The Potion of Life

Randar

He looked at the clock and hoped that by continuing to stare at it, time would pass faster. These annual festivities always seemed to drag on. Here he was again at the table of the noble family. As usual, nobody paid attention to him; all the attention was on his brother, Timel. Everyone in Borgon knew that Ugmar was old and wouldn't be king much longer. Every noble family tried to curry favor with the crown prince, Timel. Randar, as the second son, enjoyed the wine, but that was about it.

All his life, his father had made it clear to him that Timel was the important son and that he came second. Randar saw the resentment in his father's eyes every day. Ugmar had never forgiven him for being born. What could he do about his own mother dying during childbirth? He wished he had met his mother, Celine. His father loved his wife too much and would forever blame him. Besides his father, he had received little love from his other family members. His mother's sister, Astrid, had rarely seen Randar. The times he had seen and spoken to her, she hadn't been friendly either. Astrid had a strong dislike for Celine, and she saw a lot of her sister in Randar.

Astrid even despised her sister so much that she left Borgon and went to live in Binkendorf. There she met Cedric Dulli, and together they had two children, Kimana and Herald Filony. His cousins who were present today. He noticed that Herald had been sitting away from the rest of the noble people for most of the evening. He was standing with the honor knights of House Brenner. Randar had never been interested in weapons and combat techniques, let alone the honor of being a knight, let alone an honor knight. Herald on the other hand, would want nothing more than to be an honor knight of House Brenner. That would never happen, though, because Astrid not only hated Randar but also his father Ugmar.

According to Randar, Astrid hadn't left Borgon all those years ago purely because she hated her sister. According to him, she left because she felt bypassed. His father was supposed to marry Astrid; this was arranged by Casimir Brenner and Alissa Roffiret. Casimir had been the most important advisor to the Brenner family for years. Casimir was the brother of Ugmar's father, Augustus Brenner. Augustus had been a very good king, if Randar were to believe the stories. However, his life ended suddenly at the age of 55 when he died while hunting in Bolivia. His father had to become king at a young age, but thanks to Casimir's advice, Borgon had few problems.

Except for the year after Augustus's death, the following year, a disease spread throughout Borgon. Both Ugmar and his mother, Lysandra, were infected with this disease, and it seemed they were both going to die, so Casimir was going to become the new king. Lysandra didn't survive the disease, but Ugmar eventually did, thanks to an elixir created in the city of Toro. The Brenner family wasn't the only victim of this disease; the Filony family was also affected. The Marquis of the city of Toro, Leopold Filony, died from this disease. His wife, Alissa, reacted by doing everything she could to stop this disease. She used a lot of the Filony family's wealth for this, but it resulted in the elixir that ultimately saved his father's life. To thank the Filony family, Casimir Brenner arranged for Alissa's eldest daughter, Astrid Filony, to marry Ugmar and thus become the queen of Borgon.

However, it had always been unclear to Randar how it happened that eventually the younger daughter, Celine Filony, became queen. Whatever had happened, Randar was convinced that that was the reason Astrid had left Borgon. If things had gone differently, Celine might not have died during childbirth, or Ugmar might now be happy with his wife Astrid, but unfortunately, things didn't turn out that way. However, not everything was grim; today was a celebration, and everyone present was doing their best to impress the king and crown prince Timel.

Randar looked at everyone present at the party, recognizing them all. There was Jordaan Frasiër from the Batavia realm. He was a proud man who had worked his way up to the position of duke. Randar saw in his gaze the ambition to become king of Borgon. Jordaan used to be the squire and later the protector of Maximiliaan Gurton. Maximiliaan was the previous duke of Batavia; when he lay on his deathbed, he had no heirs. He decided to let Jordaan succeed him, and thus Jordaan gained control of the Batavia realm. Jordaan also became the owner of the gemstone.

