Tucked away in a small corner of Dellorim; a country rimmed by icy tundra to the north, and a charred-black wasteland to the south, stood the rather large estate of the Galvan family. As the third-largest noble family in the country, the Galvans Ruled over the region with firm authority. Upon their estate on the second floor of their massive mansion, and deep within the servant’s quarters, a young boy, no older than five stood staring out the window at the field below.
His name was Cypher, and while he was small in stature his eyes held a wisdom beyond his years. His shaggy dark hair hung down over his brow and barely hid the tears streaming down his face. His tears were not those of sadness or pain, but those of frustration. Once again he had been denied by the other children who ran freely around the mansion.
All he had wanted to do was join them in their fun games of tag and hide and seek. But, as always, Eiden, the firstborn of the Galvan family had spurned his attempts and left Cypher standing alone in the courtyard.
“Don’t you have better things to do? I’m sure the stables need cleaning again, bastard!” said Eiden as Cypher stood before the group of children.
“B-but Eiden… I already cleaned them today! Besides it’s just a little break, can’t I have some fun too?” whined Cypher as his smile quickly faded from his face.
“Hmm well, I guess since you’ve already handled that we could let you play with us,” said Eiden, a wry smile appearing on his face.
Cypher lit up with excitement and let out a happy laugh.
“Aww, I don’t want to play with him though!” said one of the other noble children standing next to Eiden.
“Yeah! Who wants to play with the bastard child of servants? My daddy says that servants are nasty filthy people who should be grateful to just have a roof over their heads and be happy to serve those of noble blood! This one doesn’t even have proper parents to look after him,” said another boy.
“You guys are right. Quite frankly I don’t even know why my father and mother allow him to stay here instead of sending him to one of the orphanages in Riftmoore. But don’t worry, it’ll be fun guys! Trust me this will be great! I’ve got an idea,” whispered Eiden as he winked at the other boys.
Cypher of course was none the wiser to this little exchange, though he was curious as to why the small group of boys were huddled close together whispering. Their faces held uneasy smiles, and they seemed quite tense but Cypher assumed it was just because he had asked so suddenly to join them in their fun.
The group of children gathered around one of the trees in the courtyard and drew straws Eiden had prepared to decide who would hide and who would be the seeker. Cypher was so excited to draw one of the longer straws which meant that he would get to hide first with the others. Eiden drew the short straw and was the first to be the seeker.
“Haha! Looks like I get to do the hiding Eiden! You better look long and hard cuz’ you’ll never find me!” exclaimed Cypher.
Eiden smiled and winked at the others again, tilting his head towards the field in the distance as Cypher’s eyes darted away from their small group.
“Damn, I guess you’re right. It would be annoying if I couldn’t find you. The winner of this game gets an amazing prize!” replied Eiden.
“A prize?” asked Cypher, tilting his head to the side as his eyes went wide with curiosity. The others looked a little confused but quickly caught on to what Eiden was getting at.
“Oh yes! It’s a prize I thought up all on my own! Since I’m the seeker, if I find and tag all of you before you can get back to this tree, then I win! But! If even one of you can’t be found before the sun starts to go down then the hiders win and everyone but me gets the prize. How does that sound?” said Eiden, a smug grin on his face as the other boys giggled into their sleeves.
Cypher was pumped for sure now. Not only was he getting the chance to play with the others, but he could even win some fantastic prizes as well. Cypher’s mind raced with the possibilities as he remembered the many hiding places he had scouted during his time on the Galvan estate.
“I’ll count to one-hundred! That should be more than enough time for everyone to find somewhere super-secret to hide!” finished Eiden as he turned and leaned against the tree in the middle of the courtyard. “Good luck everyone!”
With that, the children each ran off as Eiden closed his eyes and began counting. Cypher quickly ran to find a place to hide. He had been imagining playing with them so very often that he had already chosen several places to hide for a time just like this. He was excited, that much was certain. Of course, he had his doubts.
Eiden had never let Cypher play with him and his friends in the past. To be fair, Eiden was always rather mean to him as well. Always making him do chores or calling him mean names. Eiden even played horrible pranks on Cypher that usually ended with him being sent to his quarters with no food. Cypher wasn’t eager to have that happen again, but maybe this time was different. Maybe Eiden was bored with always picking on him.
Maybe this time things would be different! After all, Eiden had never mentioned a prize before. With the thought of candy or cool toys on his mind, Cypher hurried over to a clump of bushes not far from the tree and snuggled himself close to the ground. He made sure that not even a single part of him was sticking out of the bushes and giggled with satisfaction as he peeked through the leaves towards the tree.
Cypher could hear Eiden counting and as soon as he was done the young heir yelled, “Ready or not! Here I come!”
Cypher brimmed with excitement and playful fear as he pushed himself closer to the ground. He could just barely see beyond the leaves of the bushes and saw Eiden run off in another direction to find everyone.
“Hehe,” thought Cypher. “You’ll never ever find me in here! This is the perfect place! It’s so close to the tree that even if you did find me you’d never catch me before I touch it! But who would even think to look so close to base? Hehe, this is the perfect spot! That prize is as good as mine!”
