Reginald continued to teach me magic for the next several years. While he wasn’t the best at magic, he could teach me the basics. I learned everything I could on the subject. I also started reading up on the subject of alchemy. It seemed that magical items had something called an Essence, which was like a magical property similar to the concepts I had to picture to cast spells. These were different from their chemical properties, though sometimes those would help or hinder the performance of the ingredients in spells or potions. Alchemy was the study of how to use and extract those Essences to produce magical potions.

Sometimes that meant combining essences which had a synergistic effect to produce something more useful. In fact, the old way to do alchemy was to combine ingredients which contained essences, mostly plants but sometimes fungi or animal parts, into solutions or salves which would bestow that essence onto the thing it was applied to. This was how apothecaries tended to do their work, making medicinal and sometimes non-medicinal potions and salves.

To be recognized as a true alchemist, though, one needed to be able to extract pure essence from a material. Sometimes a material would be difficult to extract the essence from, and sometimes they would contain multiple essences. When more than one was present, they could be linked, making the effects intertwined to such a degree that they couldn’t be separated from each other. The best alchemists could separate any two, and sometimes three, non-linked essences.

I convinced Mother to buy me an alchemy set using her merchant connections, and started collecting various ingredients around the palace. I wasn’t allowed to leave the palace grounds, but there were many different essences around to work with even without leaving.

By the time I was six years old, I had reached the end of what magic Reginald knew and started studying on my own. I could also make basic salves and potions using the old methods, but I wasn’t a good enough alchemist yet to extract essences, even in impure form. In order to test my potions and salves, I gave them out to the guards, servants, and other palace staff. Occasionally I would receive a complaint or someone would mention a side effect, but overall I greatly helped them. I even used salves on some of the animals and slaves, though the guards thought it was a waste. The ingredients were free, however, so the only thing it cost me was my time.

I started asking my father’s court mage for magical advice and eventually he started giving me a lesson once a week, even though it wasn’t his duty. After that I would spend hours at the firing range trying to get my ranged spells to work, drinking mana restoration potions so that I could continue. No matter how much I worked at it, though, only the lightning spell would reach its target, though it had almost no effect, and lightning was known to have a longer range than most other elements.

Still, I continued my studies. It wasn’t until my seventh birthday that I managed to break through and get a lightning spell to expend most of its energy on the wooden target instead of losing it. I still had a way to go with fire, ice, and the various forms of kinesis, but I could manage that.

Another year passed as I continued to devour all of the knowledge I could in the library. We were starting to run low on books that were appropriate for children, so my mother ordered more of them. I learned that in this kingdom all nobles were required to have both a combat certification and an occupational certification by the time they turned fifteen in order to keep their title. If they failed to do so, their title would be suspended until they received those certifications. This insured that the nobles could support the kingdom and its people both in times of war and in times of peace. Mother was a certified Combat Medic and Merchant, while Father was a certified Magic Swordsman and Blacksmith. In fact, he made all of his own equipment, though he rarely visited the palace’s forge any more.

Noble titles were conferred on the children of nobles automatically. Any child of a noble would be granted a title one rank lower than their parent with the highest title until their fifteenth birthday, at which point they had to have certifications to keep it. Because Father was a Count and mother a Countess, that made me legally a Viscount, despite my age. The noble ranks went, in order, King/Queen, Prince/Princess, Duke/Duchess, Count/Countess, Viscount/Viscountess, Baron/Baroness, Baronet, Knight.

The children of knights had special conditions for inheriting titles. If they could achieve both certifications by the time they turned fifteen they would automatically become knights. If they could not, they would lose their noble title. Reginald, in fact, was the son of a knight. While he had no trouble getting his occupational certifications as a Merchant due to his love of reading, he was mediocre at magic, and so tried to learn swordsmanship. He failed the certification test the day before his fifteenth birthday, however, and so lost his noble title. While he did receive the certification two years later when he was seventeen, he no longer had a title and instead became a merchant in his father’s service. When Mother and Father started looking for a tutor for me, however, his academic aptitude and former noble status was able to win him the job over the commoners who also applied for the position.

I had started selling some of my potions and salves in town through Tanya, so I had saved up a bit of money by my eight birthday. I was now allowed to go into town, as long as I had an escort, so on my eighth birthday I asked Reginald to come with me into town. I knew mother wanted me out of the house so that she could prepare for my party, so I played along. Once we were in town I looked through some of the stalls, but, aside from a book on the monsters of Doria, written in the Dorian dialect of the Northern Language this country used, nothing really interested me. I saw a few slaves being traded just outside the town wall, but as I watched them through the gate they all looked to be in poor condition. I would have liked to buy one to help them out, but Mother would only accept them if they could help around the house, and these seemed in too poor a condition for that.

“The slave merchant is a fool.” said Reginald, standing beside me.

“How so?” I asked.

