40 nurse maids, for each baby, all between levels 50 - 80, watching and tending to the baby, ensuring the babies were happy and engaged when awake. All under compulsion of loyalty. It was a mind sutra that made it impossible for the one under the compulsion to act or even speak of anything going against the compulsion’s mandates. These were costly to apply and required willingness on the part of the compelled. They also reduced overall intelligence and productivity of the compelled, limiting its usefulness for complex duties. However a compulsion of loyalty meant the maids would not betray the Empress or her children, they wouldn’t even be able to harm the children.

The maids worked in shifts of ten, rotating every four hours. At no time was the child left unattended by more than 6 of the attending 10. The Empress tended to the children every free waking moment of her day, few as these were, going to sleep every night with Shiv in her arms. Some nights she would have Nal and Shiv both with her. Her favoritism was visible, though palace gossip was limited since the maids would not talk. The maids however did note an eagerness in their Empress, it seemed to some of them that their Empress couldn’t wait for her son to grow up.

Shiv had returned to his scape-shell soon after the test plate shattered. It was two days later that Mara came to meet him for a last time, wishing him well for his transition, as she let the dome collapse. He could have held against the pressure of the soul sea by forming his own shell, he instead tamped down that impulse letting the pressure knock him out.

When he first woke up, it felt like he was under water. His sight was blurry, the sounds didn’t make sense and his thoughts were sluggish. Thinking was like pushing through thick mud, yet the thoughts were like smoke drifting on the wind, he couldn’t hold on to them as they flitted by. He struggled to remember what had happened just moments ago. He also couldn’t access his mind palace. He could sense it, but it all felt like it was just out of his reach, no matter how much he tried to get to it.

In the end he gave up trying to make sense of things and turned to a breathing and meditation technique his Guru had taught him. He had used it daily in his past life, to calm down, to let go of pent up frustration, pain and anger. He had used it for so long that it came to him instinctively in moments of stress. As he calmed down he felt a surge of energy flowing through his body, it energized him and also soothed him. The memories might fade each moment, but the feeling remained so he kept it up till sleep took him.

As time passed his vision was slowly clearing up. Details and distance was lacking but color returned to him. He was also learning to differentiate sounds, especially voices he heard each day. He couldn’t remember the sounds themselves, but there was one voice which sang to him regularly. That person held him gently when they sang. He felt immensely comfortable with the sounds, the touch and the smells. The memories were fleeting but he felt a connection that made him feel safe and comfortable and loved all at once. It made him hold on and not let go of the person with that voice.

Anad was the highest ranking maid looking after Shiv. She had applied to serve Nal, being a native of King Nalan’s homeland, but had instead been assigned to care for Shiv. No one had noticed any lack in her service for this. She was second only to Empress Mara in her concern and care for the baby. She would pull double shifts and would constantly engage the baby when it was awake, in play or with her melodious songs. She was also the baby’s nemesis.

Compulsion. It made treachery almost impossible. Almost.

Anad was the daughter of a quad leader from Nalan’s kingdom. Her father and she only had each other. The war between the Golden Sun Empire and the Balinga Kingdom had cost her father’s life, amongst many others. It had ended with the marriage of Prince Nalan to Princess Mara and Balinga Kingdom became a part of the Empire as a dowry for the marriage. A lot of bloodshed was avoided, yet none that had been shed would be returned.

She had sworn vengeance, to make the Suryavan family and Mara specifically suffer a loss & pain same as she had. She had found her way into the Prince’s service and was bidding her time, devoted thoroughly to her service and absolutely patient in her wait for vengeance. Gods reward perseverance and her time came when Shiv was six months old.

A week before the babies trip to the Suryavan’s origin system, a plot against the babies’ convoy was uncovered. It was not clear if the discovery was itself a part of the plot or not. Empress Mara was not one to shy away from a challenge so the trip was not postponed, just extra preparation was done.

Anad was fleeing with Shiv in an escape shuttle. Her objective was to clear the asteroid field and use the escape protocols to warp to a random system.

