Lessons
1.5k 4 52
X
Reading Options
Font Size
A- 15px A+
Width
Reset
X
Table of Contents
Loading... please wait.

AN: I'll be honest, I had a hard time thinking of an ending to this chapter.  Still, I'm happy I got it done. Yay!

*****

Silence fell between the two, the child staring at Qin Rong in horror. Poison? Obviously, Xander knew what poison was but to think it might have been used on them was...

Was there someone so cruel?

"W-what?!" The child tried to understand the words being spoken but he felt distant and detached as he spoke.

Qin Rong, however, was surprisingly casual about the matter.

"Yeah, I can't really be sure until I read up on the natural toxins in this world." He said with a shrug, looking over the book he'd been reading with Xander. "A lot of stuff is similar to things I'm familiar with but-"

"Nik has been poisoned?!" He cried, his hand clenching hard enough to get the faerie's attention again.

"Eh?" Qin Rong was confused for a moment before recalling he was talking to a child about this. "Oh, yeah did I forget to mention it? My bad."

Then again, he'd only realized this recently. He'd suspected Nik had been poisoned the night he'd arrived since his symptoms were strange for a child his age. But he had originally assumed the kid had just put something in his mouth that he shouldn't have.

Kids were like that after all.

But seeing the food in the fridge had ended that assumption. To blatantly place poisonous plants among the edibles, the person had clearly wanted the boys to get sick and die.

The only question was why.

"Is that why you said you'd provide us food?" The child pulled Qin Rong from his thoughts.

"Partially. Honestly, I just didn't trust that old hag." He admitted, looking away. "That and I spotted some Liferoot in the basket of vegetables. Those are generally bad but on kids, it's lethal."

"But I read that Liferoot was a kind of medicine."

"It is, at least the roots are. Everything else toxic." He explained, smirking at the child's trust. And at that old hags deceit. "Nice touch on her part giving you the whole plant and mixing it in with everything else. Most can't tell the difference between roots and stems."

[AN: This is not actually true but I'll explain at the end why I chose this plant.]

Really, the only reason Qin Rong was so familiar with herbs was that in his line of work, such knowledge was critical. He'd been poisoned once and never wanted to suffer such a fate again.

He studied the subject extensively, even going through the harrowing ordeal of poisoning himself to develop an immunity to most poisons. This took years and in that time, he learned to recognize the signs of poisoning at a glance.

But he needed more information if he was going to treat them.

"How long has Nik been sick?"

"A few weeks."

"Really?" Qin Rong felt suddenly curious about the children he'd been living with. "Then what are you doing here?"

"Father thought Nik would fare better away from others." Xander explained, running his hand over his brother's head. "I was worried he'd be lonely, so I offered to accompany him."

"And then he left ya'll to die here." He concluded, seeing the ending clearly. Their dad just wanted them away from his sight when they died, hence the poison food and the lack of care.

"He wouldn't-" Xander started but held his tongue. While he wanted to think of his father as a kind man, the situation was more complicated than that. His father was a powerful man, in need of strong heirs.

Perhaps the two of them just weren't good enough in his eyes.

Seeing the tears forming in the boy's eyes, Qin Rong felt a bit guilty for saying all that. He wasn't sure why but he kept on forgetting that he was talking to a child. He was getting way too comfortable with this kid.

Still, he couldn't leave the child crying.

"Hey now, there's no need to be so glum about that." He tried, awkwardly patting Xander on the shoulder. "So your dad's a jerk. Such is life, right? Adults are only human. Some are good and most are terrible. Just be glad you got to figure this out before you got a knife in the back."

"One of father's wives died that way too." Xander sniffled, wiping his face before any tears fell. He'd made a promise, he couldn't break it now.

Qin Rong was too shocked by Xander's statement to even notice the near breach in their contract.

"W-with a knife to the back or poison?"

"Both maybe?"

How could it be both!? He thought, trying to understand how that would work. As if reading his thoughts, Xander continued.

