After being introduced to my family, the other children left. My baby sister being carried by my older sister. Left alone with my mother and Breidda, my mother fussed about with me for a short time before becoming too exhausted and falling asleep with me in her arms. I followed suit shortly after as I was tuckered out from all the excitement of being born. When I awoke I found myself inside a finely crafted crib beside my mother’s bed. I say finely crafted because it didn’t creak no matter how I moved. And I attempted to make that baby cage creak something fierce. Alas, my efforts proved to be in vain. I must have been babbling aloud however, as my mother woke up shortly after my exertions. She quickly dressed in what looked to be an expensive dress and picked me up out of my crib.

As she raised me up high, I spied a mirror upon her desk. I quickly glanced at my reflection. Thin, black hairs grew upon my head and sky blue eyes stared back into me. ‘Hey there good looking, whats up?’ My stomach growled at that moment.

“Akel don ta wasa?” She asked sweetly. She must have asked if I was hungry. At first I was thinking, yeah sure. I believed I’d be getting some form of applesauce or something. Cause lets be real, applesauce is awesome no matter how old you get. But my hopes were quickly dashed when she reached for the top of her dress. A sense of dread sent a chill that formed a boulder in the pit of my stomach. Followed by a rumble. I guess I really was hungry. Unable to escape my current predicament, I closed my eyes and begged for forgiveness from whatever higher power there was. Judge me not by the actions I am forced to take against my will ye gods.

After feeding, my mother wrapped me in a deep blue blanket and carried me out of our room into a well decorated hallway. My eyes scanned everything from the deep red carpets, to the many paintings hung upon the walls, and even to the various amazingly crafted marble busts that stood upon lacquered wooden displays. Light poured into the hall from windows so the lanterns hanging from the walls were unlit. Various servants lightly bowed as they crossed our path through the mansion. I was left babble-less as I realized the implications. I was rich! Well, my family was rich. Which meant that I was rich by association!

I unwillingly began to drool which my mother quickly wiped away with a handkerchief. Thanks mom, love ya.

It wasn’t long until my mother found Breidda and another woman reading in a room filled with books. And I mean filled, shelves lined the walls and book cases cluttered the room. We had our own personal library! Oh lord would I spend a ton of time in this place when I was older. Breidda and the other woman stood as my mother entered. The new woman had long, light brown hair and green eyes. She held herself with poise and dignity as she spoke to my mother in a refined tone. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make heads or tails of what she was saying but she approached my mother with an amused expression. I was then held out and taken by the new woman who looked down at me with curious eyes. I babbled a little to appeal to any woman’s motherly instincts, which paid off with a smile.

“Awana takae dono?” The woman asked as she lightly poked me with a finger which I promptly grabbed with my right hand. Talk shit, get hit lady. Nobody pokes me without permission. She smirked and said something else which I didn’t catch. I was trying to squeeze this woman’s finger off. Unsuccessfully I might add.

“Daen.” My mother replied to the woman. The woman then looked down at me and repeated my name as if committing it to memory.

“Daen.”

“Myril, ada ban Wekken estenlo.” Breidda spoke to the woman. So this was Myril, eh? Myril then handed me back to my mother and promptly excused herself. My mother then spoke to Breidda at length about something…or multiple somethings. I’m not too sure, I’m just a baby after all.

Eventually I was carried from the library and down a flight of stairs. Not long after we had left the house entirely. Being carried out into the light was a sight that I’d burn into my memory forever. Outside our home contained a stone path that led to a gate about fifty feet away. Walls of about seven feet in height surrounded the estate and maintained the fifty foot buffer between the mansion and the walls. Wherever I looked there were people around working. Both male and female servants tended to the flowers planted around the house. To one side of the house, shrubs were grown in a maze-like pattern. The other side sported a few trees and a large gazebo big enough to fit at least twenty full grown adults.

Far beyond the walls of our home stood a multitude of buildings. I don’t know how big towns get here, so I couldn’t accurately judge if it was a city or not. But it was definitely a place that looked like it could easily house around five thousand people. I’d like to go there one day just to check everything out. Exploring towns was a hobby of mine in my other life. My friends and I would go driving around looking for store that piqued our interest. One day I’d get to go there. One day.

