Chapter 2: First Steps on a Path
Galen woke up the next morning before sunrise as he usually did. His worn working tunic was already laid out, ready to go so he could get to his morning tasks.
'The new Chilled Herb plant I planted needs to be given its first magic draught and needs to be checked to see if it really has taken to the soil. I should weed the vegetable section, harvest some of the new Sleeper Lily blooms, some of the common herbs need to be thinned…' Galen continued to list tasks the garden would require as he got dressed and headed out to the garden. Galen grew a great variety of useful plants. He even made some money selling his extra harvests of vegetables, fruits, herbs, and flowers. For the rest, Galen used it for his own family or to do his own experiments and study.
The blooming Sleeper Lilies and Chilled Herbs that he had just planted, as well as the Windflowers Master Gladwyn had given him, contained bits of magic. Galen studied all the uses he could find about any plant he learned about and these magic imbued plants tended to have far more powerful and diverse properties than regular ones. These magic plants he had managed to collect all had particularly good medicinal uses, which was Galen's greatest interest.
While humans didn't have any natural affinity for magic, they could still use some objects with magic. There was still a good deal of magic flora that would work on the human body, but many of the most powerful plants had no effect due to humans' lack of innate magic. Even then, the lower magic plants that could be used by humans still had more powerful effects than most medicinal common herbs. These are what captivated Galen's attention the most. Magic flora could have great healing effects, perhaps one could even have enough effect to repair Basil's weak constitution and allow him to be healthy. That is what drew Galen to study medicinal plants, especially magic ones, with such dedication.
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Galen worked throughout the garden for a little over two hours before finally going back inside to change and get himself ready to leave. His day tunic lay neatly folded beside his satchel that containing his few supplies he'd need for the day. After going through his ritual of mirror-check, inevitable furious face-washing, and double mirror-check, he grabbed his satchel and hurried downstairs.
His mother and father were already in the kitchen laughing as they cooked together. Bentley was carefully putting away fresh eggs from that morning and Ainsley was determinedly mixing something in a bowl as fast as she could.
'They're both so cute when they're this focused' he grinned to himself while looking at the twins. With their blond hair, they looked much more like their father. Both their expressions took on the same look as their father's face did when concentrating. The twins were a year younger than Galen, having just turned nine. Bentley was generally the serious one, he could scold as well as any old matron; though he could still create some quality mischief when he wished. Ainsley was serious as well and appeared to be the quietest out of her siblings to other people. When she was with her family, however, her quick wits and dry commentary earned plenty of laughter that made her quite happy.
Breakfast was soon ready and everyone talked about Master Gladwyn's generous little gift and about Galen beginning school as they ate their meals. They were still talking about Galen's first day when small footsteps in the hallway caused everyone at the table to become quiet.
Basil came into view with a small smile on his face. He wasn't allowed to leave his bedroom yet as he was still recovering from his previous illness, but Basil was determined to come down today to see his oldest brother before he left for school.
"Morning!" Basil said with a small smile. Bentley reached him first and began scolding with a look of worry on his face before their parents and siblings reached them as well.
"It's okay, I'm not that tired today, really.' Basil lied before turning to Galen while his smile grew a bit wider. "You're going to school today!" his small voice was filled with excitement and everyone in the room couldn't help but melt a little in response.
"Learn lots and lots for me. Then, when you get home, you can tell me. We haven't had any new things I can read, so learn a lot of things to tell me about!" At this point, he was simply beaming. Basil was an intuitive child; he was actually well aware of how much his family worried about him. Basil knew this was something Galen was able to do for him that would keep Galen from focusing too much on his health, which he could do nothing about.
'He must be really bored if he came down just to ask me this. There's been nothing new for him to do or read lately while he's been cooped up here in his bedroom. I could have been looking for new stories and things to tell him before this!' Galen thought, upset at himself.
Galen nodded furiously before quickly pulling Basil into a gentle hug. "Of course I will. I'll learn everything I can so we can have lots to talk about when I get home." Basil smiled at him, pleased that Galen wouldn't worry as much and genuinely excited that his brother would come home and tell him some interesting new things he had learned that day.
Bentley and Ainsley agreed to take Basil back to bed so he could rest. Galen ruffled Basil's and Bentley's hair and gave Ainsley a small kiss on her forehead before heading out the door to the street with his parents.
The three of them walked towards the gate that opened onto the cobblestone street, stopping in front of it. Alden knelt in front of Galen, placing his hand on his son's head. "Galen, we're truly glad you're so excited about school. We're sorry we can't get you into a better school."
Ismene knelt to see Galen as well before she continued where her husband had left off. "You learn so quickly. There are not many opportunities here, but Galen," she paused, looking at him with an expression both gentle and serious. "There's always more you can learn anywhere you are, yes? No matter if it's the bookshop, the school, the town, or elsewhere. Enjoy yourself and always follow through opportunities you may find, but remember that even when you seem stuck, even when it feels like there's nothing more someone or something can teach you, you can observe and still learn something new" The smile on her face seemed almost wistful.
Galen smiled back at the both of them. His parents deeply cared about their children and did their best to give him and his siblings every opportunity they could. All of them were encouraged to read and learn as much as they could, and they all enjoyed reading as much as their parents did themselves. Galen knew his parents had given him everything they could to make sure he could finish his education and pursue what he wanted to do. He already knew what he wanted to learn more than anything else; he wanted to learn medicine.
His garden was the starting point of all his goals. He started learning medicine through the plants he loved so dearly and he would continue learning so he would be able to help his family and heal people. Most importantly, he would finally be able to heal Basil himself. That was all that mattered to the small ten-year old standing in front of his loving parents. A difficult path and a heavy burden for such a young boy to take on himself, but he was determined to learn everything he needed to accomplish this, regardless of the difficulties he understood so far. As he headed out the gate, he gave a final wave back towards his parents before he began to jog in the direction of the school.
All he wanted was to learn in order to help people. But the most difficult thing the young boy didn't understand was that outside his small home and loving family, knowledge was power and power was never free. In this world, it was hoarded or hidden and people like Galen weren't supposed to be able to reach out and learn this knowledge for themselves. The ones who already had the power were the ones who set the balancing scale. The scale wasn't set equally, but it was set. People like Galen could only upset the loaded scale's manipulated "balance." In upsetting balances, Galen could only end up upsetting many, many unforeseen things.
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