JAROD
Ah, the pain! Damn you, gums! damn you, baby body and especially DAMN YOU, God of Rebirth! I started teething recently and I can tell you, it’s a bitch. My mouth is constantly throbbing and there is not a damn thing I can do about it. Not going to lie, right now I was feeling really sorry for myself.
I don’t know how, and I don’t know why, but the pain is even following me to my mind palace. I can only assume that there is a correlation between my mind and body that I cannot work out at present because I am too busy focusing on the image of punching a certain someone on a chair to distract myself from the pain. It wasn’t working.
On the upside, I have finally gotten results from my exercise routine I developed, and I can now crawl, although the downside of it all is that I hurt like hell everywhere! But now I had a sense of freedom. Even if I can only crawl around the nursery, it has at least given me a sense of freedom that I had not felt in months.
Unfortunately, I seem to have again messed up with this. As it turned out, a baby should not yet be able to crawl, let alone learn how to crawl and be off on a tear. Exploring every nook and cranny of the room. Add to the fact I am now training myself to stand, then the conversations between Rachel and Erin are taking a turn for the negative.
I overheard the two discussing my development again after I began crawling properly and not just wriggling on the ground. This was about 2 weeks ago. Apparently, most babies are starting to wriggle and work on rolling over. This action should be the groundwork to crawling. I, on the other hand, have been systematically developing all my muscle groups practically since birth.
I will admit to a lot of considerable levels of pain in my body, which at first, I attributed to my constant growth, but now I am wondering to myself if I have been pushing my body harder than it should get pushed? The prospect of freedom outweighs all these concerns for the future and any implications that my development is having on it that the capacity to walk would provide me.
These discussions between Rachel and Erin only intensified yesterday when I tried pulling myself to my feet. I failed miserably, but Erin spotted my repeated attempts at trying to stand. This caused a near hysterical discussion when Erin told Rachel what she saw. Well, honestly, it caused less of a stir and more of a total shit storm!
The two could no longer ignore that my development is not so much rapid as it was downright amazing. They considered what to do and knew they likely could not keep things hidden forever, or even for long, really. But they came up with a plan to visit family and friends with me. The pretence would be to show me off. This would allow them to, with a little hope, tire me out, so when I return, I would spend more time sleeping and not give the other staff a chance to spy on me.
I must say, these two women are quite devious. No wonder they had managed to keep their relationship secret for so long. No brain, bad bad brain. Don't even remotely go there! I was still having ongoing issues from that night a few months ago. I figure I will just blame a certain god for this, and add it to the list of grievances I have towards him. I resolved myself to take it all out on him someday. For now, I just focus on my crawling and put off the walking attempts for a few weeks. At least to allow my body to become a bit stronger and less pain filled!
While thinking this, I came to realise that an overwhelming sense of tiredness was overcoming me. My body decided for the rest of me, that it was going to fall asleep. My mind had no say on the subject.
Subsequently, I fell asleep with my legs folded under me, my face planted on the floor and my arms spread out in front of me… and my ass sticking up in the air, nappy free and mooning the world.
This event would one day prove to provide me with a teachable experience. To wit, be aware of my body's status and surroundings. A painful lesson to learn, as I later came to discover that both Rachel and Erin were quite the budding artists, and proficient at creating embarrassing ammunition for my future!
As my slow sleep filled breathing filled the air, Rachel and Erin brought out their art materials. With enamoured looks in their eyes, they got to work on what would one day become about the most embarrassing moment in my life. Although, for now, I remained blissfully unaware!
****
JAROD
Shortly after I gained full sight, I bore witness to the greatest feat of this world: magic. Just the thought of that first experience was a wonder.
Erin was preparing to bathe me and started saying something I could not make out clearly. Suddenly, motes of blue light particles gathered approximately an inch in front of her outstretched hand, which she was keeping held over a small baby sized tub.
Water slowly gathered into a substantial ball between the tub and her hand. Once the ball of water finished growing, Erin gently lowered her hand into the tub, and it sounded like water splashing against the bottom.
Whatever magic that was holding the water together ended, and the water half-filled the tub.
Erin then called to Rachel, who was in the process of stripping me at the changing table. Now, watching Rachel keenly, I saw her take out a rock from a set of drawers, holding up the tub.
Rachel then spoke words I did not recognise, and motes of red light gathered above her fist. Suddenly, fire covered her hand, to my considerable shock and amazement. I then watched as the flame seemed to be sucked into the stone. Rachel then slipped the stone into the water, causing steam to rise from the tub.
This was my first-time seeing magic, and it utterly captivated me. Erin even noted to Rachel that I entirely focused my attention on her magic. It was the first time she had seen me focus on anything other than the surrounding people. I couldn’t help but agree and promised to myself I would figure out how magic worked.
For most, their goal would be to learn magic… but I am a problem solver by nature. So the how it works is as, if not more important than, the how to.
The moment that the screw up of a god mentioned to me that magic existed in this world, the little kid in me was jumping for joy. I couldn’t wait to learn how to cast spells. If only my memory was not with me from stage one. I would have been able to learn magic the moment my memories surfaced. But with this body and my inability to talk, it was going to be years before I could start learning magic. Damn!
I then thought about my mind palace. I could create a place within it to at least study the spells Rachel and Erin cast.
A head start would hardly hurt and maybe it would give me some kind of advantage when I became capable of spell casting later. With these thoughts I wanted nothing more than to retreat within myself to my mind palace, but unfortunately, I knew now wasn’t the time.
There seemed to be a time dilation effect from my perspective when I was within my mind. I can spend hours within my mind palace, but mere moments have passed in reality. This would be fine normally, as people of all ages zone out every so often. That is likely what most people would think I am doing.
Although, when in the middle of being bathed, and both women giving me their complete focus, I could spend the equivalent of days within my mind studying magic and lose track of the time. With all the attention I have been drawing recently, even I knew not to rock the boat that much!
They may think something is wrong if I don't react for an extended period, and I just couldn't convince myself that I wouldn't get carried away in researching what I had seen and worrying Rachel and Erin.
