Have you ever been stuck in a dream that just mimiced normal life to the point you were unsure if you were dreaming or not? That was how the princess' dreams felt.
Before those kinds of dreams would drive me crazy because I'd wake up wondering what was real or not. Did they really say that yesterday? Is my best friend still alive or not? When I open my eyes, will I be in the hospital? Do I really have to wake up to go to work or was I just fired? The half realities went on and on ranging from having tunafish for lunch to life mortifying events. But now I was a frog.
I couldn't really confuse a human life with my frog life since there was a significant difference in mobility, daily activity, and bugs. Yet, it was still easy to forget that my life had changed so much. It was ever confusing if I was a frog dreaming of being human or a human dreaming I was a frog.
Sitting atop the princess' golden hair in my dreams, I felt like a cricket watching over her. Her days were constant 'that fork, not this fork,' 'walk like this, not that,' 'don't wear that, wear this.' Before long I knew every little detail of her life. Every teacher. Every rule. I could anticipate every move and probably pass as her if we ever swapped places. At the very least I could pass as a princess.
The worse part was when my stomach took over the dream. Imagining all the different types of food she ate evey day as royalty was a hell on a whole other level since I couldn't taste any of it. There was a never ending variety of beasts and monsters. Seasoned with herbs and spices their fat would drip and glisten in the magic light. Cuts from the head to the belly and even fine dishes of blood. Stews and pies were filled with many bite sized pieces of organ meat along with colorful vegetables of all sorts. Roots and foliage could only come in so many shapes, but their colors and arrangements varied from fresh salads with spots of red or blue roots to roasted grains like corn and rice to whole green roots with mashed centers.
Fruits, flowers, and pastries made the bulk of the deserts. Even this world seemed to have honey and sugar as flowers or fruit would be dipped, glazed, or frosted as a treat. Little cakes and pies of were included at the end of each meal. There were so many that it seemed rare if anything was ever served twice. Often a fruit or fruit pie for breakfast, bite sized cakes or cookies for lunch, and something more decadent for dinner.
The gelatin type deserts seemed to be the princess' favorite for after dinner. Sometimes the illusion of a flower or animal would be inside or it would be shaped into a colorful arrangement of both. Other times they appeared to be sweet soups with flowers on top and a liquid marshmallow consistency. Plus, every meal ended with a warm drink made from leaves or powder like tea.
My bugs were tasty, and the ones that ate flowers and fruit the best, but that surely paled in comparison to the food here prepared by a chief. What amazing dishes could they come up with with bugs? Would they raise them themselves? They could be fed with the finest of fruits or meats to flavor them inside and then seasoned on the outside to perfection.
This world also had a odd focus on the age of foods as well. X year vegetables or X year animals as well as care and region were announced for extra special dishes. In my world, only fermented things were really aged. There was focus on good wines and cheeses as well as meats and condiments, but other cultures had other aging techniques that were primarily used after the animal or plant was processed to preserve it. That was because most plants and animals lost or changed flavor with age. So eating things young was preferred and preserving them before they became inedible was important to survival. Animals would be slaughtered before they got 'gamey' and plants would eventually stop producing and die.
Before the city expanded into the farm land, there had been many orchards near where I grew up. Many of the trees had been there for decades and a few over a century, but most of them grew fruit from grafts. The tree might be old, but the branches were newer. I would imagine somewhere there was a young tree they would trim the branches off of and transfer them onto the other trees to grow more fruit faster all to produce the same taste.
How would it feel to have your limbs cut off and spread out over an orchard? Or be an older tree and become a Frankenstein of other tree branches... What if someone transmigrated into a 100 year apple tree and had their limbs cut off and spread through the orchard? Would they then become a part of every tree stuck in place for decades to come to feel the pain of more limbs cut off, distributed, and then reattached to fractured duplicates all over the orchard?...
Nope, not thinking about that any longer. Plant ages--back to plant ages. This is all just a dream, so it's not like it's real. I'm just confusing a cultivation world with a leveling would. And if those systems really did both exist in the same world there must be other rules or factors I didn't know about. Otherwise someone would have noticed they were eating sentient plants... right?
Pulling my attention away from food, there was also all the various tutors and tume studying. Most of the princess' day was spent in the study focused on learning. Occasionally, she would steal a look out the window at the various people mulling about their work or relaxing in the garden. She used to watch the boys train to be knights, but one of her tutors put a stop to that.
From ages 2 to 10 her days went on like this. She had breaks from studying where she would spend time with the children of other noble families who were housed in the castle, but there was always a mentor nearby to remind her of any lessons she had forgotten and any mistakes she had made. Playing and having tea felt more like unit exams than genuine interaction. However, when learning wasn't about what fork to eat with, how to walk, and what to say in polite conversation with 'peers', it was filled with reading books on politics, culture, and magic.
The castle was more like a large interconnected fortress city housing the children of nobles from around the empire, so there was much redundancy, but aside from all the personal libraries in their personal quarters, everyone had access to one colossal library. It was multiple stories going high above ground and far below with spiral staircases and ladders to get to all of the books. There were also locked rooms of restricted and forbidden books... I tried to look into these, but for some reason I couldn't fathom what was inside and got a headache whenever I tried.
There were also many tall windows on the outside walls of the library to let in good light. It was situated so it got light from both the raising eastern sun and the setting western sun and had a giant stained glass roof for when the sun was high in the sky. The stained glass was like a forest canapy with animals, fairies, dragons, and many creatures I didn't recognize peaking through the leaves. Then decorative mirrors placed in strategic corners would send the light to all of the deeper areas of the library so that during the day there was no spot poor for reading.
