Chapter 21-Communication

Baby's POV

Although traveling within the Imperial country was a lot faster than any of the other countries we had gone through, we still needed to go to the very center of the country; to the Imperial City. We traveled about a week; only stopping for 6 hours per day for a rest before pushing on. It was like the whole group had been re-energized; they hardly seemed like the same group of people compared to them even 2 weeks ago.

I also noticed the way some of the people on the road were very respectful of my father and our group as we passed by them. As we made it into the Imperial city itself, there was even some cheering and happy greetings taking place. Clearly my dad was someone important in this place.

We stopped briefly at the gates where my dad conversed with a person sitting on some type of animal; not too sure what kind.

After a few minutes my dad came over to the carriage.

"We have His Majesty's permission to get settled before presenting ourselves tomorrow" he stated.

"Oh, good. I was afraid that we wouldn't have a chance to freshen up before being presented at court" my mom said with a sigh of relief. Her fatigue very evident in her voice.

Our whole group set out for the house that my parents and siblings lived in before they went to Terrinas where I was born. The city was huge and although everything seemed pretty clean and orderly, the roads were littered with wagons and carriages and the shops and stalls were densely packed along both sides of the streets. As we moved further into the city, the streets narrowed, but there was fewer people on the streets and more space between buildings.

Higher and higher we traveled until we came to a very large house.

Jasper came over and picked me up.

"Lets have a house tour! I haven't been here is so long! Not sure I remember where everything is, so let's explore" he told me excitedly. I pulse my aura as we moved along so I had a good idea of where everything was located. As we were leaving, I noticed a large group of people lined up the the entryway with my parents. I hoped everything was alright; not that there was anything I could do if it wasn't.

I also noticed that apart from the hidden guards who had traveled with us, there were no other servants or guards in our vicinity as we moved around the grounds and to our own bedrooms.

The new house reminded me of an old European style. The servants lived on the first floor, the guards in the guard house behind the house, and the upper floors for the family and important guests of the family.

All during our journey to the Imperial city I spent a lot of time practicing expanding my aura and experimenting to see what else it could be used for, but also I was wracking my brain to figure out a way to communicate. Being blind and mute in a foreign world was not easy. After thinking about other people with disabilities from my other world, I was reminded of a girl named Sara. She had been deaf and I was blind.

One day Sara and I realized that without an electronic device, we would not be able to communicate and so she started teaching me sign language. I would sign to her and she would either speak or sign into my hands. Usually signing into my hands since she didn't like to speak for some reason, but if I couldn't understand the sign, then she would usually give up and tell me the word. Thinking about her made me smile fondly.

I decided that I would start teaching Jasper sign language that day. For half an hour Jasper spoke and I signed what he was saying back to him. All I could do was hope he could understand what I was trying to do. I really wanted to be able to communicate again.

"Hungry...thirsty...walk...sleep" Jasper would have long pauses between words. It was my first sign that might have understood that I was trying to communicate with him.

"Hungry" Jasper said again. I again signed hungry.

"Ha-ha!" Jasper yelled excitedly. I new then that Jasper had understood then that each sign had a meaning. We went on like that with Jasper saying a word or phrase and me signing it until it was time for dinner. I also soon realized that Jasper was in fact very smart with a good memory. Signs that took me days of memorization, took him one afternoon. We still had a long way to go, but I was very encouraged by the progress we had made thus far. With a hope for a brighter future, Jasper picked me up and we followed the servant to the dining room.

I was placed in an elevated chair so that I could reach the table where the rest of the family was already seated. The smell of the food made my mouth water as I was looking forward to something besides mash and fruit. I decided that if I never had to eat mash and fruit again, it would still be too soon!

A bowl was placed before me and a maid at my side took a spoonful of what was in the bowl in front of me and scooped it into my mouth. Disappointment hit me hard. Mash and fruit again! 'Why?' I wanted to ask. I shook my head away and clamped my mouth closed; refusing to take another bite. I may have had to put up with it while traveling, but we were no longer traveling and I wanted something else!

I shook my head no and refused to take another bite. I could hear my parents sigh.

"I guess she's not hungry Marcy. Go ahead and put her to bed" I heard my mother say.

My head jerked up and my eyes teared. I signed that I wanted something else- anything else to Jasper couldn't understand what I was trying to convey. That night I went to bed hungry.

The next morning my stomach was audibly growling and my insides hurt so bad from hunger I thought that I would vomit. If I had anything in my stomach to expel that is. To my frustration, I was once again given mash and fruit, but this time I bit the bullet and ate it. Somehow I knew that if I didn't eat it, I wouldn't get anything else. Seemed to me that eating the same thing for each and every meal since I started to eat solid food, was cruel and unusual!