Reborn 1-5

by D. W. Jackson

  “What am I thinking about?” Ash asked himself slapping his forehead with his palm. “This is a marriage of convenience for political purposes. I should be asking myself what the pros and cons are.”

  If he married Emelia, he would have to take on her name, though since he didn’t have a last name in this world, it was not as if it mattered. He would also have to work with her to produce an heir, but that was hardly a downside. Due to the laws of this world, he could even take a second or third wife so it didn’t limit him. The truth was that there was no real downside other than his own personal feelings about it.

  The more he thought about it the more he understood that he couldn’t force the beliefs of his previous world’s rules of morality on this one. Even in his last world during the middle ages they had much the same system. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked.

  When Ash opened the door to the study and entered, Allice followed quietly behind him but Ash barely noticed her presence. The look on Emelia’s face was one of apprehension. “Emelia, I thought it over and I will marry you.”

  “What?”

  The voice that yelled was not Emelia, but Allice who covered her own mouth while looking embarrassed. “Sorry,” Allice said blushing deeply.

  “Really,” Emelia asked, after recovering from Allice’s outburst.

  “Yes, when do you want to do it?” Ash asked as his heart beat wildly.

  “Uhhh…Would three weeks be too soon?” Emelia asked with a bright face.

  “That soon…”

  “Unless someone uses magic, there is no way that the king could receive a message about the wedding so quickly. Even if he does, it would be impossible for him to interfere.”

  “Ok, then we will do that,” as soon as the words left his mouth, Ash found it covered by Emelia’s mouth. The feeling of her soft lips send a warmth through his whole body. Allice behind him let out a slight whimper, but Ash didn’t hear it.

  “I promise to be a good wife,” Emelia said happily.

  “Umm I will try my best as well,” Ash said, his mind in a haze.

  “Ok, now for work,” Emelia said switching gears quickly. “These are the completed harvest taxes received. I need you to figure out their monetary value then we have to send half of that amount to the king. Make sure to be through, it is always better to be on the safe side and pay more than less. The king is not kind to those who cheat him.”

  “Ok,” Ash said, picking up the stack of papers Emelia had indicated.

  Ash had thought that the papers he had went through before were all the lands Emelia had control over, but it seemed that those were only the ones that were under the control of lesser nobles under her domain. Emelia herself still personally controlled about twenty percent of the land herself and that included a number of farms, as well as three precocious mineral mines.

  Adding up the amounts received was easy enough, the real problem was assigning them a value. The value of a single item changed throughout the year as well as by location. Ash decided it would be best to calculate it depending on the highest price at the peak time of the year.

  This meant that Ash had to comb through a large stack of papers to find the right price. After that, it was only a matter of multiplying that number by the number received by Emelia then dividing that number in half. It wasn’t hard, but was time consuming.

  While he worked, Allice looked over his shoulder and asked what he was doing so he tried to explain it to her. It seemed that Allice had a basic understanding of numbers and math, but the more advanced functions eluded her. Ash soon found himself teaching Allice as he worked.

  After hours of work, one of the maids entered the room and brought some snacks and tea. Setting aside the papers, Ash rubbed his sores eyes and accepted the tea gracefully. “What all does my job entail?” Ash asked as he blinked his eyes, trying to get the throbbing pain to subside.

  “Most the year there isn’t much to it. You will get reports from merchants monthly about trade taxes owed and paid. You will need to make reports to me every three months to let me know how much we have received so that I can allot money to proper public works. The only really busy times of year is the first month and Sepetema after the harvest.”

  “OK then it won’t be overly time consuming,” Ash said relieved. The thought of having to do this day after day would drive him insane.

  Ash and Emelia worked until late at night, but in the end Ash still was only a quarter through all the papers. After eating supper, Ash and Allice headed back to their own home. On the walk home, Allice kept slightly behind Ash the whole time. Even Ash could tell she wanted to say something, so once they were about half way home he stopped and turned to face her. “Might as well speak. If you hold it in any longer, I think you might burst,” Ash said with a deadpan look on his face.

  “Master is going to marry milady Hawkwing right?” Allice asked in a dejected tone.

  “Yes, that is right.”

  “Then even after you are married what will happen to us?”

  “Nothing will change,” Ash said patting Allice’s head. “This is a political marriage so I will even spend most of my time in my own residence.”

  “Ok…” Allice said though her voice sounded unsure.

  5-7

  The next three days Ash spent with Emelia working on the tax papers for the king. It would have been done faster, but Emelia spent some of the time each day to talk about the wedding. Though it was only a political marriage, Emelia seemed to be enjoying planning it.

  From what he had heard so far, the marriage was much like those back in his previous world. There would be a priest presiding over the wedding, though Emelia wanted one belonging to the goddess of the harvest. Ash didn’t really care who did the ceremony so he agreed quickly. A number of people would also be in attendance, though all of them were either nobles or at least higher society members. Ash had asked to let his slaves attend, but Emelia said that it would be deemed improper. Ash didn’t like it, but he relented when she promised to hold a smaller gathering at his residence just for them.

