Claude leaned around the corner, peering into the kitchen. Nan and the cooks were hard at work cooking dinner that they Asard family would be having tonight, and just the smells had brought him here. The Roast Pork , the spiced potatoes, the Tabynq spiced sausage, god it was all to die for! Claude wouldn't mind becoming fat if it meant he gets to eat Nan's food all day.

A seventeen year old boy's appetite would allow that. One of the cooks set aside some sausages at the edge of the table, already cooked and seasoned, just waiting to be picked up. Claude took his opportunity and crouched low to the ground, his leather jacket creaking slightly. Skimming the floor he moved over to his prey. He glanced up, making sure the coast was clear, then reached out for the succulent meat. He was only going to take one, after all, it wasn't like anyone would miss it.

Pain erupted from the back of his head as the wooden spoon crashed down. Only one person would bring swift justice to Claude, "Nan! I'm hungry!" He looked up to the head cook. The woman has been in the Asard Castle long before Claude was born, and practically helped raise the Asard children.

"I don't want to hear it!" She exclaimed. Claude saw the next blow coming and wasn't going to stand for it. So he ran out of the kitchen with Nan screaming something behind him. She was probably the only servant in the Castle that would dare scold the children, and their father just laughs.

Somehow, he managed to run outside into the courtyard. Rubbing his head he breathed in deep, cherishing the smells of the forest. The sound of birds chirping was mingelled in with the work of a castle. The clanging of metal though was coming from the training grounds. No doubt Caeden was training. Claude shook his head. Brother and his swords.

Oh well, it was something to do. Claude walked over to the grounds and indeed saw his brother trading blow's with Brice. The man was a few years older then Claude, but it looked like him and Caeden were on equal footing. Claude leaned against the railing next to a few other guards. "Seven silver says that my brother beats Brice."

"Your on Mi'lord." On of the guards replied, shaking Claude's hand. Claude smiled, "C'mon brother! Knock him on his arse!"

*CLANG* yelped the steel as it made contact. This was the sound Caeden had grown accustomed to now. It was all he heard most of the time due to his never ending training sessions. They would last five, six even ten hours on days his mother wouldn't stop him. His muscles stopped aching at fourteen, and now at fifteen there was no stopping the little lord. He wasn't so little anymore either. He had grown faster than most of his siblings and at fifteen stood at five feet, eleven inches. He was muscular of course and was now sparing with the guards. He was grasping a long sword with a silver handle, standard for the guards. The balance was good except it was a tad bit light which made his swings and slashes less accurate than he wanted.

Today he was sparing against his guard and friend Brice who stood at the same height as him today. The guard wasn't particularly close with Caeden but close enough that he would volunteer to spar on a regular basis. What Caeden instantly noticed was that Brice's foot work couldn't match his. Caeden would rush him constantly and there would be no blocking a swing from that. The guards surrounded him in the courtyard of Castle Asard, as they always did for his sparing, and would shout out things like "Thats it!" or "Hit him harder!" sometimes there were little pointers they would give him like "Aim low!" or "Side step!" You knew things were heating up when they were quiet, and at this point they were silent.

Brice had one thing that he exiled at, and that was blocking. Caeden could not make contact because the guards blade would be at him on every swing of his sword. Then after blocking a swing to the right Caeden found his opening and took the butt of the sword to the guards shoulder. He moved back and they circled as the other guards cheered him on. Today Caeden's eyes were a very bright silver that seemed to glow and in turn most of the guards were mesmerized by his gaze. Brice would make a stupid mistake here and there just from getting caught in a glare. "Don't fear the storm dear Brice." Caden said with a smile "Its only my eyes. Not an enchantment that prevents you from seeing an opening to attack." But thats exactly what they were enchanting and all of the kingdoms knew it.

Brice wasn't going on the offense because once he was caught in a glare there was no looking away. The guards began to cheer and make comments, and then Caeden heard a familiar voice. "Seven silver says that my brother beats Brice." said his brother. Caeden didn't turn to look at his elder brother, he kept his mind on the sparing. "C'mon brother! Knock him on his arse!" he yelled. Caeden went in for the charge and Brice hesitated. He gave a knee to the stomach and the man fell backwards, he then took his sword and held it to his thought. He laughed and then reached a hand out to help the guard up. "Good match friend, we shall do it again." He then returned his sword to its sheathe and approached his brother with a smile.

Claude had become accustomed to his eyes and therefore wasn't effected by his gaze. He hugged his brother and patted his back. "What brings you to the training fields brother? I don't find you here much." he said with a laugh. He looked up to his brother greatly and admired him, but he didn't find him often with a sword. He then looked down at his hand and saw a mark all the Asard kids knew all too well. "Nan caught ya in the kitchen, didn't she!" he said with a laugh "I thought I heard her yelpin from out hea!" he began to laugh harder. Nan was the one woman Caeden had ever been petrified of, and for god reason. She could be quite frightening.

