“My brain is itchy.”

Hesti was showing me a scroll she’d purchased from a traveling merchant in the Copper Ring. The English language had twenty-six letters. The Spanish language had twenty-seven. The Tethren language, the one I spoke in this world, had thirteen letters. The elvish language… had forty-two.

Some even looked the exact same but took on a new meaning based on the tone used. Hestiana would say ‘Ska’ and that would be the third letter in the elvish alphabet but then she’d say ‘Sskah’ and that would be the twenty second letter and ‘Sekah’ pronounced almost the exact same way as the third letter but with a small pause would mean ‘cow.’ I was definitely flummoxed at first. Should I have waited to be a master of Tethren before learning elvish? No. I had a child’s mind! This was the perfect opportunity. I had enough gray matter to invent a language, let alone learn one.

I did what was called a ‘brain soak’ where I would immerse myself in the language, just letting the language wash over me. While nobody in our neighborhood knew elvish, I asked my mother and Hesti to speak it to me exclusively. Occasionally I would go to the elvish sellers who could not make it in the city and talk to them while they tried to hawk their wares. I was almost five by this point, and my perception had begun to grow beyond our house. We lived in Skorwind… well, outside of it. Skorwind was the largest city in the kingdom. Larger, even, than the capital city. My dad, as it turned out, was a porter. He was the guard in charge of the gate.

We lived in a neighborhood on the outskirts known as the Copper Ring. A collection of tradesmen who sold to visitors from outside of the city’s gate started a neighborhood there. We were technically citizens but Timu had chosen for us to live on the outside to live close to his work and save money. Cheap bastard.

So, we didn’t have the funds. We didn’t have status. I was learning to be okay with that fact. That wouldn’t stop me from trying to live the most out of my life. And learning Elvish was the first step.

“No, Master Egen,” Hestiana chided, “That’s the thirty sixth letter. It’s only used for sea bartering”

“Hesti, I have a headache,” I said, grabbing my head.

“I’ll grab you some lychee juice,” She got up and walked to the kitchen counter, “Please try to learn your alphabet. It could be crucial to know elvish. Who knows which elf might show up at the gate who doesn't have a translator? You’d be able to impress the other porters by knowing elvish.”

Other porters? Was that what my life was set to be? I’d follow in my father’s footsteps and settle for a mediocre life? Wasn’t this fantasy world supposed to be interesting?!

“Hestiana… Do you know any magic?” I asked.

Hestiana looked at me, “I’m an elf, little one. Magic is written in my bones. It sings in my blood. You should have magic as well.”

She said some words, flourished her hand and the clay pitcher with lychee juice lifted slowly. My eyes went wide in amazement as the pitcher wobbled, tipping itself over and pouring the remainder of the juice into the cup. She placed it down and, slightly sweaty, brought me the drink.

I sipped it, basking in its sweetness as I looked at Hestiana. Would she be my way out?

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“How do you start?” I asked.

She smiled at me, “Elves have magic in them. They merely have to speak the incantations and channel their energy and it happens. I spoke. It takes mastering an older elvish dialect and speaking it aloud.

“So you said pour and it poured?” I asked.

“I used a sentence that meant ‘lift the clay pitcher and pour into the cup until three fourths full.’”

“Wow!” I was amazed, “Please teach me!”

“It will involve learning a lot more Elvish,” She said, “The more you know, the more you can command.”

I nodded my head vigorously. There was someone right in front of me who knew real life magic and I was going to get to learn it!

Hesti looked around hesitantly, then came and sat next to me, placing my hands in hers, “I should warn you, little master. Where Humans are resourceful and can find magic elsewhere, Elves can draw it out naturally. It is why so many of them choose the sorcery class. But you are a half elf. It might be in your best interest to find magic in other ways.”

I looked down at my hands. Because I was my mother’s son, I could cast magic, but Hesti suggested that my race gave me a more limited supply.

“Was my mother a sorcerer?” I asked Hesti.

Hesti giggled excitedly, “A very good one. You should ask how she and your father met.”

My mother came back from outside with a fresh load of dried laundry, “Oh for Artemis’ sake you’re not telling my child about that boring story are you?”

I turned to my mother, “How did you both meet, mama?”

She sighed and chided Hesti, “Now you’ve got him all wound up,”

“It is a fascinating story, Nani,” Nani was the elven word for respect. Although my mother had often asked Hesti to call her by her first name, Mala.

She sat down at the table. Hesti and my mother started doing laundry. Folding them, “I was a sorcerer for the elven consulate. On a mission to Skorwind, I was the one who could speak Tethran. I communicated with your father. He left a lasting impression on me and when I couldn’t get him out of my head, I asked him to court me.”

“You asked dad!?” I was shocked. I loved the guy but my mom was a bombshell and my dad was… more of a personality hire. I thought about his look, how he had a soft mid region and a patchy beard. I thought really hard of what he must have looked like younger. I supposed he could have been a handsome man.

“Not just ‘asked him out,’ Nani blessed an arrow and shot it from her perch in the guest room of the Diamond Palace up in the sky and had it land directly at the porter’s tower. An impressive feat even with magic!”

“Wow! Mom! You know archery?”

“Not like I used to,” She said, twisting her wrist. It often got tingles of pain and she’d have to stop doing work. Hestiana had been a blessing for that reason alone.

“Why not just ask him out to his face?” I asked, perplexed.

“It’s not important,” Mala said.

“That is another reason your mother was so valiant!” Hesti started to wrap on ecstatically, “She had to be stealthy because-”

“Hestiana!” My mother interrupted her, “Please put away the rest of these clothes and get started on dinner.” She covered my ears and I could hear through the muffle “Children do not have to learn everything about this world at once.”

Hesti got up, bowing profusely and apologizing, “I am so sorry, Nani. It was not my place. Not my place at all.”

She left, red faced. I couldn’t help but clock it. There was more to this story than either party wanted to admit. My dad suddenly came in. He was huffing and sweaty. He was earlier than usual. He must have ran down as evidenced by how sweaty and huffy he was.

“Th-the… the Pharaoh!” He said, “The Pharaoh is arriving in Skorwind next month!”