Silver

This chapter's song is: I'll make a man outta you from Mulan!

Narrator's POV:

"Come on Elijah!" a young boy shouts as he runs along a field.

"Slow down Silver!" another voice replies.

These voices belonged to 5-year-old Elijah Moreel Mikael Redcliffe and newly turned 6-year-old Silver Armada Argent Scilla.

"Why are you so slow?! You'll never become a Knight with that stamina!" Silver taunts as he runs.

"It's not fair! You're older so your legs are longer than mine! If we were the same age then we'd be the same in stamina!" Elijah says.

"Yeah, I'm older! So you should listen to my every order. So as of now, you're my servant," Silver grins, his dark hair blowing with the wind.

"No way! You're only 7 months older!"

"That's enough boys! Come here for a break!" Duchess Arabella Carrola Scilla calls out to the budding children.

"Elijah, would you like apple or grape juice?" Lila Flora Redcliffe, wife of the minister of Defence, asks her son.

"Grape please!" Elijah answers as he runs to his mother's arms.

"What about you Silverling?"

"Mother! Don't call me that in public!" Silver whines.

"Alright alright, so what juice?" she asks.

"Apple! Apple is the best!" he answers enthusiastically.

"No, Grape is!"

"No! It's apple!"

"No! Grape!"

"It's apple! I'm older so I'm right!"

"No you're not!"

"Now boys, you can have different preferences. There's no right or wrong answer," Lila says.

"Exactly. I actually prefer orange juice. What about you Lila?"

"Hmm, I'd have to go with a berry mix. Strawberries, blueberries, black currents and apple all mixed into one gives you a burst of flavour," she says.

"Oh my, I simply must try it," Arabella says. "Ah ah ah, have a sandwich first."

Silver groaned as his sneaky attempt to have some cake was caught. He reluctantly pulled out a sandwich but as he but into it, his eyes lit up.

His mother giggled at her son who always hates things until he tries them.

"It's such a nice day for a picnic Arabella, thank you for inviting us," Lila says.

"But of course, it's a great chance for the boys to play too. And I'm sure our husbands are enjoying their time together as well, whatever it is they are doing," Arabella says as she elegantly bites a sandwich.

"I'm sure they're either sparring or playing darts. Usual men things. Sigh. My husband is the former. His brain is filled with sword fighting from day till night. I have to fight for even a bit of his attention," Lila complains.

"Same with Argent and his work. But I've discovered a trick to figure it out. All you have to do is..." the rest was whispered to Lila Redcliffe, and her reaction was something you'd expect after hearing something scandalous.

"Are you sure?"

"Trust me. Do that and suddenly there is nothing in the world to him except you, wife's honour," Arabella winks.

"My, how devious," Lila giggles as she sips some juice.

"Mother, what did she say?" Elijah asks.

"It's a secret between ladies. A man who tries to pry into a woman's business is considered boorish and rude. So don't ever do it," Lila says to her son.

"Okay," Elijah replies, moving on from the subject.

"Is Silver going to the palace tomorrow?" Lila asks.

"Yes, I'm just glad that Silver can enjoy some leisure before he leaves," Arabella replies.

"Silver's going to the palace?" Elijah asks.

"Yeah! I'm going to learn sword fighting from the Commander of the knights!"Silver points his head high. "I'm going to train so hard that I'll become an even better knight than father!"

"Commander of the knights? You're training with my father?! Not fair! I wanna learn too!"

"You can't! You're too small!"

"I am not! If you can do it then so can I!" The ladies giggle at their sons' bickering. "Mother! Can I learn sword fighting from father too? Pleaseeeeeeee!"

"I don't think so right now. You're not ready to hold a sword yet, you need to build some strength first," Lila replies to her son.

"Silver started exercising last summer. It was so cute. He was doing push-ups and sit-ups and when he ran around the field, my, I couldn't help but tell his aunt," Arabella gushed.

"Mother! Don't tell them that!"

"I'm sorry Silver, but it was much too cute to be kept a secret."

"So... if I started building up strength for a year... then can I learn sword fighting?" Elijah asks.

"Not just that, you'd have to eat all your vegetables. They help you grow faster and make you healthier," Lila says. Elijah hesitates, before nodding his head in agreement. The mothers laugh once more before the boys leave to play again.

"Now you be good Silver," Arabella says to her son. The carriage was being loaded with luggage. Duchess Arabella was kneeling on the ground, facing Silver.

"I know mother, I'm not a baby," Silver says. Arabella looks at him before hugging him for the umpteenth time.

"Oh, I don't know how I'll cope without seeing you for three months. I wish I could come with you," Arabella says.

"You can't do that mother, that'll be embarrassing! No one else will have their mothers there!" Silver says.

"I don't want you to leave. You had better write to me every week. No, every day. And I'll send over some food from time to time. I don't think you could survive without your favourite blueberry pie."

"Okay okay. I really have to leave now mother," Silver says as he hugs her.

"Okay, go quickly before I change my mind," Arabella says as she lets go of him, standing up. Silver boarded the carriage, waving goodbye to her as the carriage started moving.

"Hey coachman, step on it. She's about to change her mind," Silver whispers to the driver. In the distance, you could hear a voice.

"I regret this! Come back Silver!" A high-pitched voice screams. Silver sighs as he sits down. He smiles at the antics of his mother. She was even more immature than him at times. As the carriage travelled to the palace, Silver spent his time writing a letter to his mother on arriving safely to make sure that she doesn't storm the palace looking for him.

As Silver arrived at the palace, he was met with the Commander of the Knights also known as Elijah's father, Mikael Kalayo Redcliffe. He was a tall man with a muscular build. His face was young, get rigid. His face was the same fiery red as Elijah's, however, his eyes were purple.

"You must be Argent's kid, you look like the spit of him," The commander says.

"Hello sir," Silver said meekly. Mikael towered over him, and his aura was already daunting to full-figured warriors let alone a small child.

"Sir, yeah I like that. Come on then, you're the last to arrive. The other boys are waiting in the training grounds," he says as he walks away. Silver power walks behind him, his paces were just fast enough to keep up with him. They walked to a large arena where twenty other boys were. As Silver hurried to where the rest of the boys were, Mikael was already walking to the front.

"Alright lads! I'm not going to do the whole orientation thing, we're here to train and become men! From this point on, you'll refer to me as Teacher. I'd like to see who's still standing at the end of these three months. Let's start by examining your stamina. I want fifty laps around the arena! Hop to it!"

The boys looked uneasily at each other before they started running. Needless to say, by the end of that week, seven boys had gone home...

This'll be a long backstory for Silver. I think about four or five parts, maybe less, maybe more. But anyways, did you guys miss me? I missed this bloody internet. Life was hell without it. But I am proud to say that I am the monopoly champion!