Chapter III - Delicious food and war

*** Kiara ***

“I am in heaven. After months of tortures boredom, finally I have some form of entertainment. I have a gigantic mount in the form of my older brother. A passable teacher of not only language, but also the alphabet this world is using, again in the form of my brother. A personal theater crew of questionable skill - again my brother. Life is good.” Kiara thought to herself.

Her mother had apparently been a vivid fan of adventure stories in her youth and now Kiara had a huge stock of different adventure scrolls she could enjoy for the first time, while at the same time learning the language.

Through the stories she also learned, that magic most often needed a catalyst of some form most often in the form of a crystal harvested from a magical beast. It was possible to practice magic without it but, that was being the rare exception.

If she understood correctly there was some kind of religious ritual performed when children hit a certain age. Petro told her of all the great feats he would perform when he awoke as a mighty dragon slayer and protector of the innocent. Again, it had something to do with magical crystal and their individual attunements. They sounded quite expensive and as if there were a lot of different kinds. You also apparently had to be compatible to bond with it. So even if your family could afford a fancy magical crystal one might not be able to use it.

One of her favorite stories so far was the story of two orphan twins, which were able to form their own crystals in their heart or soul, she wasn’t sure so far and Petro most likely wouldn’t be able to explain it to her even if she could ask him. They did so after consuming some magical berries in a magical forest filled with monsters and absorbing the energy of those berries into themselves and using it to form their own crystals.

For now, she had decided to stay under the radar and pretend to be a normal child as much as possible, so no asking her dad for any further explanations either. Her new dad reminded her very much of the one in her old life. She missed him. Both of them weren’t much of a talker. Being more of the quite type but really enjoying their time with their family and during those times rare smiles broke through their stoic façade. She really liked her time with him.

And even though she manipulated him a little bit to get him to read some other scrolls to him instead of one adventure story after the other, she was surprised on how far he was willing to go with that. The worst part is that after one evening where she had pointed on a recipe scroll by accident and fallen asleep rather quickly, he now believed she liked the way he read ingredients and cooking methods to her.

Cooking had always been something she enjoyed doing, but there is a limit on how long one can listen to the amounts of ingredients listed and how they were to be prepared, so she fell asleep time and time again. Each time convincing her father more, that she enjoyed cooking recipes.

Whenever she awoke at night she started kicking the barrier again. Maybe just maybe her grandmother would forget reloading the crystal one day and she would be finally free from her nightly prison. Even though it was no longer as important as before, not that she finally got some entertainment throughout the day. Once she grew tired of kicking, she looked up at the nothing orb. Her brother had once picked her up and carried her over to it. Grasping it in her still tiny hands, the orb was completely still and yet she felt some kind of vibration run through her body.

It didn’t feel bad, but it was a strange sensation. If she had to describe it, it was kind of like the tingling sensation of blood returning to a limb after it had fallen asleep, but all over her body. She would have liked to experience it for longer, but while her brother was often times her trusted mount, she did not really control him and sometimes he was stubborn as a mule. This time it had been him wanting to show her a big bird he had seen through her window and all her crying and grasping for the orb had been in vain. Another opportunity would arise, she was sure of it.

Slowly the months passed. Her crawling got faster, sometimes she was even able to stand on her wobbly little feet (with some assistance of her parents or her brother). Her grip on the new language got firmer, also helped by having her first teeth not a very pleasant experience she had to admit to herself. If she wanted to, she could probably have a simple conversation right now and she understood nearly everything which was said in her presence.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Since she was unsure on when children started speaking and also because the “say Mama” really started to get old she decided to do both her mum and dad a favor. All of them sat together at the dinner table. Kiara was once more constrained in her little baby chair. In front of her two things, on the main table a literal feast of a meal. Some kind of meal, smelling utterly delicious. Hot steaming dumplings and different delicious looking vegetables. Her mother could probably outcook a professional chef with ease.

On the other hand, directly in front of her stood a bowl with some bland green puree. Her rational mind knew very well, that this was what babies were supposed to eat and her mother took great care in spoon feeding her one spoon at a time, but after having eaten nothing but milk and puree in one or the other form, she would have gotten on her knees and begged for some of that delicious meat on the table. Damn it she had even started to dream about food, but what are you to expect from a baby, who is being read recipes as good night stories?!?

And so, she decided to shoot her shot and kill two birds with one stone. Her hands both grasped into the direction of the roasted meat. She put on her best puppy eyes and looked directly towards her mother.

“Ma ma” she said with and audible pause in between and the most sluggish pronunciation she could manage.

All hell broke loose around the dinner table. A chaos of different reactions.

Her mother immediately began smiling filled with joy, happiness and pride at her child. She awed and went in for a swift hug.

Her father’s smile was a little bit more restrained and maybe a little bit mischievous at the prank - if you could call it as such - he had pulled on his wife. However, his eyes shone full of pride and joy and he soon joined his wife in hugging their little angel from the opposite site.

Petro was at first confused, not understanding the significance of a baby saying its very first words, but soon jumped from his own chair and joined the family group hug or at least he hugged his father’s leg.

Kiara herself was somewhat surprised upon the strong reaction her first word had provoked and at the same time also despaired because everyone had ignored her outstretched hands and her plea for some roasted meat.

Well not everyone. Magdalena was sitting next to her mother at the far end of the table. Her gaze filled with anger and drilling itself into her eyes. Only for an instant flickering down to her outstretched hands and the roast on the table.

Slowly she cut of a small piece of meat from the larger slice already lying on her plate. Picking it up and eating it with relish.

“Please” Kiara begged merely above a whisper and unnoticed by everyone except for Magdalena.

However, she was ignored.

*** Magdalena ***

She could not believe that little devil. First it kicked and depleted her barrier to contain it nearly every night, forcing her to come by time and time again to fill it up with her Mana. Then added mumbled words to the mix, which she couldn’t reveal to her daughter without also revealing the second orb she had built and its additional capabilities. A move her daughter would most certainly bemoan as a cunning deception or even betrayal of her trust instead of the motherly act of kindness and care it truly was.

“How did it know, that I can hear her, but her mother can’t and why is she taunting me” Magdalena thought once more.

The eyes of little Kiara looking straight at her through the orb. Knowing that she was watching and not caring at all. Giving the barrier a kick and then looking back up. Mocking her.

She was still sure, that the little monster had no magic what so ever in her and yet she was growing frightening fast. As far as she could tell, it had learned the language in mere months, given how Kiara hat started to follow conversations. Looking over to another person who had been asked a question in anticipation of the answer. Something we all do. But something, which should be completely impossible for the not even one year old baby.

As a latest attack on her sanity, it now pretended to be able to speak her first words. If only those love drunk fools she called family knew! The little one was speaking - when all of them were sleeping – in full sentences and training herself in the language.

Sometimes she hoped her grandchild was simply gifted. A child like one in a million, destined for greatness to revive the family name and allow them to grasp back onto the reins of power.

However, she had never heard of a baby which never threw a tantrum and always ate her food, without spilling anything. Damn it she had better table manners than her older brother for fucks sake! Even worse it was quite apparent, that she hated the puree she was being forced to eat and yet never even a single spill.

She could see in Kiara’s eyes how much she wanted to try the roasted grassland great boar. This at least was one victory for her. Slowly she cut her self a piece and ate it. Her daughter was a great cook and tonight the meal tasted extra juicy.

It was an emotional dinner to say the least. Her parents blissful and full of joy, her brother simply going with the flow and Kiara and Magdalena both internally fuming for very different reasons and caught in silent cold war only fought in occasionally angry glares.