A second side effect of extended time in my mind has also come to my attention. My mind palace seems to drain me of stamina. In short periods, it is not at all noticeable and if I am fresh and well rested, then all is well.
Unfortunately, when I spend a day or more within my mind, I become increasingly exhausted both within and outside my mind palace. I can only assume that when I am within my mind, my brain is going flat out and that would explain the difference in my perception of time.
I hope that as I get older, and my body becomes stronger. Then I can spend more time within my mind.
I proceeded with my bath. But all the way through, I was just itching to enter my mind scape. Every minute felt like they were dragging like hours.
Finally, Rachel lay me down for bed and both she and Erin left me to fall asleep. Apparently, they were telling people they wanted to study my night habits. As I almost never cry, they said they wanted to see if I wake at night and cry… total bullshit that allowed them to spend some of the night together in my room.
Not a damn thing I could do about it but spend so much time in my mind palace I practically fall asleep from exhaustion… but I still know dammit!
At least tonight, I could enter my mind and focus on the spells. The work I had at hand with the spells would keep me distracted from what I am denying is currently going on outside.
I entered the initial corridor of my mind palace. I now had a few rooms on the ground floor corridor, and it was full of doors. Once the corridor became full, the stairs at the end of the corridor connected to the first floor.
I don’t know if this is a method of my mind maximising the efficiency of my brain. Could the rooms be a compartmentalisation of my mind, allowing my mind to maximise the use of my brain power by focusing only on the active rooms?
Ah screw it! I have more important concerns… magic concerns, hell yeah!
Currently, the left side of my mind palace ground floor comprises my library and an arcade.
The library has the same gothic styling as the entrance corridor emits. It is full of heavy leaver bound books. As well as tables I can sit at to compare information held within the books, and comfy sofas that to curl up with an excellent novel.
I can make minor changes if I feel like it, but it tends to be a subconscious effort on my part. When I wanted to curl up with a book on one occasion, I thought how nice a roaring fire would be and then to my side and against the wall was a great roaring fire.
Not long later I felt a nice woolly blanket would be nice, and suddenly, there, folded on the couch, was a fluffy blanket like I had in my past life.
Within were all the games I had ever played, as well as the big arcade cabinets. There was even a pool and snooker table… bit pointless when I can only play by myself, but it finished off the theme, I guess.
The strange thing is, although I had played both games, I never know the dimensions of the ball or table. So, my mind must recreate them from my memories precisely. They both appeared to be just right. Pedantic, maybe. But it is details like this that nag me.
The downside is that anything I had yet to experience would be based only on my expectations. I tried creating an arcade game I had heard of but never played. After a non-descript arcade cabinet appeared, it failed to start. It sucked, but oh well.
Running with the thought of objects that I did not know about but could make appear, I thought of another experiment. I never knew what a snooker ball was actually made of, so I decided to find out how my mind dealt with this issue.
When I broke open a snooker ball to check inside, I found it to be hollow and as thin as an eggshell. The ball required a lot of effort on my part to open, despite its fragile appearance.
I can only theorise that my mind is relying entirely on my memory to recreate the object visually. Without the in-depth knowledge of an item, then it is only a facsimile my mind applies physical characteristics to.
It irritates me that virtually every theory concerning my mind palace is only just that. How do I prove such things when they are only mental images?
I compared my discovery of the snooker ball to the arcade machines and other computers within the arcade. Several of my degrees in my previous life were in the computer sciences. It came as no surprise that all the machines looked as they should.
Upon opening up the arcade machines and computers, my mind seems to have based all the technologies on the latest crystal lattice computers that the military had me develop. Bit excessive to have an arcade machine powered by a quantum mainframe… Okay I may have done that with the prototype on Earth after the military tried to screw me on the payments… and I may have sent some pictures to a few of the UN military heads to twist the knife as it were.
After a few moments of inspecting the machines, a question occurred to me, 'why the hell do I need fully physical representations of a computer?' This is all in my head, so why is my head creating all the technology?
I tried imagining a hollow arcade cabinet and have it play a game, but it didn't work. I wonder if it is because I know how it all should work that without it all, I know deep down that it should not therefore work?
At the time, I decided, screw it! As annoying as it was, it was not worth losing my illusionary hair over, and had just enjoyed the arcade for the distraction it had been.
Now I gave it some thought. With the prospect of trying to learn magic, and my mind’s apparent bias towards the laws of physics, is my mind going to reject the concepts of magic? Shit, I hope not.
The laws of physics and nature should not allow me to conjure balls of water? So, would the more I learned about it make it less effective within the mind palace because I still thought of the laws of physics as immutable? A considerable concern that plagued my mind.
Ah fuck it, let’s learn magic!
Existential crisis over, I looked to the doors on the right.
The door across from the library room is a movie theatre room. The cinema is an art déco style from the nineteen twenties that I loved and is a full-size theatre house with hundreds of chairs in it. I could watch any movie I had ever seen here, and boy did I quickly realise just how many I had seen in my time.
There is an enormous difference between having something in front of you and remembering it. I know mentally that I could recall all of what I am viewing or reading, but the effect is considerably different.
Unfortunately, unlike my library, the movie theatre requires a degree of concentration from me. A few times when I am watching a film, I will get distracted and reminded of an event or another movie. The film I am watching would then change to the movie I had just reminisced about, or play out my memory on the screen of what distracted me.
In the library, this would at most result in a book appearing next to me, sometimes on the floor in just the right place to slip on or trip over. Rather annoying as mentally stubbed toes or bashed knees are still painful, even if all in my head.
The second door on the right led to an art gallery.
This art gallery was a surprise when it appeared. I was rather melancholic over events in my previous life and although my previous life was a total shit show, there were some people I missed the company of. While thinking about friends and family one time while in the library, I heard a noise in the entry hallway. When I went out there, I found the new door with the Art Gallery title on the door.
When I opened the new door, I found snapshots of the best moments of my life spread across the large hall. The photos were of me with the people I cared about most on Earth.
The sights filled me with both happiness and sadness to see them. It made me feel good to see them all, but the sadness weight on me as I could feel a cold detachment coming from all the images.
