"Ladies and gentlemen."
Draco's voice reached every corner of the room effortlessly. And the room reacted to it exactly like it should.
"My third son, Ash Vulkan, celebrates turning five years old today."
Ash stood next to his father and stared straight ahead. He wasn't really looking at anything in particular, but at the same time neither was he looking at anyone.
His gaze didn't fall to the floor as he waited silently for the rest of the announcement to come.
"At three years old he already knew how to read and write." His father paused just long enough for that to be fully registered. "Make of that what you will. This evening we are to conduct an affinity test and find out what it will tell us."
And suddenly he was more aware of the nervousness growing within him again.
Ash remained perfectly still.
It wasn't exactly the words themselves that worried him, though they could potentially be used against him.
The problem was what those words meant and where they were taking him.
Here he stood, surrounded by the most notable families in this part of the world, about to tell them that his son was going to do something great and remarkable, something that will be confirmed later in the evening by the test.
He knew what the test was going to say.
Fire. One affinity. Basic fire that he had been quietly working on for two years in his room at night.
Not weak exactly, but not impressive either. Certainly not the kind of result that matched the weight his father was putting behind these words right now.
He wasn't special. He was a sixteen year old from a different world who had landed in a small body and spent three years reading in a library because he had no other options.
And there was no magic or secret power that he would reveal someday to the surprise of everyone.
He was going to stand in front of that test and it would say that his affinity was fire and people were going to look at each other.
"I expect the test to confirm what I've known from the very first moment I saw him." His father's voice broke through the thoughts again.
Still he tried to keep his expression neutral.
"Please welcome my third son. Ash Vulkan."
Draco raised his glass.
Everyone else in the room followed suit.
"Please join me and drink to a happy evening."
The speech was over. And the noise of conversations returned, along with people moving back and forth trying to catch their breath.
The eyes that had followed Ash a moment ago slowly let go and he became one among many young boys standing at the edge of the crowd next to their parents again.
He breathed out carefully.
Everything he could think of led his mind to the Fracture. It was still there somewhere, just like before.
Though he still didn't know exactly how long it would take Raiders to destroy it. Maybe there was still a chance. Maybe if he managed to sneak off and hurry enough...
But he could hear his father's voice already speaking to the people around them.
"...thank you for coming..."
Ash didn't stop.
Ash took one cautious step in the direction of the entrance.
Draco's hand touched his shoulder.
"Now, come with me," his father continued. "Let me introduce you to a few people."
Ash stopped abruptly.
There was nothing else he could do.
He turned around and followed.
'What introduction?' he thought. 'We just stood in front of every single person in this building at the same time. Every person here already knows exactly who I am. What more could possibly need to be done.'
He said none of it out loud.
"Yes," he said instead.
He walked silently and gracefully by his father's side as they moved through the crowd.
His hands stayed at his sides while his face showed a polite and content expression of any noble boy at his birthday party.
Happy birthday came from every direction.
He replied to every one of them.
"Thank you,"
"Thank you,"
"And thank you very much."
He tried to push aside any thoughts about the Fracture. By the time the introductions were done and the affinity test was finished there would be nothing left to see.
The Raiders would have destroyed the Seed. The Fracture would have closed. Everything would be gone like it had never been there at all.
Draco moved through the room with the ease of someone who had spent years in spaces exactly like this one. He stopped briefly in a few places, exchanged a few words, moved on.
Ash followed. When someone spoke to him directly he answered clearly and politely the way Rose had taught him, the way he knew was expected here.
Then Draco stopped.
And then Ash looked up.
They were standing before a small family of three.