Okay, this is like, my first original.um.thing, ever. I mean, I've
written fanfics before.but this is all new to me. So anyway, better get
this thing started. If the plot sounds kind of familiar to you, please
excuse me, I just fell in love with this plot so therefore had to write one
of my own. I'm really very sorry if anyone thinks I'm copying.very, very
sorry.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Vaughn sat on his faithful stallion wordlessly, staring off into space. He has been like that for the whole trip to Sinopec, not like his usual self, forever talking, smiling, and chatting with others. Sinopec.merely thinking of the name of the city made his heart ache.
~~~~~~~~~~
His father had walked into his room the other day, his red robes billowing behind him, looking like he has just gained millions of millions of gold. His father - Augustin, had interrupted his meditation knowing full well that it could have killed him.
"You are to be joined with the king of the Ice Tribe," His father had told him excitedly, "Is that not wonderful?"
"I beg you a pardon?" Vaughn said, just barely recovering from being interrupted during meditation, "This could not wait until I am done meditating?"
"Don't be ridiculous Vaughn, you know as well as I do that this is far more important than your petty meditation, besides, you will not need to meditate anymore once you join the king of the ice tribe!" His father said triumphantly, as if he had just won a war, "Well, we must get you ready for the journey to Sinopec at once, you will need guards with you.and new clothing, we wouldn't want the ice tribe to think that we are cheap, now would we? And-"
"Did you arrange for this, father?" Vaughn had asked him, not really believing his own ears, "Did you arrange for me to be joined to our enemy?"
"Well.he certainly isn't out enemy anymore.he rules over all of us," His father stuttered a little, "And.yes, as a matter of fact, I did arrange it. You should be thanking me, after all, you will have riches beyond your wildest dream.and just think, you will rule over every single piece of land there is, do you not thank me for this?"
"How?" Was all Vaughn could think of, he has heard of this king of the ice tribe, supposedly, he is smart, strong, handsome, but also cold-hearted and does not care much to be joined with someone, much less from an enemy tribe.
"Well, I had some friends in his court, they proved to be.persuasive," His father said, grinning broadly, "and our own tribe is not unheard of, the fire tribe.though under his ruling, is a fairly large tribe and the king would certainly not want to anger us."
"What's in it for you?" Vaughn asked again, knowing that his father does not do anything that doesn't prove profitable to himself.
"Aside from getting countless riches for you? Having a son who has the king of the seven tribes wrapped around his little finger usually proves to be useful." His father said greedily, his true side showing, "Now then, let's get you ready to go."
"I'm not going," Vaughn said determinedly, stubbornly. "And you can't make me." Childishly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
His father, being his father, had made him, so that's where he was now, riding with a bunch of his father's trusted guards towards Sinopec, where the king of the ice tribe lived. Not only that, but his father had decided to tag alone with them, making sure that Vaughn will not do anything rash.
Vaughn was the youngest of the five children that his father had, three of them had died in the war, and the other one left has burned his face rather badly, so he refuses to come out of his room. Therefore Augustin had spent all his energy on Vaughn, sometimes Vaughn wish that he wouldn't.
~~~~~~~~~
"It wouldn't be so had," Regan had said the day before he left. Regan was.is his best friend, they are about the same age, and had grown up together inside the palace. Their magic about the same level, though Regan is a lot more mature than Vaughn, "Think about it, you will have incredible powers, and you can do anything you want.probably. He probably will just ignore you and go on with his own business, and you will be the second most powerful person on the face of the Earth."
"Tempting, but still. My own father, selling me for money and power, it's disgusting," Vaughn said in reply, though he was musing over what Regan had said, it didn't sound so bad at the moment, "It hurts."
"Well, it does now," Regan said slowly, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"What are you planning?" Vaughn asked, peering at his friend curiously, pitying whoever Regan's plan was for.
"Think about it Vaughn," Regan said, grinning, "You are the second most powerful person on Earth, who can stop you from, say.taking a little revenge on your dear father? Besides, once you have the king wrapped around your little finger, it wouldn't take you a long time..You do know what I'm saying, right Vaughn?"
"Of course.I just.I'm a bit nervous is all." Vaughn had said at the time, frowning, "I bet the guy's a really really old pervert."
"Hush," Regan had said, looking around carefully, "You don't want anyone hearing you say that about the king."
