The next few days saw Orn’s body slowly knit itself back together. His mother’s healing ability sped up the process greatly, but it still left Orn unable to move for long stretches of time. During these idle moments he struggled to make sense of his memories.
This introspection taught him a few things, the most important of which was that he had two sets of memories. There were his memories, memories of his parents and his home. But there were also memories of another life. A life where he was surrounded by people he felt he knew, but did not. Places that were familiar, but also were not. These memories were not his, but they felt real.
His second realization was if he did not think about them too much, he could to some extent ignore them. That did not mean he could put them totally aside. Some of these memories, seemed to be mixed with his own. Worse there were times he could feel a strong emotion welling up, and he did not know where it came from. Despite his successes in keeping the memories at bay, they were changing the way he looked at things.
He knew his recovery was largely thanks to his mother. She was a weak healer, only able to perform a few small healing spells at a time. But from his new perspective, those spells seemed anything but. She could not heal much at once, but what she healed, healed perfectly. Thinking back to the injuries he had over the years, he should be a cripple many times over. Yet, despite all this he did not have a single scar. If she was weak, how strong were the other healers?
Orn decided to keep these thoughts to himself. He did not understand what was happening and was afraid to worry his parents. So, he kept silent and tried to push the memories aside to focus on resting.
On the day of Olrich’s arrival, Orn was allowed to get out of bed to greet his cousin. Olivia helped him get dressed, then they headed down the hall together.
Orn slowly walked into the entryway supported by Oliva. As he entered the room, he saw his parents speaking with a large man in white robes. Orn’s father and the man Orn assumed was Olrich, were speaking quietly by the door. His mother wore a forced smile and Orn had the distinct impression that she would rather be kicking Olrich out instead of inviting him in.
Orn’s father noticed his arrival and interrupted whatever Olrich had been saying. Gesturing in Orn’s direction, “Here he is. Son come over here. This is your cousin Olrich.”
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His father gestured to the man, who turned to face Orn. The man smiled broadly, “A pleasure to finally meet you! Your father made it sound as if we would need to hold the ceremony in your room. I am glad to see that his fears are overblown, you are already able to move well.”
Orn found this statement bizarre considering how much he was leaning on Olivia. Thinking he must have misunderstood Olrich, he glanced at Olivia. Her neutral expression seemed as forced as his mother’s smile. Unsure what to make of this he turned back to Olrich.
Olrich watched Orn’s gaze and laughed. “The strength of the servant is the strength of their master. Such is the will of the goddesses. Why else would they place one above the other if not for the very nature of those set to different paths?”
The fat man then launched into a mini sermon on how the goddesses had given nobles the right to rule over their “lessers.” Orn barely paid attention to Olrich, focusing instead on his parents standing behind the large priest. His father looked tired and was slowly pinching the bridge of his nose. Meanwhile his mother maintained her forced smile but seemed intent on setting the priest aflame with her eyes.
The mini sermon ended, Olrich turned his focus back to Orn’s parents. Despite glancing back at Orn on few occasions he ignored Orn.
Olrich seemed more concerned that the family shrine was not used more. “You have a shrine larger than those in some of the villages I passed through. It is a shame that you do not make more use of it. Have you considered having a priest give sermons regularly surely with the size of your staff there is need for spiritual guidance at hand?”
“The shrine is open to everyone in the manor and gets used frequently, but we do not have nearly enough people to need a priest here. We could not take up one of the goddesses’ servants from more important posts.”
Orn shifted a bit as his injured leg started to ache. How long do I have to stay here?
As Olrich opened his mouth to start again his mother interjected. “Orn you look tired.” Not waiting for a response, she turned to Olivia. “Help me get him back to his room.”
The two gently turned Orn around and escorted him out of the entryway. The walked in silence towards his room and the grim expressions on their faces deterred Orn from speaking.
Once he was back in his room he was quickly undressed and returned to his bed.
As his mother tucked him in, she smiled, “Thank you for the rescue.” Then kissing him on his forehead she headed towards the door.
He shifted a bit trying to get comfortable and looked at his mother who had stopped in the doorway. She looked down the hall towards the entryway, then with the first genuine smile he had seen her wear in days, she closed the door.
Orn stared blankly at the closed door. Did she just mutter your cousin, your problem?