The guard Claude made the bet with let out a groan and handed Claude the silver pieces, "That's right, that's right! Don't bet against an Asard." Claude leaned off of the railing and embraced his brother. Claude shrugged at his question about him being in the training ground. "True...though watching you fight is far more entertaining then learning about court." Claude said with disdain. He loathed being at court, a sentiment that seemed to run in their family. To much scheming and dancing around words. Say something wrong, show the wrong emotion, and you would soon find that your 'friends' are just coiled snakes waiting to strike.

"By the way brother, how goes your studies?" Every child of a noble house had to learn things, men more so than women. Since many were future leaders and such, they had to learn politics, etiquette, history, etc...many days are filled with learning the way's of nobility.

Claude rolled his eyes, and smiled. "Nan should just give us food when we're hungry. Its torture I say! It's like she purposely draws us in like a siren only to hit us when we get to close to the food."

Celeste had seen her brother run howling from the kitchen. Well, he wasn't howling but she was sure that if he was doing it on the inside. She grinned, knowing she would be successful where her eldest brother was not. She was always successful with getting food where her brothers were not.

Smoothing down her dress, she put on her prettiest face and walked sheepishly into the kitchen. Nan was bustling around the kitchens, having stopped shaking her wooden spoon after the retreating Claude. She tasted things, scolded the younger maids and sent people scattering to all corners of the household with tasks. The only woman Celeste though of more highly was her mother.

Tugging on Nan's skirts, she beamed up at the pudgy woman and said in her most polite of voices, "May I have a treat, Nan?"

A few minutes later, after a little song in payment for a treat before their actual supper, she was running out of the kitchens in the direction her brother had run with a tart in each hand. He was probably with Caeden in the yard, practicing hitting things with sticks or whatever they did.

She got there just in time to hear the tail end of Claude's complaining. Hiding the extra tart behind her back, she sauntered up to them, munching on her tart.

"Mmm. These tarts are delicious! Nan makes such wonderful food," she gloated, grinning up at her brothers.

"My studies well....I just need to hit a few capitals and review a few names and I should be doing well." At this age he was quite the charmer. He excelled in his speech and had quite the silver tongue. He would make a great diplomat in the future and he was being well groomed for it. He did lack a memory for names and was terrible with geography. What he was best at was strategy. If he wasn't training he was reading books about adventure and wars. He would study how people won, and thats all he wanted to do.


"Mmm. These tarts are delicious! Nan makes such wonderful food," His dear sister rushed over to them. She held a tart in her hand, clearly from the kitchen. She was the youngest and therefore got everything they didn't. She was the "innocent" one of the family. How could she be anything else? They were very protective of her, along with the rest of the people of the land. She was clearly rubbing it in, the fact she got food and Claude didn't.

"Well, it seems sister mite just be the cleverest of us all." he said with a smile, patting her head. "Shall we go in for dinner? I have to wash up first." He said. Apparently the Lord and Lady from a neighboring kingdom were coming for dinner and all the children needed to dressed properly. The problem was not one of them was ready yet and the dinner was in an hour.

Claude nodded. "Well that's good. What I've always found for names of nobles is to accounted them with something else. Like lord Carver La'vellet I picture as a meat cleaver wrapped in velvet. Odd I know, but it helps."

Claude rolled his eyes at his younger sister, but a smile stretched across his face. "Celeste...your such a brat." Claude had to agree with Caeden though. She was pretty clever for her age, and she knew how to use her strengths. All she had to do was be the picture of a little princess, wear a frilly little girl dress, sing a slight song, and Nan was pudding in her hands.

Claude closed his eyes and moaned. Right, they had to entertain the lesser house of Nebeline tonight. They were from the foot hills of the Vale and where no doubt trying to pass one of their children up in station. Claude hated it when a lesser house was bold enough to do that.

Claude waved off his brother though. "Nonsense, you are a warrior brother, your supposed to smell. But speaking of dinner, Celeste..." He turned to the young girl. "If you don't share that tart with us, you'll spoil your dinner."

Celeste slapped Caeden's hand away when he patted her head. She was eleven years old! Not a child! Her first blood would come any day now! She couldn't help blushing with pride when Caeden called her the cleverest of the Asard children though. She liked that title. Better than The Baby.

She wrinkled up her nose in distaste when she was reminded of their dinner and thus their guest. House Nebeline had a son not much older than herself who liked to pull her hair when no one was looking and followed around her brothers like a puppy. She wanted to set the hounds on him once but the groundsman found her before she could open the cages.

When Claude's attention focused on her, she quickly stuffed the rest of the tart in her mouth, crumbs spilling from her lips. She chomped on it, more food falling ungracefully from her mouth and catching on her dress.

"Sowwy. All done," she said between mouthfuls and flashed them both a crumb-y grin. She knew neither of them would ever be rough with her but nonetheless she suddenly held out the other tart that was hidden behind her back. "Jokes! Of course I got another one. But you'll have to share it. Nan wasn't that nice since Claude already tried to steal food."