Henry Glade
“Hello, Lady Seltia. How is Lord Tristan progressing?” I asked as I entered the room.
Lord Tristan is now a year old, so he has gotten noticeably more active. The only weird thing is that not one of his habits or actions has changed.
He’s always calm, so much so that it terrifies the four of us. He rarely cries, and when he wakes up, he doesn’t make much or any sounds, so we just catch him staring at his surroundings silently.
I had never, ever encountered a child, even 10 times his age, who would be this aberrant.
However, it’s not all bad. He still laughs a lot and smiles a lot too, so he’s still normal.
“Come look at this! You won’t believe it!” Said Lady Seltia, all excited, as she interrupted my train of thought. I ran into Lord Tristan’s lavishly decorated living room, courtesy of Lady Seltia, only to find him…. walking?
I stood there for a minute, dumbfounded. I didn’t know what to say, since children are known to start walking around this age. I surveyed the room, only to catch sight of an odd castle built out of blocks, Lady Seltia, and a walking Lord Tristan. I didn't really know what to say.
In mere seconds, Lord Ashen and my brother entered the room. They clearly heard Lady Seltia, and they also seemed to be in a state of confusion as to how to proceed from here after surveying their surroundings as I did.
I guess being his parent might have dulled her senses a little, or maybe she’s just genuinely excited since she spends the most time with him. We collectively smiled at her and nodded.
“That’s most wonderful, Lady Seltia! I’m glad Lord Tristan started-”
“That’s lovely and all, b-”
“Congrats, my Lord and Lady, how-”
“Don’t patronize me.” She said, cutting all three of us off and forcing us to take a step back.
“Excuse me?” we asked in near unison. We were all genuinely confused. She gave us a look before pointing at Lord Tristan, who was now running!
“Holy shit!” Yelled Auver, completely surprised. Lord Ashen’s eyes grew wide as he just stared at him before looking over at Lady Seltia once again.
I personally didn’t know what to say or how to respond, so I just stood there silently.
“You three clearly don’t understand the significance of this. He has never taken a step before today. He never even tried to stand up! He started walking 5 minutes ago, and now he’s running! Look at him go, all excited!” She said as she watched him maneuver around every little thing in his path. He ran and ran, and ran until Lady Seltia stood up and picked him up.
“Good job, Lord Tristan! Did you have fun? Maybe after we eat, we can go play in the snow!” She said, excitedly throwing him up and down.
He started making all of these weird giggling noises, indicating that he was and is happy, I believe.
“This is quite a marvelous achievement…” I said, still a little surprised.
“That’s not all. Look at that! What does it remind you of?” She said as she pointed at the block castle.
“Winter Peak.” Lord Ashen said and she nodded.
“I have only taken Lord Tristan out once to survey this kingdom, and that was exactly 5 months ago! I brought the blocks to help him develop his awareness, but look at what he built by himself!” She said all excited.
Lord Ashen just nodded, as if he knew already. I personally believe he’s the type to remain unfazed regardless of the situation. How oddly stoic, yet comforting when done by someone at his age.
Auver nodded, then looked around for a seat and sat there before closing his eyes and reclining backward a little. He took a few deep breaths before smiling.
“That must be why he’s special to Father. He must not be normal. It makes sense. This is what he meant when he told me that ‘I will see’...” Said my brother before reclining backward again. The smile on his face was gone.
“Watch your mouth, Lord Tristan is normal. He appears to be highly perceptive and terrifyingly creative, given how he walked like you do Lord Ashen, and how he built a castle, not just any old one either, but the one we live in. It becomes clear, then, that he’s just far more developed than others his age.” She said as she gave him a look. He squirmed a little in his chair while avoiding eye contact with her.
We all then watched Lord Tristan move around and then we realized that he did indeed move like Lord Ashen. It was a strange development.
“You really do watch him all of the time. Well done, my lady.” Said Lord Ashen, clearly proud. She smiled as she bowed. Auver pretended to be puking.
“That is certainly amazing and all, but Father wouldn’t have chosen a child like him if he knew he was just slightly more developed. There are easily thousands of children like this around the world-”
“No, there aren’t. No child starts running immediately after walking, all based on imagery and builds a castle out of memory using the barest of materials. Lord Tristan is special, and so I shall have to change his schedule accordingly. I need to run a variety of experimental games with him, to test his mental level in other areas as well.” She said and I nodded. I should have watched my wording.
“Of course, you are right. Sorry, I got a little ahead of myself.” I said and she just waved it off.
“Don’t forget to inform him.” Said Auver before standing up and leaving.
“Naturally.” She said as he left. Lord Ashen and I remained as we watched her destroy the castle and then set him in front of it once again.
“Build whatever you want, my lord!” She said and Lord Tristan stared at her before chewing on one of the blocks and then placing it down.
