The Birth of Ignaius - (Part 2 of the Ignaius-Saga)

Comfort

Tanier realized he had slipped. Possibly he was more worn down than he liked to admit - after only two days.

After giving the matter a short moment to think, he started talking: "After you have told me so much about your childhood, it is only fair to share some about mine. When I was a small boy, I mostly used to live at Acket Castle with my mother. Father used to visit now and then. I loved the presents and the excitement that came with his visits. Suddenly the usually quiet place would swarm with people. And he always brought something interesting. Toys, stories, people. Occasionally mother and me would travel to the capital, mostly to participate in major festivities and family functions. When I was a little older, like maybe five, those visits became more frequent and not long after that I moved to the palace to live with my father. Until then I never felt like I was raised to be a king or even any important member of the royal household. All of this had been completely invisible to me at Acket, but now I received systematic training in all intellectual, physical and social matters. I already knew how to ride. I can't even remember learning it. But now I learned how to swim, how to dance, even how to walk and stand, for the time where it was enough to be cute to impress people was coming to an end. I had tutors, but father also took quite a bit of time to teach me. When I got older that got more interesting. Often my teachers would tell me how I am supposed to do things - and my father showed me what he really did instead. I also had friends, and this was helpful. There was always a bunch of children at the palace. There was some fluctuation, but a handful stayed with me from the time I arrived to the time we were considered adults and started to pursue our respective careers. There was a lot of pressure on us to learn, to perform, to not fail and to become fit for the positions our parents desired for us, but we also had so much to keep us busy and excited and we grew up with the idea that we were special - and were indeed treated like that.

When I was 15, things changed again. Grandfather died, my father became king and I was suddenly no longer one of many princes, but the heir apparent. My whole status changed. People started treating be different and a whole new set of skills was added to my training. My father started to take me to official functions a lot, but more important, he started taking me to the nonofficial functions as well. Growing up at the palace, we knew a lot about what was going on, but now I systematically learned all the things that happened behind closed doors. Most of it. A few things I would only learn when I was an adult. At least officially. You can probably guess, that there is a lot that curious teenagers can learn, even when they are not supposed to know, especially at a place like the royal palace.

I didn't have much time to learn everything. I was 23 when my father died in an accident. Now that I think about it: you weren't even born then. You have never known anyone else but me as the king. No wonder you can not imagine anyone else on the throne. As much as this is extremely flattering, be assured that this country will still have a king when I die. My son is even older than I was back then. I don't intend to die here, but if I do, there has always been someone willing and able to replace me. I am no more special than you are. If I die, my son follows me and business continues as usual. The paper Nevala wants me to sign would quite unbalance a few things. And this is something I will not allow to happen. I know there are people looking for us who will not leave any stone unturned, so there is hope. So do me a favour and don't die on me, unless it is absolutely unavoidable, will you?"

Variel put all of his focus into listening. He let Tanier's voice fill his mind, let it create pictures and scenes to replace the horrors around him. He didn't know what Tanier had looked like as a boy, but he created a likely image. He'd seen portraits of Tanier's father, so he used those as a guide. He actually managed to forget for a while what was going on. He left the cell, left his battered and stained body. He went to another time and place, and it was the king's voice that took him there.