It was only a few hours ago that the convoy had been attacked. The enemy had four stage 4 fighters to counter Empress Mara and Kings Nalan and Amer. The enemy also outnumbered the convoy 3 to 1 in the lower ranks. Where they lacked was in training and levels. It took less than 15min for the convoy’s forces to overwhelm the attackers, supported as they were by reinforcements that joined in 5min after the attack began.

It had been enough. The attackers had thrown the best against the flagship and the babies, causing the escape protocols to be triggered, offering Anad her chance. The maid with the highest levels in each baby’s group was to take the baby and escape using high stealth, high speed, high defense shuttles. The shuttles had been pre-programmed to randomly warp to throw off all pursuers. Upon reaching the destination planet, the shuttle would split into a smaller unmarked common ship with the rest silently self-destructing. The maid was to do a check for and remove all tracers on them and the baby, land the ship, cause it to self destruct, abandon it, find shelter, hide and wait to be picked up. The maids had been given sufficient provisions and coins to help them last years if needed. They were not told how the Empire would find them, just that they would be found quickly.

Anad knew. When she had embarked on her path of vengeance she had spent a large part of her life savings to acquire two things - 1) a tracer detector & remover that was effective on tracers up to stage 5 and 2) a masking field generator that would avoid detection by stage 5 level scans. She had used her scanner every night of her service to the royals. She had long known of the stage 4 tracer on her. It was scary, but also exciting. She had found a crack in the security wall and she would make it enough.

Anad and Shiv warped out over the Vendya planet. It was in the Col II system - the first solar system colonized by the Golden Sun Empire when it was but a system wide kingdom. The Vendya planet was the larger of the two planets in the habitable zone of the system. Ruins found on the planet indicated it had played host to civilization in the ancient past. It had three forest crusted continents that covered around 43% of its surface. The forests were broken in parts by large settlements but were largely left intact. The forests and oceans had numerous beasts who had up to 3 cores and were stage 1 to stage 4 in levels, with rumors of rarely sighted stage 5 beasts. Adding in the dangerous mysteries in the ruins of the planet had caused the planet to become a major training zone for students in the Empire and across the galaxy. The Empire’s administrative center was on the other planet, Vaen. Control of Vendya was divided amongst 4 families.

She landed her craft in the caldera of an active volcano on the Kona continent, the largest of the three continents. After the ship self destructed, she meticulously ensured to consign any all remaining parts into the volcanic lava. The volcano was at the eastern edge of a mountain range, the largest mountain range of the whole planet. The caldera was below the snow line and a dense forest covered its slopes and spread out on its southern and eastern side.

She left the volcano and entered the forest. She eventually came to a large banyan tree, atop a small hill in the forest. It was far but not too far from a lake. The hill had a small natural cave, enough for 3 people and high enough to provide a vantage point. She quickly set up her masking field, while it would protect from scans it was also a strong force field and would protect her and the baby safe from the attentions of the beasts in the forest.

The baby had slept through the escape and was still sleeping soundly in its cot. The cot was of ordinary design, a large hollow egg shape about twice the size of the baby with a third of it cut off. The wide end faced the ground while the whole contraption floated in the air. It had a standard looking force field for normal operation and a non standard one for times of emergency, including other non-standard measures for the baby’s protection.

Anad looked at the sleeping baby for a long time. She had cared for it for close to 6 months. She couldn’t deny that she felt a real sense of care towards the boy. She couldn’t help but smile when she remembered that Shiv would always smile at her when she held him. She reached down and gently brushed his cheeks, he smiled and gurgled in his sleep. She sighed, “I am sorry.”

“Are you sure Anad?”

“Yes.”, Anad had a catch in her voice on hearing him say her name. When she had set out on her path she’d known this could happen. Yet when it did, she still couldn’t believe she was conversing with a god, one of the Trinity at that. The god she had prayed to since she understood worship and prayers and gods.

“You intend to sacrifice all your tapa-shakti, all your advancements and all your life force in return for this boon for the child?

“Yes.”