Suddenly a new collage appeared on the wall. There was plenty of space as the gallery was large, the images spread out. At present, it was only about a third full.
I, or rather my mind, had filled the collage with images of me, Rachel, and Erin. As well as a few images of me with others holding me. The sense of warmth and comfort that the previous images lacked made me feel much better. I felt less and less alone the longer I searched throughout the collage.
I found it odd that only a few of these images of my new life were first person perspective, as opposed to the images of my previous life, which were all first person. I imagine there is some kind of magic at work that allowed my mind to perceive these events remotely. So far, this is my first event I am truly thankful for regarding the magic in this world. Not even the mind palace itself can match it.
Leaving this room had left my eyes a little moist, a new and novel experience for me. Apart from crying occasionally as a child, I don’t think I had ever cried for emotional reasons.
This helped reaffirm how much my new life was different for the better for me, and the place in my heart that the two women who make me feel wanted held there.
The last room on the left was a kitchen. Now I know that may seem strange since this is all in my head, but imagine being able to recreate your favourite foods in life? Certainly not something I could resist.
Although, to be fair, I currently could not eat solids, so that may have been the impetus rather than any other factor for me.
The kitchen was the kind you would expect to see in a restaurant. All robust equipment, shiny and new in appearance. That everything I used in here was self-cleaning only made it even better.
The last room on the ground floor and the last room on the right was a garage. It looked like a professional setup, with a machine shop to the side for part fabrication and everything.
Not that I would need it when, if I could imagine it, then it would appear. Maybe this is my subconscious mind applying the idea of men and their tools… they may not need them, or even ever use them, but they still want them.
Sometimes it’s as much the look of the thing as it is about functionality, also my mind my rules! Hmm, maybe I should get a sign made up for the garage or even have it in Latin over the front entrance? “Domus mea praecepta mea “ sounds catchy, huh!
Unfortunately, although I had a lot of theory on cars and even owned a few, my practical mechanical expertise is non-existent… and I never even got my licence. how it feels to drive and maintain a car is based on my research rather than experience, and thus never felt quite right when I gave the room a try.
Turns out, as in my previous life, any of my characteristics based on my brain such as my reaction time and hand eye coordination were off the charts, my physical based skills such as strength and dexterity were truly awful! This seems to have transferred over to my mind palace.
So, unless I work to improve my body in this new life, I will probably remain all thumbs. At least I hope this is how it works.
Each of these doors led to a lifeline for me. For all intents and purposes, I was trapped in a body with no means of communication.
The “god” bob had said, a fully developed mind, within a baby body, would likely go insane, and I had no doubts what he said is true.
Without the contents of these rooms to mentally express and exert myself I have no doubt that, without the mind palace, I would be developing some serious mental health issues by now. I shudder at the thought of how bad it would be by the end of the first year!
I went up the stairs at the end of the corridor to the first floor. Although I had first looked here when I could access the next floor, all I was to find is another corridor leading to the left and right from the summit of the stairs.
Again, there was no set of stairs to lead further up, merely a staircase with steps that stopped where the ceiling was blocking the way.
I was somewhat curious, as the Louvre has 4 floors. If I filled them, would the building extend beyond that?
Oh well, I have to fill these corridors up before I can proceed further to find out. For now, I had to figure out what kind of room I would need to study magic.
I stated out loud how I imagine the lab would look. This was more a habit I always had, talking to myself, rather than helping to consciously visualise the room.
I would prefer a circular room, to help with the workflow. I want the centre of the room to have a holographic projector. Given that magic circles and runes seem to appear as part of a spell.
A pathway round the holo projector, approximately two meters wide, and standing crystal interactive monitors, all circling the outer edge of the pathway circling the holo projector. Each monitor should be six feet high and two and a half wide.
This would allow me to break down a projection and transfer it to the monitors for individual analysis. The monitors themselves would look like a pane of glass when not in use. This will allow me to separate the different components of the magic circle, while the holoprojector maintained the complete image.
Depending on which side I am standing allows me to actively include the holoprojector in the centre.
Actually, Now I thought about it, make it a dual layer setup for the monitors, as then I can carry out comparative analysis more easily. Add a two-way mode, I continued.
Hmm, next up, I want a second floor with a library overlooking the hologram from above. As my knowledge expands, it would be good to use the more tried-and-true method of books to store and access some of the knowledge… more an aesthetic choice on my part really, but I hoped it would allow for a connection with the library.
So far, I had not attempted to have the rooms interact with one another. This was a bit of an experiment to see if they can or not.
It also will make it seem more magical, if you ask me! Book lecterns around the inner edge of the library level, overlooking the ground floor, should help compare what I am looking up with what I displayed on the holo. That should do it for now. Anything I can’t think of, I can add later.
I heard the noise of a door forming on the left side corridor. Well, at least my mind is consistent, starting on the left again.
I proceeded to the new door and entered. Within I found a modern style room from the world I came from. Lot of clean lines and well-lit by powered lighting instead of torches. The room is just as I imagined it, although when checking the first floor, there were few books on the bookshelves. Not much of a surprise, since my knowledge of magic is virtually non-existent.
Looking closer, the books appear to be more fiction based, along with associated meditation and various cultures’ view of magic I had read, or had been aware of. Slim picking for the moment, but I look forward to a time when these bookshelves are bursting at the seams.
I proceeded to the holographic projector. There were 5 monitors at regular distances around the projector. I accessed the interface, and it seems to be linked to my library and, to my surprise, the art gallery at the lower level.
These would effectively be my memories, so it made sense.
I brought up the first magic circle I saw. This was the water spell cast by Erin when she filled the tub with water. It appears there are gaps and blurs in the circle, likely from where I could not see too well. Erin had already begun preparing her spell when I started paying attention.
The magic circle comprised a master circle with 3 smaller circles within. One of the smaller circles was missing about two-thirds of its contents. I activated the hologram’s manipulation mode and broke down the circles and threw them up on the monitors, circling the holo projector.