~~~~~
Vaughn frowned on his horse, and shook his head in vain trying to clear his mind of the memory, he didn't want to think about it, he'll cross that bridge when he come to it, there's no need to worry about it now. Now he need to calm down and enjoy the view.or try to at least. His father was riding in front of him. They had not spoken more than ten words since his father told him the news, and truth be told, Vaughn didn't know if he could control his temper if he were to speak with his father at the moment.
Vaughn has got a lean build, not many would think that he's a swordsman, even though he is skilled with the sword. He's got flaming red hair, like the rest of his family. His eyes are golden, and shines whenever he's feeling particularly strong about something. He's about 6' tall, which is really average in the fire tribe. Why on earth had the king chose to join with him?? ~~~~~~~
They had stopped for camp at sunset, the guards with him were trying in vain to start a fire. Vaughn snorted at the irony in the situation. Guards of the prince of the fire tribe, having trouble starting a fire, the same element as their tribe.
"Want help?" Vaughn asked, tucking a few strand of his long, red hair behind his ears, smiling at the guards who were now looking at him helplessly. They had moved aside for him silently, and all watched him intently.
Vaughn curled his index finger of his right hand slightly, whispering a simple word in Jebseny - the Mage's language. The pile of dry branches bursted into flames instantly, though by the looks of it, an outsider would have said that the fire has been up for a long time now, the flames dancing under the moon light. Vaughn watched it for some time, looking at his creation, wondering if he will ever get to do that again. He was well aware that the whole Sinopec despised the fire tribe with intensity, as well as their magic.
The length of their hair measured the amount of Kashi that a mage had in them, and a mage would need a good amount of Kashi to work even the simplest spells. The fire tribe's people were not high on Kashi, the most powerful person is Vaughn's father, and his hair was only to the small of his back.
Vaughn sighed as he thought about his hair, it was barely long enough to reach his shoulders, he's heard myths that the ice tribe's people had their hair past their hips, even the commoners had their hair past their shoulders. He wondered if that were possible. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They had arrived in Sinopec at last. Vaughn was in awe of the city since they first spotted it, it was huge, splendid, and.white.
The whole city looked like it was made of ice, and it was cold here, even after the layers of clothing that Vaughn had put on himself. He mentally scolded himself for not learning the heating spell he had seen in one of the books, but then again, nobody in fire tribe knows how to do a heating spell, they didn't need it, naturally, they were very used to the hot, humid weather of their country.
"Welcome to Sinopec lord Augustin," An elderly man stood at the gates of the city, greeting them, though rather rudely, "We have been expecting you."
Vaughn knew that he was staring, but he didn't really care. The man had his hair loose, and it reached somewhere at his thigh, he was a very tall man, somewhere between 6'4, a good 4 inches taller than Vaughn himself.
"Good evening your grace," Augustin said, dismounting his horse and bowing in greeting. "It's with pleasure that we arrive at your grand city."
"I do wish I could say the same about accepting you, but alas, it is not with pleasure, but rather out of duty that I must do this," The man said coldly and sneered at Vaughn disrespectfully, "The king is out on.more important matters, mean while you may follow me to where you are staying.on foot of course."
"I, I beg you a pardon?" Vaughn asked, anger boiling in him, "Why on foot?"
"We have a rule in Sinopec, you see," The man said tonelessly, but slowly, as if explaining something to an extremely slow child, "That the lesser must always be one level below the higher, so therefore if I'm on horseback, the lot of you must be on foot."
Vaughn clenched his fists, he had heard several of his guards growl behind him, and he saw from the corner of his eye that some had their hand on the hilt of their sword.
"You must get use to it soon," The man drawled on in a bored tone, "I assume you will be doing this all the time when you're with the king."
"And what position do you hold in the King's court?" Vaughn managed to grit out of his teeth, he needed to know why this man thought himself so much superior than him.
"I happen to be the grand Duke's advisor." The man said haughtily, puffing out his chest as if daring Vaughn to challenge him.
"The grand Duke?" Vaughn repeated in his state of shock, then felt so much anger in him that he thought he was going to explode, "SO YOU DON'T EVEN WORK FOR THE KING?"
"Why whatever made you think that the king was going to send someone who holds a position in his court for you?" The man asked, as if genuinely surprised, "You are lucky that he did not sent someone worse."