"The guards said she got sick and fell onto her letter opener." He explained, recalling the incident fairly well. It had been noisy that morning and the servants kept whispering about it. He was young and only had a passing interest in it.

Meanwhile, the mercenary was reeling from shock, trying to come to terms with how casually this kid spoke about such a thing. He was a mercenary, so death and backbiting were just a part of the day to day life but this kid spoke like it was nothing.

Like holy shit, what kind of life was this kid living when such obvious backstabbing was happening?! Was that why this kid was being poisoned?

Wait, then why wasn't Xiao Xan sick too?

"Have you eaten the same stuff as your brother?" He asked, looking him over. He hadn't bothered to check Xander before since the kid was showing no overt symptoms of poisoning. Xander nodded as Qin Rong checked him out. "You have been but aren't showing any symptoms. You already have an immunity?"

"What's that?" He asked. After having listened to the explanation, he recalled his mother talking about something similar. "Oh, like when I used to get sick before. Sometimes Mama would give me these bitter pills. They always made me sick but mama said it would make me stronger later. I really didn't get it."

"Wow, smart woman." Qin Rong marveled, greatly impressed. She had given her kid enough poison to immunize him to most poisons before he even knew what going on. He had to talk to this lady later. "Do you have any of those pills on you or the recipe?"

Xander shook his head.

"They're back home. I hid them under my bed so mother wouldn't find them."

"Why hide them?" He frowned at the change of address.

"Mother doesn't like me reading stuff mama left behind."

More confusion.

"So this mother is...?"

"Fathers wife."

"And mama?"

"My and Nik's mama." He explained, happy to talk about her. Qin Rong, however, was confused.

"Just how many wives does your dad have?" He asked, now wondering if he'd missed something. Either there was an affair going on or his father had his finger in way too many pies.

The child frowns, beginning to mutter under his breath as he counted on his fingers. After reaching 10, he stopped to think.

"12, I think?" He finally answered, before shaking his head. "No, Lady Juliet got sick and died before so 11 now, I think."

12?! What was this guy?! The emperor?! N-no way, there was no way this little brat was a prince. Even if he was unfavored, there was no man dumb enough to send their own kid this far into the wilderness. Reputation and danger aside, he could have let them die much more naturally if he kept them close.

"How many wives do men usually have?"

"Father said that a man is allowed as many wives as he can afford. They are to give birth to his heirs and stand by his side obediently." He said, so casually, one might think he was talking about the weather.

Hearing all that, Qin Rong felt a bit uneasy in his heart. To think this was just a polygamous society he'd landed in. He'd heard of harems but surely there had to be an upper limit, right? But he couldn't ask this kid. Obviously he didn't know.

More to his concern was how casual this kid spouted this all like it was normal. On one hand, who was he to criticize the culture of this place. What worked for them, worked. Perhaps there was a reason for such a practice, like high infant mortality or short life spans.

But on the other hand, Qin Rong had read and watched enough dramas to know just how ruthless a harem was. He didn't want this kid to be involved with or get dragged into that hellscape.

Jealous women were scary.

Other men might dream of harems but Qin Rong just wanted a monogamous relationship and he was definitely going to instill that in Xander.

"Look, Xiao-Xan I've got to level with you." He placed his hands on the child's shoulder, looking him dead in the eye. "All that talk about having as many wives as you can afford is nonsense."

"It is?"

"Yeah, cause really, how do you know how much you can afford? What if you lost all your money overnight? What would you do?"

"I don't know." Xander hadn't really thought about it but felt that Qin Rong's words made sense.

"Exactly! That's why it's best to stick with one partner, that way you don't have to worry too much about it."

"But what if she gets lonely?" He asked, curious. He recalled seeing his mothers all around, often talking to one another. While they seemed annoyed with one another by their tones, they smiled and laughed often so perhaps it was just a grown-up thing.

