Bonded By Blood

"Out with it." Nicholas demanded as he glared at Connor. As he spoke he felt a surge of power pass through him, but it was gone as quickly as it had come.

"The journals, it might be in the journals, your highness." Connor's voice shook as his entire body trembled.

It was if he was possessed, unable to go against anything Nicholas asked.

"What journals?" Nicholas looked at Dion, expecting an answer to come from him, but it was Connor that responded.

"B- b- before your highness lost his memories, right after we purged the ministers of traitors, you told us ancien journals that held information on Cruor and Corporali magic. Ancient journals that were thought lost to time." Connor explained as he kept his head down.

"And where are those journals? Must I keep asking the questions or will you give me the answers I need!" Nicholas was practically shouting at Connor as the man gave him only bits and pieces of information, never the whole picture.

"Your highness never told us." Connor responded, his shaking had subsided, but the tone of his voice remained pained, as if every word was poison on his lips.

Nicholas shook his head as he glared at Connor and Dion in anger. It seemed that the key to his magic was still in his memories, even the information on the journals were there.

"We thought you burned it." Connor added. "We knew you would never want others to find out about the magic, and after we had spoken you never mentioned them."

"So they might be gone?" Nicholas asked as his temper began to flare up.

Connor bowed his head, seemingly offering his neck to Nicholas as a form of submission, prompting Nicholas to glance at Dion.

"What just happened?" Nicholas asked his chief minister, blinking in shock as he realized that something was wrong.

Even if Connor feared his temper, the man would not act this way.

Instead of answering the prince, Dion decided to show him what had happened.

Dion shook his head and sighed as he placed a hand on Connor's shoulder, visible white sparks flowed from Dion to Connor. Nicholas could feel how much mana was being used in the room, releasing Connor from whatever spell he had been placed under.

"Your highness, some Cruor princes have this power, it's rare, but I'm not surprised you can do it." Dion and Connor both seemed weakened after the latter was released from whatever magic had trapped him.

"I felt the mana you used to release him." Nicholas admitted as he glanced at Dion's mana mark.

The older man sighed as he lifted his arm, showing Nicholas that half of his mana had been depleted as he released Connor from the spell.

"If you knew what you were doing it would have taken much more to get Connor's free will back, your highness." Dion said as he eyed the young prince warily worried that he would send out a command once more.

"It's been centuries since anyone has been able to do that, your highness." Connor's demeanor was the opposite of Dion's. He was more excited than worried, Nicholas couldn't help but give him a curious glance.

"Do what? Explain, now." Nicholas said as he massaged his temples. He could feel as a memory tried to surge forward.

"Sir, some Cruor princes are so powerful that they are able to command their mother's clan with magic. That's what you just did, you commanded a Corporali mage to do whatever you wanted." Connor was practically hopping up and down when he explained what had just happened.

"Sir, it's because you are tied to us by blood and by magic." Dion realized that Nicholas might need a little more detail to truly understand what had happened. "You are calling on that bond to make us do as you wish."

"Connor doesn't seem to be bothered by what I just did." Nicholas laughed as he pointed at Connor and gave Dion a curious look.

"He is your teacher, your highness. He is just proud that you are able to tap into this form of magic." Dion grinned. "He doesn't realize that it's quite dangerous for the rest of us."

"It gives us a better chance of surviving." Connor argued. "Corporali mages are not meant to fight. We've never had a corporali king, and we are usually the first ones to get killed when the fighting starts."

Nicholas listened to the two men as they explained the situation to him.

"Not only are we their brother's people, we may not be able to fight but we are valuable." Dion further explained. "They always keep one Corporali Mage alive, one to heal them after the battle."

"Master Leeroy." Nicholas said as he realized that the old man had lost everyone he had known when his father had fought his brothers for power.

"That's why Master Leeroy is determined to serve you, he knows you are different, he knows you have a chance, your highness." Connor explained.

He raised his arm and looked at his mana mark, it shined brightly this time, a mix of blue and white unlike the night before. It seemed that his limiters also changed how his mana mark looked aside from blocking his magic.

"Your magic is something unlike anything we have ever seen, Prince Nicholas." Dion told him as he lowered his arm and looked at the chief minister and his teacher. "Not only did your mana and magic naturally thrive, but somehow, someone had managed to slip you different rare terra crystals to absorb, making you more powerful."

"How old was I when you realized I had this much magic?" Nicholas asked as he closed his eyes thinking of his Uncle Glenn.

"Five, a year after you and your mother had returned. We knew as early as then." Dion told him with a concerned look.

"I need a word with Dion." Nicholas told Connor, who quickly understood what the prince meant. He bowed and left Nicholas and Dion alone in the room.

"Dion, does my power have anything to do with my Uncle Glenn? Where is he? What happened to him? Why isn't he here with us?" Nicholas looked like a lost child as he asked Dion his questions, making the chief minister frown with worry.