“What is it?” Simon asked his wife, Patricia. Patricia stared at the bald baby boy in the hay bale, wearing only a diaper.
“A babe,” she said, dumbfounded.
“What?”
“Some poor woman must have put him in here as a last resort,” Patricia said mournfully. Simon handed the reins of the cart horse to his servant boy, Damon. He climbed into the back of the wagon to see what Patricia was talking about. Sure enough, it was exactly as she said. But they didn’t have time to talk about it; they were nearing the first rebel checkpoint.
“Put him and Pyotr to your breast to nurse,” Simon instructed her. “For now, we shall act as though they are twins. When we get home, we will discuss this matter further.” Patricia nodded. She bared her breasts and held both their son Pyotr and the strange babe up. Each latched onto a nipple and began to suckle.
Jas didn’t have any option other than to nurse from Patricia, and his instincts wanted him to do so anyways. As his belly filled with sweet, warm milk, he made sure to pay attention to his surroundings. The wagon came to the first checkpoint. Patricia and Simon dubbed Jas as Oskar, claiming he was the twin of their son Pyotr.
They passed through multiple checkpoints on their journey, but the rebels didn’t bat an eye at the nursing babes. After they went through the last one, Patricia carefully detached Pyotr and Jas, settling them in her lap. His belly full of milk, Jas fell asleep.
When Jas awoke, they had arrived at their destination: the town of Vingery. He had also soiled himself while he slept. Patricia carried him and Pyotr to the second floor of their home, where Pyotr’s nursery was located. Pyotr’s diaper was clean, so he was put in the crib immediately. Jas, however, needed his diaper changed.
“Sweet little Oskar, while you slept, Simon and I decided we will keep you,” Patricia cooed to him as she changed his diaper. “Having children can be difficult for witch stock, so we worry we may not be able to conceive again. This way, we have two children! We would love more, but honestly, just getting a second one is a true blessing.”
With his diaper changed, Jas was placed in the crib with Pyotr. Patricia left the nursery, closing the door on her way out. Jas touched the amulet and managed a garbled “protect me”. Nothing happened. Maybe the amulet wouldn’t do anything, given he wasn’t in any active danger. Maybe it had run out of magic. Or maybe it wouldn’t work because he couldn’t say the command phrase legibly enough.
Whatever the answer, Jas decided that this was as good of a place to be as any, and resigned himself to living as Oskar.
Oskar’s life became a regular routine of feedings, changings, and being gushed over by Simon, Patricia, and their servants. But that easy and comforting routine was disrupted when…