The weeks went by as they usually did for Cypher. He tended to his tasks, those that a boy his age could handle, and carried on with Molly as he always did. His lessons with her were growing more and more complex as time went on, at least, for one so young. Cypher wasn’t allowed to openly learn to read or write, but Molly wasn’t one to adhere to such archaic rules.

It was true that if caught she faced a lot of trouble. However, the punishment for something like that wasn’t death or anything too extreme. In fact, there wasn’t even a proper law against commoners or servants learning to read. It was simply a rule that the Galvan’s had instilled in their household, one aimed specifically at Cypher.

It was more beneficial for servants to have at least some basic knowledge when it came to reading and writing. Some served only as cooks, or maids, while others ferried important memos or notices between noble houses. Failing to understand basic language arts could mean that an important letter could be delivered to the wrong place or information could be falsified. An illiterate servant would be none the wiser to such things.

Still, for Cypher, it had always been a taboo subject. He would always garner looks of contempt or pity from Galex and Tyrina whenever they interacted with him. It was almost as if they were making a conscious effort to minimize the things he learned and could do. Naturally, Eiden and the other children picked up on this, and it only served to ostracize him even more than he already was.

Oddly enough, unlike most of the other servant children whose tasks mostly revolved around cleaning or assisting in the kitchens, Cypher was usually charged with tending to Eiden’s needs personally. When young Eiden wasn’t playing with his sisters or his friends, he was usually found in his room toiling over stacks and stacks of scrolls and books meant to enrich his education.

With his secret lessons in the language arts growing more advanced, Cypher was finally able to start reading scraps of knowledge Eiden left laying around. Most of it was beyond his young mind. Still, there were stories that Cypher found very interesting. He gained quite a fondness for the tales and exploits of knights and sorcerers, or Conductors as they were properly called.

All these tales and tomes Cypher enjoyed with the wonder of a child. His imagination ran wild and he would often be scolded for stopping his work to pretend he was a valiant knight fighting dragons or saving a princess. Most of the time he was able to avoid suspicion by claiming he learned such things from watching Eiden and the others playing.

It wasn’t too much of a stretch for any unknowing adult to believe, but it did land him in trouble on many occasions. Still, despite the many scoldings and loss of privileges, Cypher continued to read and learn. As time went by he completed the early lessons Molly had to teach and started branching out on his own.

However, his independent lessons screeched to a halt at the end of a harsh winter. With spring right around the corner and the snow starting to melt all around the Galvan estate, a mysterious illness began to take hold. It of course started in the servant’s quarters and even Cypher fell victim to it.

A deadly fever gripped his young body and left him bedridden for weeks. Galex Galvan and his wife Tyrina quickly took notice of his absence, and when they discovered he had fallen ill, they began debating whether or not to throw him out and save the household or allow him to stay and risk it spreading further than it already had.

After all, they had precious heirs to consider. Should their children come down with this illness their lives might be endangered. Of course, they had access to the best healers money could buy, and isolating their children from the servants would be quite an easy task. Despite this, however, the debate got heated one evening.

Inside Cypher’s chambers, Galex and Tyrina stood menacingly over Cypher as he lay in his bed. Sweat poured down his forehead and he groaned in pain, delirious from his high temperature.

“Tyrina, is it truly a wise decision to allow him to stay? What if he infects the others? We should just cast him out now and save ourselves the trouble of this whole ordeal!” exclaimed Galex. The hulking man stood with his thick arms crossed, a stern look upon his rugged face. His brown piercing eyes held no warmth, only a cold indifference.

“Naturally I don’t want to see our children fall victim to this horrid disease, but he is only a child. He wouldn’t survive five minutes out in the wilderness, and no orphanage in the country would take him in this state,” replied Tyrina. She stood just beside Galex, her slim form draped in purple robes of very high quality. In the dim light of these shabby living quarters, her light blue hair and various adornments of gems and jewelry shimmered with dull brilliance. Unlike Galex, her cerulean eyes weren’t quite as cold when they stared down at the small child sweating in his bed.