The gemstone is one of the three most powerful objects in Borgon. The law states, "whoever possesses the gemstone is the rightful duke of the Batavia realm." In reality, this would lead to war because Jordaan would never willingly relinquish his position. So to ensure that such a thing didn't happen, Jordaan kept the gemstone safely hidden in his castle. Randar saw not only ambition in Jordaan's gaze but also fatigue. A month ago, a disaster occurred in Morala, the capital of Batavia. A quarter of the population died in a single day. Each victim was infected by some sort of virus that day. Randar was astonished that such a thing could have happened.

Randar also saw the well-known couple Robert and Esmeralda Electus, they were the dukes of the Jura realm. Sitting next to them was a boy who would be about ten years old. This must be their son, Brunden. The boy looked very surprised; this was probably one of the first times he was present at such a large party. A big celebration just because his brother turned twenty-four. When Randar had a birthday, there were just a few letters and a few gifts sent, but for Timel, there was a big party every year.

Around Esmeralda's neck hung a locket. This wasn't just any locket; this was the locket of the Jura realm. The same rules applied to this item as to Jordaan's gemstone. Esmeralda clearly had no fear of showing her possession compared to Jordaan. Their realm was in peace; there hadn't been any problems in Jura for decades. They lived in Borania, the capital of Jura. 

Not far from Borania was the city of Lisinië. Lisinië was important not only for Jura but for all of Borgon. This was because most of the trade with the rest of Mysterix passed through there. The Holt family had made enormous profits through this trade for many years.Next, Randar's attention shifted to Brandur Hemelsdag. He saw Brandur on his way with his daughter Isabella to the noble table where Randar was sitting. Brandur's daughter was twenty-one, and for a few years now, Brandur had been trying to arrange a marriage between his daughter and Timel.

Brandur had been friends with his father Ugmar all his life, and Randar wouldn't be surprised if Ugmar agreed for Isabella to become his daughter-in-law. Brandur was the duke of the Winsard realm. They possessed the grail as their object. The same rules applied to this object as to Jordaan's gemstone and Esmeralda's locket. If someone managed to obtain all three objects, that person would have the right to the throne of Borgon and thus come into direct conflict with his father Ugmar. These were ultimately old laws, and Randar didn't know how many people still took them seriously.

Apart from the dukes of the realms, there were many other important people present in the hall. Randar saw the various marquises, including his cousin Kimana Filony. She would one day be the new marquise of Toro and the surrounding areas. Randar noticed who Kimana was talking to, Konkel Lynden. The Lynden family wasn't well-known in noble circles, but they had been living in the city of Toro for generations. Konkel's mother had been a servant for Astrid Filony, and she had gone with her when she left for Binkendorf. Konkel was born in the same year as Kimana in Binkendorf. According to Randar, Konkel and Kimana had been very good friends during their childhood. It wouldn't surprise him if they had been more than just friends.

However, that wasn't why Randar was interested in Konkel Lynden. Konkel Lynden was a man with a lot of ambition according to Randar. Konkel realized that his family wasn't part of the marquises or dukes. They were simply servants for Astrid Filony. To put his family on the map, he decided to go to Kongorn at the age of eighteen. Now, about 20 years later, he was the Monarch of the city of Haiklen. Haiklen was one of the most important cities in the Kongorn province. Konkel was known to not get along with the local population. They consisted, of course, of elves, and Haiklen had had problems with the forest elves living in the Kalta forest for centuries. When he became monarch, he came into direct contact with the forest elves.

Randar had seen very few elves in his life; sometimes he saw one in the capital, but it was very rare. However, he had encountered some half-elves in Borgon. There was even a half-elf in the honor guard that protected the royal family. Suddenly, Randar's attention shifted to an unknown figure. He saw a man sitting to the left rear of the hall who was richly dressed. He had short blond hair and was wearing a black suit with a red tie. Randar couldn't remember the name of the man he was staring at. Suddenly, the man made eye contact with him. Randar realized he had been staring for too long and hoped it hadn't been noticed. When he looked back to where the unknown man had been sitting, he saw that the man had stood up and was walking towards him.