There appear to be letters around the circumference of the circles. It is strange. At night, Rachel would read to me before settling me down to sleep. Now that I can see, I have been using these books to learn the written language of this kingdom. Although this is an ongoing process for the moment, I can say for certain that the symbols on the spell differ completely from the characters utilised in this kingdom’s alphabet. I mean, we are talking about comparing English with Cuneiform here; the differences are extreme!
For now, I put the symbols on the surrounding screens, alongside there encompassing magic circles.
I next bring up a projection of Rachel’s spell. I notice multiple differences between the two spell circles. However, I had been paying closer attention to Rachel’s spell, so I had the whole spell circle in front of me.
There were three sub circles within the spell as with Erin’s; however, there was a fourth component. It also contained a triangle within the spell, with the symbols running around its perimeter just as with the circles. I repeated the process for Rachel’s spell that I did with Erin’s.
Unlike with Erin’s spell, I heard the vocalisation for the spell that Rachel spoke. As with the letters within the spell circles, I did not recognise the language spoken in the spells construction.
I did not at present have enough to work with to break down the phonology of the words spoken. I could, however, run a comparison of the symbols between the two spells. There were several commonalities, but not enough yet to make any headway.
Finally, I projected the entire process of the spell’s creation. I utilised Rachel’s spell for this as, given my view of Erin’s spell was incomplete, I would wait to see her recast the spell.
At first, I replayed the spell a dozen times, taking notes of the process. I paid particular attention to the formation of the spell circle over the phonetics of the spell.
It appeared as if the spell was drawing energy out of nowhere. Though I was resolute in studying every detail, and it paid off. I began to slow the process down to a crawl until I noticed there was a slight shimmer in the air around Rachel’s hand.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The further the shimmer moved away from the hand, the more it would light up and then was pulled back towards where the magic circle would form, like metal shavings pulled towards an electromagnet.
After seeing this, I bought up Erin’s spell casting and set the process to repeat in slow motion. Just like with Rachel’s spell, something was being emitted from Erin’s body and seemed to react to the air, or something in the air that would cause it to light up.
I was giving this some thought when I realised that the energy being emitted from Erin was coming directly out of the palm of her hand.
However, when I brought up Rachel’s casting, there it was. Rachel was emitting the energy from around her hand leading to the wrist and it was more diffuse, but would already be moving towards the circle before it started lighting up.
Was this because Rachel was holding the stone in her hand, or it is possibly easier to focus the energy out of certain locations of the body?
I just lacked too much data to work this all out at present. Now though, I have questions, and from these questions I will get answers and progress closer and closer to casting magic!
At this point I realised that between creating the Magic Lab and the time I spent breaking down and studying the spells, I had been in my mind palace for several hours. I was already tired before entering my mind, and a feeling of total exhaustion washed over me. I needed to end this for now, as I was completely exhausted.
****
JAROD
I was not really sure if I left my mind palace, or if the exhaustion overwhelmed me and I passed out before I could. The next day I woke up with a fever and felt terrible. Rachel and Erin were very concerned, and they alerted Keefe. All of them agreed something was not right, and it would be best to call a healer.
I had had no actual problems that I was aware of to this point as a baby, so there had been no reason to meet with a healer before. As such, this was my first time encountering a healer, and although I felt exhausted and miserable, the experience itself proved quite informative… for me, I believe Rachel, Erin, and the others would have described it differently.
The healer appeared to be a priest or holy man of some sort. The robes he wore had a sort of religious appearance to it. Robes were a common form of dress here for both males and females, so I had seen a variety by now. Because of this, the holy look seemed to stand out with this.
He checked my physical condition, and when not seeing any obvious issues, he cast a spell on me.
This may have been the point at which all concern left me, and curiosity took over… given how stressed the others appeared when I look back on that time, I think I am happier with the oblivious curiosity!
Despite a pounding headache, I attempted to not miss anything as a green magic circle formed in front of the hand the priest held out. A golden ball of light appeared in the priest's palm, and from it, a cone of light covered me.
The cone of light initially covered me entirely, then contracted to focus in on certain areas of my body. I believe these were the locations of my vital organs for the most part, but others were seemingly non vital. It was hard to tell due to my position and the ringing of my head whenever I moved.
The golden cone disappeared, and the priest, for lack of a better descriptor, began another spell. This time, the spell did not seem to have any effect. A few moments, I felt like I was regaining my strength a little, and my whole body released tension that I was unaware I had been holding.
I wriggled myself about so as to see myself and say a sort of green haze suffused me. The haze on my body appeared similar to the energy forming the magic spells.
After a few minutes, the spell ended. The priest began uttering a second chant and again a magic circle appeared in front of the man. This time around, held out two hands in front of him and there was a larger, more complex spell circle than before. This one was blue rather than green.
Instead of a green mist, it suffused me by a blue one matching the spell circle. It felt like someone had wrapped a cool cloth around my whole body, both inside and out. I could feel the spell was leaching out a little of the insufferable heat. My headache, which improved after the previous spell, disappeared.
I looked up at the priest and saw a smile spread across the man's face. It was a gentle smile, full of warmth. It was rather infectious, and I couldn't help but smile back at the man.
The cheery man recast his first spell again, but it seemed to go quicker this time.
The priest stood up and looked at the adults gathered around me in my nursery. "He will be fine!"
This caused several held breaths to be let go at once. Looking around the room, I saw Rachel and Erin, also Keefe and the head maid. The head maid was an older woman who had incredibly sharp features.
If I was honest, the term ‘Vulture in human form’ immediately springs to mind as soon as you get a clear look at her. I actually felt bad, as it was the kind of thought that flashes through your mind, but based only on her appearance. She could be a kind, doting woman for all I knew… she wasn’t, and The Vulture became my nickname of sorts for her, but at the time, how was I to know?
Behind Keefe there was also a man who screamed butler. He was standing ramrod straight right behind and to the left of Keefe. I had never seen this man before, but to be fair, I had hardly seen Keefe before.
For now, I dub him ‘The Butler’, like The Riddler or The Penguin… but with better posture and less personality!
The kindly man continued to talk about me, bringing my attention back to the goings on around me.
