(Year 997, 15th of Full Inji, 12:45AM)
Every year, by the time my birthday rolled around, I somehow managed to forget how much I hated parties.
That was weird, all on its own – It was like most of the year, I didn’t care all that much, but then someone in the village would have a party and I would end up there. Then I would realize how much I hated it, and I would remember, “Oh yeah, I hated the last party I went to, didn’t I?”
The bad thing about realizing that I hated parties, of course, was that I couldn’t leave this party. It was a party for me, after all, in my own house, so I just had to sit there at the table, pretending I was enjoying myself. All the while, I was getting annoyed that half of the other people in the village were all crowded into the living area of the house, being loud and touching things that weren’t theirs and generally being really annoying.
There were other kids at the party, I supposed, but… it was weird with other kids. It was like there was a gap between me and them, and they weren’t really interested in me. Sure, part of it was that the other kids in the village were mostly a few years younger than me, and the rest were a couple of years older, like Reggin.
Still, what that really meant was that the other kids in the village were all friends with somebody else. Most of them wouldn’t complain if I wanted to play with them – they certainly hadn’t when we were younger – but nobody asked me to play, or spend time with them, or about much of anything.
Not even at my own birthday party.
Which is why I found myself just… sitting at the kitchen table, eyes wandering over the other people in the house, feeling half-asleep even though I was annoyed at all of them.
It felt a lot like I was using [Indulge] (even though I wasn’t), in the way that I just… didn’t really care.
I felt Dad’s hand clap down on my back, softly but with energy. “How ya’ doing, son?” It was obvious that he was enjoying the day. It made sense – he’d stayed home from work for me, and he was getting a chance to chat with neighbours he rarely saw, and he didn’t even need to cook because a lot of the guests were kind enough to bring food for us.
Of course, the guests were sharing the food more with each other than they were with us, since it was a party, but we’d get to eat the left-overs, so that was nice.
“Aedan?”
I shook my head. “I’m alright, Dad, just… tired, I guess. I’m just tired. Lots going on today, right?”
Dad nodded. “Sure, sure. Don’t let your energy get low, though, since there are probably gonna be people around for a while yet. Cheer up, eat something, play with the other kids! Maybe you could tell them some of those stories you’re always reading, eh?”
“Yeah… Maybe.”
That seemed to be enough for Dad, and he walked away to go talk with Mr. Marokson, who was holding up an old bone trophy Dad kept on a shelf, near where Miss Ambrose stood alone sipping tea. I couldn’t hear what they said to each other over all the other people who were talking, but it probably wasn’t any of my business.
Their conversation was cut short, though, by a knock at the door. That wasn’t odd, people had been coming and going all day, and nobody had really been paying too much mind about it. For this knock, though, everyone went quiet… it was like we all guessed who was coming.
Dad walked over to open the door, and before anyone else saw who was behind it, we all heard his high, cheery voice. “Good afternoon, everyone! I recall this is the home of the birthday boy, isn’t it?”
Into the house, past Dad, stepped Bishop Mordecai, looking exactly the same as he had when I last saw him: Silver hair hanging straight down past the base of his neck, tiny silver caps on the pointy tips of his ears, a simple brown traveler’s cloak worn instead of any priestly garb… and a smile on his face, like he was having an absolutely wonderful day.
His smile felt rude, somehow… probably because I wasn’t doing so great.
Dad spoke up. “Welcome back to Carvenstock, Bishop. I hope your travels found you well.”
The Bishop nodded agreeably. “They certainly have, Mister Omar. The days are growing longer with each that passes, and it pleases my heart to know that the longer I roam, the more light I am blessed to travel by. I do find myself wearied, however – may I sit down?”
The look on Dad’s face had soured when the Bishop said ‘Mister’, but probably not enough for most people to notice. “Of course, Bishop. What’s mine is yours, especially on a day like this.”
The Bishop nodded, walking as he talked. “Thank you, thank you… I thought to rest in the church for a time, but I decided it would be best to resolve the matter of Evaluation first. Speaking of which–”
The Bishop, who had made his way into the kitchen, pulled a chair away from the table and sat down directly across from me. “You would be the birthday boy, unless I’m gravely mistaken. Aedan, son of Omar?”
