(anwhile, Amanda and Caleb's POV, Inside the Skyshard Mansion, The Ti Stilled World)
After the incident on Ixtal, Amanda's behavior took a sharp turn as she beca extrely loyal to Leo and deeply understanding of whatever he did for the family, as the near destruction of their ho had finally forced her to realize just how much weight Leo carried on his shoulders every single day.
Inside the quiet living quarters of the Ti Stilled World, Caleb sat on a wooden bench while Amanda carefully applied a layer of cooling ointnt across the bruises forming along his forearms and
shoulders, the young boy wincing slightly as the cold salve touched his skin.
"Ahh... it still hurts," Caleb complained softly as he shifted his arm, his voice carrying the tired frustration of soone who had spent the entire morning training under a relentless instructor.
Amanda glanced up briefly at her son before continuing to apply the ointnt in careful circles, her movents gentle yet firm as she finished wrapping a strip of cloth around one of his wrists.
"Training injuries are normal," she said calmly. "Your father endured far worse when he was training under Master Ben."
Caleb lowered his head slightly as he muttered under his breath.
"But father's training is too harsh... he never lets stop even when I'm tired."
Amanda's hands suddenly paused.
For a mont the room grew very quiet.
Then slowly she lifted her gaze toward her son.
"Caleb."
Her voice was calm, but the tone within it had sharpened noticeably. "You will never again complain about your father in front of ." The boy froze instantly.
"You are my son, and I love you," Amanda continued steadily. "But understand this clearly, there is absolutely nothing more important in my life than your father, and I will not tolerate hearing a single word spoken against him. So do not make this mistake ever again."
Caleb lowered his eyes toward the floor.
"If not for your father," Amanda continued quietly, "you would not even be alive right now."
Her hands resud applying the ointnt, though the seriousness in her voice never faded.
"That is how much he does for us."
The boy remained silent.
"And if you fail to grow strong enough to support him soday," Amanda said firmly, "then I will never forgive you."
Caleb's head lifted slightly in surprise.
"I am not strong enough to stand beside him in every battle," Amanda admitted softly. "But you and Mairon must beco warriors who can soday lessen his burden."
Her voice grew quieter.
"Right now your father is a one-man army carrying the weight of tens of billions of lives on his shoulders."
She tied the final bandage around Caleb's arm before gently placing her hand on his shoulder.
"But fifty or sixty years from now, I want you and Mairon to beco pillars that support him.
So that one day... he might finally have so free ti in his life."
Caleb stared down at the floor as her words slowly settled inside his
mind.
For several long seconds he said nothing.
Then Amanda's expression softened as she reached forward and brushed a strand of hair away from his forehead.
"Do not worry," she said gently. "I know you can do it."
Her voice regained its warmth.
"I know the training feels difficult right now, but you are Leo's son...
and you are my son."
She smiled faintly.
"I have faith in our bloodline."
Caleb finally looked up at her.
"You may feel weak today," Amanda continued calmly, "but one day
you will beco as strong as your father."
Her eyes glead with quiet pride.
"Perhaps even stronger."
The boy nodded slowly as he absorbed her words, the earlier
complaints now replaced by a quiet determination forming deep
within his young heart.
Amanda did not know it, however this one talk was going to prove to be life-changing for Caleb, as the young boy quietly realized that complaining about training was not acceptable, and that speaking poorly about his father was sothing that should never again leave his lips.
More importantly, from the way Amanda had spoken about Leo and the burden he carried for the Cult and their family, Caleb now understood sothing that many people only realized much later in
life.
He finally understood what was expected of him.
For the first ti since Leo had begun training him, the exhausting drills and endless repetition no longer felt like aningless punishnt ant to toughen him up, as they instead had a purpose,
and a future.
And although Amanda herself did not realize it, in that mont, Caleb had silently made a decision that would shape the course of his entire
life.
He would beco strong.
Not simply strong enough to survive.
But strong enough to stand beside his father.
Strong enough to one day carry a part of the burden that Leo had
been forced to shoulder alone for so long.
He decided to beco his father's support, just because it would
make his mother proud.
"I see...."
Caleb muttered quietly, as he lowered his head slightly and clenched
his small fists, a quiet determination beginning to take root deep within his heart as the weight of his mother's words settled firmly
inside his young mind.
Although he did not fully understand the magnitude of what had been said to him, he knew one thing with certainty.
From this day forward, he would try harder.
Much harder.
Years later, when others would ask Caleb Skyshard where his iron
discipline had co from, they would expect tales of brutal training under Leo or stories of the countless battles he would one day fight.
But the truth would be far simpler.
It had begun here. Inside the quiet walls of the Ti Stilled World.
With a single conversation between a mother and her son.
The mont when a tired child stopped thinking like a boy....
And began thinking like the son of Leo Skyshard. A scion of the Tiless Assassin's bloodline.
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