“The boy does not appear to be ill; however, he does seem to be suffering from a touch of exhaustion. The young master’s body also appears to have small swellings of the muscles and tendons.”
“I would normally see this in soldiers who have over exercised or others in highly demanding physical jobs. I have certainly never seen these physical signs in a child as young as yours.”
“I have cast a spell of healing. The spell will also increase the recovery of his stamina. I cast a second spell to lower his temperature a little. With a break in the fever, his body should return to normal within a few hours.”
Keefe shot Rachel and Erin what I can only call a dirty look. The holy man saw this and attempted to assure Keefe.
“No need to concern yourself, my lord. It appears the young master must have been pushing himself too hard. There is no way anyone could force these types of injuries on a baby. You said he was 6 months old, my lady?” The healer directed this question to my mother.
“Yes, he has only recently reached 6 months.” Rachel replied. She had missed Keefe’s reaction and subsequent glare, as her eyes had never left me all this time.
“So, he must have rolled about too much. Attempting to move on his own is common for a child of that age. It is a precursor to a child learning to crawl. I imagine he will be crawling in the next few months’ time. Then you will all have your hands full, I have no doubt!” The priest said this with a chuckle and quite some certainty in his voice, as if he appeared absolutely sure of his experience on the subject.
No one else responded and only shared looks among themselves. It was Rachel who responded to the priest when he realised no one else was reacting to his little joke.
“Lord Votary, my son has already been crawling for a few weeks now.” Rachel was rather sheepish as she said this.
What the hell is a Votary… must be some religious title. Then again, it would probably be strange if this world’s religion had the same hierarchy as Christianity, Islam, or Judaism, I guess.
This turn of events quite surprised the healer.
“Are you sure, my dear?”
Rachel nodded, as did Erin and the head maid. Seeing all the women in agreement like this, the man pondered.
“Well, that would explain quite a bit. The physical symptoms would most definitely appear to be self-inflicted. Although I have never heard of a child as young as your son crawling. However, given the rather firm looks on your faces, I can see you are not trying to play me for a fool.” The Votary took a moment to think.
“The strain must have been too much for his youthful body. I am recommending you see an alchemist for a tonic that will force his body to relax. I will write a note with details on what would be best. A week of bed rest would do the child the world of good, and then a further week of gently allowing him to move about on his own. This will allow him to time to heal and allow his body to adjust to the strain it has been going through.”
The healer seemed to infer that there was nothing else to discuss. However, Rachel interrupted him before he could make his way to the door.
“Sir, Votary. You said that there was no illness. Though his body appeared to be burning up when we entered to see him this morning?"
"Yes, my lady, that is true!" The healer wrinkled his nose a little at this question.
“If I am, to be frank. I am assigning the temperature he exhibited was because of exhaustion. I found his temperature a little odd, as his whole body did not seem to be a consistent temperature. The head seemed to radiate an unusually high level of heat.”
“To counter his concerning temperature, I cast a water spell that was effective in lowering it. In fact, the effect was more effective than if his temperature were from an illness. When I rechecked Jarod's condition after administering my spells, his temperature had gone down noticeably.”
“I cast the cooling spell to provide the poor boy a feeling of relief, so I can only assume the temperature was already coming down on its own. All my spell did was give it a little nudge in the right direction. As for the other symptoms he has displayed, I continue to believe they are a consequence of his exhaustion.”
This explanation seemed to pacify the adults in the room, however I was myself more concerned about what he said. I would admit to being exhausted, and it would appear that I have been pushing my child’s body too far. I really should reduce the strain I have been putting upon it in the future, or else I may cause irreparable harm to myself.
My body temperature caused my greatest concern. If I am right, then an over extended use of my mind palace may cause harm to my body.
When I use my mind palace, it appears time moves faster inside. I contributed my perception within my mind resulting from my brain’s true operating speed, as opposed to that of my body. My body has likely been acting as a limiter on my brain. That seemed to be what Bob was implying was the issue in my previous life.
However, maybe my brain is increasing its operating power while I am within my mindscape. Effectively, my brain is operating at 100% power for a prolonged period, which must be a causing a physical toll, or overheating like an overclocked processor.
I should avoid spending time in my mind palace for a while. Also, when I resume using it, I should be aware of my physical state before entering it, like when I am as tired as I was last night, which is likely what caused my brain to have a meltdown.
Protracted use of the mindscape, combined with an exhausted body. I was just asking for trouble, really. I chided myself, then looked at the humorous side. A six-month-old, who can’t even communicate, is more in the know than all the surrounding adults.
While I was ruminating, all the adults left. Not long after, I fell into a deep sleep.
****
RACHEL
I found myself in quite a state as I looked down upon my sweet little boy, my little Jarod. He was normally so energetic and constantly on the go these last few weeks. Now I could only see him as the vulnerable child he was.
Erin awoke me this morning in a panic I had never seen in her before. She told me Jarod was burning up, and at once I rushed to my child’s side. Although I could use some rudimentary healing magic, it was never something I was proficient in and thus had limited options.
I looked Jarod over for any physical signs of illness and then cast a scanning spell that would check over his body for any concealed abnormalities. I could not find any, but they often use such a spell on the battlefield to check for obvious injuries, not illness.
I turned to Erin and told her to inform the head maid of the situation and have her get inform Keefe to get him over here. As she left the room, I cast a basic healing spell. This seemed to ease his discomfort somewhat, while also calming my heart a little. If a simple healing spell like this eased his suffering at all, then I could hope whatever the problem is, will not be serious.
Although I still had my heard in my mouth.
Erin returned a few minutes later and informed me she told the head steward of the situation. This was good; Ronald, spends most of his time with my husband and would know exactly where he is.
A few minutes later, the door to the nursery sprung open and Keefe entered with concern written on his face. He rushed to my side before I could say anything.
I explained what had occurred. That our child had a fever and that although I could not identify the problem, my basic healing spell had had an impact. No matter how little the effect was, is still a positive sign, and it would be best if we called a healer priest with a speciality in childhood ailments. I was at a loss to understand what was wrong and it would be best to rely on someone with more healing experience than myself.