He only chewed on the first one, and then he started rebuilding the castle. It was perfectly identical, so much so that it terrified me a little. He did it at his pace and didn’t stop until it was completed.
Once he finished and looked at her, she motioned for us to clap and he started giggling.
“You just won a daily trip outside!” She said as she hurriedly wiped his face and fetched his winter gear. We helped her dress him, and then the four of us made our way out of his room and outside.
“Lord Tristan, look outside of this window. These men here are all your loyal subordinates. They swing their sword proudly for you and you alone.” Said Lady Seltia as she turned around and set him on the window. He watched nearly a hundred men swing their swords in unison.
After a minute or so, she picked him up and we continued walking.
Every minute or so, she would stop and point something out for him. Strangely enough, he seemed to be conscious of what she was saying.
However, he also seemed to be perpetually unaware of everything at the same time. He was an oddity, yet still the same as any his age.
We continued our little tour, with Lord Ashen and I even adding something every now and then. Eventually, we reached the castle gates and were escorted out with a dozen maids at Lord Ashen’s command.
We walked a few minutes before stopping at a large, snow-packed field surrounded by trees at the center of town. Of course, the town was empty.
In fact, my brother banned anyone except for the five of us and a variety of servants from living in the capital. Under his command, everyone else is to live outside at all times. This was all due to Lady Seltia’s request.
Her reasoning was that the soldier's duties were and are to protect us, regardless of their condition, so the atmosphere was deemed unhealthy for a growing child and they had to be forced away from him.
None of us could really argue with her, so we accepted her reasoning and followed through on her request. Now, the entire capital has become Lord Tristan’s playground.
“Enjoy yourself, my Lord.” Said Lady Seltia as she released Lord Tristan onto the snow and then she motioned for one of the servants in attendance to place a little blanket below a tree and the three of us sat in comfortable silence for a little while as we watched him play about.
“I didn’t want to bring this up earlier, but now that he can do more than just walk, Auver and I will have to start training him physically.” Said Lord Ashen, rather quietly. I looked at Lady Seltia’s face, and for the briefest of moments, the calm composure she always wore broke slightly.
She really did get attached to him, making what I had to say next even harder.
“Father said the exact moment he shows signs of intelligence, I am to begin his tutelage, regardless of his age,” I said. I didn’t even look at her, rather, I focused wholly on Lord Tristan, as he picked up snow to build something with it.
What an extremely, extremely odd 1-year-old.
“Did he really tell you that?” Asked Lord Ashen to my right, and I nodded.
“He told Auver and I the same exact thing, except it was for physical development.” He said. I just nodded once again.
“ How about we give it a few weeks before we start training him? Let’s let him get accustomed to things first, and gain awareness as we raise him slowly.” Said Lady Seltia, however, we both shook our heads in unison.
“Father’s words are final,” I said, and she just stared at the two of us before returning to her normal composure.
“ I’m sorry, but I have to agree with those two as well.” Said Auver as he came up from behind us. He sat on Lady Seltia’s right.
She didn’t say anything at all, in fact, she didn’t even react. It would be no lie to say that there was some tension that started lingering in the air now, but then she took a deep breath and finally spoke.
“ Then so be it. You two shall mold his body, Henry his mind, and I his manners and personality. If we are to do this, then we are to do it right. Discuss among yourselves and submit your final plans to me before we head back. I shall handle everything else.” She said as she got up and picked Lord Tristan up.
I simply felt guilty as I watched her leave, Lord Ashen was looking not at her, but rather, through her, and Auver couldn’t or wouldn’t look up.
Auver then motioned for a servant to bring forth a scroll.
“Believe it or not, but I just received this from the head before coming here. We are to begin training Lord Tristan in all of these areas, promptly.” He said.
Neither of us commented on ‘Lord Tristan’, but it was still a little surprising to hear it come out of his mouth. What was even more surprising was hearing that Father knew and then had time to write all of this out.
“The four of us have a lot of ground to cover, but since the head chose all of these areas and subjects, he must believe we are proficient in all of them. I already took the liberty of splitting the workload among ourselves based on our skillsets, the only issue is how to proceed from there.” He said matter-of-factly.
Lord Ashen looked at the paper before sighing.
“He’s a year old for god’s sake. Well, it clearly doesn’t matter anymore. What’s the time limit?” He asked and Auver smiled.
“I expected you to ask that, so I asked the head in advance, and he said he would personally visit us on Lord Tristan’s 8th birthday. We have until then to prove our worth, otherwise…” He said, and then he trailed off. The message, however, was crystal clear.
I looked at Lady Seltia, who was sitting next to Lord Tristan in the snow. We wanted to tell her, but Lord Ashen said he would break the news later. It would be best if she were given some time to settle her thoughts.
None of us wanted to trouble her, but none of us also wanted her to die so we had no choice but to start our seven-year plan.
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