JAROD

Okay self, seven-month status update. Eyesight… check, walking… check, reading, progressing and talking… let’s just say I’m working on it.

Ever since my absolutely stupid overuse of my mind palace, I decided it was best to reign my overuse of the mind scape…. And that promise to myself… lasted all of two and a half weeks after the incident.

That was all thanks to my loving and overly doting father, yeah right!. Keefe appears convinced that there was something special about me. Ok, he is right, but he is still an ass! and had effectively demanded time with me. Not because he truly wanted to spend time with his son, but to see if Rachel was hiding anything from him.

Total dick move if you ask me!… Man, I need to learn to talk. This inner monologue is getting out of hand.

From what I gleaned from Rachel while she discussed the situation with Erin, well maybe discussed is a bit of a misnomer. Rachel ranted in a half whisper in case the other staff overheard, while Erin tried (and failed) to calm and comfort her.

According to Rachel, Keefe has only shown an interest in me when there is something wrong, or something he saw a value in. Keefe was apparently a man who divides people between useful and useless, and as a baby, I am in the useless column.

Though if it turned out I had the level of potential Rachel possesses, I would instantly move the top of the useful list. There was apparently nothing Rachel could do about the situation.

I may be a bit biased from only hearing Rachel’s side of the story, but given that Keefe’s visits could be counted on one hand, well it does give her perspective and deductions some weight.

Keefe now had an interest in me, beyond just having an heir on standby. Really its all just family drama, but I enjoyed my peaceful if boring life so far and had no interest in Keefe screwing it up.

So, three days after my illness, Rachel brought to Keefe’s office. My ‘father’ lit up when Rachel entered the room with me, with Erin following not far behind.

The room was actually quite large; I looked around intrigued, this is my first time in this room. There is a desk, the size of which can only be described as bloody enormous! and two couches facing each other in front of it. Bookshelves lined the walls from top to bottom, and all filled to bursting. I may have drooled and pee’d a bit… not sure if it was the baby body or the potential mental stimulation facing me.

A large bay window behind the desk filled the room with golden morning light.

Something that had been nagging me at the back of my mind for a while, finally struck me what was off. These large windows are far larger than those in my nursery, so I never really noticed. But there seems a very incongruous level of technology in a world supposedly at the middle ages level of technology.

These windows were enormous. Each taking up almost a third of the wall’s width and two-thirds the height. Given the wall must be a good ten feet tall and twenty across.

Although intelligent and absorbed information like a sponge in water, I would never claim to be the font of all knowledge in this world. But on the few occasions that I had been out of the nursery, such as to see my maternal grandparents. I had seen many buildings with windows, although few were as large as the windows in Keefe’s office… and to be fair, my points of view were never very good, baby body and all.

It makes sense that magic could allow for faster leaps in development than science, but these windows were perfect. There were even sections that opened… hmm, strange.

I was not all that knowledgeable about the history of glass, even if I was aware of the process of its creation. That was all that really mattered to me, for much that I learned.

However, the glass I saw was probably on par with what was around in the mid-twentieth century, before commercial double glazing.

Rather incongruous with the average technology level of the world, which seemed to be something around the seventh century Western Europe.

This also seemed to apply to some other things I had seen such as the coaches. These would not have been around on Earth until till approximately the sixteenth century. Come to think about it, I seem to have a sort of wool nappy… when the hell were they invented on Earth?

I get that magic would affect the development of technology, but the scale of the incongruities, I would have thought would have a knock-on effect with other developments. This is going to seriously piss me off until I figure it out, and in my current state, that is going to be awhile.

Although giving it some thought, I perked up somewhat, as it would mean that the use of magic would allow the circumvention of the limits of technology or its development. Which means I could develop technology on par with my old life based on magic… oh, this is going to be good.

While I had become lost in my mad scientist delusion, Keefe had taken me from Rachel and was currently handling me like an unexploded bomb. Just wait until Rachel leaves; I have been working on my bladder control and was about at my limit.

Rachel had been very upset these last few days after all. Given I could do nothing else to protest, I am utilising the resources available to me to object in my own way. Hehe.

We sat down briefly on the couches, Well I think sat but I was held, with Keefe and me on one side and Rachel on the other. Erin was standing attentively behind her.

