Second Born

by Lance Wilson

  “Well I’m not doing anything here, and I could use the fresh air” Mellyruna says wondering what she is playing at; she never does anything for him or his brother without some underlined motive. Nothing evil or wrong, but usually something they need to talk about and probably doesn’t even know it, but he can only guess that is how all mothers are.

  The two of them then saddle some horses and take a ride though the country side, a few of the paths he knows but as they move further and further out he begins to loose his way, but she seems to be fine, Soon they are in one of the smaller cities run by a lesser lord of the Unagi clan. Mellyruna is shocked at what he sees, the people are living in there own filth and fight over such things as food and water, how could this be. The Unagi clan is one of the most powerful clans in all the lands, there should be no poverty, and does his father know about this, does he just allow this to happen. As they ride though the city he begins to feel ashamed of the way he lives, all his life he has only known comfort and pleasure, and yet not even half a days ride from his home people starve in the streets, he can’t even look at them, he can’t stand the sight. Sparing no time he kicks his horse into a run, he lets it run and run, run until they are away from the town, until he can’t even see it in the distance. Once he is away he dismounts from the horse and feels his whole body trembling. How, how can this be, It feels like he is on that hill for hours before he hears someone approach, afraid to see who it is he doesn’t even turn, he can’t look at them, how could he.

  “Good you saw it too” it is his mother’s voice, soft and gentle,

  “Of course I saw it, they were right there, why did you show me, are you trying to make me feel bad about it, well I do, you happy, I feel horrible about the way I live now, how I’m treated” he says a quiver in his voice

  He hears her get off her horse and make her way to him. Gently she puts her hand on his shoulder and slowly turns him to face her. There are tears in her eyes as she looks at him.

  “No, I never want to hurt you in any way. You are my son, you and Attonnan both are my children and I would do anything to keep you from any kind of pain, if I could bare that pain for you I would do so gladly. But I had to show you, I had to see if you would see it” she says and lowers her head to look at the grass, he can see that she is trying to put her thoughts into words.

  A lot of people have always said that she is just something to look at, that she has no real promise as a queen, but having spent time with her he knows that just the opposite is true, she’s smart and probably just as powerful a person as his father, but her power is different, it’s more subtle, more passive.

  “How could I not see it, it was right in front of my eyes. I, I feel so horrible about it” he says turning his face from her

  “You should, it’s not your fault but you should feel horrible about what you saw. These are your people and one day when you are ready they will depend on you. The lord of this land rides thought here time and time again, but he doesn’t see them, many lords cannot see the suffering in front of them, they don’t want to see it, they don’t care to see it. But you’re different Mellyruna, you and your brother both. I am glad you see the suffering, when the power of the Unagi is passed to you, you will see them suffer, and since you have a heart, you will feel their pain, and you will help them. You will give all of yourself to save your people the pain they feel, you will be a father to them in many ways. You will be what any leader should be, but so many aren’t” Rin says and gently lays her hand on his cheek and guides his face so that he is facing her. Before he can say another word he bursts into tears, Rin only pulls him close and holds him, holds him as only she can, holds him as they stand on the small hill, and he feels the pain of his people.

