The essence was settling into Leon’s body as if it had always belonged there. For a while, no one in the room wanted to be the first person to break the silence.
The dense Essence around the Leon’s body gradually thinned until only a faint shimmer remained. Leon’s body relaxed as he let out a deep breath, until finally his eyes opened.
He looked around for a moment then his gaze found Vera. "Mother," he murmured, his eyelids closing. "I can feel the essence, and I’m sorr-."
His body gave up before he could finish as he went to sleep.
"Leon!" Vera’s composure cracked. She went towards him, crouching as she embraced him into her arms.
Thomas stepped forward, sending small essence threads in him as he checked up on Leon. "He’s healthy and successfully broke through," he said in awe. "He has reached resonance at one year old."
No one answered him. No one quite knew how to. Vera only held her son tighter as she gazed towards Marcus.
"Marcus, I believe you know what to do."
Marcus turned towards Vera, nodding at her statement.
The room’s door opened as Garret stepped through. His one hand on his hilt as he read the room in a single sweep.
"My lord." He kept his voice low. "I felt essence burst from the lower yard. I’ve secured the perimeter."
"Good, we’ll talk the details later," Marcus didn’t look away from the royal guards. "Stay here. I’ll need you shortly."
Garret gave a single nod and stood by the door.
"Kellan. Elara and Dorren," Marcus said as he looked between them in turn. "I won’t ask you to swear something that binds your will. We’ve known each other too long for that."
Kellan’s brow lifted, waiting.
"But I need more than trust tonight. Something you can each feel the weight of. Kellan, Elara, swear it on the nature essence in your blood. Dorren, on your craft, every piece you’ve forged and every one you’ve yet to make." His eyes didn’t waver.
"Not because I doubt you’d keep your word otherwise. Because I need this to matter to you exactly as much as it matters to me."
Kellan nodded and went first. "On the essence in my blood, Marcus, this stays within these walls." Elara also recited the same a breath later, her eyes still drifting back toward Leon.
Dorren grunted, folding his thick arms. "On every hammer strike I’ve ever landed, this stays within these walls, aye. You didn’t need to ask, old friend, but I understand why you did." He glanced sideways at Bram who was still unconscious. "The boy doesn’t know anything, spare him."
While they were swearing, the other side of the room was grim.
One of the senior guard spoke, his voice carrying an careful tone. "Prince, we are leaving immediately," His gaze moved from Leon to Marcus and back again, calculating. "We can’t stay here after witnessing this."
Marcus turned his head slowly toward the four men standing just inside the doorway and for the first time all evening, something in his expression went entirely cold.
"My lord," the senior guard said carefully, essence beginning to gather faintly at his fingertips. "This will need to be reported to the capital."
At the back, one of the guards pulled out an artifact, channeling it with his essence.
Marcus seeing this, let out his pressure once again, aiming towards the guards as he isolated the room. The guard’s hand didn’t move toward his blade, but it also didn’t move away from it.
"They are Emperor’s shadow, Asher," Marcus said, his voice low and demanding. "They felt what we felt. If one of these four leaves this isolation, the report lands on your father’s desk. So I’ll ask you here, what should I do with the guards?"
The question hung like an axe, reminding people the severity of the situation.
Asher began to think about the consequences of both sides. On one side there was Hayes’s support, his wife’s family and on other side was a possible treason and weakening of his standing on succession race.
"Your Highness, step back." One of the guards voiced, carrying a heavy warning. "Let the crown decide the cost. Don’t let this house commit treason and let your succession race weaken."
"The crown isn’t here," Roland said, stepping forward from the window, his hand on his sword hilt. "We are."
Asher stared at the standoff. If four elite knights vanished under his watch, his brother would likely try to brand him a traitor.
But looking at Marcus’s unreadable face, the hesitation left him. What remained was the focus of a man who had decided to play his dark horse path to its limit.
"Kill them, Marcus," Asher said as he let out a long breath. "Every one."
The senior guard’s eyes went wide. "Your Highness-"
"I’ll handle the aftermath," Asher cut in, not even acknowledging the guards. "A beast tide in the border forest or they sacrificed themselves protecting me. I’ll forge the signatures myself if I have to. Let the crown look to me for answers."
As soon as the guards heard this, they began to channel their essence to escape or activate any artifacts, but they were all isolated under Marcus’s essence.
Kellan interjected from the side. "If this is the decision, it can’t happen within the manor. Four Manifestation stage guards cut loose would level the estate."
"It won’t happen here," Marcus said.
He didn’t so much move but simply stop being where he’d stood. A spatial technique tore through the room before the guards could force to draw their blades, taking Roland, Thomas and Garret along with them.
The technique lasted a second. Then the walls and lights were gone as it was replaced by the dark border beast forest, a canopy thick enough to hide out the stars.
Marcus locked a dome of essence around the forest, a kilometer of absolute concealment, before the guards had even finished reorienting themselves to the shift.
The four guards scrambled into formation, the reality of it settling in at once. Trapped inside the Viscount’s domain.
A few moments later, the dome parted at its edge. Asher and Sofia stepped through, followed by Kellan, Elara, and Dorren. Vera stayed behind, watching Leon.
Marcus turned back toward Asher one last time. "Watch closely. See what kind of backing you’ve chosen tonight. Remember this, when you stand in your father’s court again."
The forest stopped being peaceful.