The Unblessed Child

Chapter Four - Dreamer

The night was cooler outside than Aardriyah was prepared for, forgetting that the royal lodge was internally heated by the convoy of fire servants assigned to the household. It was considered an honour, for most, to be accepted into The Arcane Academy, where strict training would ensure students were placed in some of the highest occupations amongst the realm upon graduation. A lucky handful were selected to serve the varying royal families and travelled the world doing so.

Fire blessed were generally in charge of heating various elements, and commonly assisted in food preparation. Earth blessed were in charge of the gardens and livestock having a deep understanding of the land and how best to use it to their advantage. Water blessed were often utilised in sanitisation which meant they were generally in higher demand as their skills could be used for a multitude of purposes. Conversely, the air blessed were not in high demand with their skills considered the least useful of all. They were most useful in warmer climates, where they could keep their employers cool from the hot Suns Inhalation days. Otherwise they were utilised in transport, offering wind in sails and behind carriages to hasten the speed of royal convoys.

The most prestigious of all roles, regardless of which element you were blessed by, was that of a healer. Every royal household had at least four healers, one blessed in each element given the range of skills that might be needed at any time. Fire blessed were largely considered useful for cauterization and burning unwanted growths, earth for herbs and concoctions, water for sanitization and purifying tainted blood, and air for providing the breath of life. Of course, the royal households also employed the unblessed for menial tasks, but they were usually serving unpaid in lieu of time in prison for minor crimes against The Crystal Capital.

Without a fire blessed to keep her warm, Aardriyah quickly made her way towards the carriage her brother had graciously assigned to the family for the duration of his latest visit. During most of his visits she shunned using it, opting to walk instead, but on nights like tonight she was grateful for the quickened journey to her warm bed. Old Man Teme closed the door from the inside and sat his lantern beside Aardriyah to provide a little extra warmth. As the carriage pulled away from the lodge, he quietly asked,

"You've been having those dreams again?"

"Still, you mean. I didn't stop having them." Aardriyah responded, frustrated by the realisation that she was sure to have another one tonight. There was nothing worse than waking up early in the cold morning from a broken night's sleep for a day full of cleaning and doing whatever she could to win favour with Miss Farrow. Old Man Teme reached inside his cloak and passed Aardriyah a dark leather-bound book, engraved with the symbol of the united elements of the realm. She was familiar with the symbol of four ellipses joined at the tip with an outer circle uniting them all. When she was younger, she joked that they looked like four olive tree leaves with a big orange underneath. Of course, as she got older she began to resent the symbol, as like everything in this world, it seemed to leave out the unblessed.

Her fingers now traced this symbol on the leather-bound book, and she looked up to her friend,

"What's this for?"

"Well, I thought perhaps if you start writing down your dreams, they might give you some solace. Maybe, they'll leave your head and stay within the pages of this book."

Aardriyah was never given gifts or presents, or at least so rarely that this small act of kindness made her heart sing with gratitude.

"Thank you. Thank you so much." Was all she could manage to say, lightly squeezing the old man's hand as she looked over the book; her book. The unblessed had little to offer the world but one thing they were able to provide were skills in writing and scribing; since the blessed were usually too busy to bother with quill and parchment. Aardriyah loved writing, but had little money to buy new books to write in. Luckily ink was readily available in the island nations, extracted from the squids before they were cooked.