"That's what she has you for." He exclaimed, draping his arm around the child. "She married you, to be with you. And you chose her because you liked her."

"I did?"

"Well, you will. Obviously, you only marry someone you like."

"I like you!" He cried, thinking it might be nice to marry Qin Rong. His faery was pretty, nice and smart. He'd make a great wife!

"Yeah but that's different." The mercenary laughed, amused by the kids' words. "Trust me, when you're older, you'll understand the difference between liking me and liking another. Marriage is a commitment, a promise. It's something you can't just do just cause everyone around you says you have to."

Xander felt a bit aggrieved at his companion's words but nodded, as he trusted his words. Perhaps he would come to like someone more than he did Qin Rong one day.

But he wasn't sure such a thing was possible.

"Will you marry someone too, one day?" He couldn't help but ask as he laid back on the bed.

That'd be nice but I doubt it." Qin Rong muttered, staring up at the ceiling. To marry someone, he'd have to trust them. It has to be someone he was willing to share his secrets with and love with all his heart.

While he had never spoken about it, Qin Rong was a romantic. It was why he loved dramas and novels. He had grown up with no one to love or love him, so he idolized the romantic fantasies he saw in media. While he had never found anyone who could penetrate his heart, he still yearned for it.

Yawning, he turned to Xander, who had curled up beside his brother and fallen asleep. Soft snored flowed from his lips, making Qin Rong smile in the darkness.

He could only hope that one day, they both found that special someone who could fill them with love. He was willing to wish that for them both.

***

Over the next few days, Qin Rong went about detoxing Nik. It took some times but with Xander's help, he found the herbs he needed to help the process along.

At first, the child was confused by the process but never questioned anything he did. 

What a good kid~

It started with herbal baths, in which they'd let Nik soak in to ease the toxins from his body. When Xander first saw that black gunk seeping from his brother's skin, he was horrified. All this had been inside Nik?!

Don't worry, this is normal. Honestly, I'm more shocked this kid survived this long. I'm impressed. He's stronger than I assumed.

Nik has always been tough!" Xander proclaimed, happy to hear Qin Rong's words. It meant his brother would be fine. "What are those?"

Xander's gaze fell upon Qin Rong's exposed arm. The skin was pale as marble but stained with dark marks peeking from beneath his sleeves. They weren't bruises, he was sure. He knew what those looked like.

"What do you mean?"

"Those marks." Xander gestured to the marks, reaching out to touch them before his hand was waved off.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." The boy insisted, instead focusing on washing the impurities from Nik's body. He too had noticed the marks but didn't think much about it.

If it became a problem later, then he'd handle it.

Xander looked on, unconvinced but obediently went along with Qin Rong's words. His own thoughts, mirroring the blunette.

I'll take care of Rong if this becomes a problem.

After the baths and the regular meals, Qin Rong noticed a physical change in the two boys. Xander started to fill out and look much more his age. Nik also went from sickly pale to rosy-cheeked and plump enough to be pinchable.

Qin Rong did in fact do such a thing, though he would take that secret to his grave.

After a couple of days of this method of this, Nik woke up one afternoon while the two older children were sitting on the bed studying. Xander was reading a book on magic while Qin Rong was practicing his reading skills.

He could read the basics but bigger words were difficult for him.

The small child let out a small sound, alerting the two boys of his awakening. As Xander embraced the child, Qin Rong ordered the elder boy to get some water. Nik had to be dying of thirst.

Now alone with the child, Qin Rong checked him out. While he'd expected the kid to wake up soon, this was a bit ahead of his expectations. Pressing a hand to the child's soft cheek, he was relieved to see that Nik's fever had come down finally. 

Sleepy eyes turned to him, staring dazedly up at him with dark eyes.

"Huh, he has black eyes too." He muttered, smiling at the sight. He hadn't meant to say it out loud but seeing it was comforting. After days of seeing folks with crazy hair and eye colors, it was nice to see something familiar.