Minutes passed as Cypher stifled his mirth and let out little giggles. He was sure that nobody would find him there. Indeed, after thirty minutes he still hadn’t been found. Another thirty minutes or so passed and now Cypher was starting to get bored. With cautious movements, he wiggled out from under the bushes and looked around.
The other children were nowhere to be seen and Cypher quickly grew confused. He began looking for the others and soon he found them. Just beyond the courtyard, in the open field, Eiden and the other children were playing with wooden swords and laughing as they chased one another.
“What the..?” mouthed Cypher as he looked on.
He balled his fists up and his tears had begun flowing at that moment. They had forgotten all about him.
“No…” he thought, the realization finally dawning on him.
He knew perfectly well that they hadn’t forgotten about him at all. This was always the plan. Wasn’t it? They didn’t want to play with him from the start, they never did. Eiden caught a glimpse of Cypher standing in the distance and waved, a smug smile of satisfaction spreading across his face as he mouthed the words, “found you,”.
Cypher had seen enough and ran back to his quarters. Here he had stayed for the last hour, watching the others play and eat sweets brought to them by the other servants of the Galvan manor. Cypher’s tears welled up and he couldn’t hold them anymore. He clenched his fists as he watched them enjoy the waning light of that sunny day. Eiden always did stuff like this.
It wasn’t bad enough that the boy was three years older, or that he constantly berated Cypher for things he couldn’t understand. He had everything he could ever want and never needed to do chores or clean disgusting things and places like Cypher did. On top of all of that, he couldn’t even let Cypher have a single moment of happiness.
A knock at his door drew his attention away from the scene below, and in stepped a middle-aged woman. Her name was Molly and for as long as Cypher could remember she had taken care of him. She was short of stature and had a round, plump body. The curly brown hair that hung down to her shoulders was always held in place with a blue headband, and her green eyes were warm and full of compassion. She always wore a maroon dress with a faded white apron lined with shaggy frills.
Cypher’s origins had always remained a mystery to him. All his life, he had been a servant to the Galvans, the third largest of the noble families in the Dells kingdom. He didn’t know who his father was, and his mother, (he had been told), had died bringing him into the world.
All that was left of her was a small box with no key. Despite his best efforts to pry it open, it refused to share its secrets with him. The Galvans would not even share with him details of her life despite his obedience to them. In fact, in the entire mansion, Molly was the only one he could turn to for any kind of comfort or care.
Molly didn’t have the answers to his questions either, but despite that, she had always been there for him. She took one look at him and instantly knew what had happened. She stepped forward, and knelt in front of Cypher, pulling him into a tight hug. He could smell her lavender perfume mixed with a hint of baked goods as she held him and he hugged her back.
“I-it’s not fair!” cried Cypher, finally letting his walls down as he sobbed into her arms.
“Oh, sweet child… I know it isn’t. Life in this world seldom is. But you have to remain strong in the face of things like this! The young Master is a bully plain and simple. Most noble children are. But look at them,” said Molly as she stroked the back of Cypher’s head and led him towards the window.
“They’re happy and playful now but their lives aren’t ones they get to control. Nobility carries with it a lot of responsibility. Tasks people like us will never need to concern ourselves with. Because of that Eiden and his friends will never get to live a life of their own choosing and making. You are different from them, Cypher,” Molly continued.
“Is it because I’m smelly and poor?” he asked.
Molly let out a heavy sigh and shook her head, “Oh, sweet child, no it isn’t. It’s because unlike them I see greatness in your future, earned with your own hands and your own choices! You see, this life is all about choices, dear Cypher, and today you get to make a choice all your own. You can either continue to let these noble children make you feel like less than you are, or you can let their words slip right through you leaving nothing behind.”
“It isn’t easy to choose the higher ground or the better path. Sometimes the urge to hold in all our hate, anger, and discontentment is one that’s very hard to resist. But if you do manage to resist it, if you do manage to be the bigger person and let it all go, I promise you that one day it will pay off and you’ll find yourself surrounded by happiness. When hate and anger cannot find anything inside us to hang onto, the only thing left is love and kindness. Do you understand Cypher?” asked Molly, a warm smile spreading across her face.
Cypher wiped his tears away and nodded up at her, his own smile starting to return.
“So then, what will you choose?” asked Molly.
Cypher took his time as he thought. He looked down at Eiden and the others again and felt his anger rising. But then he looked to his left, and he saw that Molly was staring down at him with nothing but compassion and love in her eyes. To him, that was all he needed to make his decision. Why bother with hatred? Why keep such anger stored inside all the time?
It hadn’t done anything for him so far except to build bitter feelings of resentment towards Eiden and the entire Galvan household, and what did that get him?
Cypher smiled and hugged Molly, “I think I’ll take the high road!” Cypher exclaimed with a wide smile.
“That’s the good little boy I’ve come to know and love! Now,” said Molly as she reached into her apron and pulled out a small piece of butter candy, “Take this and cheer up! You can help me fold the laundry again!”
Cypher smiled and happily took the candy. He quickly popped it into his mouth and grinned as the sweet taste flooded his senses. “Can you teach me more about letters and numbers afterwards?” he asked.
“I don’t see why not! You’re such a smart boy and you’ve come so far so quickly,” replied Molly. Cypher smiled and held out his little hand towards her, and together, the two left Cypher’s room and headed off to tend to their tasks.