"Vaughn, stop it." His father commanded, sending him a stern look, "We will, of course, go on foot, it will chase away the chills."
"Are you saying that you do not have even enough Kashi to do a heating spell for yourself?" The man asked in contempt, wringing his nose, "How predictable."
Vaughn took a step towards the man, oh he was going to show him just how much kashi he had in him. But his father had already bowed to the man again, "We did not need the heating spell where we came from, so we did not learn it,"
"Pity," The man said, smirking at them, "Looks like you're just going to have to get used to the cold."
He turned and walked away, Vaughn's father, dragging Vaughn, following him, therefore making everyone else follow. The man now sat on horseback, and didn't turn once to even try to make conversation. 'how predictable,' Vaughn thought, copying the phrase that the man had used not five minutes ago.
"Here we are, this is the palace," The man said, stopping in front of a magnificent building. Though Vaughn was sure that he would have enjoyed the view a little more if it wasn't snowing and freezing.
"Thank you very much." Augustin said, bowing once again to the man. Vaughn had no idea why his father would bow so much to a man who doesn't even work for the king, but then again, his father was his father, the greedy bastard who would sell his son for money.
"Statler, you're late." A male voice came through the door of the castle. The two doors were immediately opened and out came a young man about Vaughn's age, maybe a couple years older, he looked royal, he's got a very strong build, taller and boarder than Vaughn himself, but what surprised Vaughn was that his hair reached his angles. His hair was white, which is what a pure blood should have in the ice tribe, just like how pure bloods in the fire tribe have flaming red hair.
"I'm terribly sorry lord Mateo, we ran into some delays." The man, who the boy had called Statler, explained, bowing low, his nose almost touching the floor, "Please forgive me."
"Don't do it again," The young man stated, and turned to face Vaughn, "Ah.you must be from the fire tribe.not bad.Vaughn, was it?" He said, looking Vaughn over, then grasped his hand, "By god you must be freezing! Come in to the castle then."
He dragged Vaughn into the castle, ignoring everyone else who traveled with Vaughn as if they weren't even there. "I'm Mateo by the way, you're going to join my brother, Aidan then?"
"Uh.I guess so," Vaughn managed to say between clattering teeth, "Your brother is the king?"
"Well of course." Mateo said, but trailing off, "Have you not heard of him?"
"I've never heard his name.or seen him." Vaughn said, "Nor his description."
"Ah, well, that would explain it then," Mateo said, grinning. He took Vaughn into a room and closed the doors, then proceeded to throw a bunch of clothing at Vaughn, "Here, wear these, they'll keep you warm, until I can teach you the heating spell."
"Okay," Vaughn said meekly, just starting to warm up in the heated room. He put on the heavy coats and jackets that Mateo had given him, and immediately felt warmer. "Thank you my lord."
"Huh?" Mateo said, confused, "What did you call me?"
"My lord." Vaughn said, not sure if he's made a mistake, "Statler called you.and you're the king's brother."
"Yes, well, you don't have to do that, you're practically family now." Mateo said, grinning at Vaughn, showing his white teeth, "Really, just call me Mateo."
"Fine, Mateo it is then," Vaughn said, grinning as well now that he's warming up, "I don't mean to be rude or anything.but your hair."
"Oh, yeah, it's longer than you would expect, isn't it?" Mateo asked, stroking his hair and tucking back a strand, "I guess it's a gift, me and my brother.How old are you, Vaughn?"
"I'm 145." Vaughn said, he knew it was a young age to be joined to someone, but blame it on his father.
"Only?" Mateo asked, his eyes widening, "Well, this ought to be interesting.your father said you were 155."
"My father must have said a lot of things," Vaughn said, frowning, "tell me what else?"
"He said you were good looking, good build, um.that you are eagerly awaiting to be joined with Aidan, and that it's your first time joining." Mateo said, looking at Vaughn in the eyes, "At least he only lied about the part where you're eagerly awaiting."
Vaughn looked at Mateo intently, studying the powerful mage in front him. He's hair is white, dong to his angle, his eyes where an icy blue color, and his face made him look younger, and softer than he really is.
"Vaughn? Are you listening?" Mateo asked, waving a hand in front of his face, startling Vaughn out of his thoughts, "You okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Vaughn said, smiling, "You were saying?"
