"Do you know your history, Jason?" Alicia stood opposite me and on the other side of the bars.
"Someone get me a chair!" she called out. Sometime later, a soldier came by with a wooden chair.
"What is this nonsense? Is this the luxury you afford your Queen?"
"Your Majesty. Please forgive me. This was the best I could find." the soldier fell to his face and apologized.
"Never mind, bring it over." She took the chair and sat on it, finally turning back to face me.
"Now where were we?" she asked with a smile.
"I will tell you how on one condition."
"How... ?" she said with a confused look. She finally straightened her face when it seemed as though she knew of what I spake.
"Oh. First, I shall tell you a story. This story is knowledge withheld from the people, even nobles. Only royalty know of it."
"Then why tell me? I'm not a member of the royal family."
"True. However, I feel like telling the story. You'd do well to listen, see."
"Long ago, humans were slaves to the Great Kraken. It was a monstrous beast unlike any other. The beast lived in a hole at the centre of the Earth called The Giant Quagmire."
"Sorry, but I thought the world has no known centre?"
"It doesn't. This is a story passed down through our histories. Things are bound to get mixed up. Anyway, because humans were slaves, we were required to pay tribute in human souls to the beast every year. And we did."
"Eventually, the beast became dissatisfied with the number of human souls it received and began to demand more, but humans could not supply."
"How did they know it wanted more when humans can't communicate with animals?"
"Quiet squirt, and let me tell my story!" She cleared her throat and continued.
"First, I didn't say the Kraken was an animal. I said it was a monstrous beast. Second, I have no idea how they communicated. After all, I wasn't there."
"But here's what I do know: when the beast's demands were not met, it began a rampage on the Earth. Then the gods had to come down, all five of them. Their beauty was so illuminating that everyone noticed their arrival."
"The gods battled the beast as valiantly as thousands of armies could fight and finally, they defeated it. After this, they decided they would live with humans for a thousand years. During this period, they lay with many women; married or not.
These women birthed demi-gods who were very special because they could wield one of the nine magics. They were the first mages and this was the origin of magic.
The gods trained them in the art so they could train their own children. Only the lineage of the gods were gifted but eventually, after thousands of years, their blood has become weak that it is dormant in some and not in others."
"All this happened around five thousand years ago. And now that you have heard my story, here is my question: how did you, a mere simpleton, manage to activate the dormant blood of the gods in your genes?"
"Why do you think it was ever dormant? No, what makes you sure... "
"Silence! I am your Queen and you will show me the desired respect. I have told you a story as old as time itself. Now, it is your duty to fulfill mine own wish. Tell me, how have you activated your gift?"
"I don't know. I mean originally, I thought it might have been you who healed me when I jumped because the soldiers might have taken you along but I didn't bother to ask."
"Then the accident happened and I thought you healed me so I could stand trial properly, but when you began to ask, I got confused."
"So, you're useless then?"
"Sorry?"
"I said you're useless. You know nothing of it?"
"Nothing. Sorry."
"Alright then. I will see you outside at the square soon enough." she stood up to take her leave.
Soon after she left, three soldiers came by, one of whom had brought a chair sometime ago. He took the the chair away while the other two dragged me out to the square.
I was led, just as I was led yester, to the centre of the square; though this time, there was no butcher. Instead, there was a mage there.
"People of the Capital of the Xander! As you can see, our culprit was a Light mage. One of the rarest. This was how he came out unscathed and also how he has got back all his fingers." As she spoke, a soldier took my hands in the air to shew the people the Queen wasn't lying."
She stopped so everyone would take in what she said and it seemed to have an effect. Whispers and gasps were heard all around me. I, however, paid this no heed. My eyes were fixated on the Queen, waiting to see what she had planned.
"We will train him to use his magic and this will be his punishment: every citizen of the Capital who comes to him, he must heal; and he will take no pay off them. He will farm his own food. He will speak to no one unless spoken to. He will be of a status less than a commoner, equal to a slave, but owned by all the citizens of the Capital. He will be grateful for life, which is afforded I'm only because of his gift."
"This is my decree and it is made official as of today." She finished her speech and gave me a cold glare accompanied by a demonic grin, before turning and walking off back toward the palace.
I had no time to think of this new development as I was knocked unconscious by an unidentified person, probably one of the soldiers behind me though.
I awoke to find myself in a small shabby cabin with only one room. This room had some wooden logs carved to resemble a bed on which I awoke. It was at the very edge of the room. Every other part was empty.
Some hours later, a soldier came by the cabin. I'd familiarised myself with it by then and there was a fence built around it to prevent me from leaving, which at my current age and stature would be impossible for me to scale.
The soldier gave me a rundown of my situation. Every morning, the mage at the square: now my appointed teacher would come by and teach me healing magic, or at least all he could on it. The Queen herself had compiled some notes on the gift as she was the only Light mage in all of Xander for at least half a millennium. Plus, there were remnants of notes from years past that were able to be recovered from the royal archives.
After that, I would heal anyone who comes to ask my aid, provided they were not exiles or fugitives of the Kingdom.
Not long after the mage teacher started coming by, I discovered I could actually use healing magic without reciting a spell. I'd just think I wanted to heal something and I would. But I kept this from him, slowed down my progress by a lot to prevent him from noticing the abnormality.
Mages naturally were taught spells. I was different. I'd just think of anything I wanted to do and it would happen. I noticed it also applied to the Light aspect of my gift, as the healing was a by-product of the use of the Light gift; and I started to practice.
This practice had to be done without my teacher gaining knowledge of it, lest more restrains be put on me; as he was not permitted to lecture me on any form of Light magic except healing.
Time flew by, and eventually, I graduated from under him. I became a Veteran healer mage and then began to work my lifelong punishment of healing people. It was extremely tiring everyday, seeing as I also had to farm my food.
Sometimes, some kind hearted people would offer up some coppers for my services. Other times, some vile plebs would beat me up to ensure I knew I was lower on the status ladder than they. Worst of all was, I couldn't lay a finger on them.