Rachel would be visiting their parents. I had met my grandparents a reasonably often since the lived in the capital. Grans baking smells awesome, but apparently I am too young for them… One more thing to add to the Bob’s ass kicking list!

Rachel was obviously delaying leaving me as much as possible, as this would be the first time she would be away from me for an extended period.

Keefe assured her with a dazzling smile that if this were a cartoon would have light reflected off his teeth with a ting. Keefe insisted that all would be well as Erin would be around if needed.

Rachel had no more excuses and stood to leave, gave me a kiss on my head, and slowly left the room.

As my nanny, Erin stayed behind but was informed by Keefe that her services would not currently be necessary. He then pointed to a fence set up in the back quarter of the room.

Well, I say fence, but I could only see a prison. One with a tantalising treasure just beyond. I meant the books of course. Oh sweet knowledge, how I missed you!

Keefe went over to the cordoned off section of the study and put me down. At this point I had disliked the man due to my impressions of him given by my short interactions, as well as Rachel and Erin’s opinions. Now teasing me like this, I hope he burns in hell for all time and beyond!

The cordoned off section of the room, or rather my prison, had some of my toys already brought down to it ‘so that’s where my teddy went… I mean I thought some things were different in the nursery… not that I missed it!’.

Keefe picked up some toys and started trying to get my attention with them. Seeing this, Erin nodded and left.

The moment Erin left, the cheerful mood on Keefe’s face dropped and seemed to enter neutral. Wow, Rachel wasn’t kidding, he really is as emotional as a stone. Keefe then dropped my toys and returned to his desk, resuming his work.

I could hardly believe it; apart from occasionally glancing my way, he basically ignored my existence. Seems like Keefe just wanted to see me do something special, to confirm his suspicions.

Well, if that’s the case and he wants something special. I’ll give him something special all right!

Five minutes later, Keefe made a run for the door and called for Erin. She entered the room moments later and changed me with the biggest smile on her face I had ever seen. I would like to say I was more than a little self-satisfied.

After she changed me, and aired the room, Keefe returned. Erin then left and Keefe returned to his work. I crawled around my cage for a bit and within an all too short time; I Was Bored!

At least in the nursery, I had Rachel and Erin taking turns to keep me entertained and constantly fussing over me.

I know I am a grownup inside, but I just feel so much more comfortable and comforted when the two women spend time with me, I really believe that this body is compromising my mind, damned if I know what to do about it though!

Eventually I couldn’t stand it any longer and entered my mind palace. Since my previous incident, I had seen several spells that I had yet to begin analysis on. I decided now was a good time to do it in brief spurts.

In fact, I decided, and in no way influenced by mind numbing boredom… I would do some experiments while within my mind.

I entered my mindscape and made my way to the Magic Lab. I brought up and deconstructed all the new spells I had seen and also brought back up the water spell that I had seen Erin use.

Using the new spells as reference I updated the spell circle, filling in the blanks that I missed when I first saw it.

I had been keeping an eye out for any opportunity to see not only new spells but spells being reused in case there were any differences. I then ran a comparative analysis of the different magic circles.

To me, it was like entering data into a computer and let it run the analysis, however I knew it was actually my brain doing all the work. This is merely a mental construct to allow my conscious mind to assess my brain’s full potential. At least that was my running theory. Not sure if this counts as being lazy or working hard, as I just stood there, watching my fake computer working its magic.

With the analysis underway, I exited my mindscape. Although I had not accessed the mind palace for a while, I had been planning how best to test the limits of my mind and the advantages provided, as well as its limits. I had already come up with a sizable list of parameters I wanted to check, but being a baby, I never had much time to myself to test them.

As a grownup in a child’s body, I had made incredible gains in my physical development. However, there is only so much I can do before I need to sleep, so I can’t even pretend that I am sleeping, as with every attempt I end up actually sleeping.

I was rather leery about trying too much while I was around Keefe, even if I was an afterthought. Even with Keefe around though, this is probably as good an opportunity to do any experimentation in peace.

I just need to act babyish while doing so… now I just need to figure out what the hell a baby is supposed to do… “Shit, I may be out of my depth here!”

