by W. C. Jasper
Nafisa replied with a bow, “Blessings to you too, My Lady.” Nafisa was 102 years old and had porcelain skin and long, dark blonde hair.
Lady Heidi observed the other two girls intently. Both girls had light-golden skin and wavy black hair. Two lovely young women were about the Prince’s age. One was sitting on a small bed with an unkempt appearance and tragic expression, and the other one, who was in far better shape, stood clinging to the King.
She noticed that both of them were scared of her. The fear they displayed was something strange. Far too strange. She looked at the King for some explanation. King Jeraash, holding the hand of the girl, introduced her, “This is Sasha.” Sasha managed to flash a smile through her nervousness with great effort. “And that is Gabi, Sasha’s younger sister,” he added. Lady Heidi whispered in the King’s ear with her incredibly kind voice, “She seems to be far too terrified. Can anyone other than Sasha even approach her?” King Jeraash responded with a solemn voice, “Jared can,” and signalled his brother to demonstrate.
As Prince Jared approached Gabi, Lady Heidi asked, “Only Jared?”
King Jeraash nodded silently. As Prince Jared approached her, Lady Heidi noticed that there was no caution in his steps, no intentional output in his body language to put Gabi at ease. Yet, when he reached her, Gabi immediately relaxed. Her eyes transitioned quite swiftly from fear to feeling secured. He sat on the floor beside the low bed she was sitting on. As he sat on the floor, he took her hand in his and held it, resting it on her thighs. As her lips opened, a breathy and tortured voice spoke, “I had a nightmare… our father came and took us…” she broke into sobbing, “You and Jeraash-aani never came to take us back…” Prince Jared kissed her hand and caressed the top of her back and spoke with a magically soothing voice, “Come now, Eevay.” ‘Eevay’ was the honorific used for addressing younger sisters in Jerudian culture. “You know that that could never happen. You know that Jeraash-aani and I are always standing guard outside! Jiraai and the others are also always standing guard with us.” Gabi’s faintly sobbing voice answered, “My wounds started hurting again after the nightmare…” Prince Jared rubbed her hand, encasing it in his hands as his heart agonised over being unable to do anything to help her. He sat up beside her on the bed and laid her head on his shoulder and spoke with a sorrowful voice that did its best to masquerade as positive, “It won’t hurt anymore… I’ve brought sweets that have special herbs inside them. If you eat them, your wounds will not hurt anymore!” He reached into his pockets and offered her sweets he had made by his own hands for Sasha and Gabi (without any special medicinal herbs). An excellent actor emerged from within Prince Jared as she started eating the sweets, “See? Your pain is already leaving, right?” He reinforced his projections with physical feedback through soothing touches. So splendid was his acting, that even a mentally healthy adult would have been convinced by his extraordinary performance and fallen prey to his placebo treatment.
King Jeraash sent Sasha to sit with Gabi and Prince Jared, and approached Lady Heidi. He leaned in close to her ear and whispered, “I know you have many questions, Lady Heidi. But for now, I request you to sit with Nafisa and observe.” Lady Heidi nodded. And for 20 minutes, she watched and observed the King and Prince play silly indoor games with the sisters. As they departed, Sasha and Gabi exchanged extremely long hugs with the brothers, unwilling to allow them to depart.
As Lady Heidi, King Jeraash, and Prince Jared walked back to the palace, she mulled over the observations she had made and prepared all the questions she wished to ask them. King Jeraash asked the guards to vacate one of the smaller rooms. And with only the three of them sitting at the meeting table in the dimly lit room, Lady Heidi asked, “These must be the girls the two of you rescued from the forest years ago.” King Jeraash nodded while she continued, “I don’t think I need to ask my questions here. You already know them. Please go ahead and illuminate.”
King Jeraash took a deep breath, blinked his eyes a few times, and spoke after ample thought, “As you are aware, when we had rescued the girls; the case was a controversial issue. Only a few people know about the details of this case. Their father was a… twisted man. The only word that comes to mind when I think of the things…” His eyes tightened and tensed up and his voice became low and hollow like a canyon’s call, “Demonic. He was a demonic man, Lady Heidi.” Lady Heidi braced herself as he continued, “The girls’ mother had passed away in an accident when they were about seven years old. A totally natural accident as we know it to be - She slipped and fell from a mountain. We will never know what caused the man to do so, but after a few years of the mother’s passing; the father started hurting the girls for no apparent… or rather some unknowable reason.” Lady Heidi’s eyebrows curled in fear and confusion. King Jeraash took a small pause and continued, “Well… my guess is that there was a reason.”
His eyes and voice grew darker as he added, “As you are aware, Jared has studied and researched about human psychology very deeply. He recently found some studies from Gessold that claim that people who were exposed to certain traumatic events as children, grow up with a predisposition to actions… related to that trauma… It’s quite complex and complicated, but what it essentially says is this. If a child who has not yet even formed cognisant awareness, witnesses grave violence, there is a good chance that they will grow up to be someone who automatically has a need to commit violence…”
Lady Heidi was now overwhelmed with shock.
