AChildrened at the baby right next to him. He had slightly lighter skin than Ajay himself with the same black hair as him. Ajay couldn't see his looks, so he didn't know if his twin had the same looks as him.
The baby turned his head to look at Ajay who was observing him with eyes that were barely open due to him just being born. When he finally could see Ajay clearly, the first thing he did stunned Ajay a bit. His twin smiled at him.
He didn't cry or whine, his first response to coming into the world was smiling at Ajay.
Somehow, Ajay felt as if there was more to the smile on a surface level; the smile felt reassuring. It was like he was trying to say everything was going to be ok.
As if trying to prove what Ajay was thinking was right, his twin grabbed Ajay's tiny hand with his own. The moment was interrupted by Ajay's moms giggling and speaking in a foreign language.
She proceeded to get off the bed and placed her two babies in two separate baby cribs.
After Ajay was in the crib, he tried to move his body but found that it was surprisingly difficult to do. So he spent a while trying to get used to his body until something changed in his environment.
He moved his head a bit and saw someone entering the spacious room. The moment he stared into the new arrival, he felt fear beyond anything he experienced in his lifetime. He felt like a mere bug in front of this monster.
'Who is this guy?'
***
Regina looked at her two new babies with love and affection. She felt as if as long as these two were in her life, she was complete. Looking at them wiggling around, she started giggling.
"I'm going to spoil you two so much. Hehehe.'
Her mood dampened a bit though, when she thought of their future. While they were bound to be rich and powerful, they would also have many burdens growing up that normal children shouldn't bear.
Especially with that infuriating man as their father. Hmph.'
As if sensing her thoughts, the man himself, the Sultan, entered the room with someone behind him. Even though Regina was married to this man for 8 years she could never fully understand him or his character.
The Sultan briefly glanced at Regina before turning to the babies, infuriating Regina even more.
'He wasn't there when I was giving birth and now he doesn't even ask me how I am or if everything went ok.'
Even though Regina was cursing out her husband in her mind, she would never say something out loud, after all, he was still the Sultan. Being his wife allowed a lot of privilege, but even she could never badmouth him.
As if sensing her bad mood, the Sultan faced Regina again with his dominating gaze.
"I see everything went well. You did a good job."
'What do mean I did a good job! Of course, I did a good job, you brute!'
Her cheeks slightly turning red with anger and embarrassment, she kept a steady tone.
"Thank you, honey, uh, the babies are in good health and are full of energy."
He walked up to the cribs and stared at his sons, his expression unreadable. After a very tense moment of silence, he turned around and faced the old man who had entered behind him.
The old man was wearing robes that covered up most of his body, they were white and gold. His skin was wrinkled and his hair was snow white. He supported his body with a wooden cane that had numerous markings on it that were unreadable. His eyes closed so no one could see his eye color.
Overall, the man looked old and feeble, but those who knew him knew how wise he was and, more importantly, the power he possessed. The man's name was Satya, more widely known as The Seer.,
"Seer, take a, look at the babies, and tell me what you see." The Sultan addressed the old man.
"As you wish, my Sultan." The old man replied as he walked slowly with the support of his cane.
As he approached the two babies, the Sultan and Queen Regina stood a little way away observing the process that was about to happen.
This process was very important in the Mahan Sultanate. It was a ritual that every baby had to go through no matter what class they were in and it was performed by a priest like Satya. This ritual looks into the potential and their talent.
And as this was the royal family, they got the head priest himself to personally see the fate of the heirs to the Sultanate.
The Seer first placed his hands on Ajay, making him squirm a little. But eventually he calmed down and the Seer started the ritual.
First, he traced his finger on Ajay's skin in a careful and precise manner. It was as if he was drawing some kind of markings on Ajay's skin. Around his collar, then some on his shoulders, and his chest. Eventually, he stopped whatever he was doing and took a deep breath.
Then in a swift but careful motion, the Seer placed his index and middle fingers on the middle of Ajay's chest. This startled Ajay, but not as much as what happened next.
The exact places where the Seer traced his fingers on Ajay's skin, start to glow.
First in a dim yellowish light then quickly into a very bright golden color. Ajay's eyes also started to shine along with the markings. Something stirred inside of him.
Unfortunately, before Ajay could grasp what that sensation was, it disappeared. The markings dimmed down and then stopped glowing.
The Seer took a step back with his head facing down as he was in deep thought … or shock.
"Well, what happened? What did you see?" Regina asked impatiently and anxiously.
Still, the Seer didn't answer for a while, but when he did, his voice sounded uncertain and small.
"I saw too much."
"What does that mean? Is my baby ok!" Regina started panicking at the priest's uncertain tone.
"Calm down, Regina. I'm sure he will explain." The Sultan spoke in a neutral tone.
Regina looked like she wanted to argue, but thought better of it. Finally, the Seer spoke again.
"What I mean is that he had too much energy. More than I've seen in my lifetime, no probably morethan anyone's seen in their lifetime."