Other than skin tone, it was like he was back home.

"You like things like that?" Qin Rong turned to see Xander walk into the room and feed his brother the water. He recalled that the blunette seemed fascinated by his eyes before. "Black hair and eyes?"

"Yeah, I suppose I do."

Xander unconscious touched his hair, his fingers getting caught in the wavy curls.

"Even though it's cursed?" He mumbled, looking away.

"Eh? What's this about being cursed?" He shot back, pulling the child's hand away. "Why would black hair be cursed? Are you being silly again?"

Xander shook his head, confused but smiling to himself. Perhaps Faeries didn't have this kind of curse. They were magical after all. Qin Rong, not hearing an answer, continued on.

"Besides, I don't believe in curses so no, I don't dislike black hair." He declared, smiling at the child as he patted the child's head. "I really like it in fact."

"Really?" Xander knew Qin Rong wasn't lying but his words were unreal. His family had always told him how dirty he and his brother looked, having inherited their features from their mother. He'd be told his features were ill-fated, more in line with monsters than man.

Yet Qin Rong liked it, even going so far as to touch it.

Unaware of how much his simple words had touched the child, Qin Rong continued to reassure Xander, worried the child might think he was lying.

"Yeah, it reminds me of home." He said, with a smile. He opened his mouth to say more but noticed Nik was now staring at them, mainly Qin Rong. "Hey, sleepyhead."

"Who is you?" He mumbled, his voice coarse from sleep but high, showing his age. He even had a small lisp.

It was so damnably cute.

"I'm Qi-"

"His name is Rong." Xander cut in, worried the faery would share his name with Nik. While he loved his brother, he didn't want to share this bond. "Call him that."

"Okay." Nik, the ever obedient one, nodded and turned back to blue-haired boy. "Hi, Rong."

Qin Rong chose not to question the interruption and just kept going. "Sup. You feeling better?"

"I'm tired." Nik yawned, looking about ready to fall back asleep. Qin Ring rustled the child's hair.

"Yeah, you almost died so that makes sense." He chuckled, playing with the kid's head. Nik just let him shake his head around and it was fun. "You wanna learn how to not die?"

"Uh-huh!" At the prospect of learning something new from this unfamiliar person, Nik got energized, kicking his feet under the blankets. He didn't understand all of this person's words but he was new and looked pretty so he must be nice.

Such innocence would have both horrified and softened the mercenary's strong will had he known the child's thoughts. These kids were too precious~

"Cool, just listen to Da-ge and you'll be fine." Qin Rong proclaimed, excited at the prospect of teaching theses kids a way to stick it to the ruthless adults in their lives. He had no way of knowing how long he could stay with them but he was invested in making sure they, at the very least, survived to adulthood.

"Da-ge?" Xander frowned at the unfamiliar word.

(AN: Da-ge means big brother)

"It's a fairy thing." Qin Rong lied, not wanting to make things more complicated. He disliked lies but what else could he say? That it was the language from when he was alive in another world? 

"Hm." Xander looked doubtful but didn't question it. He disliked that his faery was hiding things but so was he. "Rong, I want to learn faery tongue!"

"Eh? Why?"

"You sometimes talk in a strange language and I want to as well. You seem more comfortable doing so."

Well of course. Mandarin was his native language. While he was fluent in over a dozen other languages, he couldn't help but prefer his own. He considered the option, really not wanting to.

Teaching the kid another language would take a while, wouldn't it?

As if seeing his thoughts, Xander pressed forward.

"It won't be any trouble!" He insisted, staring the bluenette in the eyes. "I'm a fast learner. Honest!"

Seeing the conviction and determination, how could the mercenary not respect the child? He looked confident and he had seen how smart the kid could be.

That and it'd be nice to have someone to talk to in mandarin in this unfamiliar world.

"Fine. But anyhow you start messing up, I'm canceling our classes, got it?"

"Yes."