So far, to anyone watching, I appear to be daydreaming when within the mind palace. It seems my conscious mind becomes disconnected from the world around me, shutting me off from my sense of sight and hearing. I think my conscious and subconscious mind become connected, with my mind palace acting as a kind of interface of sorts.

However, if someone started touching me or a significant change or physical contact occurred, then it would leave me with a subtle sense of what my body was feeling. Like when a fly keeps bumping into you, but you can’t spot the thing.

However, over time I’ve become acclimated to when it occurs and know it is something happening to my body and instinctively leave my mindscape to ensure that my behaviour arouses no suspicions.

Well that and it feels damn creepy!

As yet, I have been unable, or rather unwilling, to test if I could eat or not when I was inside my mind. I could see that causing rather unwanted issues as I choked on whatever I was trying to eat while my conscious mind was otherwise occupied.

Now that I exited the mind palace, the analysis should be ongoing and my senses did not seem to be affected. My mental faculties seem to be unaffected also, I had been curious if my mental energies would be focused on whatever task was running in the background and cause the ability of my brain to process external stimulus or process everything as normal. However, I did not notice any difference.

I moved around my ‘prison’, picking up and shacking my toys from time to time so that Keefe would not become suspicious.

It hadn’t taken me long to enter the information within my mind, barely a fraction of a second would have passed outside my mind, so no one would have been able to notice any difference in my behaviour even if they were looking for any signs.

After about thirty minutes… Okay it was exactly thirty minutes, my ability to precisely monitor the passage of time unconsciously, combined with my complete lack of patience, resulted in my heading to my mental magic lag at what a noble would consider ‘unseemly’ haste. I could say this is all due to childish influences on my mind… but I would be lying to myself, I really never had any patience when I came to getting results from my experiments.

Arriving at the pseudo magic lab, I always started outside in the void that made up my mindscape and then proceed into my mind palace, that is likely to get old really fast!

I discovered that the analysis had been completed. Unfortunately, I had not known this until I entered the room and checked the results. What occurred next was, if I were to use a technical definition, ‘weird’. I was reading through information displayed as cliff notes on the various monitors, however when I finished each section, the full unedited version unfolded within my mind

Seeing a building appear and edit itself in my mind, sure, no problem. Feeling my senses stuttering while withing my mind due to sensory time lag, weird but manageable. Having substantial amounts of information unfolding in your mind, the subject of which should break just about every damn law of physics… uh huh, there are no terms in any of the many languages I know to describe how weird that is!

On the positive side, I cannot hurl in my mind palace… small mercies, I guess.

I quickly reviewed the information in front of me, and the results were… interesting.

Comparing the multiple occurrences of magic that I had witnessed seemed to show that the type of magic used will be related to the colour of the magic circle that appears. Not really a huge surprise, but it is always best to be sure and assume nothing.

Water spells produce a blue glowing circle, red for fire, white for wind. I know healing spells were green, but I am not sure what that represented as the other spell types I had seen could be identified by the elements they employed.

At first, I thought the spells had different shades within the spell types. I had seen a maid help warm my bath water when Rachel had been occupied one time. I also saw Ronald use air magic recently to clear a rather potent smell from the office. Rachel used the same spells, but the shades appeared to be different on both these occasions. Looking at the information my mind had analysed it was not different colours but a matter of intensity.

The energy that a person seemed to emit to cast a spell formed the magic circle and although I could not yet confirm this with one hundred percent certainty, my running hypothesis is that strength of the person, or more specifically the strength of the spell the caster creates, has an impact on the magic circle.

The light particles that made up the spells emitted by the caster are different. Thus, it seems like the more intense the magic circle is related to the more magic energy the caster is emitting in the spells casting.

My evidence to support my current hypotheses are admittedly rather thin at present, but I have seen Rachel cast a handful of spells that others have cast, and the magic circles Rachel produces appear to be distinctly more vivid than others casting the same spell.

Admittedly a second unproven theory is that Rachel’s control over magic energies is higher than others thus she can concentrate the energies producing a more vibrant colour. A third is she just dumps more power into the spells. Too many possibilities at present to draw an accurate conclusion.

It seems the magic circles are almost identical but a couple of the runes different between the spell’s castings, these may be variables that have an impact upon the appearance of the spells.

