Lord Jeffery Swiftheart and his wife had supper with us. We had splurged because of the big occasion. We were eating lamb today with some nice wine. We showed the baron and his wife to the guest room. He was fine to let things be for our first encounter. In the morning, he wanted to know how well the casing had been. "Surely a phantom thief like you has the city explored and understood." he said. I looked at him and smiled wide. "When we talk about a city, one man is not enough. Luckily, we all were able to infiltrate the city and find interesting things." Knowing that this would eventually happen, I had been doing my best to case certain areas of the city. Because we had been fighting in the tournaments, we knew of a whole host of interesting characters that were in the city. I was able to talk about the religious community due to working at the church. Faith was strong among the lower class citizens. It seemed that the upper class were less believing. They let 2 colorless get ordained bishops. As soon as I said that, they gasped from the scandal. Fabien and Anthony mad their reports too.
His scholars found that there was a big problem in the kingdom. Apparently, there was a need for food in the southern regions. A drought had hit them particularly hard. It was unfortunate that the noble Swifthearts did not have anything that could help. It was Jeffery's uncle that gave them the lead about the forest. He had made a remark in passing during a visit. Jeffery then set their scholars to verify if that claim was true. We knew that this king was a sickly man, but loved spectating battles and jousts. It seems as though hunting did not interest him like it did his father. The plans fell by the wayside and the forest was there, unmanaged and still full of the native wildlife. All that was needed was a fully fledged proposal to be considered and the opportunity to petition the king. I tried to read it over. It gave me a migraine. Anthony took pity on me and read it. If the king gave the Swiftheart family rights to the necessary land, they would pledge to develop the land for the crown. A hunter's lodge, military outpost, and church would be built on the land as well as a city. All we would need is the title deed.
As we were talking, there was a knock at the door. I was keen to ignore it, but they did not stop and leave. I groaned and sent Evan. Evan then came back and told us it was Sir Killroy. I stood up and told Evan to send him in. All of the others looked at me. "We can use him. Let me take the lead for a bit." I said. The baron just rolled his eyes. Evan brought the champion in. His eyes locked on me. He said "My mother has not been able to walk. What is going wrong!?" he demanded. I frowned at the harsh tone. "It's a simple fact of life. Some people have the force of will to overcome adversity. Some can do it with help. Others are helpless. If you devote all the time in the world, teaching her like you would a child, it would still only work as far as she can believe she can get better and then actually do the hard work." He narrowed his eyes at me. "You believe my mother to be in the latter category?" he challenged. I shook my head firmly. "I don't know her enough to say. No one can blame the woman after what she experienced. If she can recognize you and speak, that is already a miracle."
Sir Killroy looked down. "She can recognize me... at times. As for speaking, after taking that colorless's example, we got a surgeon to fix that hole you made. Her voice is still a bit rough." he said. "I told you. You breathe to send the air-infused blood up to the brain. That allows you to function. With how long Lady Killroy was out, it was never a guarantee she would ever wake up. Now that she has woke up, you just need to stay strong. She is still your mother. Try to cherish the time you can still have with her. I think that trying to be gentle while teaching her might work, but you would know her best." He gave a shuddering sigh. "She remembers me whenever I sing for her. I know her favorite song. Other than that, she just stares at all her friends and family with the same blank expression." he said. "The mind is a powerful thing. All of our human experiences can rouse deep memories even when the parts for our memory are damaged. Use that to your advantage. If she truly can't remember, you might want to try finding something to trigger it. The song is one. Her favorite things might help."
