Shards of Silver

EIGHTEEN

Omar was a person who enjoyed taking pleasure in those who were in pain. Calvan had confirmed his suspicions the first day they had arrived at the castle when he forced them to run. It only confirmed his suspicions, even more, when he made the three of them fight against him. Omar always seemed to have a sinister smile on his face whenever he battled.

Calvan panted hard, resting his hands on his hips as he tried to steadily draw air into his lungs. He was getting tired already, having been training with Omar for only three hours so far and the older man didn't seem to want to stop anytime soon. Calvan was sweating, but how Omar wasn't sweating, Calvan didn't know. The man was wearing his uniform; long sleeves and pants with boots reaching the knees. There wasn't a leadership ribbon in sight, not like Isren's or other leaders he has seen. Maybe being Captain of the Valirus Guard had other rules they didn't know yet.

"Meribane."

Another thing Calvan realized about Omar was that he only called them by their last name. It didn't matter; it was their family name. The name they must carry with honor. Except, he didn't understand why Omar didn't try to engage in friendly relationships with his students beyond the mentor and student relation. He only knew that Omar didn't like them, and that was that.

"Tell me about the Spring Court."

Omar liked to change things up, to keep them on their toes. For one hour, they're training with weapons or simply exercising to improve their body strength, and the next hour they're talking about the courts and history.

"The Spring Court is ruled by Lady Cascadia. It's on the western side near the ocean and has the most lakes and rivers. They control the waters that flow into the rest of Axcia and have high cliffs to protect them from any high winds or storms." The monologue of information spilled easily from his lips. He had a good memory. It was something he was proud of whenever it came to memorizing facts and battle strategies that Omar had spent the past three days drilling into them.

Three days. Calvan almost couldn't believe that only three days had passed, and it felt like forever. He almost didn't know when he had gone to eat, or go to sleep and wake up again for the next day. It was almost as his current life was an illusion. Not that he believed in illusions. He had known from a young age to never truly believe everything you see. It was what he had taught himself.

Omar raised a hand to stop him from continuing, obviously disinterested. The man could care less about the other courts. The only court that mattered was the Eclipse Court; the highest ruling court with the Esteral king. Omar was the Captain of the Valirus Guard, but only the Captain for the Eclipse since there were other captains for the other courts.

"Castennali." Omar pointed at the girl with the tip of his staff. It was always the same old staff, never anything extravagant or fancy as one would think they would treat the captain. But, Calvan had to remind himself, they were soldiers. Extravagance got in the way.

"Pull out a map and locate all four kingdoms. Which Greater created each Esteral Kingdom?

Calvan saw a look of hesitation pass through Isren's face. She pulled out the map from one of the open books that were on the table, pushing the book near Omar as he got closer to stand next to her and look at it too. Both Calvan and Aerelle circled the table, waiting. Isren looked nervous, but not as much as she usually did. At least she was getting better at her mask.

Isren's finger trailed across the page, pointing first at the location of the Eclipse Kingdom. Her voice wavered. "The Eclipse Kingdom was created by two Greaters. The Greater Esteral of the Sun, Sol--" She cut off, coughing. She visibly gulped. "Elios and the Greater Esteral of the Moon Hala."