“A slave in that condition is barely able to do anything, and being sick drives down their value. If he was smart he would make sure they were healthy and well fed before bringing them to market, to maximize his profit.”

I supposed that was true. Even if you just looked at them as merchandise and not people, treating them that way was still wrong.

Reginald and I went into a shop so he could buy a new suit but I got bored. After twenty minutes of them talking about the material and cut of the garment, I got up and stepped outside. I wondered over to one of the food stalls to buy some candied fruit when a girl ran into me, knocking us both down. “Sorry.” she said, jumping up and running away. Seeing her leave I noticed the tip of a tail poking out underneath her dirty skirt.

I stood up and started dusting myself off when three guards ran by. They ran up to the candied fruit merchant and started to question him. “Did you see a fox girl run by here?” they asked him.

“N..No,” the man stammered. “No foxes.” he said. Obviously, the guard’s aggressive attitude was scaring him.

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“She can’t have gotten far,” the lead guard said. “Come on.” He motioned to the other two guards and they ran off.

I went over to the stall to buy some fruit and heard someone run up behind me. “There you are, master.” Reginald said.

“I just stepped outside to buy some candied fruit.” I said. “Nothing to worry about.”

“Yes, sir.” he said, then noticed the state of my clothing. “You are dirty, sir.”

“I tripped and fell down. Don’t worry, I’m not hurt.”

“Very well. Shall we continue our shopping trip, then?”

“Sure, did you get your suit?”

“Yes, sir. I ordered one, but will need to come back tomorrow to pick it up.” With that we continued on our way. Reginald bought a few fruits for the kitchen, things that they wouldn’t normally buy, and put them in his magic bag. It only expanded the space, as he was quite strong already, so he had no trouble carrying it all back to the palace.

We had my party, and I pretended to be surprised. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and we stayed up late partying.

The next day I had a lesson with Leonard, my father’s Court Mage. He further refined my long ranged casting, and, after we were finished, informed me that I was almost at a point where I could try and get my Combat Mage certification. I was already able to cast at least three attack spells at level 4, comparable to a standard steel weapon. I just had to learn a Buff and Debuff spell to pass. As I had yet to learn any detection magic other than the Essence Detection I had to learn for finding Alchemy ingredients, the next lesson he would teach me to use detection magic. This would let me search my environment for specific things, and even improve my long ranged targeting now that I could hold my spells together well enough to travel the distance.

He left to get started on my next lesson and I had some time to myself. Wanting to get some physical exercise, I walked into town, not bothering to find an escort. I wouldn’t be gone long, after all. I went back to the candied fruit stall and, after buying my fruit, went and propped against a wall as I ate it. I heard a noise down the alley beside me and looked to where it was coming from, expecting to find a stray animal or a rat. Instead I saw the same girl from yesterday, digging through the trash.

As she was too busy to watch for danger, I walked up to her without her noticing. “You know, you’ll get sick eating out of the garbage.” I said. She jumped and backed away. “I’m not going to hurt you. Here.” I held out what was left of my candied fruit.

She slowly reached out and took it. “Thank you.” she whispered, then started eating it as quickly as she could.

“It’s not good to eat candy on an empty stomach.” I said. “You’ll get sick and throw it all back up. Come on, let me buy you some real food.” I grabbed her hand and she let me lead her to one of the stalls selling seasoned, grilled meat on a stick. I ordered one for each of us. The attendant handed both of them to me and, as I turned to hand one to her I saw someone grab her.

“There you are, you stupid fox.” said the city guard. “I told you we’d get you.” She struggled to get away, but he was far stronger than her so she failed. “You know what the penalty is for running away from your master. To the headsman with you.”

He started dragging her away, and I stepped in. “Can you please get your hands off of my slave?” I asked him.

He looked at me. “Who do you think...” Then he realized who I was. “Oh, Lord Cameron. I apologize. This girl is an escaped slave we were chasing yesterday.”

“You must be mistaken. Yesterday we were playing hide and seek. Maybe that’s why she was hiding.”

“Yes, sir. If you don’t mind, can we see her papers to verify the situation?”

“Are you calling me a liar?” I countered.

“Uh, no sir, it’s just regulations.”

“Well, unfortunately, I lost them yesterday when I was crossing the moat back into the city. The wind blew them in there and there was no way I was going to fetch them.” Everyone knew that the city moat was where the sewage drained into before flowing away from the city. Only the night soilers and slaves that collected the waste for fertilizing crops would go into it for anything.

“Yes, sir, I understand. I assume you purchased her from the slave trader that was outside the walls yesterday?”

“Yes.” I responded, and he nodded, releasing her.

“In that case, please get her papers reissued as soon as possible.”

“I will,” I said, and the men saluted and went away. I handed her one of the meat sticks. “So, what’s your name?”

“Per...Persimmon.” she responded. “Are you really going to make me your slave?”

“Depends. How would you like being a servant in the palace?”

