THE THIRD MAGE

She walked around her hut, smoothly gliding her small hands on it"s windows, on it"s doors. Memories came by one after the other. On the cot where she used to cry on because she"s afraid to go out in the dark. On the bed where she lay her tired small body after a hard-day"s work. Or of the glen outside where she used to listen to her brothers" singing. Or in the kitchen where she would hear her Mama and Papa cook for her.

She laid down in her bed, not even noticing the tears that fell down from her eyes.

"New place, new life. Can I do this?" She was sick of having new lives. She only wanted to be with her family, to play under the sun. But she couldn"t do it anymore. She was born to be a servant. Sometimes she would question her Mama"s and Papa"s decision of having her, knowing that she wouldn"t have a happy childhood. At 6 years old, they were bound to become servants. Such an unfair life.

"Why does it have to be so unfair?" Denaire shouted at no one. "Yes we don"t have magic but it"s not right that you will all condemn us in a life of servitude! Who made that stupid law? I want to bite them. Raawr~!"

She knelt down on the floor and hugged her favorite pillow, crying. "I"m tired of being strong. Please G.o.ds, whoever you are, please help me."

And she continued talking to herself to console her own aching heart.

***

"Denaire!"

"Darling! Baby! Come out!"

Denaire woke up from the sound of those voices. She noticed that it was already nearing evening. The house and the glen outside was covered with gloom. Just then, she heard those voices again.

"Baby, are you home?"

Denaire sprang to her feet and hastily ran outside.

"Mama!"

Her mother ran towards her and hugged her tight.

"Oh Mama, I missed you so much. I am so tired."

Her mother, Aria, spoke soothingly to her. "It"s okay darling. Mama"s here. Have you had supper?"

She was charm-speaking her daughter. But nevertheless, Denaire didn"t mind because she"s feeling better now.

"Come on. Let"s get inside."

Her brother Damien spoke to her, "I"m sorry we"re late. We were hired by some n.o.bles to their celebratory party. Their son became royalty."

I nodded. "It"s okay brother. Don"t worry about it."

Damien ruffled her hair. And then Dior came running in and carried Denaire in his arms.

"Oh Denaire, sister! You"ve gotten fat!"

Denaire pouted and glared at her brother. "I am not!"

"You are," seconded Damien.

"Papa, they"re bullying me!" Denaire asked for her father"s help.

"Now, now boys. Don"t do that to your little sister. She still won"t understand what you truly meant."

Dior put her down and she quickly ran to her father. "Papa, papa."

Xyrille, her father, scooped her up and kissed her cute daughter.

"Oof. You"re getting heavy. So, how has been my Denaire doing?"

Denaire giggled. "You wouldn"t believe it Papa. But, tell me first. What did brother Dior meant when he said I"ve gotten fat?"

Xyrille chuckled. "They meant you"ve grown bigger. You"re almost a lady!"

"But I"m not a n.o.ble."

Xyrille smiled even more. "No. But the lady I meant is when most girls come to age, being mature. You"ve grown taller, you have a few fats and muscles. You"re just like Aunt Mayda. Getting more beautiful."

"I"m no longer a child then?" Denaire asked happily.

"Almost. When you reach 10, which is two years from now, you will no longer be considered a child. But you will always be my baby."

Denaire was feeling so loved that she couldn"t reply and just snuggled deep in her father"s chest. Xyrille just laughed and patted her daughter"s head.

They came in the hut and smelled something so delicious. Denaire hopped down from his father"s arms and ran straight to the kitchen.

"Mama! Did you write down all your recipes?"

"Of course baby. Here, you could read it right?"

Denaire nodded. No-mage weren"t allowed to learn to read and write. But Aria sneakily taught her daughter every time they visit her so that she won"t be taken advantage of.

"Mama, could you tell me what you"re cooking and teach me how to do it?"

Aria couldn"t even describe the love and ache she was feeling of her daughter"s fortune. But she has to be strong so that her daughter would become even stronger.

***

After that cooking lesson and a very sumptuous meal, Denaire finally said, "Mama, Papa, I have something to tell you."

Damien, who was rubbing his full stomach, carefully asked, "Have you been to the Magoria again?"

Denaire guiltily nodded, "But I swear it"s not so painful now that I haven"t joined in it like before."

Aria and Xyrille sighed. "So, how did the Magoria go?"

"It was all good. Those display of magic was so fantastic. I wish I could have seen all of your reactions on that magic crystal ball."

Aria laughed, "I"m afraid, you can"t baby. You were still not born that time yet."

"I know Mama, I was just wondering if ever I did see it." Denaire laughed.

But her family didn"t laugh with her.

Xyrille finally spoke, "Denaire, I"m sorry for giving you this life-"

"No Papa, it"s okay. I came to terms with it day by day. I thought instead of wallowing myself in that self-pity, I might as well wallow myself in hard work and dedication to at least have a good life."

Aria couldn"t believe her daughter"s words. They were so matured, like spoken by an old woman who"d have a hundred or more years of wisdom.

Dior cleared his throat and said to Damien, "Brother, why do I feel that Denaire"s much older than us?"

Damien looked at Denaire and then to Dior, "I seriously have no idea what you"re talking brother."

And everybody laughed. Denaire couldn"t find anything funny in that but it was always their daily joke, and it grew in them to laugh after it.

"So," Denaire cut in. All eyes were on her now. "So did you hear that the Queen"s daughter, is now a Lady?"

Dior abruptly stood up. "Princess Samarra?"

Denaire looked confusingly at her brother but still answered his question. "Yes. In the Magoria, only a white falcon appeared. So, she became a n.o.ble."

Xyrille said, "Well that is a huge blow to the royal family."

"Yeah. Queen Iris cried after that. She was so concerned about Lady Samarra."

Dior, who was still standing, quietly sat down and asked, "Is it okay now to marry a n.o.ble from the middle cla.s.s?"

This has been Dior"s concern all along because she was madly in love with Lady Samarra.

Aria thought for a while, "Well, there is nothing in the law that states otherwise. Only the royalty were confined to royalty. Ranks below them can intermarry all they want, from what I understand. What do you say honey?"

Xyrille also nodded. "Well son, I believe it so. But know this, Lady Samarra would still be guarded by her parents and security will be tight."

Denaire, who was grinning widely now, happily interjected. "But I can let you meet her brother!"

They all had looks of confusion on their faces. But Denaire was happily dancing now in their eyes. "You see, Queen Iris hired me as Lady Samarra"s servant!"

All jaws, except Denaire, dropped to the floor.

Damien was the first one to recover, "You what?"

"Yes I did. And this is my last night staying here." Denaire"s smile vanished all of a sudden after the thought of leaving her tiny hut.

The rest snapped out of their daze when they heard that last night from Denaire.

Dior asked, "Can"t we visit you there?"

Damien scolded him, "You dumb! We obviously can"t because that"s a royal"s daughter and she"s still a n.o.ble. You heard Papa, security will be tight."

Denaire, consoling herself, replied, "But I could always ask Lady Samarra if you could all visit. She mentioned that she wanted to meet Mama."

"She did?" Aria asked.

"Yes Mama. She is a very nice girl. I think we could get along."

"Well, if that"s the case, I wouldn"t worry too much."

"That"s my princess to you!" Dior happily exclaimed.

And Denaire smiled at that.

"Seeing that it"s your last night here, and maybe the last time we would all see each other," Damien carefully said, "Mama, Papa, could we all sleep with sister tonight?"

Both parents agreed.

So after cleaning the dishes, they all placed mats on the floor and slept side by side.

Denaire smiled as she heard her father"s snores.

It was the best sleep she ever had for the first time in her hut.