Fortunately, I have now witnessed enough spells to create a basic lexicon. It is far from complete, but it is enough to see that the runes define the variables of a spell. Change the strength of a spell, and a rune here changes, change the range of the spell and it changes there.

I am limited to my physical senses to bring in the data to analyse at the moment, but being able to freeze frame what I see, allows me to analyse physical spells, such as the water sphere Erin makes. I have seen her fill a vase with water for flowers and the spell changed only slightly but the visual effects could be visually seen. Wind and healing spells cannot be so easily distinguished, mores the pity.

I had learned a lot today, but I think it best I called it quits here. I had been in my head reading through and pondering the new information for a couple of hours. Any longer and I may be blankly staring into space oddly and raise concerns from Keefe. I also don’t want to take any unnecessary risks with my health.

Now I can access the information. I don’t need to be in here to review it anyway, and I want to avoid Keefe’s suspicions as much as possible. Not sure what he would suspect, but I only want him to think normal, baby!

While I was in my mind, I did notice something as to how the mind palace seems to function. In my previous life, my mind was always going at 100 miles an hour, with one thought or several running through my head. But since being reincarnated, everything has slowed down. I can take time to appreciate what is going on around me and react to those around in a meaningful way.

However, it appears my subconscious is still running at full tilt or maybe even better than in had in my previous life.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Before, if I had seen Rachel upset over Keefe, my brain would have noticed a problem, analysed the issue, and processed the implications, and I would have then moved on to my next problem or curiosity. It was a very cold attitude compared to my current state of being. The issues of others or any issues that did not impact me directly never held my attention.

Now however, I seem to be reacting and feeling things in real time of sorts. Emotional context and attachments are being added to my thought processes. It is nice in a way, like having had a missing limb all your life and then waking up to discover it suddenly appeared. You had gotten along without it till now, but everything is easier with it there.

Likely if things had remained as they were in my previous life, I never would have become attached to Rachel and Erin, and my full focus would have been on my physical development. I would not have cared about others’ opinions about my development unless it was useful to my improvement.

I would have had the same relationship with Keefe as I do with Rachel and Erin, and I would have seen them all merely as parental figures whose job was to protect and support my growth.

The thought makes me appreciate who I am now over the person I was and feel a bit more thankful to Bob for my new life… not that I won’t cock punt the arrogant asshat at the first opportunity. But at least now I won’t put my full strength behind the blow!

****

KEEFE

Keefe sat in his room, reflecting idly while his mind drifted over paperwork and identifying key points more by rote repetition than applying any focus to the task.

Although today has certainly been a trial, I have been getting through my daily work as usual. Having my son in the room with me has led to unexpected… difficulties.

I have to say that I quickly wondered if having Jarod in here with me was the best idea. Frustratingly, my wife has proven to be more difficult for me than I expected, as she has made my life more difficult than it should have been since we were wed.

I am not a man who would let petty feelings affect me under normal circumstances. Although the strain put upon me by the infernal woman has become increasingly demanding on my time and resources to keep her out of the family affairs.

Were it not for Jarod’s birth, the risk of eliminating her would quickly become an acceptable risk. Now however it feels more like an inevitability. More is going on with my son than is normal. Currently I have mere suspicions, however, if Jarod really is as special as Rachel herself, then plans must be put in place to deal with Rachel.

However, this entertaining thought is offset by the time put to waste, when Jarod needed changed right after Rachel left. Even with Erin dealing with it promptly and I had Ronald air the room for me, the smell seemed to linger. I was eventually forced to call for a maid to bring a number of fresh flower filled vases to more expediently rid the room of the stench, or at least mask it.

I am not a man who likes disruption and the time it had taken to deal with the incident was an irritation to me. However, I am also an inexperienced father and to keep an eye on my son, I would have to endure such things… for the time being.

If my son is as promising as the servants’ reports suggest, I hope these will not be recurring issues for too long. More specialised assistance will be brought in to bring out Jarod’s potential.

As the time passed, I was keeping a very close eye on Jarod. Even if I was also doing paperwork, it is nothing taxing. I was used to having a substantial workload, so dealing with people while I dealt with the paperwork had become a habit of mine.

Jarod was crawling around the room and going from toy to toy, apparently playing with them. He never seemed to stop for long since he started moving about.

