Well, at least the faces of complete strangers was more entertaining than a bear in his face. Despite his father’s wishes, Yole did not sleep through his royal viewing and instead decided to stay awake and take the whole thing in. One by one, members of the royal court, distant relatives, foreign dignitaries and friendly allies approached the cradle to gaze upon “Prince Yole, Second Son of the Iron Kingdom”, as he father had proclaimed him. Each visitor brought with them gifts of sorts. From toys, to sparkling trinkets, and even weapons that would one day serve him.

The first to approach Yole was a man flanked by several men in armor, announced as Zorin, captain of the royal guard. Veamir stood up from his throne and created the equally large man with a crushing bear hug.

“Let me go you big oaf,” Zornin laughed as Vesamir lifted him clean off of the ground. “Put me down so I can see my darling nephew.”

Nephew, huh? Yole thought. So I have an uncle. He must be a strong guy if he’s the captain of the guard, maybe he can help me get back to my former strength…

Zorin looked over the edge of the cradle and smiled down at Yole.

“Hello, darling boy,” he said and reached down to caress the baby’s fine hair. “I hope you and I will become fast friends.”

Yole wrinkled his nose, he knew guys like this from his previous life, total brown-nose. He could see the slime dripping behind his eyes, this guy might be family, but he was after something.

What is this guys angle? he wondered.

Yole was the third child of the king, which put him third in line for the throne, so what did Zorin have to gain by garnering favor with him? Though he supposed the man hadn’t stooped to kissing up to a baby just yet, right now he was putting on a show for his father. It would be interesting to see what all he’d be able to make the man do in his favor if it meant garnering favor with the king. The guy had to be strong, maybe Yole could learn a thing or two from him once he grew up a little, for now though, he wanted the slimy bastard to stop touching him, so Yole grabbed his finger with all his might which… he barely managed to wrap his hand halfway around it and pulled it way.

“Haha! Such a strong grip you have,” Zorin chuckled jovially. “We’ll make a warrior of this one yet, dear brother.”

Zorin leaned down an kissed the top of Yole’s head, causing the baby to squeal and thrash, which the older man wrote of as being ticklish.

“Your majesties,” Zorin continued, returning to ceremonial professionalism. “May I present your child with this sword, forged myself in the flames of the deep mountain mines.”

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A guard come forward carrying with him a large broad sword with a smooth red stone embedded in the handle. Zorin was quick to unsheathe it and present it to the kind, who took the sword in hand.

“Beautiful craftsmanship, brother,” Veasmir said. “This will serve him well. The tear is a nice touch, rich with mana!”

Zorin bowed to his brother once more and then took his place standing behind the king’s throne. A slew of new people came up after him, praising Yole for merely existing. Of all the new toys he’d gotten, the one Yole wanted to play with most was the sword. Sure, it wasn’t really a “toy”, but it was the only thing that had captured his interest. He didn’t remember playing with a lot of toys the first time he was a kid, his family was too poor for that, but weapons were something his was intimately familiar with. He’d been fascinated with his father’s collection on the bedroom wall, he couldn’t wait to be big enough to handle one of those.

“King and Queen Shore and Prince Lars of the Seaman’s Kingdom!” Yole heard announced as a woman carrying a toddler leaned over his cradle.

“Look at the baby, Lars,” the woman, Queen Shore, told the toddler. “Isn’t he cute?”

“Cute baby!” Lars cheered, reaching down to place a small wooden toy fish next to Yole’s hand, eliciting loud coos from their assembled audience. A small token from child to child as the real gift, a large wooden model ship that was big enough for a toddler to sit inside and play in, was wheeled over to the ever growing pile of gifts.

“Good to see you again, King Lauden,” King Shore said with a low bow.

“Good to see you too my friend,” Vesamir greeted and bowed his head. “It’s nice to see our boys already getting along.”

“I hope our sons grow up to be good friends and make the bond between our kingdoms stronger.”

Great, a whole month old and Yole’s relationships were already being politically arranged. This was a harmless friendship between two children, he dreaded to think about what things would be like when he came of age to be married, whenever the hell that was in this world. A beautiful princess could be in his future, though that prospect didn’t interest him nearly as much as the possibility of learning how to use magic or sword fighting.

After the neighboring king and queen had their look, a lovely woman with blue silver hair and a long wooden staff stepped up to be announced.

“Mage and Royal Tutor, Lucellia Morsew!” he name was projected across the court.

“Your majesties,” she greeted, curtseying deeply. “I see you have a new student for me.”

“Indeed we do,” Millicet smiled. “Care to take a look?”

Lucellia nodded and went over to the golden cradle, gazing down at the baby.

“Hello sweet child,” she said kindly and looked deeply into his yellow green eyes, causing Yole to squirm as he felt invaded by hers. “You have a great power deep inside of you and an old soul to guide you in your journeys. The fire within will be guarded bu a wisdom you carry beyond your years.”

Yole froze. Could she tell that he was reborn? Or was she speaking metaphorically? He didn’t think anyone would be able to see him for what he really was.

“Your majesties, your son has the might of a dragon within him!” Lucellia bellowed theatrically and lifted her staff above her head, sending out sparks of red that turned into brilliant fireworks. From the falling sparkles a great winged dragon appeared and flew over the pope and into the ceiling where it exploded once again into shimmering gold and silver flecks. The guests cheered and sang their praises for Lucellia’s showmanship and children present begged for more.

Yole had to admit, he was impressed. The dragon was so detailed it almost looked real, but Lucellia words are what stuck with him the most. That he carried great strength deep down inside of him because of his “old soul”. In the throws of his self pity, he hadn’t considered that retaining his memories and mind set from his old life would give him any sort of edge. With hard work and a little patience, Yole might be able to reclaim his former glory faster than he thought. As long as he played his new role right, his princely title would bring him to a whole new level.