol looked at the black-and-gold archways that decorated the main concourse. Several train lines were huddled under the main building which had orange glass covering the ceiling that bathed the area in a sunny glow.
“This is one of our city’s