My mother sat within the gazebo in the garden with me in her arms and took a deep breath. I followed suit, taking in the scent of flowers mixed with clean air. Truly a medicine for the soul. A servant strode out of the mansion with a plate of fresh fruit and placed it next to my mother. He then bowed and left us. As my mother ate and I looked around, I caught sight of Jeral running through the grounds and looking through the bushes for something. He looked excited as he grabbed something before making his way towards the mansion entrance. Sadly, he was stopped short by my mother calling him over.

Reluctantly he made his way to us and averted his gaze, sheepishly grinning. My mother spoke to him in a kind voice and he responded by taking his hand from behind him and opened it, revealing a beetle that was greenish-yellow. He was definitely going to sneak it into the house to scare Mytti with. For sure, no doubt. My mother spoke to him once more and the boy nodded before running back to where he had found the bug and put it back. Or at least, made the motions of putting it back. After he “released” the bug, he then raced back into the house. A loud scream echoed from the open windows shortly after. My mother sighed and shook her head, but I giggled. My mother stared at me in thought before she spoke.

“Awata mae tadenil Jeral.”

I didn’t need to know the language to know she said ‘Please don’t be like your brother’. Lucky for her, I didn’t have a mind for mischief. I just enjoyed a good prank or two. Together we watched Jeral bolt out of the house, laughing, followed closely by a very angry Mytti. If I were a betting man, I’d place money on Jeral giving her the slip in the gardens. He was fast. Mytti however, made a show of chasing him before slowing down and returning to the entrance of the house and hiding behind the door. And so the hunter lay in wait for its prey. Jeral came trotting around the other side of the house with a grin on his face. He looked around briefly and assumed he had lost his sister. He assumed wrong. I wanted to shout a warning, but I also wanted to see how this would end. When he opened the door to the house Mytti was there.

In the blink of an eye she grabbed Jeral by the shirt with one hand. In the other was the beetle from before. She then squished the bug against Jeral’s forehead. Surprise held Jeral as Mytti wiped the remains of the beetle on her hand on his shirt. Satisfied with her vengeance, she then walked back into the house with her head held high. Still in wonder how he could have been outdone, Jeral made his way towards us and sat beside us. Once again, I didn’t need to know the language that my mother told him that he gets what he deserves. All in all, it was an entertaining morning.

Sadly the rest of the day proved rather uneventful. I had a few meals and a few naps. While I was awake I babbled a ton to strengthen my vocal chords so I could speak as fast as possible. Crawled whenever possible so I’d get stronger and only pooped myself twice. Not my fault though, just doing baby things. However, I did get back at Mytti for my brother Jeral. While she was holding me and making boo-boo poo-poo noises I peed on her. Frustrated, she handed me off to Jeral who then whispered to me in a happy tone. No problem bro, us dudes gotta stick together.

At dinner time the whole family gathered in the dining area. A massive table sat in the center of the room, surrounded by seats for every member of the family with room enough to spare for any guests if need be. Sitting at the head of the table was father, of course. To his right was Myril and to his left was my mother. The older children were seated wherever they wanted, whereas Lakka and I were put in a crib that had room to move around in. We already had our dinner so now it was time for the older people to eat. I watched with interest as my father spoke to everyone. They then bowed their heads in prayer before digging into whatever they had on their plates.

I salivated at the smells coming from that table. Whatever it was they were eating, it smelled like chicken. I prayed that my teeth would come in soon, I desperately craved meat.

As the family ate, my father would address one member of the family and speak with them for a time before moving on to another. It seemed like this was his way of spending time with the family as I had not seen him in the house all day. Though I admit that I haven’t been to every room in this mansion. At one point he had addressed Jeral who didn’t respond. Not exactly raising his voice my father spoke in a stern manner.

“Jeral Faltelo, kali pa tapaelo shipenti esta enlo.”

Oh yeah, he was about to get a talkin’ to about pulling pranks on his sister. That was the first time I had heard our last name though. Hmm, Daen Faltelo... sounds good to me.

As I did my best to listen in to the conversation, I knew that one day I would sit at that same table. It was just a long, long time off. It was at that point I vowed to do my best to understand this language. But as I made my vow a rather stinky fragrance emanated from my immediate vicinity. I turned my head just in time to see Lakka begin to cry as she made a mess in her clothes. A servant entered the room and quickly extracted my stinky sister from the room.

Dammit sis, way to ruin the mood.