One month later, Enwel went into labor which passed with surprising ease considering how painful her last pregnancy was. Only 12 hours after beginning labor, she was holding her first son. According to Elven tradition, the father named his daughters while the mother named her sons. So it was that Enwel decided to name her newborn “Laucian.” This was fitting as “la” was elvish for “my” and “cian” was ancient elvish for “gift.” Enwel knew the king would like it simply because it was close to his own name. She held her little Laucian for a few moments until she felt her strength begin to leave her. She knew she was exhausted from the labor and needed to rest, so she handed the child to the midwife, who laid the baby in a small crib next to Enwel’s bed. Enwel fell asleep easily.
When she awoke, she found that Laucian was not in his crib. King Lucian had picked him up and was now sitting in a chair across from the bed holding his son. He looked content for the moment, one of the few moments he looked happy. He looked up and said, “the midwife told me you decided to name him Laucian.”
“That’s right,” Enwel said.
“I’ve thought about what you said,” Lucian suddenly said. “I’ve banished Mithrie from Elysium. She and the child will never be seen around here again. Laucian will be named heir to the throne. After all, not only is he the son of the king, but he is also the son of the queen.”
“That’s not what I wanted,” Enwel said. “Well, at least the part about Mithrie’s banishment. That is not the right thing to do. Like it or not, that child is yours as well and you have an obligation to see to it that he is taken care of.”
“Then what shall I do?” Lucian asked. “I can’t very well have Mithrie move into the palace and admit that her son is mine. Think about what that would do to the kingdom.”
“You mean what it would do to your reputation,” clarified Enwel. “That’s just your problem. You’re more concerned with how this will reflect toward yourself than with how this will affect someone else. But you are right in the fact that we might not be able to bring her into the household. Set her up with a good house in the citadel, with plenty of space for her and her son. Set servants to attend to them; you can even say it is in honor of Edras.”
“Fine. I will do that,” Lucian said. “In a few days, I will officially announce that Laucian will be the heir to the throne.” Lucian looked down at his son and smiled, one of the few times Enwel had seen him do so in recent months. “You know something,” he said. “I see a great destiny for our son. He will make this kingdom into a mighty nation.” This was more than the hopes of a father; while Lucian had no ability to cast spells, he was a gifted seer. He sometimes made such declarations, and they often came true. A few days later, King Lucian made a royal declaration, naming Laucian as the Heir Apparent of Elysium.
Around the same time, the dragons had intervened in the war between the gods and had declared Horus as the King of the Gods. The Draconic Confederacy issued a decree that in the interest of international peace, the worship of Set, Apothis, and Sobek was banned. Eventually, peace descended on Draconia, a peace that would last for quite some time before even the faintest rumor of war would arise. During this time, Laucian Xiloscient grew. Elven children age at a strange pace. For the first few years of their life, they grow at the same rate as a human baby. Once an elf passes out of infancy, their aging process slows down to about one-fifth the rate of a human. Elves typically don’t reach adulthood until age 110, with puberty starting about age 35 for boys and 25 for girls. Enwel watched her son grow and gave him all the love that she possessed. She saw in him something very special.
Around age 16 (equivalent of 7 for a human), Laucian began developing rudimentary magical ability. This was not something he was consciously aware of, but he seemed to cause strange things to happen without meaning to. When he became angry, the heat in the room began to rise; when he was sad, the temperature fell. They called in a mage from the University of Thoth, who confirmed that Laucian had the Sorcerer’s Gift. The mage was retained as a magical tutor for Laucian, to work alongside the Royal Tutor to train Laucian in spellcraft.
Laucian also struck up an early friendship with Mithrie’s child, Galdore. The two of them never found out the truth of their siblinghood, and the queen thought it best to keep it that way. Laucian and Galdore became the best of friends, often roaming the palace playing together, getting up to all sorts of mischief. Among Laucian’s siblings, his sister Aya, who was the youngest girl, was fondest of her little brother. She could often be found with Laucian, usually accompanied by Galdore, as the three of them would play together.