Keefe agreed, and we called for the priest, and to my considerable surprise he arrived well within the hour. Although at any other time, such speed would be almost unseemly fast. Given how healers, even if they are members of the clergy, have a very high opinion of themselves. It still felt like an eternity to me right now.
I felt loathed to cast any more healing spells, although Keefe insisted I do so. It required every shred of patience to convey to him that repeatedly using healing spells, when you do not know the problem, can make things worse. I know enough about them to be comforted by the basic spell’s effect, as if whatever ailed my son was serious or even life threatening, then it is unlikely that such a basic spell would have any effect whatsoever.
****
RACHEL
After the priest arrived and healed Jarod with his magic, I could finally take a breath. It had been under two hours since Erin woke me up, but I swear I feel like it had been a week. I thanked the priest profusely for his time as did Keefe, who also took a pouch that Ronald handed him and offered it as an offering to the church in thanks for his help in healing his son. HIS son. The way Keefe was talking sickened me, but I maintained the look of relief on my face. This was the third time the man had seen his son, and they lived in the same house.
Once the priest left, I intended to visit the nearest apothecary personally to acquire the tonic. I saw the priest leave in my husband’s carriage, likely the reason he arrived so fast. The fact this did not occur to me earlier is proof of my frantic state of mind.
Both Keefe and I re-entered the mansion and as I excused myself to dress myself, I was still in my night robe but did not give it a second thought when all my thoughts focused on my son. Just as I was turning to go up the stairs, Keefe called out to me.
“Rachel, please come to see me when you finish preparing yourself.”
This surprised me and I responded by informing him I would go straight to an alchemist to get the tonic the priest recommended. I politely asked if he could wait until I returned.
“Nonsense my dear (oh, I hate when he calls me ‘my dear’, patronising ass!). I have several of the best alchemists in the kingdom working for me, and several of them within this very city.”
“Ronald will go to them and retrieve the tonic. He would likely be back much quicker than you would in your current state of dress. Wouldn’t you, Ronald?”
“Yes, my lord.” Ronald responded curtly.
Despite not being the most approachable man, I knew Ronald was a highly capable individual. His family had served my husbands for generations, and just like the rest of the staff, was almost fanatically loyal to him.
I also couldn’t help but notice the way the man holds himself; I immediately saw a predator in disguise. Not for one second did I believe his job was merely that of a Steward.
Until now, I considered such a man acting as Keefe’s chief steward and not his bodyguard troubling. Not that the man was incapable of his job, but the man practically reeked of blood.
The Tatham’s have a small but substantial army, but right now I would trust a detachment of the army over Ronald to get this admittedly simple task done.
“I would appreciate that, Ronald! If you would be so good?” I hoped the smile on my face properly conveying my appreciation to a man I had actively avoided when possible.
I handed over the note left behind by the Votary to Ronald, again thanking the man for undertaking this task for me. Gods forgive me, I think I actually meant it too. Right now, he could accomplish the task straight away while I was still getting ready.
I will take my leave then. I turned and went up the stairs, relieved someone will quickly get the medicine. Now my mind is churning over what Keefe would want to see me about.
****
RACHEL
Not long later, I was knocking on the door to Keefe’s study. Even I was to knock before entering. The man took his businesses and holdings operations all but obsessively seriously.
Although as a Marquis, the territory under Keefe was on the outer reaches of the kingdom. It was actually close to the border of the United Protectorate of Orn, a nation renowned for its neutrality.
There was also a lack of powerful monsters in the Tatham lands. Although there is the occasional roamer, it was rare. The area drew the many novice adventurers, making the territory one of the calmest and most productive in the kingdom.
Keefe employs men with talent over their family name to run his territory, which is one of the man’s few appreciable traits. This allows him to spend more time operating his business and only having to tour his territory a few times a year to deal with issues and ensuring that everything is operating as it should.
Keefe’s father and the former lord who reside at the family castle deals with the everyday running of the land out. All these factors, combined with shrewd business investments, have led to Keefe’s family becoming among the wealthiest in the kingdom.
Knocking on the door, she heard Keefe invite her to enter.
"Ah Rachel, thank you for coming to see me. I know you would rather spend time with Jarod; however, I wanted to discuss something with you."
This declaration put Rachel on edge as Keefe seemed genuinely pleased to see her. The man never showed his genuine emotions, and I could call this is his business face. The face he displays to put others at ease. I saw this face often before our marriage. To date, I think the only time I could say I have seen any honest emotional responses from the man is around Jarod.
“What happened this morning brought my failings as a father to the fore. I have spent next to no time with our son since he was born, instead spending too much time focusing on my business dealings.”
He waved the papers spread over his desk and with a look of attrition on his face, while stating this.
“With this in mind, I will spend a few hours every day with my son."
He looked contrite and well-meaning, and I did not believe a word of it. He is suspicious there is something special about Jarod, and he wants to know what. There is nothing I can do to stop him, as he is the boy’s father.
I know that my concerns to an outsider would seem insane, but every fibre in my being wants me to keep Keefe away from our son. Keefe sees the world in profit and loss. Anything that boosted the former would be an exploitable resource. However, anything that affects the other, then he will do away with. This is what had Erin so concerned and, as abhorrent to imagine, I would have to agree with her.
The thought that something may be wrong with Jarod could affect the future of his precious Tatham family, and I feared just how far the man would go.
If I thought for a moment Keefe engineered this morning to make this happen, I would have killed him without a second thought.
In the same way that I knew the man would deal with Jarod in an extreme manner if something were wrong, I know Keefe will do everything in his power to get me out of the way if he finds his son is special in a way that is useful to him.
Again, it is largely intuition, but I have seen much political manoeuvring from a young age because of my talents and even more so since entering the king’s court. It was a rather selfish wish Jarod would not inherit my abilities.
Although we are married, I know he feels nothing for me and that our marriage was merely one of convenience. As my father was a non-hereditary knight, the lowest level of nobility. Receiving his rank of nobility in service to the king and the kingdom in the military.
But I was born with powerful magic, so powerful in fact, that had the king been unmarried, then it is not out of the realm of possibility I would have become this nation’s queen. Such is my power and the desire of noble families to strengthen their bloodlines.