I had discussed with several of my staff who had children on what to expect from my son at his age. They were all consistent in their descriptions, stating he would likely be in one place and just roll about most of the time. He will likely cry when Rachel and Erin left as they were a source of comfort for him. He would be used to them being around a lot and since he was teething, he should be crying a lot. The child will gum away at objects to relieve the pain. They also said that Jarod will also likely tire himself out after a while and fall asleep for a nap. At least this was something to look forward to.

So far, nothing the staff had said had been accurate. He has not once cried, not when Rachel and Erin left, nor when he soiled himself. Erin came and fed him as he had recently begun taking solid food; this was good as it strengthened my case for Rachel not needing to be around the boy constantly, as she preferred to feed him till now.

He has hardly stopped moving for long, though he is slowing down now. I doubt it would be long before he takes a nap. Although given his activity level, it was certainly well past time.

He went from toy to toy but stayed with none for long. Except for a bear he picked up and has not released since. He could not crawl with the bear as it was too cumbersome, but he would push it in front of him as he made his way to the next toy.

I had been keeping notes on what he did, looking up to confirm his position. He had made the same route among the toys a few times. Spending ten to fifteen minutes at a toy before going to the next. The odd thing was, the time was exactly ten to fifteen minutes, almost to the second. I would not have even noticed it had I not been taking constant notes on his activities.

He will look at me every so often, but does not seem to want or demand my attention at all. I will have to confirm with the staff as well as bring in a few specialists to garner their opinions as I collect more information.

There is enough here to make me suspect things are outside the norm. I will need to monitor him further and see how he grows. But to do so over the long term could prove problematic. I had spent the last few weeks ensuring my workload was reduced for today and had only been doing the minimum amount while he was here. Unfortunately, my observation and note taking would compromise my workload if this became a regular occurrence.

I also have ensured no visitors, bar emergencies, but that would be unfeasible in the future. Maybe I can use his interaction with others to my advantage.

Eventually, I heard the carriage returning with Rachel. I went over to Jarod and picked him up. I returned to my desk with my son in my arms. Over the next five minutes, I awaited Rachel to come up to my study, and knew that although she would arrive as quickly as possible. At least in the meantime, I could practice holding the boy, make it seem like I had been dotting on him. Fortunately, he sat there happily, looking down at my desk.

One day, this would be his desk, and I would ensure that he would be prepared for all that meant.

I had never been one for introspection, preferring to deal with everything as it happened, I preferred the tangible over the intangibles, as such, emotions to me were a liability, or a resource to be exploited. This had been instilled by my father early on in life. Although, I must admit to myself that sitting here, knowing my son would take my place one day, left me with a sense of comfortable satisfaction.

Shortly after my reverie was disrupted by Rachel's arrival. The moment she saw Jarod her face split into a smile of a kind that had never been directed at me.

Feeling no loss to the thought, Rachel quickly stepped forward and took the boy out of my hands instantly.

I already had my smile on my face. The smile that tends to put people at ease. A lot of time and effort in my younger years went in to mastering my appearance to put others at ease. Although such efforts no longer worked on Rachel, but old habits and all.

I told her that he was a joy to spend time around and he just made the time fly. If I were honest with myself, with the exception of that brief burst of reverie, I had no feelings about spending time with Jarod. To me he was a baby with no conception of the world round him.

I would have preferred to spend the time on my work, but I must look to the future of the family, and at this time, that future is Jarod!

Looking at Rachel dote over our son I realised that, although I was disgruntled by the woman's unexpected capacities after we married. I bared no true ill feelings for her, and it was likely my own aloof nature that had caused the strain in what relationship we had.

Any ill will towards her was purely due to the frustration her activities have on my workload. She is unaware of the fact herself and as such, truly blameless as both father and I brought this upon ourselves when we failed to anticipate her rise to prominence within the kingdom.

I was truly happy when our son was born, and it has made me re-evaluate myself. I could never change who I was, and I feel that what relationship we did have, will never be a strong one without me forgoing my position within my organisation. However, that is an unthinkable notion.

Soon enough I will have to make a decision concerning Jarod. If he is the prodigy I hope him to be, I will have to do everything in my power to keep him by my side. This would mean keeping him away from his mother.

