Caster had been a baby for one year now. Over that period, he had been paraded around by his very touchy and loving mother, which he didn't entirely hate. Especially because with every new person or conversation he overheard he would gain slivers of insight into society as well as more general knowledge.
Besides those moments where his mother was introducing him to family friends though, his life had been monotonous and painfully boring. His mother would feed him in the morning, afternoon and evening. When no one was going to be coming he was left alone in his crib or held by his mother in a seat cradling him. He was so…
bored...
every...
single...
day
The good news is that Caster had developed physically somewhat. He could now roll over and crawl. Speech was still difficult, but he had managed to eek out mama and papa at around 8 months old. He had considered saying something earlier but his paranoia about being discovered forced him to wait. Every move he made as a baby he carefully considered.
His first birthday was today, and he was excited. It was one of his first significant milestones since coming to Echon.
'One year old. Finally made it to one year. Being a baby is the absolute worst thing. I cannot wait to be able to walk and talk so I can finally do something besides occasionally look at this screen. I can also put my first step of the plan into motion.'
Caster, or Castus as he was slowly beginning to accept, had ample time to begin planning out his future and what he wanted to do. Strangely the rage, sadness, and depression from when he first arrived had slowly been lost to Castus. After almost a year of living as a baby with his new family, the pain from before had softened. He did remember from time to time, which manifested as crying, embarrassingly, but the pain had lessened. Castus rolled over listening to preparations being made around the house. He had been with his twin sisters on their birthdays and realized that like Earth there was a celebration and presents for the two girls. He realized that as a one-year-old the party was mostly for his family, but his excitement was palpable no less. He planned to debut simple words at this event. He carefully thought of what would be a good word to demonstrate. Castus compiled all of the information he had learned so far to make sure he wouldn't give away that he wasn't just one year old baby.
'I think Erin and Aria would be good to call out.' Castus absentmindedly thought. Movement into the room caught his eye as his mother gently lifted him into her arms. They were always warm and soothing, but his pride never let him fully enjoy them.
Veronica carried him to the living room swaying and humming an off beat tune as she did. The room was decorated with ribbons and food littered the tables. The twins were struggling with self restraint to not devour everything laid before them. Tyrus as usual stood of to the side to maintain his dignity as he pushed his chest forward.
"Happy birthday Castus! Would you like some cake baby?" Veronica rhetorically asked, setting Castus down in a high chair and already reaching towards the plate of cake for him. Seeing food being served Erin and Aria pounced on the spread and Tyrus moved as gracefully as his plum body would allow into his seat.
"Girls, it rude to serve yourself, let Yursa do it." Tyrus reprimanded the girls. He tried his hardest to turn them into proper members of royalty. At times Castus wondered if he would have had any children if royalty did not socially expect members to. Veronica moved to feed Castus the cake, which surprisingly was some of the best food he had eaten since arriving on Echon. While he savored the sweet tastes Yursa moved silently and quickly around to the remaining three members of the family serving them a healthy portion of food. The twins already had food crumbs on their cheeks, but to avoid their fathers gaze they withheld themselves. They rocked back and forth staring daggers at Castus because he was being allowed to eat.
Once everyone had been served and ate their fill, Yursa cast that amazing magic on Castus once more to clean him up. He had long since memorized the formation and movements she made, but he longed to understand how it worked and most importantly learn how to perform such feats. He understood that he would never be the fantastical mages he had heard stories of in his past life, but any magic felt like it would be thousands of times better than none at all. After cleaning up Castus, Yursa moved around the table, removing all the remaining food and only leaving the drinks. Quickly the food was replaced with three presents on the table.
Tyrus looked down at the watch in his pocket, then back up to Veronica. "Lets open these quickly Veronica, we have an appointment to keep." He flatly stated, showing his anxiety about whatever this appointment was. Veronica looked back at Tyrus with a flash of sadness as she had clearly been enjoying spoiling Castus and nodded. "Alright Castus time to open your presents!"
Veronica moved the boxes in front of Castus who tried his best to open the wrapping, but eventually had to let his mother aid him. Opening up the first box Castus saw a number of new sets of clothing for himself. He had learned that clothing was far more valuable in this world than earth was. The five distinct sets of clothing must have cost a decent amount to have made for him. Castus could see Tyrus beaming with pride at the expensive gift. Castus cared little, being a baby had taught him that no one cared how well dress a child was. The second box Veronica aided him to open revealed something far from what Castus believed was allowed for a baby. It was a bronze dagger, inlaid with gold and on the sheath was the crest of a bull stomping on a snake. The family crest of Tyrus that had been awarded to him when he gained his title of Lord. Tyrus once again puffed his chest out and spoke for the first time since seating himself.
"Son that there is the crest of this family, the family you will inherit. Its a bit early for you to wear that dagger, but when the time comes I wanted you to be ready to wear it." Tyrus strained himself trying to convey the gravity of his words to a baby. Castus simply turned and cooed out a "papa" to appease Tyrus. He seemed to have accepted this as enough and nodded his head turning to the third gift. "This third gift is something that I spent quite a bit to obtain to make sure that you, Castus, would be strong enough to take over when I become to old." Tyrus spoke, clasping his hands together and staring at Veronica to open it for him.
The gift revealed a small wooden box that contained small petals of a vibrant pink flower. Castus was clearly confused, but Veronica let out a gasp of surprise. "Tyrus these are petals of a gem flower. These are to valuable to risk on a baby." Tyrus frowned at the hesitance of his wife and looked her in the eyes. "Veronica, unless you can guarantee I can have another son before I become to weak, no cost is too great for securing the safety of my only son. These petals will give him the skill poison dispelling which will ensure some of my more unsavory clients aren't able to try anything." Tyrus stood as he spoke the words moving his hand to grab the box of petals as he strode towards Castus. "My son eat these, and grow strong." Tyrus placed the box down before Castus.
Castus looked at the box in wonder after hearing the words of his father. 'poison dispelling skill? That sounds like something useful, but I'm worried about the cost considering the words of Veronica.' Castus turned to the box considering if he should eat the petals when Yursa came behind Tyrus and spoke into his ear. This caused Tyrus' face to scrunch up. He grabbed the box and snapped it closed before looking at Veronica. "We need to board the carriage now if we are to make the appointment time. We can do this later. We need to get to the church now."
Castus having his prized birthday gift taken away for some visit to the church sputtered out the words "Church?" out of habit. He quickly realized his mistake. A one year old should know that word. Veronica and Tyrus' gaze locked onto him making him realize his mistake.