The Enlightened Few - The Journey Begins

New Acquaintance

Morning came and with it Aden just dragged the burdens from the night before. He was reflecting his own anger of being controlled to the situation that had resulted in Edan being hurt. Edan's face appeared as well as the smell of breakfast, his cheek was more swollen and bruised this morning and that just upset Aden more.

Aden often wondered what would happen if the tribes stopped living in peace, he mainly cared about how this would affect their world, the people and the flow of thought. Violence was not condoned at all, no one was to ever be found hurting anyone else. However, that did not mean that it didn't happen, just that people didn't get caught doing it.

Edan knew that his prince was threatening aimlessly last night; he would never hurt or execute any punishment even for the worst of crimes. Aden had only expressed himself in such a manner in front of him because he believed that Edan could be more valiant. Edan knew that Aden was pure at heart and his expressions were out of love and concern.

Aden began by nudging the boy ever so slightly and more vigorously as the time passed due to Edan's stubborn silence. "Why won't you just tell me so that I may have peace, who has dared to act so cruelly towards you? If he is cruel towards you, he is then cruel towards me!" Aden said with a tender voice.

"Sire, please stop questioning me and pressing on the issues. No-one hurt me, I am but a clumsy fool and but merely hurt myself. I am sorry for frightening you and am ashamed of my ungracious nature. Unlike you lord, I was born with two left feet," said Edan and quickly added, "Why do you always think the worst of the royals, who have shown so much kindness towards my family and have allowed me to grow alongside such a blessed prince as you?"

"By trepidations, Edan! I am not frightened, I just want you to have trust in me enough to tell me the truth. Why shouldn't I distrust them? They hide so much from all of us, even me. Do you not think that the knowledge which royals acquire from teachings, on how to control their thoughts, is dangerous? They may think of doing bad things and you would never know." Aden, unknowingly had already begun mastering this very skill, which would serve him well in the days to come. The importance of winning people over with his reliability would be the key to his success, but he had yet to learn of this necessity. He was not the only one who questioned the teachings of the monastery, they shared a wealth of knowledge to the nobles and not only to the SoverI. Why could the nobles be exposed to more dangerous teachings than the others, why were they always allowed to reach their maturity faster?

While Edan helped the young prince prepare for bed, he would always listen to him talk about his adventures. They would normally communicate through active visual imagery; the prince would recall his memories enabling Edan to experience what he had done during the day; it made the servant often feel more adventurous and like a hero at times. "My father is always watching me, do you see? I cannot wait till the day I make my exploratory journey out of this boring city," exclaimed Aden. "Sire, you only think it's boring because you have been here all your life, others that come anew are astonished at the beauty of our city and the eternal flame. We have more to be thankful for than you realise, our city has many more unexplored secrets, which I am sure you will find entertaining enough."

"Edan, you have just not seen what is out there and you are ever so pleased with so little. I have seen the book of the founding fathers and they have sketches so grand that the world beyond these walls looks celestial, magical and I cannot even begin to describe it. Who cares what is hidden within these walls, it can't compare to the treasures outside," protested Aden.

"Sire, my place is to serve you and be by your side, I cannot however hide that I am afraid to go beyond the walls. I have heard that unexpected things occur there and close at hand there is danger!" Edan cowered, retracting into the shadow of the large carved bed closet.