Over the next few days, while Nik was recovering, the lessons went on. Now they were divided between Xander's lessons and Qin Rong. Like the mercenary, Xander was like a sponge, soaking in everything Qin Rong had to offer much faster than anticipated.

Qin Rong was quite shocked by his progress.

Soon, the two could carry on a conversation for long periods of time. Hearing his native tongue spoken after so long was melting his heart.

That is until Nik noticed and wanted to join in.

He, being only 5, was unable to speak the words but was excelling at writing out the characters and making sentences. This upset Xander, as he was much better at speaking than writing or reading.

This lead to their current situation, in which the three of them were lounging in the backyard. Qin Rong sat in a tree, relaxing under the leaves while the two brothers sat directly beneath him. He would have been out hunting for food but found their conversation a lot more interesting.

"And I'm saying you're dumb!" Nik proclaimed, somehow looking down on his much taller brother. 

Ah, he truly is coming into his little sibling persona. Qin Rong thought, watching them with amusement. He'd never had a sibling but from what he'd seen in media, this was about right.

"Say's who?" 

"Says me! Read this!" The smaller of the two boys pulled out a notebook filled with notes, with translations that were messy but frighteningly accurate. Nik was very good with the written word despite his age.

Both Qin Rong and Xander were shocked by how well the five year old took to writing and translation. Still, Xander refused to concede any ground to his little brother. Not with Qin Rong nearby.

"W-what is that?" Xander grimaced, trying to read the characters but finding it hard to recall the meaning. Yet seeing the translation, how could he not protest. "That's not what that character means!" 

"Yes, it is!" The child insisted, comparing his notes to his elder brother's recent writings. Xander refused to fall behind and was practicing his writing skills. Yet he made a mistake. "See?"

"That's chénmò (silent; taciturn)" He said, pointing to his intended word.

"No, you wrote it wrong! Its this one, to sink."

[AN: For clarification, chénmò: 沉默("silent; taciturn") and 沉没("to sink"). They are homophones so they sound the same but use different characters and have a different meaning.]

Looking between the two words, Xander was aghast to realize he had wrote it wrong. He sitll had trouble remembering all the strokes and the meanings.

"Eh, but-" He tried to defend himself but Qin Rong cut him off, calling out from above.

"Xiao Ni is right." He was impressed by their tenacity but he couldn't let these kids make excuses. "You read it wrong and misunderstood the sentence."

"But I-"

"Yay, I win!" Nik threw his hands in the air, jumping with joy at defeating his big brother.

Qin Rong couldn't allow that.

"No, you didn't." He chastised, climbing from the tree branch.

"I didn't?"

"Yep, see here?" Qin Rong pointed to the challenge he'd set up. They were to hold a written conversation. "You forgot to accent this character, which is why Xiao Xan misunderstood."

"Oh..." Nik wilted, looking distraught that he'd made such a simple mistake.

Seeing both boys looking so forlorn, Qin Rong felt a bit bad for them. Perhaps he shouldn't beat them down about it too much. All in all, the fact they got this far in a few days was impressive.

"But don't sweat it, kids." He praised, petting them both. "You are doing much better than I anticipated. You're learning things that take adults weeks to memorize. I'm honestly shocked."

Two small faces burst into large smiles. Xander looked ready to burst while Nik jumped away from them to run around, screaming. It was rare for them to be praised by their teacher/companion.

Qin Rong was a spartan when it came to teaching.

"This is fun!" Nik cried out, his words echoing through the yard, scaring away some birds. He turned back to the other two, his eyes glowing with excitement. "I wanna learn more!"

"Sure, maybe I can teach you some Japanese too."He offered, wanting to show this little sponge more. "Its characters aren't too different from these. You better be ready though. I won't tolerate any more mistakes, ya hear me?"

"Right!" Nik didn't miss a beat, wanting to earn more praise from the pretty big brother and learn more new stuff. Even if he was scary, new things were so exciting!