"I asked you what you know about my brother." Mateo said, sitting down in one of the chairs in the room, and motioning for Vaughn to sit as well, "Did your father tell you anything at all?"
"I'm afraid not," Vaughn said ruefully, smile fading a little, "He just said that I'm suppose to join with him."
"Oh.too bad then," Mateo said, "I guess I could tell you a bit about him.but I'd rather you find out on your own, so I'm going to take you to your father now, unless you would like to ask me anything else?"
Vaughn was disappointed, to say the least, when Mateo said that he wasn't going to tell Vaughn anything about his brother, but soon got over it, at least he can ask any question he wants, "How old are you?"
"How old do I look?" Mateo asked, grinning at Vaughn happily.
"Around my age," Vaughn said, "150?"
"147," Mateo said, smiling, "Good guess though, only three years off."
"oh.and your brother?" Vaughn asked, anxious to hear about him, "How old is he?"
"Oh.him.he's um.well, you're going to have to find out for yourself," Mateo said, grinning slyly, "How old do you think he is?"
"I don't know." Vaughn said, honestly, he had no idea what to think about the king. Not a lot of people outside of Sinopec had seen him, and those who has rarely speaks of him, "I guess around 350?"
"Why?" Mateo asked him, looking a bit surprised. Was Vaughn right about the age?
"Well, he's concurred the seven tribes hasn't he? So he's got to be really powerful, hasn't he?" Vaughn said, following his train of thoughts, "So if he's really powerful he ought to be really old, right? I mean, maybe not as old as he should be, cause, you know, what with your family and your Kashi and all, so I'd say around 350."
"Okay." Mateo said thoughtfully, and then grinned slyly, "Logical.I would love to chat with you some more, but we really should go and find your father before he thinks that I've kidnapped his son, eh?"
"I guess so," Vaughn said, and stood up to follow Mateo, wondering what the king of the seven tribes was really like. Mateo had said that his guess was logical, didn't he? So wouldn't that mean that it was at least close? If the king really is that old.200 years older than him, that's old enough to be his father. oh gods this is going to be a nightmare for Vaughn.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~**~ Okay, that's the first chapter, hope you liked it, please R&R, even if it is flame, I want to hear what you think. On a side note, these people live to be more than 1000 years old, they reach adulthood at 130, so yeah. 200 years is kind of like 30 years older in our time.I guess. I haven't really thought about it yet. So please R&R?!
Vaughn sat on his faithful stallion wordlessly, staring off into space. He has been like that for the whole trip to Sinopec, not like his usual self, forever talking, smiling, and chatting with others. Sinopec.merely thinking of the name of the city made his heart ache.
~~~~~~~~~~
His father had walked into his room the other day, his red robes billowing behind him, looking like he has just gained millions of millions of gold. His father - Augustin, had interrupted his meditation knowing full well that it could have killed him.
"You are to be joined with the king of the Ice Tribe," His father had told him excitedly, "Is that not wonderful?"
"I beg you a pardon?" Vaughn said, just barely recovering from being interrupted during meditation, "This could not wait until I am done meditating?"
"Don't be ridiculous Vaughn, you know as well as I do that this is far more important than your petty meditation, besides, you will not need to meditate anymore once you join the king of the ice tribe!" His father said triumphantly, as if he had just won a war, "Well, we must get you ready for the journey to Sinopec at once, you will need guards with you.and new clothing, we wouldn't want the ice tribe to think that we are cheap, now would we? And-"
"Did you arrange for this, father?" Vaughn had asked him, not really believing his own ears, "Did you arrange for me to be joined to our enemy?"
"Well.he certainly isn't out enemy anymore.he rules over all of us," His father stuttered a little, "And.yes, as a matter of fact, I did arrange it. You should be thanking me, after all, you will have riches beyond your wildest dream.and just think, you will rule over every single piece of land there is, do you not thank me for this?"
"How?" Was all Vaughn could think of, he has heard of this king of the ice tribe, supposedly, he is smart, strong, handsome, but also cold-hearted and does not care much to be joined with someone, much less from an enemy tribe.
"Well, I had some friends in his court, they proved to be.persuasive," His father said, grinning broadly, "and our own tribe is not unheard of, the fire tribe.though under his ruling, is a fairly large tribe and the king would certainly not want to anger us."
"What's in it for you?" Vaughn asked again, knowing that his father does not do anything that doesn't prove profitable to himself.