It was three months since she had escaped with the baby. The baby had been somewhat confused with the change in circumstances but his trust in her and her continued care meant it had adjusted quickly to living in the cave and in his cot. The baby was still sleeping for 18 hrs and waking for 3-4 hrs. She had spent those 18 hrs in meditation and storing shakti. 3-months by itself would not be enough to gather sufficient energy for the boon she wanted, she would be sacrificing herself for that. 3-months were needed to be sure the scanners and searchers would have moved on.

She stared back at the God her resolve etched on her face. The God, looked at her and the child that was his namesake, he sighed and a shimmer fell over Anad.

“The compulsion nyasa has been suppressed. You may speak freely. I am curious. Satisfy me and I will grant a favor for it beyond the boon. Why do you wish to throw your life away like this? You could choose to have the compulsion lifted and either kill or just abandon the baby in the forest - the forest would do the rest.”

Anad looked at the sleeping Shiv in her lap, as she asked softly, “What is vengeance?”

Then she looked at the God, her eyes shone fiercely, as she poured the pain out of her soul, “How could I avenge myself against those that are so much more powerful, more intelligent, more talented than I am? I was never a fighter or a schemer. I have burned in the fire of these and similar questions for over 150 years. Lived in an all consuming darkness of self-loathing for having failed.”

She looked at Shiv again, her voice softening as she stroked his head, “What could be my vengeance when this boy disarmed my anger with his smile? When he holds my finger with love and trust and I feel a warmth in a corner of my cold heart, yet the emptiness in heart remains.”

She paused and was barely audible when she continued, “What is vengeance for someone as pitiful as me? I had indeed planned earlier to seek to be rid of the compulsion and be the end of this child. But I can no longer do that. It no longer makes sense.”

A trace of venom crept into her voice. “She would know if he dies, she would be hurt and she would mourn, and in time she would heal. I wish for her to know pain and loss for as long as she lives, to have an emptiness that nothing can fill.”

“And you think that this boon will achieve that?”

“Yes. With this she loses him, loses what she wants to make of him. Even if she were to find him tomorrow, she would be unable to fix this. As for him, he gets to live his life on his terms not as she designs it for him. Even if he surpasses the limits of the boon that would be on him, not on her. This loss, this regret, for someone that she holds dear will not heal with time.”

Lord Shiva stood looking at Anad with sadness in his eyes. Anad was not looking at Him. She kept playing with Shiv’s hair, watching his nose flare as he slept. She wouldn’t meet His eyes. Then Anad added, “Have I satisfied Your curiosity my Lord?”

“Yes.”

“For my favor, can you make it so that she can’t find him? Just keep her from him for as long as possible.”

“Till he comes of age. Beyond that whether he meets her or not will be up to his karma.”

Anad nodded, “That would be acceptable. So when will...”

“The process has already begun. You may rest now, maatey, your will and vengeance are done.”

Anad could feel the shakti and life-force draining from her. She hugged Shiv to herself, constantly repeating “I’m sorry.” as tears streamed down her face. As tiredness came over her she lay him down in his cot before her. If he was in the cot when she died, the cot would fly off on its own, seeking the nearest mortal settlement.

She leaned back against the tree she sat under, closed her eyes, murmuring softly, “maatey, maatey...” and stopped suddenly. With difficulty she spoke to her Lord one last time, “Maatey, you called me mother”, she coughed, “Son, this child... like a son to me... be a good son... brother... watch over him... guide him when he needs it.”

Lord Shiva watched her pass away with a smile on her face. He had a wistful smile on his face. He was sad to see a life wasted but glad that his ruse had paid off and she departed content. The duty of a child to their mother was a sacred thing for Gods. Even though he wouldn't be able to interfere blatantly, none would be able to fault his actions.

As he faded away, he looked up at the tree, at the coiled purple mass. A Halahal snake, it was hungry and angry. Her body was still warm, it would strike soon. He used his power to modify the branch slightly. The snake wouldn't notice but its trajectory would change. He looked to the south, wondering if the Volcanic Tigress would make it in time.