King Jeraash: “It is… not to say that people who experience such childhood trauma will go on to become offenders themselves, but rather that most people who become offenders became that way because of their past experiences. The theory suggests that the person might have no choice in the matter. Something in their brain makes it so that they have a need for it… Like when our body sends signals of hunger to the brain… Same as that… Jared, of course, has studied psychology more than anyone, and even he says that he completely agrees with it. And even though when it comes to psychology, I am not as much of an expert as him; based on what I have seen in these studies so far, I would say that I agree as well.”
Lady Heidi was speechless, as expected.
King Jeraash continued, “Based on Sasha’s father’s timeline of offences, it might be more likely that it was not caused due to some childhood trauma since it started so suddenly and late into his adulthood. And it is also a safe assumption that it was triggered by their mother’s death somehow. Even so… It is still possible that he too might have been a victim of some such condition that made him predisposed to it and took away control from him… But still…” King Jeraash's breathing became heavy and his voice, tired as he continued, “His own daughters… How could he hurt his own children… Tell me Lady Heidi… What else but a demon could gain pleasure from inflicting pain upon its own? Upon its own daughters!”
Lady Heidi looked on in pity-filled compassion. Prince Jared spoke nothing the entire time.
King Jeraash spoke again after a long silence, “I’m sure you realise that this incident was hidden because it was the first such instance. If people heard about it, no one could have predicted what kind of rumours would start spreading. But imagine my surprise when I found out that multiple accounts of such instances have been recorded in Gessold. In fact, as of the end of the last year, a total of 67 such instances have been officially recorded. After all, that is the reason they were able to study the matter. But what’s truly astonishing is that when one of their philosophers called such behaviour demonic, he was ridiculed and was told that such notions are outdated. That their society has evolved beyond such antiquated concepts as good and evil…” Even under great anger, his demeanour remained controlled and his voice remained in check, as always. But the weariness in his voice was now obvious, “What is such a thing to be called if not demonic? How can a human soul be able to do something so perverse…? Sure… If a man’s brain had been wired to commit such violence and it was out of his control, I can unde
rstand that him hurting people is a biological imperative that he had no choice in… But how am I supposed to entertain the idea that a man could hurt his own blood? His own daughters?! How can that be anything other than demonic activity!?”
Gloomy silence covered the room. King Jeraash took a cleansing breath and gently shook his head, trying to steer away from the darkness of the conversation, “Anyway, while we are on the topic, I would like to hear about your opinion on something. We noticed something through the studies and research that Jared and I have conducted. It might seem a little far-fetched, but please hear me out.” Lady Heidi listened intently as he continued, “Physical and mental illnesses seem to be thriving in societies that move further away from its reliance on nature and inch closer to dependence on man-made inventions that distort the provisions found in nature. Especially when chemicals are intensely experimented with and powerful by-products are created due to manufacturing and such processes… But the most obvious and disturbing one we have found is what Gessold does with its food. Would you believe it if I said that Gessold purposely alters the food supply for its citizens in ways that are proven to make them physically as well as mentally unhealthy?” Lady Heidi’s face was plastered with unbelief, and she also wondered why he was mentioning all of this in this particular conversation.
King Jeraash: “One reason for them doing this that we already know is greed. The government creates sickness and the powerful businessmen that create the medicines, slip a part of the profits back to the government. I realise this might seem unconnected to our current conversation. I shared that with you because I wish to invite you to be one of my secret advisors. So, I needed to share certain information with you that would enable you to discharge the duties of that role. But coming back to the immediate issue at hand, all these mental illnesses or mental states that simply cannot and ought not be counted as normal… I wish to discuss the causes behind it. I shared with you that Jared and I believe that moving away from and perverting nature’s providence deteriorates a human’s mental health. But there is another cause that we also believe to be just as much of a culprit. We wanted to hear your thoughts on this.” Lady Heidi nodded and listened attentively.
King Jeraash: “We’ve noticed that societies that focus more and more on the physical and dismiss the spiritual reality seem to be drifting to beliefs that dismiss the importance of morality. And we believe that such environments could also be just as much of a cause for a mental state that could allow a human soul to sink as low as hurting one’s own child and derive pleasure from it. Not that it is a cause in and of itself… But certainly, a contributing… nay… an aiding factor… We wanted to hear what you think about it.”
Lady Heidi responded in an unhurried tone, “There is certainly no doubt that how one views spirituality affects a person’s moral outlook. And yes, a decayed moral outlook would certainly make a mind more susceptible to vile conditions such as hurting one’s own.”
“Hmmm…” said King Jeraash as Prince Jared watched on quietly.
Lady Heidi spoke again, “Go on, My King.”
King Jeraash realised that there was more to speak about and responded, “Yes. Of course. Forgive me, I got lost there. This meeting is obviously first and foremost about Sasha and Gabi. As you can see, the girls are in a terribly damaged state. It might look like Sasha is in a better condition, but her situation is more tragic… One can say that she has suffered more… Anyway, I will get right to it. Both the girls are crippled by trauma and are in a constant state of fear. Since the day we rescued them, we are the only two people they trust. We are the only people that have any kind of access to their personhood. Father decided that we should prepare two maids who should be able to take care of them. So he assigned Nafisa and Beneeya to the job since they were two of the most gentle and experienced caretakers. It took great effort and much time.