“Really?” she asked, seeming a bit excited. Everyone knew the servants at the palace were treated well. Most commoners would love to have a job there. “Yes, sir. Please. Give me a job in the palace.”

“Great.” I said. “In that case, let’s get you there so you can clean up.” As I was headed back, I met Reginald, as he had just picked up his new suit, and told him that I decided to buy a slave from the merchant after all. He was surprised that the man had one worth paying for, but accepted it and we returned to the castle.

Once inside I took her to the kitchen. “Marya?” I called out, and the girl ran over.

“Yes Lord?” she asked, noticing the girl beside me. “A new servant?”

I pulled back Persimmon’s hood. “Yes, this is Persy, or Persimmon. I heard we needed more help around here, so I bought myself a servant. Can you get her washed up and a change of clothes?”

“A fox?” Marya asked in surprise, before catching herself. “Sure. I can do that. Any job in particular you want her to work on?”

“Well, for now, I was thinking laundry would be the easiest. You can clean, can’t you Persy?” She nodded and I continued. “Eventually, I’ll make her my personal servant, but for now get her started helping with the laundry and see how she handles it.”

“Yes, sir.” Marya said, then lead Persy off to the servant’s wing to get a bath.

With Persy’s new life on track, I went back to my study and started working on my alchemy again. While I could extract the pure forms of some of the easier essences, I couldn’t handle anything complicated. I worked on trying to separate a nutritional essence from a mushroom that also had a poison essence until supper time, failing every time but getting less poison essence with each attempt.

When I sat down at the table Marya placed my plate in front of me. She went to stand beside the door in case we requested anything during our meal, and before I could put a bite of the soup into my mouth Father spoke up. “So, Reginald tells me you bought yourself a slave today.”

I nodded. “Yes, father. There was a slave merchant outside of town yesterday, and I wasn’t sure about the quality, but when I went back today he seemed to have one that was healthy.”

“I can’t risk someone disrupting things here at the palace.” Mother added.

“Oh, she won’t disrupt things. I already asked Marya to get her a bath and some clothes, and to add her to the laundry staff. I hope to eventually teach her enough that she can become my personal assistant.”

“Well, I suppose you are old enough for a pet now, though I wish you had chosen something a bit more normal, like a dog.” Mother responded.

“You know you’ll have to be responsible for making sure she behaves herself, don’t you?” asked Father.

“Yes, Sir. I know. That’s why I started her training already.”

“Very well. Reginald also informed me that you lost here paperwork.”

“Yes, Father.” I couldn’t argue with that, since I never had any in the first place.

“Well, make sure you head by the Minister of Slaves and Livestock’s office tomorrow and get her re-registered. We need to make sure our paperwork is in order if we are going to require it of others.”

“Yes, Sir.” I responded. And that seemed to be the end of that conversation.

That night when I returned to my bedroom I saw that one of the large pillows my father had bought for his hunting hounds was under my bed. Traditionally, pets slept beside their masters so that the two could bond, though it was weird seeing the tradition being carried out with a person instead of an animal. Still, she had a good place to sleep now, and even a blanket, so I wasn’t going to complain. I started to undress just as there was a knock on the door.

I opened it and found Marya and Persy there, Persy wearing an older maid’s uniform that was probably a hand-me-down from Marya. “Sorry about the delay, Master.” Marya said. “She was a bit slow getting ready. I’ll draw your bath now.” Marya went towards the bathroom and Persy stood there beside the door, not knowing what to do. “Come on.” said Marya, grabbing Persy’s ear and dragging her towards the bathroom. Persy yelped in pain, and went with her. I guess Marya didn’t realize that Fox beastfolk had sensitive ears.

Once they were done drawing the bath, a task made considerably easier due to the palace being equipped with magical plumbing, the two bowed and left. I undressed and left my clothes in my room before getting in. By the time I finished and got out new clothes had been stacked on my bed, so I quickly put them on and climbed into bed. Shortly after that the girls returned and Marya got Persy into her bed underneath mine.

I woke up the next morning to the sound of someone being noisy. Was Persy trying to get things ready and just not being quiet about it? I opened up my eyes and looked to the side of my bed to see Marya half underneath it, trying to drag Persy out of bed. “Trouble?” I asked, and startled here.

“Oh, Lord Cameron, Sorry to wake you.” she responded.

“It’s fine. I assume Persy doesn’t want to wake up?”

“Yes. She is quite a sound sleeper. I’ve never heard of a slave that was.”

“In that case, I know how to wake her.” I climbed under the opposite side of the bed and poked her in the ribs. She squirmed, but didn’t get up. “Suit yourself then.” I cast a level one ice spell on the tip of my finger and poked her again. She immediately woke up and climbed out the other side of the bed to get away from me. “Good, you’re up.” I said, climbing out from under the bed. “Marya, you have permission to use level one Ice magic to wake her up if you have to.” Persy looked terrified at that, apologized once more, then went to get my clothes out.