However, all the members of the royal family were married or not of an age appropriate for marriage. Not that the king’s grandfather didn’t raise the possibility as I got older and my looks developed.
Keefe’s family were upper nobles and well respected. My father and my mother-in-law, being old friends, thought that my marriage into the family would be the best for me. The Tatham’s had the resources to aid in developing my power to its full potential.
My father also knew that the previous king would have had ensured that I was married into one of the noble families one way or another. He may not have been a cruel king by any means, neither is his son the current king. Though such is my magic that I am ranked among the top 5 known mages alive.
If my children inherited even half my power, then their value to the kingdom would be considerable. Keefe’s parent’s offer of arranged marriage was the lesser of all the evils in my parents’ eyes.
Unfortunately for Keefe and his father, whom Keefe has inherited an almost identical personality. I quickly became a prominent member of the current king’s court when he ascended to the throne three years ago.
I had the ear of the king, and he had sought me out to resolve many matters, both magic and political, despite my young age at that time. This means that Keefe cannot make any overt moves against me to have control of Jarod.
I also can’t help but feel that as my position within the court became more prominent, I became more ostracised from Keefe’s family. I wondered if my presence has what has kept Keefe away from Jarod.
When I come across Keefe unexpectedly or in some of his meetings, he becomes particularly guarded. Dispelling the notion that something was wrong, I had done my due diligence when I believed there was something wrong with Keefe’s activities and found nothing amiss.
Even though everything about Keefe is respectable and when we first met and got married, Keefe was so likable. That all changed after our marriage, though.
The real Keefe is a cold man, with little to no empathy. The Keefe I knew before our marriage was the public mask he wore. His father is the same, but there is no way I could have known that until it was too late.
I knew I did not want my son to become like his father. It is why I requested a year away from the king’s court to raise Jarod. Ironically, it was Keefe’s mother who insisted I take a year off to spend time with my child. When we announced to our families I was pregnant, she sombrely told me how she regretted not being there for Keefe as a child.
I wanted to build a relationship with my son. Looking at Keefe now, I know that is what he now wants. Or more likely to mould Jarod into his double from as early an age as possible.
Damn him, I can’t refuse, at least not without me being the villain in this. I had no other choice but to play his game and find a way to mitigate any damage.
I placed my most charming smile on my face, apparently the king’s grandfather’s favourite, according to the queen. The man may be older than dirt, but he was funny! Keefe, on the other hand, would likely have to look up what funny was if pointed out how unfunny he is.
“That would be wonderful, Keefe; a father should always be close to his son (‘but not too close!’). The thought of what happened this morning, bringing you and Jarod closer, brings light to what would have been a terribly dark memory!”
“I am so glad to hear it, my dear. I will arrange with Erin to be close by during my time with Jarod, and that would give you some time to get out and see some of your friends. I know you have been spending most days with Jarod, and you must crave some more adult company.”
So, he also wants me away from my son more and can order Erin out, or away as he feels. I don’t like this one bit. After this, we exchanged pleasantries until Ronald returned with the tonic, at which time I excused myself to see to Jarod.
KEEFE
I watched as Rachel closed the door of my study. As she left, the smile likewise left my face. Ronald had silently taken his place behind me. I did not say a word and just placed my elbows on my desk, and entwined my hands and considered the past, present and future.
I knew that she likely had me figured out. The woman had an incredibly sharp mind. A shame, really.
My mother arranged my marriage to her, as she was old friends with Rachel’s father. My father agreed to the marriage for the potential power Rachel would bring us.
Unfortunately, neither father nor I expected such a sharp mind would come with the immense magic she wielded.
Even before we wed, she showed herself to be a sharp woman and then she gained prominence in court at a young age. Even more impressive given her heritage. Rachel’s father, Sir Pranth, being more capable of burning political bridges rather than building them.
It is actually rather impressive, and a testament to the man’s military capabilities that earned him his rank of nobility. Were he not so valuable, I doubt it would surprise anyone, even his own allies, if they tossed him in the stockade for the rest of his life long ago, for the offense he has given so many powerful nobles.
Most nobles can be bigoted towards lower nobles ascended from commoners, and most of those at court make up such nobility. But Rachel took the court by storm. She became a political powerhouse and quickly became integral to the country’s political stability.
My family had never been bigoted in the way of other nobles, and we see the value that commoners offered. So, there was never a second thought given between my father and me when mother brought marriage up. As soon as she informed us of Rachel’s magic potential, father saw only a resource to be gained.
The kingdom had kept Rachel’s first and subsequent skill assessments secret by order of the previous king. This was to protect the young Rachel at the time. Any and all kingdoms on the continent would have leapt at the chance to kidnap a child with that potential. Thus, few knew her capabilities.
Although if my father or I had suspected the degree of Rachel’s intellect, then we would have cancelled the marriage immediately. Her magic potential blinded us to her other extraordinary abilities. An unfortunate error on our part.
Not long before our marriage three years ago, Rachel secured herself a prominent position at court. My family was outwardly ecstatic at this; however, this could not have been worst news for the Tatham family.
The Tatham’s has been controlling the underworld of the Kingdom for generations and we have tendrils in many other nations.
Rachel’s position at court, combined with her having the ear of the king, has forced me to keep her at arm’s length. The danger to the family was too great.
This, of course, led Rachel to think something was wrong. So, of course, she would investigate my activities.
I had been going out of my way to appear unsettled, though. This ensured we prompted her investigation on our timetable. Given how thorough she had been, it was a good thing we acted to control the situation.
Had she investigated us without our oversight, the gods only knew what she would have discovered. Certainly not enough to implicate us, but certainly enough to arouse greater suspicion and more official investigations.
It has infuriatingly complicated the situation since her appointment to the king’s court. The combination of my wife’s power, position at court, and popularity ruled assassination out of the question. The uproar would see most of the nobility within the kingdom stop at nothing to discover the culprit. No matter how good the assassin was, the risk of such scrutiny was too great.
However, the risk, until now, appears to be paying dividends. Jarod’s birth provided me with a sense of comfort knowing that the family will continue through him.