For the first few days, we had to convince them both to simply allow Nafisa and Beneeya to sit in the room. Even with our presence, Nafisa and Beneeya were allowed to only sit at the opposite end of the room. We did just that for a few days so that we could normalise their presence and establish the concept that Nafisa and Beneeya were a safe presence. It also extended the trust they had in us to them since they arrived with us and left with us.”
Lady Heidi: “Quite wise.”
King Jeraash nodded, “Nafisa and Beneeya now take turns taking care of them.”
Lady Heidi: “Why the treehouse?”
King Jeraash: “I know it seems like a bad choice. But they are scared of sunlight. They feel secure only in fully closed-off spaces. And since the windows in the tree-house are only for ventilation and do not let any light in whatsoever through the thick blanket of leaves, it is perfect for them. We could have housed them in a basement room, but we felt that such an environment would be detrimental to their mental state and further expand their aversion to the outdoor world. The treehouse feels more therapeutic… Also, did you notice that a lot of the oliones were covered up?”
Lady Heidi: “Yes. I understand that they were for controlling the amount of light in the room. Spending the entire day in too much light must be irritating for the eyes.”
King Jeraash: “Yes. We also use multiple layers of translucent covers for precisely controlling the intensity of the lights. But, the reason so many of them were completely covered was because we are employing as many tactics as we can for helping them.”
Lady Heidi was clueless.
King Jeraash: “We studied the effects that different colours of lights have on the state of the brain. So we have used four colours in the rooms in total. You saw the white and yellow lights at work today. But we also have green and blue lights. Thankfully, our body and mind are very good at telling us what they need. So, since their brains know that they have the option of the four colours, their body and mind choose which light they want based on their current mood. This was rather crucial since they do not get even a tiny bit of sunlight. But that is actually one of the main reasons I brought you here today.”
Lady Heidi: “I’m listening.”
King Jeraash: “While we have employed all these tactics for so long, it is time for us to now make efforts to somehow get them out into the sunlight and accustom them to spending at least a little time outdoors. Fixing their mental condition is another story, but I want them to at least be able to get some sunlight. Being completely shut off from sunlight is not only bad for their mental health, but also their physical health. I want you to help us with that.”
Lady Heidi drifted into deep thought for a good while. She looked at Prince Jared, “Young Prince, I need to speak alone with the King.”
Prince Jared was baffled at why anything would need to be a secret about the matter at hand. He was understandably upset that anything related to Sasha and Gabi would have the need to be kept secret from him. But he was also humble and quick to understand that she must have good reason and nodded and silently exited the room.
As he left the room, King Jeraash said, “You already know that there is no need to call me ‘King’ in here. Please.”
King Jeraash himself was quite curious as to what could possibly need to be kept from Prince Jared.
Lady Heidi: “You do realise that the Prince has an uncanny talent for connecting with the broken and vulnerable people, don’t you?”
King Jeraash smiled.
Lady Heidi: “Why do you think he sat by her feet?”
King Jeraash was a little confused, “He always does that. In fact, that’s how he often sits around me. He loves sitting at my feet… But yes, now that I think about it… That is clearly entirely different…”
He looked at Lady Heidi questioningly, “What are you trying to say, Lady Heidi?”
Lady Heidi: “Your brother can somehow sense the needs of a broken spirit with incredible accuracy. It’s as if his ability to empathise…” She shook her head, being unable to complete that line of thought, “Not only can he sense the needs of such spirits,
but his soul has been endowed with the exact response needed in such situations. He instinctively knows what needs to be done in such situations for either bringing healing to such people or to help them deal with their suffering.”
King Jeraash’s eyes widened a little in realisation of what it is that he always knew about his brother but had never been able to put it into words. He chuckled.
Lady Heidi: “Tell me what you are thinking of.”
King Jeraash indulged in a moment of nostalgia and smiled in reminiscence, “When Appa passed away, I never used to cry in front of Jared. I wanted to be strong for him. But at nights, around the second and third hours of the day, I would be weeping alone, sitting on the floor in my room. Suddenly I would hear Jared’s loud footsteps coming to my room. I would quickly gather myself, lie down on my bed, and act like I was sleeping. He would climb on my bed, and gently nudge me and whisper to me, ‘Brother. I can’t sleep.’ He would ask to sleep on my lap. As I would start putting him to sleep, he would start speaking of memories that he knew would make me cry. He did that regularly, exactly at the times I started crying. He knew that I too needed someone to cry with. Once I started crying, he would shut up and simply lay on my lap. He never tried to sooth me. He knew that what I needed was not to be soothed. He knew that I just needed his presence… To know that he was always there with me. He knew that as an elder brother, my therapy was being the soother and not the ‘soothee’… Even as a 12-year-old… and even before that! He understood that not everyone needs the same thing in grieving… His understanding of these things has always been beyond anything natural… And believe it or not, Jeniah is even better than him at these things… She might as well be a mage at these things!”