"Aside from getting countless riches for you? Having a son who has the king of the seven tribes wrapped around his little finger usually proves to be useful." His father said greedily, his true side showing, "Now then, let's get you ready to go."
"I'm not going," Vaughn said determinedly, stubbornly. "And you can't make me." Childishly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
His father, being his father, had made him, so that's where he was now, riding with a bunch of his father's trusted guards towards Sinopec, where the king of the ice tribe lived. Not only that, but his father had decided to tag alone with them, making sure that Vaughn will not do anything rash.
Vaughn was the youngest of the five children that his father had, three of them had died in the war, and the other one left has burned his face rather badly, so he refuses to come out of his room. Therefore Augustin had spent all his energy on Vaughn, sometimes Vaughn wish that he wouldn't.
~~~~~~~~~
"It wouldn't be so had," Regan had said the day before he left. Regan was.is his best friend, they are about the same age, and had grown up together inside the palace. Their magic about the same level, though Regan is a lot more mature than Vaughn, "Think about it, you will have incredible powers, and you can do anything you want.probably. He probably will just ignore you and go on with his own business, and you will be the second most powerful person on the face of the Earth."
"Tempting, but still. My own father, selling me for money and power, it's disgusting," Vaughn said in reply, though he was musing over what Regan had said, it didn't sound so bad at the moment, "It hurts."
"Well, it does now," Regan said slowly, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"What are you planning?" Vaughn asked, peering at his friend curiously, pitying whoever Regan's plan was for.
"Think about it Vaughn," Regan said, grinning, "You are the second most powerful person on Earth, who can stop you from, say.taking a little revenge on your dear father? Besides, once you have the king wrapped around your little finger, it wouldn't take you a long time..You do know what I'm saying, right Vaughn?"
"Of course.I just.I'm a bit nervous is all." Vaughn had said at the time, frowning, "I bet the guy's a really really old pervert."
"Hush," Regan had said, looking around carefully, "You don't want anyone hearing you say that about the king."
~~~~~
Vaughn frowned on his horse, and shook his head in vain trying to clear his mind of the memory, he didn't want to think about it, he'll cross that bridge when he come to it, there's no need to worry about it now. Now he need to calm down and enjoy the view.or try to at least. His father was riding in front of him. They had not spoken more than ten words since his father told him the news, and truth be told, Vaughn didn't know if he could control his temper if he were to speak with his father at the moment.
Vaughn has got a lean build, not many would think that he's a swordsman, even though he is skilled with the sword. He's got flaming red hair, like the rest of his family. His eyes are golden, and shines whenever he's feeling particularly strong about something. He's about 6' tall, which is really average in the fire tribe. Why on earth had the king chose to join with him?? ~~~~~~~
They had stopped for camp at sunset, the guards with him were trying in vain to start a fire. Vaughn snorted at the irony in the situation. Guards of the prince of the fire tribe, having trouble starting a fire, the same element as their tribe.
"Want help?" Vaughn asked, tucking a few strand of his long, red hair behind his ears, smiling at the guards who were now looking at him helplessly. They had moved aside for him silently, and all watched him intently.
Vaughn curled his index finger of his right hand slightly, whispering a simple word in Jebseny - the Mage's language. The pile of dry branches bursted into flames instantly, though by the looks of it, an outsider would have said that the fire has been up for a long time now, the flames dancing under the moon light. Vaughn watched it for some time, looking at his creation, wondering if he will ever get to do that again. He was well aware that the whole Sinopec despised the fire tribe with intensity, as well as their magic.
The length of their hair measured the amount of Kashi that a mage had in them, and a mage would need a good amount of Kashi to work even the simplest spells. The fire tribe's people were not high on Kashi, the most powerful person is Vaughn's father, and his hair was only to the small of his back.
Vaughn sighed as he thought about his hair, it was barely long enough to reach his shoulders, he's heard myths that the ice tribe's people had their hair past their hips, even the commoners had their hair past their shoulders. He wondered if that were possible. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They had arrived in Sinopec at last. Vaughn was in awe of the city since they first spotted it, it was huge, splendid, and.white.
The whole city looked like it was made of ice, and it was cold here, even after the layers of clothing that Vaughn had put on himself. He mentally scolded himself for not learning the heating spell he had seen in one of the books, but then again, nobody in fire tribe knows how to do a heating spell, they didn't need it, naturally, they were very used to the hot, humid weather of their country.