This will no doubt break Rachel's heart. Even though I do not love her, I have multiple mistresses who provide me more convenient company allowing me to more easily distance myself from Rachel, the few exceptions, when we were attempting to have Jarod. I do however pity her for what is to come.

Maybe I will keep on Erin as an attendant to Rachel, they are good friends and her mood improved when she joined the staff.

Even I recognise her talents. The woman’s observation skills are exceptional, and the household staff thinks highly of her. It won't be much, but I can at least do that much. In truth, were it not for her connection to Rachel and her father being a prominent member of the kingdom’s intelligence service, she would have been an ideal resource to nurture for the family!

After updating me on her time away and the status of her parents, Rachel made her was to the nursery with Jarod, who had fallen asleep in her arms. He had actually perked up considerably upon seeing Rachel.

The only two times he had seemed truly happy during our time together was after the two bowl movements he had. It must be a testament to Rachel's motherly nature, which would make it more important to minimise Jarod's contact with her.

Given the nature of our family business and the strength of character and pride in the family it requires, a motherly bond with Rachel could soften Jarod and I could not allow that. To be strong, Jarod must be sharp and cold to survive and prosper as my heir.

With these thoughts, I returned to work. Time waits for no one and not even magic could change this.

****

RACHEL

I had just put down Jarod when Erin updated me on all that had happened. I couldn’t help but laugh at just how, not long after I left, Keefe fled from his study. I had long believed an army could not have achieved that, and even then, it would no doubt be a close-run fight.

Keefe had only called on Erin three times and only due to lunch and changes. I was proud of my son, for not needing someone hovering over him, even at a young age. As a mother, I could never help but hover, even more so knowing that eventually I will have to return to the court, and my time with him will be so much shorter!

Of course, I know there is no chance that the lack of need for Erin would have been more because of Jarod being such a strong and… unusual young child and nothing to do with Keefe’s parenting skills.

However, it also made me sad that my son likely will not miss me when I am away.

Erin seemed to notice my wistful look as I watched my sleeping son. She took my hand and gave it a squeeze.

“Whatever the future holds, it will be alright!” She assures me. I can’t help but shed a tear.

I just want the rest of the world to leave me alone and let me be a mother.

I said as much to Erin. She knows that all the futures I saw for myself when we were growing up that being a mother is what I wanted most.

And now that I am one, no one is going to take that from me, and the gods should place pity upon everyone who tries!

****

JAROD

Although he never intended for it, over the next few weeks, Keefe had given me the greatest gift he could provide me.

Every time he would pick me up when he expected Rachel or Erin to come in to get me and since he could not seem to stay away from his work, and so he would sit at his desk, holding me in his arms. And right in front of me was all of that glorious paperwork (‘wait, would this maybe be parchment work? as it looks more like velum’) spread out in front of me.

Now I know this might seem ridiculous to most people, but I have had next to no access to this countries’ written language, let alone numerical system. However, in front of me were reams of parchment just sitting there, and it changed every day. It almost brought a tear to my eye.

Although I would only get a quick glance at it clearly, it was more than enough. Until now, my only exposure to the language of this world was through short picture books that Rachel or Erin would read to me from. They contained short sentences and allowed me to make observations concerning the language. However, this was too lacking to make a comprehensive lexicon.

By reducing the use of my mind palace considerably and my work on magic circles, it took me a couple of days to work out the language, however once I did then I was exultant… for about a minute. There were two standout issues I found within all the parchment on Keefe’s desk.

The first is and most currently impactful in my life is the fact that Keefe had been keeping clear and concise notes on my actions during our time together, and it seemed that he had become all but certain that there was something special about me.

I had been convinced the man had been focused heavily on his work and having me around was more because of the hope of catching me doing something unusual.

With this thought in mind, I thought I was making a good showing of being normal. However, the notes were clear and well detailed.

As much as I disliked the man, he was meticulous and noted my actions. Keefe then seems to get feedback from others concerning what was appropriate and what was not for my age.

Since I was as clueless as Keefe in the aspects of what is normal (in either world apparently!), it would appear that everything I was doing was inappropriate for my age and am at the very least about two to four months ahead of the development curve.

I was angry with myself. I had been prioritising research on magic circles over learning the local language, as magic held far more interest for me.

On reflection, it was foolish and would not have taken me long to work it out had my efforts been more focused on the study of the national language, and what Keefe was doing.