He paused a bit and continued.
"Even if he has a royal bloodline, he has so much potential energy that it seems to be overflowing. And even beyond that, he is absorbing raw energy without even trying. I can only imagine his potential and the speed he could grow!"
The Seer turned towards the Sultan, who seemed to be in deep thought. Before he could say anything, Regina spoke up.
"Ok, but he's alright, right?"
"Oh, yes your highness, he is perfectly healthy and brimming with life."
Regina released a deep sigh of relief at the news, she had thought something bad had happened to her baby based on the Seer's reaction. And honestly, she doesn't care if her children have power; she just wants them to be safe and healthy.
But, having power was a plus since they were born into the royal family, they might need power in case they need to rule a nation in the future. Right now, though, Regina just cared for their well-being.
"Does he have more potential than me?" The Sultan spoke in a serious tone.
"Way more. Honestly, I am still shaken by how much energy this one has." The Seer answered honestly while pointing at Ajay.
The Sultan stared at Ajay for a while in deep thought. After a long, tense silence, he spoke again with certainty.
"Ananta. That shall be this one's name. Ananta Mahan"
Regina smiled at the name. It was a good one. If she had some in mind, but in their culture, if a family had a son, then the father would name them, and if a daughter was born, then the mother would name her.
The Seer also smiled at this. "A very fitting name, my Sultan. I'm sure he will live up to the name."
Then he proceeded to move over to the crib next to Ajay's and prepared to do the same ritual. He traced the baby's body, creating markings on his body. Then , touched the middle of his chest with two fingers.
Just like Ajay, the markings and the baby's eyes started to glow, but something was different., The glow was much dimmer, it was a very dim, pale yellow and wasn't even close to how bright Ajay's was.
After the Seer finished, he removed his hand from the baby, who looked at him with a curious expression. The Seer turned towards the Sultan and Queen Regina, his face looked grim.
Before Regina could question him the Seer spoke in a grim tone.
"Yes, his health is just fine. But there iand s something wrong with his potential energy. You won't like it."
"What is it, Seer?" The Sultan questioned.
"His insides are dark, he barely has any energy in him. No, that would be an understatement, he has the least amount of energy I have seen in my lifetime. Even peasant-born have more than this. A little less, and he would be no different than a mundane human."
Silence hung on the walls for a long time after the Seer had spoken. The Sultan's face was as unreadable as always. But Regina was different, she was worried, big time. Yes her baby was healthy, but she was afraid of what her husband might do. Power was everything for the royal family, no, this whole world. Without it, you would be looked down upon, stepped on, and treated as garbage.
Her worst thoughts came true when the Sultan spoke.
"We have to kill him."
Regina's face paled as she turned to face the Sultan. But before she could protest, he spoke again.
"We already have a powerful hthe eir, we don't need this one to drag him down." He said as he pointed to Ajay's twin.
"Please honey, reconsider, how could you just abandon your child like that!"
"He is no child of mine if he is this pathetically weak."
Regina tried convincing the Sultan, but he stood firm on his decision. Aft,er it looked like all was lost, the Seer spoke up.
"I think I kno,w how this has occurred. At birth, both babies had the same amount of energy, ,but something happened."
He pointed at Ajay then at his twin. "This one began absorbing the other's energy causing the balance to break. This led to him having too much energy, while the other had a miniscule amount."
He briefly looked at the Sultan, who was listening intently, and at Queen Regina, who was looking at him with some kind of hope that he would convince the Sultan to take back his words.
"This is a very rare case. Usually in twins, the chances of this happening are already miniscule. But it does happen once in a while. However this happening in the royal bloodline is even more surprising, the chances were almost none. This is just some abysmal luck."
After he finished speaking, he looked at the Sultan. Everyone was waiting for his decision. Finally after a deadly silence, the Sultan spoke again.
"Alright, we won't kill him. At least not now, if he can't prove himself by the Arising Ceremony, then I shall kill him myself."
Regina was about to sigh in relief until she heard the last part, But, she just gritted her teeth, and didn't say anything, she knew this was the best she was gonna get.
"Seer, you said his insides were dark right? Very well then, this one shall now be known as Krish."
"That's too cruel, honey! He is a royal, what will others think of him, with that name." Regina stuttered.
"What others think is not my problem. He has power not worthy of the royal Mahan bloodline, so he shall not get a name that is worthy of it!" The Sultan answered in an indifferent tone.
The Seer turned his back on the two, while they were arguing and faced the babies.
"Aaah, what difficult road ahead you two shall have," He muttered to himself.
***
Ajay didn't know what the heck was happening. First a man and an older man came into the room with his mom, and they started talking in the foreign language.
Then, the old man came up to him and started tracing something on Ajay's skin. Something inside Ajay, awakened, it felt warm and powerful.
Ajay had a hard time understanding what was happening within him.
But in the end, he came to a conclusion to what he felt and saw.
'Magic. There is magic in this world!'