  It is early the next mourning when a woman slowly walks into the room. It is just as she expected, the beautiful white porcelain is now smeared here and there with a black tar like substance. The young elf is now laying in the fetal possession his sickness all around him. She can already guess what happened, his body became exhausted from the first bout with it and he passed out. But that didn’t stop the cleansing, he is not the first elf she has found like this and she is almost certain he will not be the last. Standing there for only a bit she soon has to turn her head as the smell of the sickness hits her; the smell of vomit, brimstone and waist. Gently she walks over and picks up the elf in her arms, making sure as little of him touches her as possible. She glances at the cloths in the corner, no matter, that was the elf he was before this and he will not need them after this. She then makes her way through the halls into the bathhouse. This will have to take two stages; the first is the initial cleaning which she is glad he is asleep for. The second will be the typical bath, by then he should probably wake and she can converse with him. Once she is in the bathhouse she takes him to a corner that is normally reserved only for laundry. The floor is tilted back so that the water runs into a large grate and there is a cloths line for hosing them down. Slowly she leans him against the wall and as she holds him up she ties his hands to the cloths line to keep him up. Once she is sure that he is secure she steps away and walks only a few feet where a hose is waiting. Calmly she turns it on and then glances over to see if it has woken him, it hasn’t. She then turns two handles and waits then tests the temperature of the water, Good, it is not cold nor is it boiling hot, the water is just about room temperature. She then puts her thumb over the nozzle to pressurize the spray and then begins to hose the young prince off. She watches as the sickness slides off of his body and into the grate, she sprays down every inch of him making sure to even run though his hair and some more personal regions. She makes sure it is all off of him, surprised that the water has not woken him up, but she can also imagine how much energy that the cleansing takes from you. Your body pushing out all the toxins all at once, she is sure that it would wear on any one. Once she is sure that he is free of the sickness she turns off the hose and then walks over to one of the mid-sized tubs. Next to the tub is a rope. She walks over to one of the walls that have a variety of wooden panels, each with a number of stripes and dots painted on them. She lets her fingers drift over many of them before finally selecting one and walks back to the rope. Carefully she ties the tile to the rope and then gives it a pull. The rope seems to spring up through the ceiling, she has never felt curious enough to go explore exactly how this is done but she knows that it will go to the men who work there furriness and they will set up a huge barrel with a kind of water, the tile decides the water. She of course has been trained what tile means what kind of water. She waits for only a minute or two and the rope drops back to where it came from, then next to it another rope drops, this one with a red piece of cloth tied to it. Smiling she pulls on it. A huge shoot pulls down from the ceiling and hot water pours into the tub. As the watches if fill the tub she catches the scent, it is the one she selected and she can’t help but smile, it is a sweet mix of rose and foxglove. Once the tub is full she walks over and takes off her cloak showing underneath a slender well figured woman, she is dressed in black tight fitting pants, high black boots, a long sleeve black blouse cut in a V neck and long slender pale fingers. Then slowly she takes off her mask, she is sure that the prince wouldn’t like the idea of her seeing him at his most venerable. Her face is pale and sunken in like all other moon elves, her hair is raven black and her lips have been painted red. Her eyes are closed and from the look it seems that the lids have been fused shut, this is Skorm’s apprentice. Slowly eh reaches over to her cloak and pulls out a strip of black cloth. Gently she lays it over her eyes and ties it around them. She knows that this will not stop her from seeing the world as the magic wants her too, but it will give the prince the illusion of privacy. Once finished she walks over to the prince and unties him from the hanging line then takes him and lays him in the tub. Once he is in he is submerged all the way up to his upper chest. Being submerged in the water seems to snap him out of his sleep and his eyes blink a few
times and he looks around. Mellyruna is shocked to see that he is no longer in the cleansing room, nor is he in the valley that he talked to his mother, but that was just a dream, a memory. He also quickly notices the woman next to him and his cheeks flush with color. He watches as she reaches over to him grabbing a bar of soap. It finally comes to his attention exactly what is going on, he has finished his cleansing and is now being bathed. He admits that he is usually bathed by women at home, but he knows them, and has been baited by them for many years, she is new and he can’t help but blush. He then sees that over her eyes she has a blindfold. As she lathers the soap in her hands she takes a good look at him with her magical sight, she has to know if this is the elf in her visions. His body is like any other elf but around him seems to be a kind of golden fire. His spirit, his energy. She then lets her vision widen to see if anything is behind him, but there is nothing. It is just as she suspected, Mecmed has chosen wrong. Steel, blood or shadow that is what she should see. Those were the things that were describing the three brothers in the vision. Nothing-about fire, but it is too late now though. Slowly she lays her hands on his chest and begins to clean him and rub him down at the same time.

  “My name is Mellyruna Savgtlin, what is yours.” He asks calmly as he leans his head back letting her delicate hands work over his skin and muscles

  “My name is Neckity, I am Skorm’s apprentice” she says and smiles up at him.

  “Thank you for blindfolding yourself” he says and smiles up at her even though he knows she can’t see it.

  “You are a prince, I think it would be rude of me to do any less” she says and then keeps bathing him.

  As he watches her he wonders what she is like, he wants to talk to her, to make some kind of conversation, but how. He has always been poor at talking to strangers and making it not sound false, instead he only hangs his head and lets her do his job. It is not tell the end of the bath that the silence is finally broken when she chuckles at him. She bathed him perfectly, made sure he was clean but did not even attempt to arouse him like some other bathers would.

  “You know, if you are to be king one day you will have to learn to talk to strangers… . but your young still and the shyness is cute” she says and gets up and begins to walk away.

  “Wait, before you go, where are my cloths, I didn’t see them.” he says and looks around the room.

  “Near the entrance there are rooms, there should be a folded pile of cloths waiting for you, they will have your name on parchment” She says and with a bow walks to the door.

  “Thank you, for everything” He says just as her hand touches the door,

  Neckity only lowers her head and continues to move through the hall, she can gather her cloak and mask later, right now she just has to get out of there. She just couldn’t stand his energy, it was so golden, so noble, not that she minds, but knowing what Mecmed has in store for him she just had to get out. Mecmed is a conqueror and he will turn Mellyruna into the same. She moves down the halls tell she can get away and move into one of the secret passages. She moves though them until soon she is in her own room. There she sits on the side of her bed and hangs her head in her hands. She hates this about her, how she can see the true light or darkness in someone. Mellyruna is a noble soul and all he will end up doing is ripping the elflands apart thinking it is all for the greater good.

  Mecmed slowly makes his way the room she talked about and his new cloths just as she described to him. Wasting no time he dries himself off and puts them on, they are nice cloths, silk he thinks. His cloths are white with golden trim embroidering vines and leaves all along the back and sleeves. The boots are the color of burnt wood as are the bracers. Once he is done dressing he turns around and jumps back to find Skorm behind him. He wonders how long he has been standing there.