  After returning each day from Emelia’s, Ash didn’t find time to relax at home either. When Yuki and Shina learned of his impending marriage, both of them protested heavily and often. Yuki was the main protester, even going so far as crying the first night. Shina for the most part mostly teased, though a few times she spoke her mind against the marriage.

  Ash expected a little resistance from the two, but the level he was receiving was far beyond his expectations and even after three days, Yuki was still pouting when he returned home. As soon as Yuki saw him walk through the door, she puffed up her cheeks and walked away. He had gotten so used to Yuki jumping on him as soon as she saw him that now he felt a little lonely.

  “Master, don’t worry about it too much,” Gilda said, seeing the expression on his face. “She just feels that her place is threatened. Talk to her and give her some time and she will be back to her normal self.”

  “I am sure you are right,” Ash replied, but it didn’t really make him feel better.

  Ash decided it would be better to talk to Yuki now, rather than putting it off anymore. He had tried the first day, but she had only hit him then ran away in tears. Yuki was currently in the large room that she shared with Shina and Milly. She was sitting on the bed with her back turned toward the door.

  Ash lightly kicked on the door frame and called out to her, but Yuki refused to look at him. “Yuki,” Ash called again while walking around the bed to face her but she turned as soon as she saw his face. “Yuki, stop this,” Ash said as his irritation slipped into his voice.

  “Go away…Master doesn’t need Yuki,” Yuki said, her voice lingering between anger and sadness.

  Ash sat down beside Yuki who still had her back turned toward him. Ash put his hand on top Yuki’s head, but she knocked it off. He put it back. After repeating this five times, Yuki left Ash’s hand alone and slightly leaned back into him. “Yuki, I will always need you,” Ash said patt
ing her head softly.

  “Mou…Master has Allice,” Yuki said lightly sobbing.

  “What does Allice have to do with this?” Ash asked confused. “I thought you were mad that I was marrying Emelia.”

  Yuki turned her head and looked at Ash for the first time. “Huh…Master was planning to marry lady Emelia for a long time,” Yuki said, tilting her head slightly to the side.

  “So it isn’t Emelia, but Allice that has you worried,” Ash said, not knowing whether he should laugh or cry.

  “But master has Allice as his personal assistant…He doesn’t need Yuki now,” Yuki said, breaking down into full crying.

  “Yuki…I do need you. Do you know that whenever I see your smile it makes my day better? I will always need you Yuki.”

  “Re-real-really?”

  “Of course,” Ash said, pulling Yuki into a hug. “No matter what happens, I will always want Yuki to be around.”

  Though she did not return to her smiling happy self, she did give him a small grin when he left. Ash hoped that in a few days he would get to see her radiating smile again, but he was happy enough that she was willing to talk to him again.

  As she did every night, Allice brought Ash a drink of water and cleaned his room and gear while replacing all of his candles. Watching Allice, Ash started to understand what had bothered Yuki. Before it was always Yuki that had taken care of him but now Allice has quickly moved in. To make matters worse, it was Ash who appointed her to that position.

  That night, before sleeping, Ash started to wonder how his life had changed. In less than a year he had gained friends and a family, but it wasn’t all good. With them also came worry and headaches that he never had when he was alone, but the warmth they brought him far outweighed the downsides. If given another choice, he wouldn’t change a thing.

  The next morning, Ash was once again woken by Allice, but along with her was Yuki who was already dressed for school. “Morning master,” Yuki said happily.

  “Morning,” Ash said surprised.

  Yuki and Allice followed Ash down to breakfast. It was the first meal he had eaten with everyone since his first day owning the manor. Unlike the first time, there wasn’t the same oppressive feeling hanging in the air and everyone ate and talked in a lively manor.

  After eating, Ash left for the labyrinth. This time when Allice tried to go with him, Ash strongly refused. She protested, but when Ash mentioned what had happened before, she gave up and went back into the manor. Ash felt bad when she left dispirited, but it wasn’t worth the risk to let her stand outside waiting on him for hours on end.

  Before going to the labyrinth, Ash first stopped by one of the small local churches. After his first fight with the specters, Ash had looked them up and found that the only way to harm their bodies was with blessed weapons or items with the holy attribute.

  “How may the Blessed Light of Altina help you today?” A man wearing a white robe asked as soon as Ash entered the church.

  “I need to have my sword blessed,” Ash said, not wanting to waste time or mince words.

  “Sir, then follow me, but remember that the light of the church shines most graciously on those that help her cause,” the man added.

  Ash followed where the man was looking to see a large donation box hung on the wall. The reason Ash had chosen the church of Altina was because they performed all blessings for free, but he wasn’t surprised that they asked for donations. With his pocket full of coin, Ash didn’t give it a second thought and pulled five gold coins and placed them in the box.

  Seeing the handful of gold coins slip from Ash’s fingers, the priest put on a large smile. “The goddess Altina will truly bless you good sir.”

  Ash was led to the interior portion of the shrine where a large statue of Altina, the goddess of that harvest seemed to be looking down on all those that entered. There were three priests and two priestess in the room along with more than thirty children.