“Tyrina my love… must we truly burden ourselves with this boy? I know that his mother Sere-” But Galex was cut off as Tyrina pressed a finger to his lips.

“I know what you mean to say darling, but I’ve already told you that I don’t wish to discuss it any further. What was agreed upon that night is already done. Our only obligation now is to keep him alive and well. Beyond that, we owe him nothing. I needn’t remind you of the pain that those old memories bring me. Please, just let it go, okay?”

Galex only nodded as his wife pleaded with him to drop the subject. But as much as he wanted to adhere to his wife’s wishes, the matter of a sick child was still an issue to be dealt with. “Could we not just send him to a nearby village? Surely from there, we could still keep an eye on him while also keeping the promise we made. We have our own children to think about.”

“This illness is not one purely of natural causes. You know as well as I that it has magickal properties to it as well. We might be just fine given our affinity for the arcane arts, but what of our undeveloped children? What of the other servants who never developed their Orriums? If it were any of them we would cast them out without question and think nothing of it. I know what this boy is to you, but should he be treated any differently than the servants given what happened between you and-”

“Galex! Please! Enough! I know what you’re getting at but this is something we cannot shy away from!” Tyrina’s tone was harsh and laced with pain still unforgotten despite the many years that had passed. It left Galex with a hurt look on his face, but he understood all too well how his wife felt about the situation.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap, but you know how I feel about this matter darling…” continued Tyrina. “I too wish things were different, but we’re already committed to this. We have no choice now but to see it through to the end. We will not send him away.” Molly entered the room a moment later and sat next to Cypher on a tiny stool. With her return, Galex decided to drop the issue for now. It would do no good for him to keep pressing. He knew that Tyrina would not budge on this.

Molly gently dabbed his forehead with a cool wet cloth. Heavy bags hung under her eyes. She had already lost a lot of sleep tending to the ill child during the last few days. She soon turned to face her lord and lady after a few moments of tense silence. She had heard snippets of their hushed conversation before entering, but she didn’t have a full grasp of the situation and misunderstood it in her own way.

“Forgive me for speaking out of turn, but would it not be best to just leave him to me? I have proven to be immune to this illness. At least, so far. Two of the groundskeepers have already succumbed to this disease and three other servants have fallen ill as well. All of which I have tended to,”

“Casting out this child now would surely mean his death. I know I have my duties to attend to, but I can assure you they will find themselves completed even if I must care for this little one. I beg of you, find the kindness in your hearts and allow me to nurse him back to health. I truly believe that his fever will break any day now and when it does, he’ll surely be on the road to a quick recovery. He is young and his body will easily fight this off once the worst is behind him.”

Galex stared down at Molly with a newly adopted look of contempt on his bearded face. He surely did not wish for this illness to spread any further. It had already gone far enough. Still, as lord of this estate he had many other matters to think about besides the life of one child he felt no love towards. “Who is to say that it won’t spread any further? You? Hardly. You are not a healer, nor are you well versed in true medicinal arts,” he said after a moment.

“Your tonics and oils are merely playthings compared to the power true healers wield. Remedies of the earth cannot compare to the workings of Magick that I and those from the healers guild can wield. Still…” Galex fell into thought then and stroked his chin. His face remained unreadable despite his contemplations, and neither Molly nor Tyrina could figure him out. However, a quick glance from her husband clued her into what he was truly thinking and she followed his lead.

“Galex perhaps we should leave him in her care,” began Tyrina. “I do not wish to dirty my hands with the blood of this child should we throw him out. Besides, we were the ones who agreed to take him in in the first place. Would it not stain our reputations to have him perish on our watch when there is someone to take the burden from our hands instead?”

Galex heaved a sigh and turned to leave. “Very well, I leave it to you, woman. See to it that your tasks are completed daily or you’ll both find yourselves amongst the snow and wind beyond our walls.”

