Given the words Vincent suggested before, I am not shocked by the lack of attacks. Cleaver's blood is here now. It's fresh. If we can do damage to Cleaver and live? We're dangerous. They'll pick elsewhere. Vincent sends most of his team out to pace the woods nearby. We stay at the base. If needed, William could pull everyone back easily enough. I watch as the golden sheen I gave everyone just sit there. My spell. A spell I did on purpose.
"Can I have my mother's spell book, William?" I have time to study. William nods and hands me the book in question.
Opening it though... Gives me almost nothing to go by. Spell title, incantation, components, etc. Literally the bare minimum needed to cast. No descriptions. No special instructions. Nothing bonus. That explains why she only has one book when I thought she had the most spells.
Thinking of it, my father's spells had at least a page dedicated to each one. Odin had extras to help improve the spell or reasons to use it versus another. It wasn't over a page per spell, but it was more than this.
"You look lost and confused, Thomas." William leans over to see the book. "It is the right book."
"It is... And I just realized my mother isn't much for fluff."
William laughs. "She is not. When you read her reports it only contains the needed information. I would call the reports bad because they are so limited, but it does contain everything needed. Your father on the other hand." William's eyes widen. "Those reports? When he has time to write them? Contains everything that may possibility offer any level of support."
"Because Mom was a commoner?"
William shrugs. "Most people are between the two. If they passed out of writing classes, they should manage anyway."
"Why do you think Mom does this?"
"The time it takes to write." Vincent says.
I look over at him. He's been listening from his guarding spot. "Did you have to take the writing classes?"
"I did. The queen passed out early on to suggest she had some level of training."
I nod. "She was..." I sigh. "My grandfather really did seem to be... Paranoid. She was a lot like Ryan. She had to live with a distant cousin after her family was killed off for treason. She thought Father would hate her, so she kept distance. After all, it was her family that tried to murder him. So... She was seven, though, when it happened. She lost all connections. And it was required she join the knighthood at fifteen to prove her loyalty to the country."
"You know a lot." Daniel lies on the ground relaxed. Vincent looks relaxed while standing guard. "My great uncle also lost his life. The reason my father is head of the house is because he handed the file to the previous king. Swifting was involved in the treason. So they really won't hate Priscilla given her actions. We did the same."
And why the current murder attempts or the ones when I were a child did not go through Swifting. We'll need to quell that situation as well. Swifting should be handling all assassination attempts. Even if they're to the royals. Their network has broken ever since the change in leadership.
I hand the book back to William. "Can I have my father's first book instead?"
"Might suit you better." William switches the books out for me. Studying is easy enough to do and something I need to do. As I work, William freezes and stands up. "Jessica has permission for your rooms?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Be back shortly." William disappears.
Daniel looks at me. "That guy seems to be on top of far more than we think."
"Better he is than is not." Vincent still seems at ease. "You should get a little more aware, Lord."
Daniel clicks his tongue. "I am not planning to use my titles."
"Don't skip out on helping me." I knock his arm.
Daniel sighs. "Fine." He sits up. "It seems the crown prince wants me acting like a lord." He pauses catching my attention. "Are you sure? I'm like low par."
"Then play golf." Vincent says. We stare at him confused by the comment. "Golf counts in swings to reach the goal. You're getting a ball into a hole after all. Low numbers are good there. Not every situation requires the all around best person. You still have a place."
Daniel moves to stand next to Vincent. "You were like that, right?"
"I graduated knight trainee after sixteen months. They were confused why I didn't give up. It has been a long time to reach this point. Decades to reach three blue? It should be anyone to survives decades of missions should be at least a three blue. I'm called slow. I've been called weak. Why haven't I given up?" He offers Daniel a smirk. "I didn't. I may have taken longer to reach this point, but I did reach it. Whatever you wish to do, even if it does take you longer to get there, don't give up on it."
"Huh." Daniel watches the woods a moment before sitting next to me. "I won't be forty nine and only a three blue."
"I hope not. You did succeed at graduation on normal time for nobles. Be the lord. Whatever type of lord you need to be."
Daniel watches the ground. "I'm a Swifting. I never thought I was... Good enough... As a Swifting. But that's just comparing myself to people who've already pass my age. They already did my requirements. I..."
I squeeze his shoulder. "You did great during the graduation. Remember? You managed fine at the ball, too. You should look into the double blind talents your family has. I don't know them very well."
"Really? You think I could pull off double blind?" Daniel pulls back shocked. "But... Dad said I was too honest."
I shrug. "Your choice."
"Yeah. It is my choice. Thanks." Daniel stands up. He goes back to Vincent. "Tell me where to scout. I'm sick of sitting here." Vincent doesn't mind sending him out. His circlet looks much easier to handle than the rest of the team. But it would have purpose or Vincent would have told him to sit back down.