Preparations for the ceremony

I reach my sit and plop down with Arti by my side next to our mother.

“Good morning,” she addresses my brother and me with a gentle smile.

“Good morning, Mother,” we reply in unison returning her smile.

Today’s breakfast is scrambled eggs with herbs and vegetables with a loaf of freshly baked bread and fruits.

We begin eating in silence. When all of us are about halfway done, our mother speaks up.

“Are you two nervous about the ceremony?” she asks.

“I am, but Zen seems to be certain that we will be able to use magic,” Arti says. Zen is Zenovia for short. My brother started calling me that when I started calling him Arti instead of Artias. Our mother found our shortened names adorable and started calling us that as well. We also started calling our sister Tia instead of Tiana. She seems to really like that, especially since I was the first one to call her that. Now she demands that everyone call her Tia.

I shrug at Arti’s comment. “I am nervous a tiny bit, but I do feel like we will be able to use magic. Don’t know why, though.”

“Hmm,” our mother contemplates for a second. “That feeling might be a manifestation of your mana. There are very rare cases when children start exhibiting signs of having mana before the age of six. For example, I child who was revealed to have an affinity for the fire element at the ceremony could have inadvertently burned something down. The research on the matter is uncertain because it is extremely hard to catch a child in an act like that. Your feelings could be one such occurrence. As you both know, many different types of magic fall under the category of dark magic. Gravity, taming, telekinesis, illusion,” when she said the word illusion, she waved her hand and became invisible a moment later. “Having an affinity in dark magic is a bit more complicated than having affinity in other elements. You don’t know straight away what type of dark magic you will be able to do. But know that if you have an affinity, then you will be able to do something with it. Regarding the feeling of certainty that you have, it could be a manifestation of the magic of future sight. It is an extremely rare type of magic. There are only a couple of recorded occurrences of people having that magic type.”

‘Having future sight magic would be so cool’ I think to myself.

“Don’t take my word for it. You might just be feeling hopeful and confident.” She giggles seeing my thoughts written on my face. I feel slightly embarrassed at not being able to contain my excitement at the prospect.

After finishing our breakfast, we started getting prepared for the ceremony. It will be a whole event with a long procession going from the palace to the cathedral. A lot of people will come to see it since it will be the first official appearance of the two princes of their kingdom. Having a royal manifest mana would be an incredible boost to the prestige of the nation and its people. It would be very awkward if it turned out that my brother and I didn’t have any magical affinities.

Servants prepare our clothes and help us get dressed. I will be wearing an outfit comprised of a black silk tunic, dark grey pants, black boots and a black velvet cloak with silver trim on the edges. Arti will be wearing a dark blue silk tunic, dark grey pants like mine, brown boots and a blue velvet cloak with golden trims. We both look like the embodiment of royal princes.

We exit the room all dressed up and follow the servants leading us to the lobby where our parents will be waiting for us. Our father the king will be joining us for this occasion. We walk down the stairs and see our parents standing there, servants and guards behind them at a respectful distance. Our mother’s eyes light up when she sees us, and she smiles brightly. Our father inspects us with a discerning eye and, having not found anything out of place, nods slightly to himself. His lips never even twitched towards resembling anything close to a smile. His face is as stoic as usual with a slight frown to it.

“You both look so very distinguished, boys,” our Mother says beaming at us.

“Restrain yourself, Lylya. You must be more dignified as a queen,” the king says in his gruff voice. As usual, he is the perfect example of a monarch. His expression is stoic, his posture straight, eyes glaring with authority.

Our parents make our way out of the huge double doors, with us following closely, servants spreading out to perform their duties and guards staying close to us. Four of us entered the carriage. Tiana once again had to be left behind because she was too young to go out yet, being only 3 years old. The procession started moving forward, exiting through the large gates of the palace and making its way towards the cathedral. While moving, I look out the window and see a huge crowd of people standing on both sides of the road and cheering. It is hard to believe that these cheers are for us.

We reach the cathedral and exit the carriage. I am instantly hit by the booming sound of the crowd cheering. Everywhere the eyes could see were people. On this large square in front of the cathedral, there must be at least ten thousand people gathered all to watch is go into the cathedral and hope to hear the good news of their young princes being able to use magic. We follow our parents and guards into the cathedral. We enter through the large doors into a big lobby where an old man in white robes awaits us. All four of us move towards the man while the guards take positions against the walls.

“Greeting, your Majesty and welcome,” the old man bows. “It is an honor to receive you and your royal family today.” He then turns towards my brother and me. “Welcome, Prince Artias and Prince Zenovia. I am High Priest Dallan and a humble servant of Invia. I hope today’s ceremony will be a success for you both.” He bows again then turns around and starts walking towards the next set of doors that go further into the cathedral. Our parents follow him, and we follow their lead. The guards remain where they stand.

We enter a large room with a very high ceiling decorated with mosaics from religious texts of the Invian religion. The windows are tall with tinted colorful glass. Huge ornate white stone columns are incorporated into the walls between the windows. Several dozen rows of wooden benches stand on each side of the path leading to the elevation at the far end of the room. There stands a large glass obelisk on a pedestal. Inside the glass, six straight lines are going from the bottom to the tip. We follow the High Priest to the obelisk. Once we reach it, he turns around and addresses Arti and me.

“The artifact behind my back is called the Prismatic Obelisk. It is a replica of the original Prismatic Obelisk that is located in the Grand Cathedral of Invia in the Anobovia, the holy capital of the Invian Theocracy. The original obelisk was created more than 5000 years ago by the founder of religion, Holy Lady Invia. Her Holiness was considered to be the strongest user of light magic at the time. Her love of all species led her on the path to creating the religion we know today. Obelisks like that are located in all of the capitals in all the nations on the continent of Esconia. Before you ask, yes, even in the Flademian Empire. The capital of Shavian Theocracy, Goldbreach, also has one but it was replicated after the one located in Ylong, the Empire’s capital,” the high priest explains.

“The obelisks work simply. Every person has some level of mana within them. If a person touches the obelisk, it reacts. First, it exudes a low white light acknowledging that the person does indeed have mana, however small it is. In all the recorded history there wasn’t a single person without a trace of mana within them. Then, if a person touching the obelisk has an affinity for magic, at least one of the lines starts glowing. The lines each glow in their own color. Red is fire, green is wind, blue is water, brown is earth, yellow is light and purple is dark. If the light glows dimly, that means a person has a low affinity for that type of magic, if it glows brightly, the affinity is high,” Dallan finishes the explanation. “Are you ready to begin, young princes?”

Arti and I both nod. “Very well. Prince Artias, as you are the oldest, you will be going first as tradition dictates. I pray for you to awaken your magic.” The high priest steps aside allowing Arti to walk up to the obelisk unobstructed.