Molly fell to her knees and bowed before Galex and Tyrina, “Thank you, my lord and lady! I will not let you down. This humble servant promises you that. Give me three days! I assure you that by then, this little one will be on his way to a full recovery.”

“See to it that he is. If my children fall ill because of this you will suffer greatly, that I assure you. No amount of begging or pleading will save you then. Our kindness has its limits,” said Galex as he stormed out of the room. Tyrina nodded to Molly and left as well, leaving the woman to her devices, offering only a lingering glance down at Cypher before she vanished from sight. Molly returned to her stool and stroked Cypher's cheek as the young boy moaned in discomfort.

He had not heard a single word of the previous exchange. Lost in sickly dreams he could only rely on Molly to speed his recovery.

As Molly had promised, within three days Cypher’s fever finally broke and he began to return to his normal curious self. During that time Molly had hardly left his side, only tending to her tasks before quickly returning.

It had taken its toll on her to be sure. She hadn’t slept much or even eaten a whole lot. Still, she maintained a decent enough level of health to handle everything on her ever-growing list of chores. On that third and final day, just after the sun had risen Cypher opened his eyes and found her sleeping peacefully curled over on his bed. He reached out and stroked the top of her head with a soft smile.

Molly stirred slowly as she felt his touch and looked up at him smiling down. Chuckling softly, she embraced him with a warm hug. The worse was indeed behind them and as the weeks continued to roll by, the fever that threatened the Galvan manor faded into memory.

It had been a stressful time for everyone, and with that dark curse finally lifted, things were starting to go back to normal. Still, it was quite a while before Cypher was allowed to go near young Eiden again. Galex and Tyrina wanted to make doubly sure that he was indeed over that terrible illness.

That time for Cypher was spent tending to his chores and duties elsewhere in the manor. For him, it was boring and dull. Those tasks were even more tedious than normal since he didn’t have his secret reading sessions to look forward to.

Eventually, however, he did return to stealing those happy little moments alone with Eiden’s books and scrolls. Cypher was a quick and very enthusiastic learner despite only being six years of age. Knowledge poured into his young mind and stuck there like molasses. Even Molly, who had been granted a week off to recover from her ordeal was surprised to see how much and how quickly Cypher was learning.

It wasn’t long before Cypher reached his limit with these basic tomes. Still, it was incredible to see how he was not only keeping pace with young Eiden but slowly surpassing the heir in terms of knowledge despite the three-year age gap and lack of a proper tutor. As time continued onwards, spring eventually rolled through.

Fierce thunderstorms seemed to rage every other day, which was good and bad for Cypher. On the one hand, Eiden was forced to spend his days inside studying under his various tutors. As it naturally would come to pass, Eiden grew more and more adept in his own right and soon his material advanced to more complex topics and tales. Cypher looked at these new tomes of knowledge with secret glee and was eager for a chance to take a peek at them.

On the other hand, the loud thunder of these storms scared the young boy late at night and Molly would often find him curling into her bed to sleep with her. Cypher found great comfort in Molly’s presence, and she was all too happy to help him endure his fear of the loud noises from the sky above that rattled even the deepest bricks of the Galvan’s mansion.

Being the orphan that Cypher was, his exact birthday was unknown to him. That said, Molly found it abhorrent that such a sweet boy didn’t have the chance to celebrate his day of birth as was common in the Dells kingdom. Therefore, she had chosen the fifth day of the fourth week of spring to celebrate his birth.

The morning dawned as it usually did and began with that familiar sense of normalcy. The sun began to peek out from behind the nearby mountains and already the many servants of the Galvan mansion awoke to begin their daily tasks. Cypher was no exception. He hurried out of bed and drew his curtains back to greet the day. After washing his face in the water basin beside his dresser he slapped his cheeks to banish the last of his sleepiness and got dressed.