The way the Bishop smiled at me… it was always like he was in on a joke, like he knew something nobody else did. When he smiled at me across the table, though, it was like he was rubbing my face in that.
Trying to shake off my feeling of tiredness, I nodded. “That’s me, Bishop Mordecai. Welcome back to the village, and, uh… thank you for coming.”
I didn’t feel thankful with everything that was going on, though, and the Bishop seemed to be able to sense that. “Mmm… feeling a bit under-the-weather, are we? Of all days to feel unpleasant, I would say that a birthday is one of the worst…”
The Bishop sat back in his chair, seemingly just taking a moment to breathe. Around us, the people at the party were going back to what they’d been doing before… With the Bishop in the room, however, everyone seemed a bit more cautious. Miss Ambrose caught my eye as my eyes passed over her – she mouthed two words. ‘Be careful.’
I blinked. I’d been feeling dull about the party that I’d… lost track of what was about to happen. Out of the corner of my eye, I looked over at Bishop Mordecai, whose eyes seemed to be closed… like he really was just taking a moment to rest.
My concentration broke as Dad slapped his leg, getting everyone’s attention. “Well then, now that the Bishop’s here, we can get down to the main event. I’m sorry to be a spoil-sport about one thing, but… Aedan and I have already dealt with the matter of gifts, so we’ll be skipping over that part. That just leaves prayers and libations, and for the young man of the hour, Evaluation! Isn’t that right, Bishop?”
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The Bishop perked up. “Yes indeed, Mister Omar. Your son is quite the talent, as of my last visit, and I’m sure we’re all anxious to see if he’s improved, aren’t we?”
There was a murmur of agreement from around the room. Dad nodded. “Then, I ought to go get the cake. Bishop, would you be so kind as to lead the room in a prayer?”
The Bishop paused a half-second, then nodded. “Yes, of course – why, I suspect I’d be bothered if you asked anyone else. Ladies, gentlemen, children of all ages… if you’d be so kind as to stand tall and clasp your hands?”
He looked at me out of the corner of his eye as he said that last bit, and slowly, I pushed out my chair and stood up.
Bishop Mordecai grinned just a bit wider, I thought, before closing his eyes and clearing his throat to speak.
“In the moment of Birth, there is a beginning, not just of life, but of Potential.
In all life there is growth, and in all growth, there is Potential.
Potential for Good, and for Evil. For Law, and for Chaos. For Creation, and for Consumption.
Six paths there are, laid out across the world, that we are blessed with the Potential to walk.
We are blessed with the Potential to give or to take, and to choose others over the self.
We are blessed with the Potential to organize or disorganize, and choose control over wildness.
We are blessed with the Potential to create and destroy, and to choose to make the world better, not worse.
We are blessed to choose our own Path, and as we walk, we are blessed to grow.
We are blessed with Potential, above all, and with the ability to seek its limits.”
The Bishop opened his eyes, prayer ended, and added his own conclusion. “And so we thank Sophia Materna, Our Lady of Blessed Charity, for the gifts of life and breath, which allow us to seek our Potential. We thank Regulus Maximus, Organizer of the Holy Order of Heaven and Earth, for the peace and calm in our time, which allows us to seek our potential. We thank each other, in the kindness and understanding we share, for helping each other to seek our potential. Praise Be.”
The whole room echoed him. “Praise Be.”
As Dad re-entered the room, carrying a cake he’d been "hiding" (from the guests, at least) in his room since Mister Marokson brought it in the early morning, Bishop Mordecai added one more thing. “And we thank Omar Kingsbane, father of the birthday boy, for being such a humble host.”
I watched Dad’s eyes narrow at the mention of his title, but he didn’t make a fuss. Everyone knew he didn’t like it, although he’d always told me not to ask why… but Bishop Mordecai seemed to make a point of bringing it up at least once whenever they saw each other.