"Welcome to Sinopec lord Augustin," An elderly man stood at the gates of the city, greeting them, though rather rudely, "We have been expecting you."
Vaughn knew that he was staring, but he didn't really care. The man had his hair loose, and it reached somewhere at his thigh, he was a very tall man, somewhere between 6'4, a good 4 inches taller than Vaughn himself.
"Good evening your grace," Augustin said, dismounting his horse and bowing in greeting. "It's with pleasure that we arrive at your grand city."
"I do wish I could say the same about accepting you, but alas, it is not with pleasure, but rather out of duty that I must do this," The man said coldly and sneered at Vaughn disrespectfully, "The king is out on.more important matters, mean while you may follow me to where you are staying.on foot of course."
"I, I beg you a pardon?" Vaughn asked, anger boiling in him, "Why on foot?"
"We have a rule in Sinopec, you see," The man said tonelessly, but slowly, as if explaining something to an extremely slow child, "That the lesser must always be one level below the higher, so therefore if I'm on horseback, the lot of you must be on foot."
Vaughn clenched his fists, he had heard several of his guards growl behind him, and he saw from the corner of his eye that some had their hand on the hilt of their sword.
"You must get use to it soon," The man drawled on in a bored tone, "I assume you will be doing this all the time when you're with the king."
"And what position do you hold in the King's court?" Vaughn managed to grit out of his teeth, he needed to know why this man thought himself so much superior than him.
"I happen to be the grand Duke's advisor." The man said haughtily, puffing out his chest as if daring Vaughn to challenge him.
"The grand Duke?" Vaughn repeated in his state of shock, then felt so much anger in him that he thought he was going to explode, "SO YOU DON'T EVEN WORK FOR THE KING?"
"Why whatever made you think that the king was going to send someone who holds a position in his court for you?" The man asked, as if genuinely surprised, "You are lucky that he did not sent someone worse."
"Vaughn, stop it." His father commanded, sending him a stern look, "We will, of course, go on foot, it will chase away the chills."
"Are you saying that you do not have even enough Kashi to do a heating spell for yourself?" The man asked in contempt, wringing his nose, "How predictable."
Vaughn took a step towards the man, oh he was going to show him just how much kashi he had in him. But his father had already bowed to the man again, "We did not need the heating spell where we came from, so we did not learn it,"
"Pity," The man said, smirking at them, "Looks like you're just going to have to get used to the cold."
He turned and walked away, Vaughn's father, dragging Vaughn, following him, therefore making everyone else follow. The man now sat on horseback, and didn't turn once to even try to make conversation. 'how predictable,' Vaughn thought, copying the phrase that the man had used not five minutes ago.
"Here we are, this is the palace," The man said, stopping in front of a magnificent building. Though Vaughn was sure that he would have enjoyed the view a little more if it wasn't snowing and freezing.
"Thank you very much." Augustin said, bowing once again to the man. Vaughn had no idea why his father would bow so much to a man who doesn't even work for the king, but then again, his father was his father, the greedy bastard who would sell his son for money.
"Statler, you're late." A male voice came through the door of the castle. The two doors were immediately opened and out came a young man about Vaughn's age, maybe a couple years older, he looked royal, he's got a very strong build, taller and boarder than Vaughn himself, but what surprised Vaughn was that his hair reached his angles. His hair was white, which is what a pure blood should have in the ice tribe, just like how pure bloods in the fire tribe have flaming red hair.
"I'm terribly sorry lord Mateo, we ran into some delays." The man, who the boy had called Statler, explained, bowing low, his nose almost touching the floor, "Please forgive me."
"Don't do it again," The young man stated, and turned to face Vaughn, "Ah.you must be from the fire tribe.not bad.Vaughn, was it?" He said, looking Vaughn over, then grasped his hand, "By god you must be freezing! Come in to the castle then."
He dragged Vaughn into the castle, ignoring everyone else who traveled with Vaughn as if they weren't even there. "I'm Mateo by the way, you're going to join my brother, Aidan then?"
"Uh.I guess so," Vaughn managed to say between clattering teeth, "Your brother is the king?"
"Well of course." Mateo said, but trailing off, "Have you not heard of him?"
"I've never heard his name.or seen him." Vaughn said, "Nor his description."