His tasks began in the stables, where he could clean the mess left behind by the horses overnight, as well as feed and water them. Cypher took great care in brushing their glorious manes and talked to them quite often. The horses were always delighted to see his smiling face each day and would playfully nudge him as he cared for them.

His tasks wouldn’t end there, however. Next were the wheels and siding of the twelve carriages housed in the building next door. He would meticulously clean each until they were shining. He had learned very quickly that if he kept them in such pristine condition the next day's cleaning wouldn’t be as difficult. Sure, one or two would come back from an outing covered in mud or other debris, but it was better to clean one or two more thoroughly than all twelve of them at the same time.

The cleaning was tedious and disgusting at times, but Cypher didn’t mind too much. At least he wasn’t cleaning the chamber pots! No, the hard part, as it always turned out, was when Eiden would come to annoy Cypher as he did his work. Eiden would find his way down to the stables each morning and never failed to find something that Cypher had supposedly missed. Cypher was no slacker, doing a good job and always maintained the same level of service no matter what.

This didn’t sit well with Eiden as the young heir was often unable to find something worthy of berating. As such, Eiden would smear dirt or mud along one side of an already cleaned carriage. He would even tip over the manure containers on occasion, forcing Cypher to clean the newly made mess. Each time, Cypher would look at the mess, despair, and then turn his anger towards Eiden.

Naturally, though, Molly’s words would always ring loudly in his mind and he would stow away his resentment in favor of taking the high road. Eiden never let up though and always found a way to pluck at Cypher’s last nerve. He was strong-willed, but a child could only be pushed so far before their patience gave out. Cypher was no different.

He would eventually grow angry at Eiden and it would all come spewing out, and, as it always happened, Eiden would run to his mother and complain about how Cypher was being disrespectful. Cypher would be spanked and stood against the wall, or punished in other ways such as having his rations cut or his few meager toys taken away.

It was quite unfair but still, he endured it. Molly would be there to cheer him up afterward and praise him for not going completely off the handle. This day, however, was different. It was his special day and there was no way that he would let Eiden ruin it!

“Look here bastard, you’ve left the paneling on this side filthy! Do you call this clean? Pathetic! Do it again and this time I’ll be watching to make sure you do it right!” said Eiden, the smug satisfaction hanging heavily in his words as he bore his twisted smile. Cypher once again dragged his cleaning bucket over to the carriage he had just cleaned and began to wipe away the dirt and grime Eiden had so cleverly smeared along its side.

Cypher gritted his teeth and washed it again as he dealt with Eiden’s sour comments and instructions. “If you’re so informed on how to do this properly why don’t you do it yourself?” Cypher muttered under his breath.

“What was that bastard?” Eiden asked in an incredulous tone.

“Nothing my lord, I was just saying this thing sure is dirty. It’s a good thing you have this servant of yours to make sure it’s cleaned properly!” replied Cypher through his clenched jaw.

The day dragged on and Cypher completed more and more of his tasks. Noon rolled around and while Eiden was busy playing in the courtyard with his sisters, Cypher finally had a moment to himself. He ate his small loaf of bread and hunk of cheese, a warm cup of water next to him on the wooden table.

He watched as the guards made their rounds, patrolling with a practiced precision they had cultivated over years of service. His eyes would always dart to the swords at their hips and he would imagine himself swinging one around. Bandits would stand no chance against him!

His childlike imaginings were broken by a guard plopping down next to him. The man loudly drank from a waterskin he pulled from a bag on his hip and turned to face Cypher. The guard only eyed him for a moment before pulling out his own loaf of bread. Cypher wanted to strike up a conversation with him. However, the young boy was too shy to even try. He wanted to hold the guard’s sword or ask him if he’d managed to kill any monsters or evil bandits but his words caught in his throat and he could only sit there with his mouth hanging open.