Xander inwardly sighed, knowing he couldn't fall behind his baby brother. It was a matter of pride.

"Is that another clan of Faeries?" He asked, turning to Qin Rong. At the boy's frown, he continued. "Japanese, I mean. That's another faery tongue, right?"

"Uh, yeah. Kind of." 

A moment of silence fell between the two as the air got tense. Xander disliked the feeling he was getting from Qin Rong, that he wasn't being entirely honest. As if sensing the incoming nagging, Qin Rong spoke.

"Anyway, I've got to go get us some dinner." The mercenary proclaimed, effectively avoiding the situation. He wasn't going to justify himself to a kid. "Prey won't catch themselves, right?"

Xander gloomily walked back to the house, knowing Qin Rong wouldn't let him accompany him on the hunt. That and he was still a mite bit annoyed at the faery.

Qin Rong wasn't too worried. Xander got over things fast when it came to him so he was sure the child would be in good spirits by the time he came back. Kids had short attention spans after all.

Nik, having not noticed the tension, waddled over to Qin Rong, wrapping his arms around the pale boy.

"You're going hunting?" He asked, staring up at the older boy. "Why not get your Sodalis to help you, Rong-ge?"

"My what?"

"Does Rong-ge not have any?" Nik had seen the books his brother had been reading. They were all about faeries and their abilities. He was sure this faery would have one.

Obviously, Qin Rong knew nothing about faeries so he had to ask. "What are those?"

"You're animal servants." All faeries had animal servants. Thats what the book said. "Rong-ge is a faery, right?"

"Yeah but I have servants? How?"

"You give them commands." Nik shrugged, not understanding the question.

"Are you saying I can talk to animals?!"

"You never tried?"

Who goes around trying to randomly talk to animals? He'd be crazy to try! But then again, this was a world with magic so maybe.

So after gathering his hunting supplies, most just a makeshift bow and arrow and a small blade, Qin Rong considered how he should test if he really could do what Nik claimed. There wasn't anything to lose, after all.

Standing in the middle of the forest, Qin Rong looked around to chose his target. Unfortunately, his predatory aura tended to scare most animals away, so he was left without anything to test his possible abilities.

Then he spotted it, a bird watching him from high above, casually sitting on a branch. It was a small bird, just barely visible.

Qin Rong's smile became manic. Had anyone seen him, they would think he wanted to eat the bird.

The bird felt the same and flinched at the look.

"Hey! Hey, bird!" He shouted, his voice echoing. "Hey, do you hear me!"

Bird: ...

It wasn't doing anything. Then again, its not like birds could talk... right? He frowned, considering the option for a second before tossing it aside. There was no way, right?

Maybe he should have given it an order then. Something simple.

"I want you to go and bring me a yellow flower." He commanded, staring up at the bird. "You hear me?

Bird: ...

After a minute of staring the bird flew away, apparently having lost interest in him. Qin Rong stood there, his face flushed from anger. He facepalmed, trying to keep himself from banging his head against the tree.

Why had he listened to Nik? He was five!

Look at him, yelling at birds at the behest of a child. A bit longer, and he'd be talking all kind of nonsense.  It was mortifying.

His only reprieve was that he was at least alone in these woods so he wouldn't have to explain himself to anyone. With that in mind, the mercenary continued on with his hunt, his steps quiet and light.

Moments after he'd left, on a nearby tree branch, the same bird from before landed, a tiny yellow flower in its beak.

*****

AN: So about the life root thing, I was looking for a plant that fit my description but was having a hard time. Then I found this plant and thought 'screw it, this is a fantasy. I can make shit up.' Life Root was actually considered a medicinal plant for a while but is now classified as too toxic to be used in the cases it used to. That and it turns out using it on children ends up causing symptoms similar to Reye Disease, which can easily be mistaken for a natural cause of death. All in all, it fits as a means of killing kids they don't want to be suspected of infanticide.

52