The Estate of House Talon was located at the outskirts of Carthage.

  It was enormous in area and housed numerous members of the unusually prosperous House as well as their servants.

  The founder of House Talon was the same man who established the city of Carthage, the legendary general Hannibal Barca who adopted the name Talon on being elevated to nobility.

  House Talon was blessed with prosperity, gaining both financial stability for centuries and fertility surpassing many Noble Houses.

  This caused the population of House Talon to swell far beyond what a typical noble house would usually contain.

  Thus, House Talon consisted of numerous clans sharing similar descent. All these clans were further divided into branch families or sub-clans.

  While there were numerous clans, only a few were important and strong enough to matter. The heads of these clans were to chose to nominate those who were to hold the position of Grand Elders of House Talon. The Grand Elders were charged with the responsibility of the Knight Orders of House Talon.

  Each Knight Order worked under the supervision of one of these Grand Elders, although they did ultimately owe their loyalty to the Lord Patriarch of House Talon.

  The heads of the most important branch families within each of these clans who crossed a certain threshold of age, or those with proven contributions to the House were chosen to become an Elder of the Elder Council, which dealt with the day-to-day functions of House Talon and hence wielded immense political weight within House Talon.

  The Lord Patriarch of House Talon belonged to the Barca Clan of House Talon. The Barca Clan boasted direct descent from the founder Hannibal Barca Talon himself.

  It was the strongest clan within the House and the main family within the clan had always been the lineage incharge of the the House.

  This was the family that Arden, David and their family belonged to, thus leading to Arden becoming the Lord Patriarch.

  All the decisions taken by the Council had to be approved by the Lord Patriarch of the House who has the final veto. Any matter of minor importance that wasn’t part of the day-to-day functioning of the House is usually decided by the Lord Patriarch without needing to take any input or advice from anyone.

  However, any substantial matter required the deliberation of the Council of Elders in the presence of the Grand Elders and the Lord Patriarch.

  This Grand Council was to be summoned by the Lord Patriarch under the joint advice of more than 2/3rd of the Council of Elders and Grand Elders combined.

  The Lord Patriarch would listen to the advice that was tendered by the Council of Elders after deliberation/debate on the issue along with any suggestions from the Grand Elders.

  While the Lord Patriarch could choose to either acquiesce with the advice tendered or reject it entirely on his own prerogative, doing so without necessary cause would be politically complicated.

  Thus, while the Lord Patriarch was technically the ultimate authority within the House, functionally, he had to balance the interests of multiple factions to maintain peace and order.

  It was in this Grand Council that Arden sat in contemplation.

  After the awakening ceremony, the entire House was in chaos.

  The potential of Elden’s martial soul combined with the liability that he was held down by made it a major controversy, especially so when he was part of the main family who, after David relinquished his right by becoming a Guardian Knight, was second in line for the Lordship of House Talon after Cain.

  “He is a burden. Despite his potential, his liability is enormous. Providing him with such valuable resources that are usually reserved for the main family would be a waste. It would be far more economical to support those who actually do have a chance of benefiting House Talon. Like Artemis for one.” An Elder who was part of the faction headed by Artemis’s grandfather says.

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  “Yeah right, and give up on someone with so much potential? What if he grows up to become an actual powerhouse? We would risk losing him because we failed to measure his talent.” Another Elder of an opposing faction opined.

  “Potential doesn’t equal success.” An Elder from the neutral faction says. “However, it is true that demanding that his support be cut is premature. It is way too early to say that he is useless. He is but a child, barely awakened. We must not let politics gamble the potential of a child on possible future that may never come to pass.”

  Arguments like this carried on for some time. David, who was watching son’s misfortune become a political ploy stood guard beside Arden with indignation.

  Arden who was watching the proceedings an equally dark face snapped.

  “Alright, that’s enough!” He shouts.

  “My nephew is not some fresh piece of meat from a butcher’s shop that you fight over like starving orphans.” He bellowed, his eyes turning red with anger.

  “The boy has potential. Far more than any of you old bones here can see.” He says growling with ill concealed hostility.

  “Let’s end this farce and put this to a vote.” He declared.

  “All in favour of granting him access to resources befitting his station?” Arden moves for motion.

  A clear majority of the members vote in favour of the motion, with more than 2/3rd of the Council voting in favour.

  “All opposing granting him access to resources befitting his station?” Arden moves for motion again, all the while glaring at those that didn’t vote in favour.

  This time only a mere minority even among those that didn’t vote in favour raised their arms, choosing wisely to abstain from voting entirely, so as not to completely offend their Lord Patriarch.

  Arden glared at those that openly voted against his nephew. He noted their faces for reference in the future.

  “That settles it then. He will receive the same support and resources that any member of the main family of House Talon would receive. That any heir to the Lordship would receive.” Arden emphasized the word ‘heir’, challenging anyone to correct him.

  “On to the next order of business then.” Arden says, trying to get the thing over with.

  “My Lord” calls out a young man who was seated amidst the Grand Elders of House Talon.

  “What is it Elder Ulrich?” Arden asks, his tone laced with rare respect.

  Grand Elder Ulrich, a member of the Seban Clan, while young in appearance was actually an old monster from the same generation as his grandfather.

  Arden grew up hearing tales of the friendship between Ulrich and his grandfather, and their legendary adventures together.

  He watched the old man remain as young as the day he first laid eyes on him, all the while both he and his father grew older with time.

  He was one of the few that Arden, with his position as Lord Patriarch of House Talon, held in high honour and respect.

  “My Lord, before we move further, I would like to discuss the issue of young Elden with you.” Ulrich says in a neutral tone.

  Hearing this Arden’s face darkens.

  “What is it Uncle, will you counsel me to abandon my nephew too? Tell me that his growth will forever be stunted?” Arden asks, his voice low and with a wry smile on his face.

  “On the contrary my Lord, I believe that the situation might yet be salvageable.” Ulrich says with a smile.

  “What do you mean Uncle?” Arden perks up, glancing at David who looked just as interested at what Ulrich had to say.

  “As you know the so-called ‘defect’ that afflicts his martial soul can be rectified with a compatible bloodline.” Ulrich says.

  “That is true Grand Elder Ulrich,” An opportunistic aide for an Elder of Artemis’s faction interjected “But, from the Bloodline records of the House, I don’t see any mention of House Talon possessing a bloodline that would allow for such a thing.”

  Ulrich shoots a glance at the ambitious young fool.

  “Tch, the young nowadays. I swear, we were not so foolhardy or mannerless to intrude upon a conversation between superiors.” He says while glaring at the boy. For that’s what he was to him, an overeager boy trying to make a fool of himself.

  The young aide suddenly slams to the ground, lying flat on his stomach, his cheek to the dusty floor, as if an invisible force was pushing him down and sitting on his face.

  “Gra… grandfather!” The aide tries to shout, but only a whimper comes out.

  The Elder whose aide he was turned pale as he watched his aide, his grandson whom he appointed to help him gain some experience. His fists clenched white, before he gathered enough courage to speak out.

  “Your… your Grace. I implore you to forgive him youthful folly. I promise to teach him some manners after this. I promise to ensure that his back will never forget the lesson I will teach him.” The Elder begs even as he glares at his grandson.

  “Hmm, I guess there is no need to escalate this matter further. Unless, anyone else would like to enlighten me by employing their pitiful knowledge.” Ulrich says sarcastically before removing the pressure that was pinning the boy to the ground.

  “So as I was saying, there is a way to counter that defect of his.” Ulrich continues.