In gist, it held more books than any library I had ever seen that wasn't digital. Of course I could read the books as well, even the books the princess couldn't, because this was my dream. There were romances in dead languages that I could read like it was my first language. There were several collections of fairytales from all the kingdom's of the empire. Even a few tablets, carvings, and rubbing no one else could understand had meaning to me. Most importantly there were many books full of symbols like those on Ranger's cards and this time I could read them.
From the princess' studies I learned that they were the root of calling magic to do a person's bidding and either needed to be physically formed with mana added or mentally formed with mana to produce the desired effect. Even though it was considered magic, it seemed to be a mix of coordinates and calling a being of power and then directing the power into a shape or effect. The most complex designs read like dizzying legal papers, while the simplest of designs could be less than 'fire goes boom.' There was a disturbing number of them that read like bad computer code where some how the writer got a bug they liked and kept cut and pasting it into other areas despite it being full of flaws. What effect they produced I couldn't fathom.
"Princess Rivaria, your diagram is flawed." The girl across from the princess pointed to a part of the diagram that was supposed to have some more of the crummy code, but the princess had streamlined it. By accident? Or did she have a knck for it? Either way her friend just ruined a good idea.
"Arg!" Princess Rivaria threw her hands in the air and slumped back in her chair. "I am done. No more. What is the point anyways? If I am blessed with a class that casts magic then I will nott need to know how to form these diagrams myself anyways, my class will come with some sort of ability that will do that for me."
The other girl sighed. She was a bit taller than Rivaria with short brown hair and a slimmer face. "You know why. The more we study now the higher the chance of being blessed with a magic class when we come of age. Very few people who refrain from gaining skill with magic are blessed with magic wielding classes. The more you raise your skill now, the more powerful your magic will be later."
"Yes, of course. Even without a magic wielding class one can use magic if they know how to form it and the higher their skill in forming the symbols with mana the faster their spells will be cast." Rivaria put a finger on the paper and pushed some mana through it to burn the missing parts into the symbol. "Lady Mirium, however, with all the conditions already shaping my future with their lofty chains, I highly doubt I'm destined for magicless life."
Mirium turned the page of her book. The book had golden leaves etched into the leather. The title read: Medical Remedies from Plants and Nature. The page she had open talked about the different benefits from plants of different ages. "That so, your father was destined to become the Emperor, but he was never blessed with magic. It's rare among even Kings to have no magic."
Rivaria closed her books and began packing up her things. She was still quite petite with a rounded face. Maybe about ten? I knew she still had a lot of growing to do. "Yes, my father focused on sword art and strategy and now he won't even let me touch such things in fear--oh gosh--of me being blessed with a class who can defend itself. Considering his tutoring selection, he seems to want me to become a figure head. He would have me placed up high on our empire's bow with all of the great power required to protect a ship out at sea, yet never in control, destined to be rammed into any ship who comes at us. Before long I will be scuffed and splinted into a million pieces."
"You still have two years, maybe you can pick up a hobby like music." Mirium continued to copy the text into another book. "Perhaps, if you increase your horseback riding skills you may be blessed as a Spirit Rider.
"Hmmm, now that you mention it, the court bard tutors everyone in an instrument but myself. She only tutors me in formal dance. I can just imagine my father's mortification if I were blessed as a Jester. It would expose this whole farce for what it truly is."
"But you cannot deny that you were already blessed with a destiny. Everything is bound to fall into place eventually."
"Yes, eventually." Rivaria chose to change the subject. "You and the other's are so lucky that you only have to study for half the day. And you yourself get to be outside in the garden for the other half. I bet you will be blessed as a Druid or Herbalist."
"That would be nice. His Highness does make sure we are taken care of here and that our duties fit our interests. I do so love tending to the garden, but remember they are still duties. We must tend to the castle as well as our education. Your duty is to study twicefold so that you may become the great ruler prophesied."
"Pfff. If that were-"
Ting. Tingk. A bell sounded as its chain was pulled from the other side of the thick pine door.
"-Come in," replied Rivaria.
"You Highness." The boy gave the princess a deep bow as he entered and pulled an envelope out of his bag. "A letter for Lady Mirium." He handed the letter over and then took his leave.
Rivaria leaned over as Mirium broke the seal and opened the letter. "Your kingdom's writing is so pretty. Maybe I can ask my father to get me a tutor to teach it to me or you can? I do love to read and if I study more history and cultures maybe I will be blessed as an anthropologist."
"Oh," Mirium shook her head, "I would not know where to begin teaching you."
"How about with the letter? What does it say?"
Mirium took a moment to read the letter. "It is a letter from my older brother, heir to our kingdom. Most of it is about his current exploits and a few squirmishes at the boarder. The savages there still refuse to join the empire. He also asks if you are well and would grace him at his coming of age ceremony in three months."
"I will have to decline. Your kingdom is far enough away that he could be considered a prince from a faraway land. I wish to keep the prophacy at bay for as long as possible. What is that?" A small package with a ribbon tied to it had tumbled out of the letter once it was fully open. "Is it your birthday?"
"Ah, something like that." Mirium pocketed the package without looking at it.
"Oh, what is inside? Are you not going to let me see?" Rivaria pouted playfully. "You are so lucky to have such a loving brother."
Mirium's back stiffened. I imagined the final words in the letter. They read: If I ever fall out of favor with the princess, or if another falls in her favor, use the poison hidden in this locket to insure she will never love another.
"My Highness," Mirium continued, "it will have to wait, we should be going now so we have time to dress you for dinner."
Rivaria's mood darkened. She would rather not see her father right now. Everything they had to discus was bound to be something they disagreed on.