However, as they say, ‘No use crying over spilled milk!’ I decided from then on to just go for it on my development, even in front of Keefe, as at this point, he seemed rather decided on his suspicions of me now.

The other concern that grew in me after I learned the language, was the nature of Keefe’s work.

The man was heavily involved in the slave trade, assassinations, blackmail, bribery. If there was something dodgy sounding, Keefe seems to have a finger in it!

I fully admit (‘if only to myself!’) my knowledge related to the laws of this world, is at best limited (‘although non-existent would be a better description’). However, the world of my past life was far more developed, and slavery had been made illegal the world over for decades.

Although there were some long running holdouts, but it did eventually happen, and it occurred before I was even born.

As such, I have rather strongly ingrained negative feelings towards the slave trade, as to me it was culturally wrong to own and trade a person like an object.

However, in this world or maybe only in this kingdom it could be a legal or even common practice for all I knew. Quite the mood killer for my feelings regarding magical worlds.

There was also what appeared to be a separation in the subject’s paperwork. I couldn’t identify many of the items, because… well, baby in a new world!

But it seemed that there were paperwork groups that covered regular items and dealings from food stuffs to weapons and armour production.

The other groups may operate these subjects as well and others still. But in different quantities and values, although I could not be sure. But these might be related to smuggling.

In my previous life, I spent a few days developing what I liked to call “Screw you” accounting. I basically operated out of so many countries that all of them liked to make life as difficult as possible for me to get more money and or better term and favours out of me. In return I created such a complicated knot of tax reports that they had to spend a fortune constantly auditing my company trying to figure it all out… every year.

All legal of course, just massively overly complicated. I admittedly spent a lot of money to carry this pointless exercise out… but they always spent more trying to work it all out! (‘Turns out hell hath no fury like a rich and bored genius’.)

Because of this it is easy for me to recognise the paperwork run-around. Many of the varying subjects in each group could involve the same city and share contacts between them for such as weapons and items development and sale. But even though they were maybe made and sold in the same city some sales processes were never connected between groups.

There could be a legitimate reason for this, but I did not like it. One group also involved all activities in the family’s land holdings, and other obviously upright ventures, while the other did not.

A clear separating line, keeping each type of business dealings separate.

I did not like the conclusion I was making in this. If this world really was on the development stage of the Middle Ages, then the development of business theory could be quite underdeveloped. However, this to me seems exactly like creative accounting taken to a disturbing extreme!

The conclusion that I came to, is that there was a lot of criminal activity going on here. It would be a long time before I would be in a position to make use of this information, especially since at present, I could not even talk or walk. However, it was something at least.

It also lowered my opinion of Keefe even more, a fact that I had previously thought impossible. Before I saw the man as a rather negligent father figure, easily dismissed as an asshole. Now I was becoming sickened by the lists of activities he was involved in.

What did cheer me up, is that whenever Rachel and Erin came into the office Keefe seemed to hide the questionable paperwork underneath the legitimate stuff. This would certainly imply that neither woman was aware of these activities.

Although this was no guarantee, it did provide me with some comfort, that the character of these women appeared to be as impeachable as it seemed. Although this may have been a story I was telling myself, it was one I was quite happy believing in.

****

ERIN

“Rachel… RACHEL!” Erin yelled.

Rachel turned and rushed to Erin in a panic. She was in a tizzy when she arrived from the next room, obviously greatly concerned by my shouting.

“What is it, Erin?”

I could not look away from where I was looking with shock and awe, and merely pointed.

A few meters away, Jarod had pulled himself up on his feet. I had seen him attempt this on multiple occasions, but I could truly not believe what I was seeing. The young boy had gotten to his feet and unsteadily let go of the chair leg.

The boy wobbled for a few moments, but he did not fall down. This was impossible!

A couple of weeks ago, he had seemed to slow down his progress, but to a degree that he could be considered well developed. However, about a week ago now it seemed he ramped up his development all over again.

If I didn’t know any better, I swear he was just letting us fall into a false sense of security and re-adjust our expectations of him, and then pull the rug out from under us all over again.

I glanced at Rachel, who was now standing next to me, looking at Jarod with a look on her face that I imagined mirrored my own. That sense of shock and awe.

