Master in mind proved to be one of many strengths of Frode Navon, and as for weaknesses, they did not exist. But how, one may ask, can any person lack weaknesses? The answer is astoundingly simple yet true, they turn their flaws into strengths.
During a time of growing famine and pestilence, when the villagers began to quarrel and bicker, covet and lust, a fair maiden of the gardens said to Frode Navon’s mother, “That boy will never have a mind sound enough to learn of the writers’ script,” his mother shook her head, quietly countering, “Then hours will I spend teaching, until his mind becomes learned.”
In the Land of Naumbet, beyond the market village of Melderrin and off the crossroad that connected with the less traveled road, Frode Navon and his mother dwelt in a humble shack. The floor, lacking stone and made of dirt, was evidence of the poverty in which they lived. His mother, a seamstress maiden, labored hour after hour, earning barely enough to scrounge up the necessities to sustain their life, while his father, after learning he had fathered a child, left without thinking twice.
Commodities given to Frode Navon’s mother out of charity and kindness were stacks of parchment, bundles of quills, and secular books in a variety of languages.
Never did she speak to Frode Navon of their meager circumstances, nor did she fill the air with words or thoughts of negativity. Everything in life contained a sacred beauty. Life was a gift. This way of thinking made even the most humble of living seem richer than that of the nobles. She gave thanks daily for her own knowledge of reading and writing. With gratitude she thanked the heavens for a father whose first and foremost priority was placed in education. After her father’s sudden death, she vowed to never take lightly the importance of learning.
Her gift, given at birth, was optimism. And at the youngest of age, Frode Navon could not deny the power of her influence.
As soon as Frode Navon’s fingers could grasp a quill, hours were spent under candle flame as his mother guided and encouraged him in the art of reading, and writer’s script. Kind and full of dedicated belief, she stretched forth patience and taught fervently. It is said that if one believes enough, the sky will pour down blessings, and for young Frode Navon, the rain never ceased. His gift, existing only because of great faith, was knowledge.
The young boy trained under the tutelage of the most well known apprenticeships in myths, legends and the healer’s touch. He also learned to be a master equestrian and archer. His mind never desisted.
It was because of his gift, the rarity and perfection of it, that he was petitioned to accept the position as Royal Professor, a title of such prestige and opportunity that he could not decline. At the age of fifteen, Frode Navon became the youngest and brightest of all the Royal Professor’s. He taught the nobles of Naumbet for twenty-five years and though he was treated with the utmost respect, given access to the Books of the Scholars, the same monotony of each day became mind numbing. Wanting to experience life before old age ripened his body; he decided one night to escape from within the walls of the castle. Regardless of the consequences that accompanied such a risk, his determination to break free grew evermore pressing.