"Ah, well, that would explain it then," Mateo said, grinning. He took Vaughn into a room and closed the doors, then proceeded to throw a bunch of clothing at Vaughn, "Here, wear these, they'll keep you warm, until I can teach you the heating spell."
"Okay," Vaughn said meekly, just starting to warm up in the heated room. He put on the heavy coats and jackets that Mateo had given him, and immediately felt warmer. "Thank you my lord."
"Huh?" Mateo said, confused, "What did you call me?"
"My lord." Vaughn said, not sure if he's made a mistake, "Statler called you.and you're the king's brother."
"Yes, well, you don't have to do that, you're practically family now." Mateo said, grinning at Vaughn, showing his white teeth, "Really, just call me Mateo."
"Fine, Mateo it is then," Vaughn said, grinning as well now that he's warming up, "I don't mean to be rude or anything.but your hair."
"Oh, yeah, it's longer than you would expect, isn't it?" Mateo asked, stroking his hair and tucking back a strand, "I guess it's a gift, me and my brother.How old are you, Vaughn?"
"I'm 145." Vaughn said, he knew it was a young age to be joined to someone, but blame it on his father.
"Only?" Mateo asked, his eyes widening, "Well, this ought to be interesting.your father said you were 155."
"My father must have said a lot of things," Vaughn said, frowning, "tell me what else?"
"He said you were good looking, good build, um.that you are eagerly awaiting to be joined with Aidan, and that it's your first time joining." Mateo said, looking at Vaughn in the eyes, "At least he only lied about the part where you're eagerly awaiting."
Vaughn looked at Mateo intently, studying the powerful mage in front him. He's hair is white, dong to his angle, his eyes where an icy blue color, and his face made him look younger, and softer than he really is.
"Vaughn? Are you listening?" Mateo asked, waving a hand in front of his face, startling Vaughn out of his thoughts, "You okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Vaughn said, smiling, "You were saying?"
"I asked you what you know about my brother." Mateo said, sitting down in one of the chairs in the room, and motioning for Vaughn to sit as well, "Did your father tell you anything at all?"
"I'm afraid not," Vaughn said ruefully, smile fading a little, "He just said that I'm suppose to join with him."
"Oh.too bad then," Mateo said, "I guess I could tell you a bit about him.but I'd rather you find out on your own, so I'm going to take you to your father now, unless you would like to ask me anything else?"
Vaughn was disappointed, to say the least, when Mateo said that he wasn't going to tell Vaughn anything about his brother, but soon got over it, at least he can ask any question he wants, "How old are you?"
"How old do I look?" Mateo asked, grinning at Vaughn happily.
"Around my age," Vaughn said, "150?"
"147," Mateo said, smiling, "Good guess though, only three years off."
"oh.and your brother?" Vaughn asked, anxious to hear about him, "How old is he?"
"Oh.him.he's um.well, you're going to have to find out for yourself," Mateo said, grinning slyly, "How old do you think he is?"
"I don't know." Vaughn said, honestly, he had no idea what to think about the king. Not a lot of people outside of Sinopec had seen him, and those who has rarely speaks of him, "I guess around 350?"
"Why?" Mateo asked him, looking a bit surprised. Was Vaughn right about the age?
"Well, he's concurred the seven tribes hasn't he? So he's got to be really powerful, hasn't he?" Vaughn said, following his train of thoughts, "So if he's really powerful he ought to be really old, right? I mean, maybe not as old as he should be, cause, you know, what with your family and your Kashi and all, so I'd say around 350."
"Okay." Mateo said thoughtfully, and then grinned slyly, "Logical.I would love to chat with you some more, but we really should go and find your father before he thinks that I've kidnapped his son, eh?"
"I guess so," Vaughn said, and stood up to follow Mateo, wondering what the king of the seven tribes was really like. Mateo had said that his guess was logical, didn't he? So wouldn't that mean that it was at least close? If the king really is that old.200 years older than him, that's old enough to be his father. oh gods this is going to be a nightmare for Vaughn.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~**~ Okay, that's the first chapter, hope you liked it, please R&R, even if it is flame, I want to hear what you think. On a side note, these people live to be more than 1000 years old, they reach adulthood at 130, so yeah. 200 years is kind of like 30 years older in our time.I guess. I haven't really thought about it yet. So please R&R?!