A small villa with a small brick wall and gate surrounding the courtyard and connected to the house. Inside one of the rooms lay a woman in labor, screaming with the pain of childbirth. The man gripping the hand of the woman, eyes filled with excitement. Several midwives frantically ran across the room with watered rags, wiping sweat from the woman's forehead, and cleaning the doctors' hands and wrists when the opportunity presented itself.
"Almost done, the lad should be out any minute now," the Doctor said. As though summoned by the doctor, the baby popped out. As the doctor quickly separated the baby from its mother, a midwife brought a blanket to cover and wrap the child. To the shock of the doctor and the midwives, the baby did not let out a single whimper. Its eyes opened widely and the yellow irises shot around the room wildly like a dying man trying to drink water after days of thirst.
The new parents looked around at the doctors and midwives, their silence was deafening. The new father asked, "Is the boy alright?" After some glances between the doctor and midwives, the doctor answered, "Yes... It's just that... we have never seen such a quiet child, they usually cry when first born."
A midwife held out the child towards the father. The Midwife loudly proclaimed, "On this Year of the Dragon, Month of the Dragon, and Day of the Dragon, does the Chief of House accept the newborn child as his own!" The new father replied with a deep booming voice, "I, Sextus Dragomir Fero, take this child to be my own on the Year of the Dragon, Month of the Dragon, Day of the Dragon!" The midwife handed the baby to Sextus. She then turned and shouted, "On this Year of the Dragon, Month of the Dragon, Day of the Dragon, we midwives and doctors, from the Temple of Xuannu, have witnessed the birth and claim of a new Dragomir!"
The midwives begin cleaning and giving congratulations to the new parents. "We will meet again at the naming ceremony little Dragomir," the doctor said to the child while glancing at Sextus. Sextus handed the child to his wife and saw the doctor and his entourage out of the villa. As he began shutting the heavy wood doors, the doctor called out to Sextus, "Don't forget, nine days from now, bring the lad to the temple and we will see to his naming." Sextus only nodded and shut the doors.
The villa was made of brick and clay, it had a small square yard in front of the actual living quarters. The yard was surrounded by a brick and clay wall as tall as a man which was connected to the living quarters. When walking from yard to quarters there is a smaller wood door, much small than the gate. The layout inside was that of a square, the left-most wall from the door was the kitchen, storage, and dining area. The right-most wall was the individual rooms. The middle was open with a bricklayer ground, at the center was a water well. The farthest wall from the door was the servant and farm hand quarters.
Sextus let out a sigh, it was finally over. He went over to the dining area which had been cleared and converted for childbirth. His wife lay there sleeping with the baby in her arms while a servant attended to them. His vision began to blur, it had been days since he sleep, not only because of the child's birth but because of his nervousness to become a new father. He could never let anyone else know, however. Sextus decided to leave them for a time and rest himself.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The new mother, Octavia Dragomir Julia Flavius, Was exhausted. After what felt like an eternity, she had finally borne the child. She was slightly jealous of Sextus getting to do the claiming ceremony. There was no use fretting over something that she had no chance to participate in she convinced herself. She held the baby boy in her arms and when she saw his beautiful yellow eyes, burning with curiosity, all her worries seemed to melt away. She pondered what might be going through the little boy's mind as she slowly drifted to sleep.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The brick and clay room was dark. The people in this place speak a strange language, nothing like the English he was used to. The candle provided flickerings of light in the darkness. He had no control over his limbs, no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't move. The life he had once had was gone. He felt a sadness wash over him, everyone he had ever known was gone, his family, his friends, even his acquaintances, and colleague. His stomach dropped in fear as he had no idea where he was.
He had once been an acknowledged historian, with many well-regarded and distinguished papers. Now he was what seemed to be a baby, in an unknown place. He found a bright side with the fact that some cultures got rebirth correct, and that this was a revolutionary discovery from where he was from.
He had spent the last few hours observing the world around him. While he did he recalled a line he had once read, "A foolish man is awake all night, pondering over everything; and when morning comes all is lament as before." With that proverb he decided to sleep, he will figure things out as time carries on.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The doctor, Sven Decimus Xuannu Docero, was also the head priest at the Xuannu Temple. As he returned to his room in the temple living space, he lit a candle, as the sun had set some time ago. He pulled out his journal, and pen with ink, and placed them on his lacquered wood desk. He began writing of the events that had taken place that day, his morning ritual, what he ate, Sextus' arrival at the temple, and his formal request for aid of the birth. He paused. The birth had been more than ordinary, and it wasn't the first time he had delivered a silent child. He didn't quite know what made him think so much of the child, but there was something strange about him. Perhaps it was his those eyes, those bright and fierce yellow eyes. He had never seen a newborn have such a fierce gaze. He sat and pondered for some time. As if snapping back to reality, he quickly put his journal away and blew out the candle. Sven would watch the child with great interest.