The guard raised an eyebrow as he caught Cypher staring but didn’t bother saying anything. After a few moments, Cypher gathered his things and left quickly. His cheeks turned red as his embarrassment rushed through him but soon it didn’t matter. Cypher was back to his duties and the guard was all but forgotten as he finished up for the day.

There was still plenty of time left before the sun went down. He considered trying to play with Eiden and his sisters but quickly shot that idea down as he had a feeling it wouldn’t go well. Eiden aside, those two little girls didn’t like him much either, although Cypher wasn’t sure why.

With nothing left to do, Cypher returned to his quarters and found Molly waiting for him. A wide smile adorned her face and in her hands sat a small but delicious-looking cake. The room had been lightly decorated with small tattered banners of various fading colors and a lengthy cloth-wrapped box sat upon his bed.

“Happy birthday Cypher!” cooed Molly as she set the cake down and rushed in to hug him. Cypher’s smile grew wider and he let out an audible laugh as he embraced her back.

“This is all for me?” asked Cypher as she ruffled his dark hair and smiled down at him.

“Of course silly! A young man only turns six once! We can’t have the day passing us by all willy-nilly now can we?” she replied.

Cypher was ecstatic as he plopped onto his bed and pulled the box into his lap.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“You’re supposed to open it and find out silly! Go on then!” she said eagerly.

Cypher untied the thin wool string holding the cloth in place and opened the box with excitement. Looking inside, his smile grew wide as he pulled out a decently made wooden sword and leather belt. Beaming, he took the hilt into his hands and waved it around in short erratic motions.

“It wasn’t hard to see that your little imagination has been running wild as of late! I can’t have you continue getting in trouble for swinging a broom around. What if you broke something important?” began Molly. “So I thought to myself; What can I do to fix this little issue? So, I talked to one of the carpenters and one thing led to another and well, I hope you like it!”

Cypher was ecstatic with his present. The stories he had read about came flooding into his mind as he held the wooden sword. Excitement filled him and he quickly tied on the leather belt and stuffed the wooden sword into it.

“Oh my! What a strong little warrior you are!” exclaimed Molly happily.

“Yeah! I’m going to protect you and everyone else from the bandits!” Cypher said in a determined tone.

Molly let out a laugh and rubbed his head. “Well make sure you do all your protecting in here okay? I don’t think anyone will take this away from you since it couldn’t hurt a fly, but we don’t want you getting into any more trouble now do we?”

Cypher hugged Molly again and drew his little wooden sword. “Hyah! Huh! Hah!!” Cypher grunted as he swung the blade through the air, cutting through an imaginary monster. Molly laughed again and clapped as Cypher stood smiling over his imagined foe, a hand on his hip and the tip of the sword pressed against a pillow.

After he calmed down, Molly lit a single candle she had pulled from inside her apron and said, “Make a wish! Anything you want! Then blow out the candle. If you hope really hard and work to make your wish a reality it’ll come true!”

“Really?!” asked Cypher with wonder in his eyes.

Molly chuckled and replied, “Well as long as it’s nothing too outlandish! Go on! Give it a try!”

Cypher paused as he considered carefully and then blew out the candle with a deep breath.

“What did you wish for?” asked Molly.

“That’s a secret!” he replied playfully.

Molly simply offered a nod of understanding. Together, the two enjoyed that moment, each taking a slice of the small cake. When the sun finally set, Molly tucked Cypher into bed with a kiss on the forehead. “Goodnight my little soldier. Be sure to get lots of rest okay? Tomorrow is an important day here at the mansion,” she said. She stood up to leave.

“What’s happening tomorrow?” asked Cypher.

“A very important person is coming to visit. They’ll be here to decide what path the young master will be taking for his future. You’ll be on your best behavior won’t you?” she replied.

“Yes ma’am!” Cypher said excitedly.

“Good boy. Now, get some rest and I’ll see you tomorrow!” With that, Molly took her leave and Cypher drifted off to sleep, wooden sword clutched tightly in his hands.