Disgrace of House Ardyn

I froze.

The words didn't make sense at first. They echoed in my ears, distant and unreal.

Strip me of the name?

It felt like I had fallen out of time, suspended in a moment that would never end. My chest tightened, and all of a sudden, I couldn't breathe.

All the years I'd spent trying were gone. Erased in one sentence.

I had followed every rule. Trained harder than both my Awakened siblings. Their gifts came naturally. Mine didn't. I had to fight for everything; study late, train longer, and obey faster. I had to earn it. I thought if I worked harder, they'd see. That I'd matter.

But I was wrong.

Because I had no magic.

And now, I wasn't just unwanted.

I was being erased.

The High Mage watched me with no emotion. 

"Lord Renald—" one of the council members began.

"Silence," my father snapped. "The boy is a disgrace. He has shamed this house. There is no place for him here."

My body was burning, but my eyes were dry. My legs were unsteady, and my hands were going numb. Inside, something was caving in.

I looked around the chamber, desperate for someone to meet my eyes.

However, my mother just stared at the floor.

Even she said nothing.

"No elemental affinity," the High Mage repeated. "Kael Ardyn has failed the Awakening. The Council will deliberate in an hour, and he will be judged accordingly."

The words felt like a blade.

No one in our house had failed in five generations.

But I had.

And now the world would know.

---

When I entered the council chamber, my father was already standing. The High Mage and several council members were seated beside him. My brother was there too, standing by the wall with his arms crossed.

The High Mage stood. His voice was clear, loud enough to echo off the walls. "Kael Ardyn, step forward."

I obeyed.

"Today, the council confirms the result of your Awakening," he continued. "This hearing is held to determine your fate, under the authority of House Law and the Mage Accord. Speak with honesty, or not at all."

"Father," I began as I walked forward. My voice came out too softly. "Please..."

He raised a hand. "Silence! You've spoken enough with your failure."

I stopped walking. "There must have been a mistake. Please, let me try again. One more chance."

"You have been given five chances by the Wellspring already, Kael." The High Mage shifted in his seat. "There is no mistake. No interference. We have checked the circle. The Wellspring answered everyone else. It did not answer you."

"So he's a Null," one of the council mages said, shaking his head.

"A born Null in a High House," another whispered. "What a disaster."

I stood there, unmoving, as I was trying to be strong, to hold my ground, but I felt the tears building. I fought them down with every breath.

"This isn't fair," I protested. "I trained just like Garran. I studied harder than anyone. You saw it. All of you. I did everything I was told. Just one more chance... Please."

"You are a disgrace!" my father yelled. "To fail the Awakening is shame enough. But to do so as a son of House Ardyn? Unforgivable."

"I didn't choose this, Father," I muttered. "Please."

"No," he said. "But your failure has chosen your path. There is no place here for a mage without magic. You cannot serve the house. You cannot defend the realm. You cannot even light a fire without help."

"Then… where will I go?"

"The Outlands," my father said, without hesitation.

Whispers moved through the room.

"Exile!" one of the mages shouted.

"It's the only option," another replied. "If word spreads that House Ardyn keeps a Null, it will damage their standing."

"You'll be sent out by first light," my father said, his voice tight with something he wouldn't name. He didn't look at me. Not really. I searched his face for anything else, regret, sorrow, but found only the sharp edge of a decision already made.

The High Mage raised a brow. "And the name?"

"As Lord of House Ardyn," my father stood tall, his hand resting on the hilt of his ceremonial blade, "I strip Kael of all name, status, and inheritance. He will be exiled to the Outlands, effective immediately. This decision is final."

My mother moved before she could stop herself. "Renald. Don't do this. Please. He's still—"

Father did not turn to face her. He didn't need to. "Silence, Lysara. You will not speak for a Null."

She didn't sit back down.

I watched her hands instead, clenched into fists, trembling at her sides. Her head was bowed, but not in deference. Her whole body was rigid, brittle, like glass about to crack.

I looked for her eyes.

She wouldn't lift them.

My father's voice thundered above us. Cold. Certain. "From this moment forward, you are cast out. You are no longer of this house. Your name shall be removed from our records, your ties severed. If you ever set foot on these grounds again, you will be hunted. And killed."

The words struck harder than I expected.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Not yet.

"You will not speak!" he snapped, the command slamming into me like a slap. "Leave with what little dignity you have left."

Silence.

It swallowed the chamber whole.

I stood there, breathless. My words, whatever I meant to say, scattered like ash. The weight of it all pressed down, cold and slow, numbing everything inside me.

This wasn't anger anymore. Not even grief.

The great stone chamber might as well have been a crypt. Every noble in attendance stared past me, like I'd already faded from view. The guards didn't shift. The council didn't blink. Even the flames in the sconces seemed to burn lower, as if the room itself had turned away.

The High Mage stepped forward, robes whispering against the marble floor. His eyes held no cruelty, only duty, as if this was just another formality, another broken seal. "Do you understand the sentence?"

I forced my voice past the numbness. "Yes."

"You will be allowed a small supply of food, water, and a mount for your journey to the Outlands," he continued. "You may not return to any city or noble territory. If you do, the penalty is death."

"I understand." My voice didn't even sound like mine. It was hollow. Far away. As if someone else had spoken it for me.

I felt myself shutting down, my mind folding in on itself to stop the ache. Numbness crept in like ice. I clung to it, because if I let the heat come back, if I let myself feel, I would break apart right there in front of all of them.

"Then it is done," the High Mage said, rolling up the scroll. "Leave this chamber at once."

But it wasn't done. Not yet.

My brother stepped forward. Garran. The fire prodigy. The one who awakened at thirteen and destroyed his first target dummy with a single flame spear.

He stopped a few steps from me and looked me up and down.

"You won't survive out there," he sneered. "You're not strong enough. You're not anything. Just as father said, you are a disgrace."

I wanted to say something back. Anything. But there was nothing left to say. No defense. No way to prove him wrong.

Without a word, I turned and walked out of the council chamber alone.