Talo lay heaving on the floor.

“Again.” Alsoomose pushed Talo right to the limit of exhaustion.

Talo sighed and turned towards the object of his torment. Alsoomose returned his pleading face with stern indifference, and then poked him with a bamboo rod. Talo stood and began to climb a fake “tree.” The trunk of the tree was about a meter across. Spokes were placed randomly around the trunk and continued along the full length of the tree. The spokes were gnarly and of varying size and thickness, forcing climbers to pay attention to their arm holds.

The base of the tree was “rooted” in a giant spell formation that took up half the training courtyard. As Talo moved his meager frame up the tree, his mother smashed the rod into the ground. A green light flashed along the rod from her hand. This activated the formation, which caused the tree to slowly spin and twist.

Alsoomose watched her young son pensively. He’s doing even better than I was at his age, she thought. I must push him more. If he’s going to make it, he must stand as a paragon above all challengers. She shook her head and steeled her resolve.

Then Alsoomose leapt to a branch next to her beloved boy. “Stop being afraid. Fear leads to mistakes. You’ve already fallen ten times, and every single time the spell caught you. This time will be no different.”

“Yes mother. It still doesn’t feel good.” It’s like falling over while walking, Talo kept the sarcasm to his own mind. Who makes a 3.5-year-old do something like this?

Talo’s hand slipped off a branch, and he began to fall.

Alsoomose caught him and hoisted him back up. “Don’t wallow in self pity, it keeps you from focusing on the present. You need your mind here.”

At least at this rate, I should have killer abs by my teenage years

Alsoomose lightly whacked Talo with the bamboo. “I said focus on now.”

Right, as the lactic acid builds up in my muscles, push the mana through to absorb the waste. Leave the excess mana to feed the cells, and bring the contaminated mana to lungs.

The branches Talo clung to separated with the twist of the tree. He quickly scrambled to a new position, but then doubled over in pain. He cried and wailed out as he fell towards the ground. But he didn’t make it to the ground.

He fell into his mother’s arms. Alsoomose held him to her chest and enveloped him in a gentle healing spell. She rocked him back and forth as she strolled down the branches.

“There, there, it’s ok. Transferring the pain in the lungs is the hardest part. You need to wait until you are sure you have an uninterrupted second to try it. Until then just hold the pain in your mana near your lungs.”

“Acid,” winced Talo.

“What?”

“I keep trying to tell you. The pain is caused by acid and .” Talo hoped that teaching through his day would elevate his parents’ opinion of him.

“I don’t know that it matters why the pain is there, the point is to deal with it once it is. When you lose focus the mana dumps all the pain, and if that’s in the lungs, well… I guess you know how that feels.”

Talo constantly tried to rectify his knowledge from Earth with his new reality. It wasn’t that science didn’t apply, it was just incomplete. Lactic acid in the lungs is officially the worst. But this continues my ubiquitous solvent theory. Some portion of mana is able to transfer materials in and out of the physical realm, so I need to focus on better waste removal through mana. Ooo I wonder if I can get to the point where I don’t have to pee? Wait… pee!

“Can the pain come out in sweat? Does it have to go through the lungs?”

Alsoomose stopped on a branch to consider the question. “Hmm,” she mumbled as she paced the thin piece of wood. “I think that would work, but there would be some drawbacks. It’s a creative idea, anyhow. You would probably want to take the shortest path to the skin…and it would use considerable amounts of water… The biggest downside I see is making your hands and feet slick with sweat. That and I’ve never heard of someone doing it. You would want to push the mana beyond the skin, else it would probably burn, no?”

“Well, it’s one more thing to try.”

“Indeed. That’s enough for today. You know, I only push you for your own good?”

“Not some sadistic urge to live vicariously through me?”

Alsoomose paused, again struck at the conflict between a boy who looked so sweet and innocent, but spoke with such biting sarcasm. A grin appeared on her face as she turned to the end of the branch.

“Mom? Wait, wait, ahhhhh,” cried Talo as he fell 5m to the ground. He landed with a light thump and started rubbing his head. ’Oh, what’s wrong with you?’ ‘Not much, I was just dropped on my head repeatedly as a child.’ What’s with this culture?

“You’re fine, and you deserve it. This situation is hard enough without you making it more difficult.” Alsoomose landed lightly next to Talo. She then sat next to him and pulled him into her crook.

“I still think of you as my son, so don’t act out. Whatever forces brought us together are beyond our control. But our behavior isn’t. So I will work hard to care for you as a son, and you will work hard to be a loving son.”

The caring emotions caught Talo off guard. “Yes, mom.” Damn these heartstrings. Was I always this emotional? “How did you and dad meet?” Shared knowledge and experience normally helps relationships, right?

“Hmm? Wondering about your dear old ma and pa? Well, we met on a play date, much like you and Wawetseka. But there were a lot more girls and boys in our generation.” Sadness crossed Alsoomose’s face, but she quickly turned to smile at Talo. “Come now, let’s clean up and get to dinner. Your father is the better storyteller.”