We all knew there was no guarantee that he would inherit his mother’s magic power, as my power and affinities are on the low end. Although it is not a requirement that nobles need to possess the most magic power. It does open doors though, as many of the oldest and most powerful have such a mindset. The Tatham’s may be powerful, but we are mid-tier nobility and not nearly as old as many of the old power houses of the nation.
My power was too low to even see me admitted to train in the army’s academy, let alone join the military. This had never bothered me. However, my family are masters of exploiting resources, and my lack of power was one less resource to exploit.
Jarod, however, seems to be something else. His growth is unbelievable. I had till now been patient in awaiting my wife’s return to court. But the priest’s opinion of my son confirmed to my mind that my son was special.
What that will develop to be… I do not know, but I want to raise Jarod to take over the family, and to grow it to greater heights.
That priest’s word held substantial weight as he is one of the temple’s preeminent healers, with considerable experience in children’s ailments.
Rachel was unaware of this. To get him here so swiftly, I assured him a great offering to the temple. The pouch of coins I gave him was merely a small down payment.
For that priest to react the way he did must mean he had never seen a child develop as fast as Jarod had… interesting.
Now I should maintain a presence in Jarod’s life. As he gets older, I will develop a bond with the boy. The family, or rather those who work for the family, have experience creating such bonds. This secures loyalty to the family, above all. Although normally it would be when the child is of schooling age that those interventions would take place.
Also, it will allow me to more closely monitor his development. I will have to make preparations to have the boys’ mother distracted. Fortunately, that should not be difficult. Her time away from court has been a greater destabilising event than any expected. Stirring the pot enough to have her recalled should not be too difficult.
Keefe had been sitting contemplating for some time now. With his thoughts in order, Keefe turned to Ronald to give him tasks to carry out. His face was an icy wall, giving nothing away and hiding plans for his family’s future behind an eerily calm and passive face.
The past few years had brought tension and frustration since his marriage to Rachel. He had to keep himself on guard at all times and neither had any feelings for one another since getting to know each other.
I swear I could almost hear providence talking to me, but only fools believe in such things. The strong take their destiny into their own hands, but the strongest take others’ destiny into their hands.
If I am right, Rachel and her Lacky are hiding things from me. Jarod’s potential may well be his mother’s match. If so, then I will mould him into a king. And not just in name, Jarod may well be the key to the Tatham’s taking total control of the kingdom.
But I need to ensure I am a part of his life now. The less influence Rachel has over him now, the easier he will be to indoctrinate later. It will be a few years before we know what Jarod is truly capable of, but I cannot leave anything to chance.
The growth of the Tatham’s has reached an impasse. We control the underworld, and the gain we have received over the centuries has outweighed the risk of discovery. But the last few decades have seen our official position stagnate and many we deal with have been growing suspicious of our growth.
Some groups of nobles are actively opposing us and having been pushing the king to have reduce many of the additional powers the family has received over the years.
Our military forces are greater than our noble rank would normally allow. They have ignored this issue until now because of the enormous area of land we control. However, our lands are among the most peaceful.
We have been using our sizeable forces to move the forces of our underworld friends or to keep people hidden. It has also been useful to move contraband through our territory.
This one action would reduce our capability to move products and destabilise our position in the underworld. No, we need to take risks and the risk of Rachel will hopefully pay off beyond my wildest dreams.
A smile spread across Keefe’s face. Anyone who saw this smile would feel horrified. This is Keefe, displaying his true self. Rachel and Erin thought that the emotions Keefe has shown since the birth of Jarod are his genuine emotions leaking through the mask he wears, but again, this is another ploy by Keefe to throw off Rachel. This smile was sinister and held no joy, only malicious intent.
****
JAROD
I don’t know what that priest arranged for me to take, but holy crap!
One week later, I remember nothing from the past week. I mean, at least I missed out on a week’s teething. But still, I gotta look up that priest when I learn to walk and talk, and get the name of that tonic of his.
I wonder if alchemists do repeat prescriptions, as weed has nothing on that shit!
****
JAROD
Okay, here’s the thing. I have spent the past six months in the mansion, and at that, mostly in the nursery. So, when I discovered I was being taken to be shown off by Rachel to her friends. I couldn’t have been happier… until about 5 minutes after I met the first friend.
Interesting fact about being unable to communicate. All you can do is listen… and boy, did I have a lot to listen to. I mean, how the hell anyone can spend hours talking about absolutely nothing!
Ok, admittedly, large portions of said nothing were about me or the children of Rachel’s and Erin’s friends. It is nice to see both women so animated, but seriously, if I don’t get some mental stimulation soon, I am going to lose my proverbial shit.
Unfortunately, it was by the third outing that I realised it was not Rachel, Erin, and her friends who were the problem, but myself. It struck me when we visited a friend of Rachel’s who also had a child about my age. However, the child had yet to start crawling.
They placed me in a play area with the child while the adults, unfortunately not including myself, sat and chatted. I realised I had no idea what to do in this situation, so I went over to the baby on its back trying to rock itself over and brought a toy over for it to play with or, in this case, chew.
Listening to the women talk and looking at the baby in front of me, I reflected on my previous life and realised that I never really had any friends. I had family, acquaintances, and employees, but I never had friends.
For me, everything occurred too quickly. Happiness, loss, pain it all happened, felt and processed immediately for me. The older I became, the worse it got, until at about age six I stopped going out and my contact with others occurred online.
For those I did know, whether family or not, I could not interact with them in a way they could understand. I was cold and distant, so it was hard for people to interact with me, and even harder for me to interact with others.
Conversations were slow and frustrating for me and by the time I was in my late twenties, I actively avoided people and ran my life and businesses through digital messenger services.
Right now, I truly felt the difference between this life and my last. Now I feel like everyone else. I look at Rachel and Erin’s smiling faces and understand how they feel and why they enjoy themselves so much.
When they talk to me, I feel the emotions directed at me and actually have the feeling of connection that, if I am honest, I longed for.
Now, if only they would stop with the inane chatter and damn baby talk!!!