Ruler Of Iron And Flesh

Janae stepped outside her home in Preah and breathed in the fresh air. The fragrant smell of spring flowers lining the road filled her with happiness. Preah had only just become more colorful with new projects to plant trees and flowers.

Janae led one of the projects herself, and that was to plant flowers along the road her house was on.

She was on her way to one of the local shops today because she needed ingredients to bake a cake.

An old lady behind a food stand waved towards Janae as she came closer, "I have all the supplies for his big day today. That boy is growing up too fast I daresay!"

Janae smiled, "you know it! I can hardly keep up with work and trying to raise him right. I would be a total mess if it weren't for Burt helping out."

The old lady gave a stern look, "there's no 'right' way to raise a child. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Your health is important also."

"Thank you, Mrs. McCray, you have a nice day."

"You too, dear."

Janae took the supplies after paying and left. She needed to bake a cake, and she needed to do it before Burt came back with her son.

She opened the door to her home and saw the mess lying around her work station. 'Even after all these years, I still struggle to clean up,' she thought to herself.

She started up the oven and began beating eggs and mixing in other ingredients. After mixing in all the ingredients, a call came in on her radio from Burt, "Janae, I hope you are almost done because we are on our way back right now. Alaric couldn't wait to come back home because he always knows there's going to be a surprise. So hurry up!"

Janae dashed around and tried to clean up a little while the cake was baking when suddenly, a knock came from her door.

Opening the door, Janae saw it was Queen Irigia in her cloak that she wore whenever she left the castle.

The Queen smiled, "may I come in?"

Janae breathed a sigh of relief, "yes! Hurry though, they're going to be back any minute now, and I need help cleaning."

The Queen was not opposed to hard work, and she and Janae had become very close friends over the past many years. So she rolled up her sleeves and began moving things around, trying to tidy the place up.

A knock came on the door as soon as the timer dinged for the cake.

Janae whispered in a quiet but firm voice, "stall them!"

The Queen nodded and went to the door while Janae went and took the cake out to add some frosting.

"Who is it?" Queen Irigia asked.

"It is I, king of the world! Now open up, please!" Came the high-pitched voice of a young boy.

"What's the password?"

"There's no password! I would know because I make them!"

The Queen quietly laughed when she heard Alaric's response.

Alaric spoke again, "let me in! Or I shall let loose my minion on you!"

The voice belonging to Burt said, "oh, hey, leave me out of this one, buddy."

Queen Irigia looked back, and Janae gave the thumbs up that she was ready.

"Okay! I guess you can come in!"

Queen Irigia opened the door to see the large Burt standing next to a smaller boy. The boy had strong features with sandy hair. His eyes were just like that of Inian's, but he was much louder than Inian ever was.

"Hooray! Time for the surprise!" Alaric cheered.

He ran inside to see Janae holding a cake for him, and she, Burt, and the Queen all sang happy birthday.

Alaric bounced up and down while he was being sung to, and hugged Janae when they were done singing, "thanks, mom. This is the best gift ever!"

"Of course, sweetheart. Burt and the Queen wanted to be here when you celebrate your 12th birthday! After all, you get to go to Irigia's military school this year!"

Alaric smiled and grabbed a plate. He cut off a considerable portion of the cake and began devouring it like no tomorrow.

After a couple of hours, he was passed out in a sugar coma, resting on one of Janae's couches.

As soon as he passed out, Janae, Burt, and the Queen all sat around Janae's dinner table to talk.

"Alaric had a great time when I showed him the research department. He is a smart lad." Burt said.

Janae smiled, "he always has been. Sometimes he outwits even me over a project or machine I'm working on!" She chuckled but then began to cry a little.

"I'm not ready for him to go to military school. I know that it's all he's ever wanted to do, but it's hard. I've never told him about his father, let alone who his father really is."

Queen Irigia was sympathetic, "don't worry Janae, I'll order the officers to keep a special eye on him and make sure to watch out for him."

Janae shook her head, "I don't want him to be isolated from the other military students. He already has a tough time making friends. So I don't want him receiving any special treatment."

Burt nodded, "I'm one of the instructors there starting this year. I'll make sure to keep an eye on him while not isolating him."

Janae smiled, "thank you, Burt. I'm gonna miss him."

Burt responded with a chuckle, "don't you worry Janae. When you see him again, he's going to be a proud officer of Irigia. I'll make sure to that!"