  “Ah good my apprentice has finished her job. It is time to move on to your second task” Skorm says with a slight bow.

  “Your apprentice left her cloak and mask, she seemed rather eager to leave” Mellyruna says calmly and watches as Skorm look around the room, like Mellyruna says the cloak and mask are still sitting in a pile near the tub.

  “Well I’m sure she had something to do. If you do not mind there is no real time to worry about such little things. Your next task is at hand” Skorm says and turns to walk out of the room.

  Mellyruna takes a deep breath and follows the sorcerer. He really doesn’t like this man; he’s dark and cold, hard to read. He wonders how such a man could have what seemed like a sweet apprentice. They walk through the halls for a while tell soon he comes to a huge door.

  “Are you ready, this is a cleansing of the mind. You will be put in a room, then a spell will be cast that will make it so your senses will be useless, you will see, hear, smell, and feel nothing. This will give your mind no other stimulation then to feed on itself. It is then that you will see what is truly inside your own mind” Skorm says and smiles at him. He always likes to find out what the person sees and hears in this phase. Sometimes what is in the depths of your mind will be nothing of what you expect.

  Skorm then opens the door and smiles; it is a plain room, nothing on the walls, no furniture and no light. Mellyruna looks over and then steps into the room.

  “How long will I be in here” he asks and looks into the black eyes of the mask, those cold emotionless black eyes.

  “Just like the cleansing of the body, it will be one day” Skorm says and closes the door.

  It is like being slammed into a pit of darkness. Nothing is around him, he can see nothing. Hear nothing, it is just as Skorm said all his senses have been turned off, made useless. At first he only sits on the ground and then soon he lies down. He thinks about taking a nap. He doesn’t know why everyone is making such a big deal out of this, it’s not that bad, well unless you were scared of the dark, but he got over that fear when he was just an elfling. Hours seem to pass in the darkness and soon he begins to hear something, has a day passed already. He hears the door open but surprisingly there is no light, then a small beam of light shows and he can see the figure before him. It is his father. He is dressed in black leather armor with a black cape. His short kept hair matted down with blood, a huge cut down his cheek. His face pale, his eyes sunken in, it looked as if death was ready for him, and only waiting for him to finish his work here.

  “So this is how you treat me, I give you life and I make sure you are the pride of your kingdom, you were my first, my pride, my joy, and you just adopt this man as your new lord, your leader. He is conquering the lands and destroying our clan, but you did nothing, do you believe him to be your god, your new god king, I spit on you, I spit on you and disown you from my heritage. You could have been one of the greatest of the Unagi, but now, now you shall never claim that right.

  Stunned and hurt Mellyruna only drops to his knees, his father stares at him waiting for him to say something, waiting to hear his son deny it, argue him, but nothing comes. Finally his father only growls, shakes his head and walks back into the beam of light, the beam that he can only assume is the open doorway. Mellyruna can feel his tears running down his cheeks. How could this be, no, that wasn’t his father, just his imagination? Hands trembling he wipes his tears away and takes many long deep breaths. He hears the door open again. He is afraid to look up, afraid to see who it is and why they are there. But he can’t help it; his head is already rising before he even knows it. Standing before him in a beam of light is his younger brother Byrdi, he is dressed in only a loin cloth, his skin marked with whip lashes, blood trickling down his nose and out the corner of his mouth. His eyes blackened, marks of cuts and burses everywhere.

  “Why brother, why did you forget me. What did I do wrong” he says, his voice quivering as tears stream down his face.

  Mellyruna slowly walks up to his brother and goes to stroke his cheek to comfort him. But quickly Byrdi flinches away.

  “No
brother, not this time. I’m sorry; you can’t save me this time. Not this time” he says and tears run down his face, shivering and trembling Byrdi only turns away and walks back into the darkness. Hours seem to pass, Mellyruna wonders how long he has been in here, sometimes it only seems like minutes, others it seems like days. It’s hard to say in here, his mind feeding on itself, driving him out of his mind, He lays down curling himself in a ball, he was so sure that this was going to be easy, that all he had to do was endure a bit of darkness, but it’s not that simple. He finds himself closing his eyes, forcing himself not to see things that appear before his eyes. He has seen the death of his father almost twelve times now, usually stabbed with a sword straight through from behind, sometimes his throat slit, every time he keeps telling himself that his father isn’t dead, that Mecmed himself told him that they were only detaining him. Soon the door opens and at first he thinks that he is going to be let out, but that is not the case, in front of him stands his baby sister, Maeraer, she stands before him in a dress far too adult for her. It is cut low, in the chest in a V-neck, and just to the calf for the skirt line, but there is a slit all the way up her outer thigh. She has her face turned from him but he can still see that she is wearing make up. Her hair is done well, but strands are loose.

  “Why, why did they do what they did? Mellyruna, I’m, I’m so scared” she says her voice trembling, her arms now wrapping around herself.

  How dare they, he has seen this kind of reaction, and what it means, how dare the Oda clan pass her around like some kind of wine skin to be had by all.