11

When Gael didn't receive a visit from his father upon arriving, he knew he was in serious trouble, though he couldn't imagine how much, from experience he was already casting his life magic to numb his ass, that was his father's basic punishment resource, a good spanking on the ass.

And things only got worse when two of his father's guards entered his room, picked him up and took him away. But the bad feeling turned to terror when he saw that they weren't taking him to his father's room, that wasn't good at all. His father could be severe in the punishment but he would never embarrass him by whipping him in public like a commoner, however now they were taking him to the audience room.

The guards opened the door and threw him inside rolling, closing the door behind him, in the room there were only his Father, his Mother, his brother Duriam and the unknown ranger who had dragged him out of the cave and carried him like a bundle. He would make that commoner bastard pay for treating a noble like that. Surely that was why he had been summoned to the audience room to set an example and punish the commoner who had treated him badly.

Gael stood up and recomposed himself and with all the aplomb that his short five years of age gave him, he walked up to the thrones where his parents were sitting, he made the most pompous of bows trying to highlight his refined manners.

"Father, Mother, that commoner bastard treated me unworthily, he loads me like a f..."

His father's icy gaze paralyzed him mid-sentence, he had rarely seen those cruel eyes.

"Gael Nolak, you are not here before your father and mother, you are here before your lord, before the Baron of these lands, the law is my word and today your savior will not be judged, you are here to be judged, to hear the punishment for your misdeeds that have put the honor of our family at risk..."

"But dad, I do not..."

"Silence, spoiled and ungrateful child!!!"

"Gllppp"

Gael swallowed loudly, at that moment he was so scared that his legs trembled and he was about to urinate on himself.

"For the crime of disobedience to your parents, whom you had a duty to respect, I Aulos Nolkar take away my surname and your noble status. For the crime of fleeing, putting your life and that of the citizens who went to look for you at risk, I, Baron Nolkar, regent of Ilentown, banish you for no less than four months. For burning and setting fire to the courtyard of the castle that you must protect with your life as a noble, I strip you of all your possessions, goods and prebends that your position as my son has given you so far. But I am not a cruel Baron, I am not an unjust lord, nor a merciless father, as a Baron I give you four months to prove to me that you really deserve to be a noble, if you succeed I will return it all to you, as lord of these lands I give you the fruit of your hunt, this will be your only starting capital, manage it wisely, and as a father I cannot leave you in the wilderness alone at your age, from today you will enter the service of your savior as an apprentice, Master Rilcar Guterrez, he will be the guarantor of your merits during this time so obey him.

Aulos Nolkar stood up, the boy was shaking and crying, but without a hint of gentleness he threw at his feet a bag with silver and copper coins, and the six soul stones of the kobolds he had killed, he also threw him the skin of five horned rabbits and a pair of daggers, one of them was just a blade attached to a piece of wood by the handle, but the other was a battle dagger in not too bad condition.

"The servants will give you a change of clothes and shoes appropriate to your new condition, and now out of my sight..."

"Mammaa..."

"Don't make it worse son, be a man and accept your fate, show us that you are worth it..."

The boy continued to try to gain his mother's compassion, but the ranger grabbed him by the waist and, lifting him up while the boy kicked, he dragged him away, crying and pleading.

The hall fell silent until they were sure that the boy was far away and could not hear them. Leena was wiping away a sincere tear with a handkerchief.

"Don't you think we've been too dramatic? We've broken her heart..."

"Do you think she would have gone voluntarily with Rilcar if we hadn't put on this farce?" You know Gael better than I do, that boy needed a lesson, you are too soft...

The servants followed the Baron's orders to the letter, they stripped the boy without any consideration, they did not even leave him his underwear, on a chair were some rough brown trousers and a worn blouse and a doublet that would barely protect him from a cold night, the shoes were mere pieces of cloth that wrapped a smooth piece of cork that served as a sole and were then tied to the foot.

Gael was in shock, his whole world was falling apart by the second, he was not even able to cry as he began to accept the serious punishment he had received as if it were a sentence. He left the castle like an automaton whose soul had been torn out. When the castle door closed behind him he did not even have the strength to look back.

Rilcar tried to grab the boy by the arm to make him walk, but at that moment the boy turned around in rage.

"Let me go, pig, don't you dare touch me..."

The slap in the face that Rilcar delivered was hard, fast and merciless and sent the boy rolling on the ground. But the boy didn't cry, he just looked at him with more rage while he wiped the blood from his lip and spat.

"For you and from now on I am Master Rilcar, you better obey me, I am not your father, I will not be as soft as him..."

"Master my ass, you are nothing but a sack of shit..."

A tornado lifted the boy off the ground immobilizing him, the strong pressure of the wind produced small cuts in the boy's skin, it was clear that he could have killed him if that guy had wanted to. Gael fell to the ground as soon as Rilcar undid the tornado.

"Any lackey can use magic against a child, that doesn't make him a master of..."

"Ris jar den int faerun dubras"

Two donkey ears grew on the boy before he could react. The boy looked at his ears in amazement, that was real magic, it was a spell, one of those that are only studied at the university...

"Are you a magician? A real magician?

"What do you think, boy?"

With a snap of his fingers, Gael's ears returned to normal.

"Will you teach me how to do that?"

"I'll teach you if you show me that you deserve it."

"Where will we go now?"

Rilcar looked at the boy who was now dressed like a beggar, even he would be embarrassed to travel with such a poorly dressed apprentice. Well, part of life's lessons was learning the value of things, for a child who had had everything, it was a good starting point.

"Now we're going shopping, you're going to spend that money you earned with the kobolds, I don't want a beggar by my side..."