The both of us had been using our time when Jarod was with his father to learn more about child development.

We had become increasingly more disturbed by what we found out.

Most of Rachel and I’s old friends had had children, and we went around getting “advice” on what to expect from the boy in the future and none of it lined up.

But Jarod had yet to finish surprising us. Slowly and unsteadily, Jarod took a step, then another, and slowly and shakily turned around to look at us. Looking up at Rachel and me, he took a few steps towards us, when suddenly the door swung open. A maid had come rushing in.

The maid looked around with concern, scanning the room. She was us and the Jarod who looked at her in surprise mid step, he finished the step but moments later he fell on his backside.

I swear, instead of crying, he directed such a frustrated look at the maid.

The maid, however, missed this, as the look of surprise on her face matched our own.

Suddenly, with a small and very un-lady like squeal, Rachel ran over to the sitting Jarod and picked him up and gave him a great big hug.

I looked at the maid, who didn’t look me in the eye and she shyly said, “she heard a yell and came running in case there was a problem”.

I could not disprove of her reasoning, as I was the one who shouted. An act for which I was mentally kicking myself for.

Over the past month, the number of maids and servants in this area of the mansion had exploded. We were checked upon regularly to see if we needed anything. It was obvious to me that we were being monitored, or rather, Jarod was.

It really is a shame I never met the criteria for magic officer’s academy, as father raised me to be quite the spy, if I do say so myself.

Oh well, at least it let me ferret out all the gossip… or rather, information I wanted. Of course, until now that training had only been used for that little pastime of mine, but now… I don’t like it.

Too many of the staff feel too at ease doing this kind of work for Keefe. None even bat an eyelid at lying to me or Rachel, whom they should hold at least a passing respect for, as the lady of the house and her personal achievements. so many things here are off, but not in any easily identifiable manner.

I think I will speak to father about this. Too many things are odd, and he always told me to trust my instincts.

Looking over at Rachel and Jarod, I couldn’t help but feel a touch unsettled. Even under optimal conditions, it should have been at least a month until Jarod was crawling by himself.

I grew up with Rachel and know what it’s like to see someone grow quickly, but this is another factor again beyond what even she was like.

Oh gods, the thought of the uproar she used to cause gave everyone such a headache, while we would laugh at them for it. I wonder if this is the universe showing a perverse sense of humour.

Looking back to the maid I knew Keefe will would be informed by the end of the day, and it is my fault, damn!

“I am sorry for surprising you; I was so astonished by the young master’s actions, that I could not help but call for his mother to come and see her son’s first steps. I will be more careful in the future to avoid a fuss.”

I wanted to dismiss the idea that we were curious as to her rapid arrival. I then suggested that she inform Lord Keefe, as it would doubtless delight him to be informed of his sons achievements.

The young woman agreed, and with a curtsey to Rachel and a nod and smile to me, she promptly left.

I did not want any of the staff to think we were hiding anything. If I am the one to recommend directing her to lord Keefe, then it would hopefully reduce thoughts we were hiding anything, although I doubted that.

For all his failings, Keefe was incredibly sharp, and he hired such talents in those that worked for him.

I will need to be more aware in the future.

****

RACHEL

I had a sudden pit in my stomach when I heard Erin yell to me.

I came rushing into the nursery and up to Erin’s side. The shocked look on her face and when I asked what the problem was.

She pointed and when I looked in that direction, my breath was caught in my chest.

Jarod had stood up and was standing on his own. He appears to have just released the leg of the chair!

Erin and I had been very hands off, trying not to over encourage him in the hope that Keefe would lose interest, if no more sudden jumps in his son’s development occurred.

Jarod then shocked me more by taking his first steps forward. Now he is turning to us.

The door is thrown open, and a maid rushes in. At this point, my heart jumped into my mouth. The maid, having witnessed this, would mean that Keefe would hear of it by tonight and it will only reinforce his views of our son.

I just did not know what to do. After discussing it with several family and friends, they all agreed that in about a month he should be starting to crawl, and in another five months, he should start to walk. No matter how you looked at it, Jarod was just growing too fast.

With a smile on my face, I swept in front of Jarod and scooped him up, while speaking words of praise for being such a good boy.

The maid soon left the room. I was glad as I did not want anyone to see the tear falling down my face.