Dad set down the cake a bit heavily, probably because the Bishop had distracted him, and the table shook a bit. It wasn’t that big of a cake, I noted, so Mister Marokson must’ve used a thick mix to make it…
That made me smile a bit, despite everything else going on. I’d told him, a few years ago, that I liked thick mix better than thin… This year, he’d remembered.
I looked up, and Miss Ambrose caught my eye again. She was looking back and forth between me and the Bishop intensely, but the Bishop was looking at me, so he didn’t notice. This was the moment I’d been afraid of… Bishop Mordecai was about to use a special power to Evaluate me. He’d see my Status, and depending on how that worked out, my Status might change. I wasn’t sure why that was the way it worked, but my Intelligence had only been a 1 the last time I’d been Evaluated, and suddenly it had been a 2 afterward.
I hadn’t felt any different, though… so I’d wondered if the spell had changed something or my Status had just been wrong somehow.
If only my Status had been wrong about other things… It had been right, though, so my Evaluation was about to end in a hurry when the Bishop noticed my new Path.
I shook my head. I needed to take my mind off that before I got nervous in front of the Bishop. “Um, Bishop Mordecai… is it alright if I eat a slice of cake while you Evaluate me?”
Some of the guests shook their heads, and I could see Dad frowning out of the corner of my eye. That made sense – it was a weird thing to ask, and poor manners, and really just not something people normally did.
The Bishop just nodded, smiley as always. “Oh, of course! You’re the birthday boy, after all. Don’t be afraid to indulge yourself.”
I just nodded. I would’ve said my thanks, and I would’ve meant it… if he hadn’t said the word indulge. I felt a bead of sweat on the back of my neck as I sat back down to eat, and Dad began to cut the cake.
The Bishop hadn’t said it in any weird way, had he? I didn’t think he did. It had to be a coincidence, there was no way he could know what had happened to me. There was no way he could know about my new Skills, or how badly I wanted to use [Indulge] to stop worrying about what was about to happen.
I forked up the first bite of my cake.
Really, unless he was some sort of super secret wizard or something, there was no way the Bishop could’ve known about my Path, or my Level in it. The power to check other people’s Status – I’d always felt a twinge when other people used it on me, after all.
A twinge I felt at that very moment, breaking my train of thought, as the Bishop began to check me. I forked up another bite of cake.
As I chewed, though… I felt another feeling, a weirder one. I looked over at Miss Ambrose, and saw her fingers on one hand wiggling. I forked up another bite of cake and squinted… could I see her fingers glowing, just a bit?
The odd feelings continued as I forked up the rest of the cake, not even looking down anymore, and I realized that Miss Ambrose must’ve been… doing something? Messing with the Bishop, or maybe with me? I’d assumed that she would help me avoid being noticed by the Bishop, but I didn’t know how… was she messing with his Evaluation somehow, to keep him from seeing my Path?
I forked up another bite of cake, swallowing quickly and nervously. I heard Dad say, “Aedan, that’s…”
He trailed off, though. I wasn’t really paying attention, though– I was watching Miss Ambrose, whose eyes were going wide. I forked up another bite of cake and they went wider. She raised her other hand, the one she wasn’t using, and she began to wave it back and forth. I felt my fork hit the cake again, and I twisted it to pick up another bite, lifting it up, and–
“Aedan!”
I dropped my fork, surprised by Dad’s yell. I looked down to pick it up, and my eyes went wide.
I hadn’t just eaten the slice Dad had cut for me… I lost track of that at some point, apparently.
While my mind had been occupied, I’d eaten nearly half of the cake.
So quickly, too…
“I…” I felt sweat dripping down my back now. “I’m…”
My knees were shaking.
“Aedan, wait–”
Before my Dad could get any other words out, I pushed my chair away from the table, nearly knocking it back onto the floor, and scrambled away.
I could barely hear “Aedan, get back–” as I slammed my bedroom door behind me. I jumped onto my bed and threw my covers over me, and just like I’d done the night before, I used the power of [Indulge] to force myself to sleep, even as Dad’s knocking on the door got louder.