  “Brother Ron, who is our gest?” one of the priestess’ asked while she dangled a young child on her lap.

  “He has come in order to receive a blessing for his sword,” Ron said happily.

  “Then why bring him here? You should have taken him to the main hall where father Jorian is.”

  “That is true, but the young man gave a large donation to the church so I thought it might be nice for him to see where his coin will be used,” Ron replied smiling.

  “As you can see young man, we take care of the local children. Some are orphans while others parents are working. We also run a small school for those who wish to learn. The donation you gave will help those who are in need,” the priestess said with a warm smile.

  Looking around, Ash noticed that many of the children wore rags, but all of them seemed to be well fed. “I didn’t think that a harvest god would care about the wellbeing of children.”

  “That is a common misunderstanding. The goddess of the harvest doesn’t just watch over the wellbeing of crops, but of livestock and children as well. Many women come here when they wish to conceive as well. We do our best to watch after all the creatures of that have come into this world,” the old woman said smiling.

  Seeing the children happily playing with each other and the priests and priestesses, Ash smiled. Not only were there human children, but also those of the beast tribe and even one happy child with a pair of wings, not unlike his own. Seeing this, Ash pulled out ten platinum coins. Seeing what he held in his hands the priestess sucked in a breath. “Miss, once I myself found myself without a family or home. I think if there had been people like you who came to my aid, my life would not have been as cold.” With water forming in his eyes, Ash pushed the coins into the priestess’s hand.

  “Thank you sir…Sorry, I haven’t heard your name,” the woman said, slightly flabbergasted as she looked at the coins in her hand.

  “Ash.”

  “Ash…The lord Ash who is set to marry the duchess?”

  “Umm…Yes, the same,” Ash replied slightly embarrassed.

  “It seems that the young Hawkwing has a good eye for men,” the priestess said smiling. “Now, why don’t we get to the reason you are here? You want your weapon blessed.”

  “Yes, I was training in the labyrinth and came across specters and I heard that only a blessed weapon can harm them.”

  “Follow me,” She said after handing the coins to one of the priests.

  Ash was taken through a number of corridors until he arrived in a small room with a small well at its center. The ground in the room was not made of stone, but dirt and a number of plants grew sporadically. Inside, an old man who looked as if he was over a hundred sat beside the well while talking to a small golden statue of the goddess Altina.

  “Rina why have you brought this young man to see me?” the old man asked looking from Ash to the old priestess.

  “I have deemed him worthy enough to receive a true blessing,” She said without hesitation.

  “Is that so…Then you may return to your duties,” the old man replied and the priestess bowed and quietly left Ash alone with the old man in the room.

  “I won’t ask what you did to earn Rina’s trust, but if she has brought you here then it was an act of pure kindness. I will ask you however why a person with the blood of a demon would wish to receive a blessing of a goddess?”

  “I…” Ash stuttered but from the look in the man’s eyes he knew that he had already been seen through. “I was fighting specters and needed my weapon blessed so I could damage them,” Ash said honestly.

  “Ahh…So your goal was not a true blessing?” the priest asked calmly.

  “True blessing…I don’t even know what that is. I just wanted my weapon blessed,” Ash replied.

  “Oh…that is odd for someone not to know what a true blessing is, but I sense no lie from you. Very well, come here child,” The man beckoned Ash.

  Ash was seated by the well as the old man picked up a small ladle and dipped it in the water. “A true blessing is when one
is given the blessing of a god. Unlike other blessings, they do not disappear and last a life time,” the man said as he poured the water over Ash’s head.

  Ash was surprised when the water spread over his body, but it wasn’t cold. Instead of being cold it was warm, almost too warm and Ash felt that warmth spread throughout his whole body.

  “A true blessing is a tricky thing. Any high priest or priestess can perform the ritual for the blessing, but in the end it is up to the goddess herself whether you receive it or not. She is not a picky goddess though. She understand the cycle of life. Some are called to plant the fields, some to water them, and some to pick the weeds so that the crops can grow, and in the end there must be one to harvest. She looks kindly on those that follow the cycle of life and in old times she had been called many names. Goddess of the Harvest is only the name that we call her now. In the past, she had been called the Goddess of Life, and even the Goddess of Death. She can be a warm goddess shining her light on those to help them grown, or a cold goddess bearing the fangs of winter so that the land can be cleansed. If she chooses to give you the blessing, I only hope that the path she wishes you to walk is one where her light shall always shine down upon you.”

  “Tring.”

  [You have received a blessing from the Goddess of the Harvest. blessing received: Blessing of the Reaper.]

  “Tring.”

  [You have received the ability Reaper’s Sight.]

  “Tring.”

  [You have received the ability Reaper’s Blessing.]

  “Tring.”

  [You have received the ability Reapers Soul.]

  The priest looked at Ash and his eyes looked saddened. “It looks like my hope was not granted.”

  “What do you mean?” Ash asked confused.

  “Look inside yourself and see what blessing you have received and the true meaning behind it.”