⁂

Tables filled with children are always more lively, but even a casual dinner at the palace came with some pomp and circumstance. The evening was informal as possible with Lady Kimi and her daughters joining for dinner. After all, Marquis Kitchi’s holdings were more than a day’s ride away.

Kimi insisted on keeping a house in town as well, and Kitchi agreed because it allowed him a controllable space near the Grand Duke’s court. Kimi was far more social in her desires, which aided in keeping the power couple integrated.

It was common courtesy to extend all visiting nobles a meal and night's rest in the palace, but Alsoomose failed to anticipate Kimi accepting the offer. The palace itself was about 25km from the city center, which put Kimi’s residence at a little less than half a day’s ride by carriage. Originally the palace was built as the keep within a citadel. Over time, especially during peace, remodeling and additions stretched out from both sides, blurring the designation between the keep and citadel.

After Talo’s grandfather had gained the title of Grand Duke, everyone began to call the combined structure “The Palace.” The city, whose name was a matter of debate, had grown far too large to take refuge in the citadel. The only individuals who even discussed the citadel anymore where military leaders, and then only in terms of disaster preparations. If war really did reach the palace, then a great disaster already swept through much of the countryside and a great deal of the city.

Kitchi and Kimi were prime examples of why the name of the city came into question. Various peoples occupied the city over thousands of years. Indeed, it was one of the oldest continually occupied cities in Mankato. Talo’s ancestral tribe, the Axculi, called the city Kanadario, for it was the location the waters slowed and sparkled in the sun after two rivers joined.

After joining the Great Kingdom, part of the Red Empire, the city had been renamed in honor of the reigning emperor, Valens. Thus Ahanu, and all official decrees, named the city as Valencia. The city population continued to diversify, but the Axculi still held the plurality, and many of them held onto the name Kanadario.

“How long do we hav’to wait mommy?” asked Wawetseka for the tenth time.

“It won’t be long dear. Here, have some cucumber. We are waiting on the ducal family to come together to receive us. It’s our job to wait, and their job to get ready.” Kimi could tell that she hadn’t won Wawetseka over. If not for her daughter’s sudden infatuation with Talo, the toddler would already be melting down.

Finally a butler fetched them from the parlor. “His Grace is prepared to accept the Lady in the private dining hall. If you would please follow me.” The butler, Ximani, the proceeded to lead them through a maze of rooms to an ornate set of double doors. He knocked once on the door, which then flashed green, and then he ceremoniously opened both doors and entered.

“Announcing Lady Kimi and children.” Wawetseka and Wikimak were young enough that taking courtesy titles was still inappropriate. Newer nobility could still put on airs about their heirs, but it was generally frowned upon unless the child was of age or accomplishment.

“Please, please come sit. Let’s dispense with the formalities,” greeted Ahanu.

“Your Grace is too kind. We are happy to come.” Kimi was eyeing the arrangement and was shocked to find that she would be seated at Ahanu’s left, while Alsoomose at his right. This was far more informal than Alsoomose sitting at the other end of the table, and implicitly raised Kimi’s position at the table.

“How’s my little Wah-wah,” asked Ahanu. He crouched down and looked right at Wawetseka.

“Unca An’nu!” She ran to his arms and he scooped her into a big hug. “I’m hungwy,” she pouted at him.

“Well we can fix that!” With a nod, servers came in and placed plates piled with fruits and vegetables.

“I thought we’d start with a light sampling from around the Empire.” Alsoomose spoke through a perfect smiling mask. “Let’s begin,” she announced as she cut into her fruit.

“Lady Kimi, it is great to see you again. I hope you and your daughters had a good rest?” Kimi smiled as she acclimated to Talo’s advanced diction.

“Indeed, little Wah-Wah slept quite well. I was grateful for such a deep rest.”

“That is lovely to hear. Father, I was hoping you could tell me of how you married mother. Earlier, she deferred to you as the superior orator.”

Ahanu paused for the slightest fraction of a second at Talo’s word choice. We have to get him to cut that out. “Well it’s simple really, I was the only boy who could beat her in a duel.”

⁂ Author’s Note: Sorry on the delay, I was stabbed, literally, in the back/side (w/ an ~15cm blade). I’m doing well, and miraculously have little in the way of organ damage (and blessed to have access to top rate medical care with my institution).

That might have actually led to a great increase in time to write, as I totally slacked on my work as a PI. Instead, I noticed steam was having a sale on something called “Dragon Age: Origins,” which I had somehow never heard of (despite being a big Baldur's Gate fan). A few stitches and weeks later I finally beat the game, and realized, ‘oh damn, I totally forgot about Handyman.’ So do forgive my wandering heart, you, my dear readers, were entirely neglected in my thoughts. [Dragon Age is awesome though, you should check it out if for some strange reason like me you haven’t.]