Bartholomew Nelson and the World of Zathya: The Prince and The Heir

Chapter 6

"Enough," Victoria said. "We don't have a lot of time and you need to be trained, both of you. We can have another history lesson after your first wielding lesson." With that she walked back across the room and out the door. Charlotte followed without hesitation but before Jonah left Bart stopped him.

"Jonah, hold on," he said quietly. "How sure are you that this guy betrayed my father?" Jonah looked back at the door and then back to Bart.

"I believe it without a doubt in my mind Bart."

"Then how do I find him?" Bart asked irately. Jonah seemed a little shocked at Bart's answer but all he did was smile.

"In due time my friend, in due time," he responded and gave him a pat on the back. With that Bart followed Jonah out into the back yard. The yard was huge. There was one tree on the far end but everything else was just grass. Bart couldn't believe there was so much room.

"Isn't it a bad idea to be out here at night with those guys looking for Bart," Charlotte said. Victoria just waved her hand in response.

"This house is our safe house. They cannot find it unless they have been told its location. Only people who've been here can find their way back."

"Oh," Charlotte said. "Cool."

"Come over and have a seat in front of me," Victoria said to the two teens. They walked over to the tree and sat right in front of her. Jonah stood by the tree and started to peal an orange with his hunting knife. The door opened behind them and out walked Charlotte's dad. He looked tired like he hadn't gotten any rest in days. Charlotte blushed and then looked back towards Victoria. "First things first, you must become self aware." Bart looked at Charlotte who was staring at Victoria, obviously lost.

"Um," Bart started. "I don't know about Charlotte here but I'm pretty sure I'm aware of my own self. I mean I do know I'm standing right here right now." Victoria smiled but Jonah kept a straight face.

"You know what most know, but what most know is far less than what they can know," she said slowly. It sounded like some kind of old wise saying that you could find in some ancient text or in The Art of War by Sun Tzu.

"Yeah try saying that as fast as you can five times in a row," he said with a laugh. "You know what most know, but what most know, wait...can you say it again?" Victoria ignored him.

"You are, to some degree, self aware. Most people are aware of their body and their mind to a small amount. They use almost all of their brains but they do not realize that the mind is much deeper and vast than what they are used to."

"I've heard people say that we only use ten percent of our brains," Charlotte said. Bart had heard the same thing on multiple occasions but he had also heard that this was a myth. However, from what Victoria was saying, it sounds like it might not be.

"I cannot speak on that since I don't exactly know what percentage is used, but what I do know is there are great mysteries within the mind as are there within the body. You think you have complete control over your body, but when you are fully aware, your senses will dramatically increase, and you will be able to control much more than you previously could."

"That sounds awesome!" Bart said enthusiastically. He could picture himself seeing far distances and being able to hear a pin drop in a haystack. The thought of being able to do such miraculous things had him very excited. "So wielding is basically magic?"

"Ha, they all say that," Jonah said, his mouth full of orange slices.

"Yes, in a sense, wielding is magic and magic is wielding," Victoria said ignoring Jonah. "However, it is much more intricate than that. Magic is an idea that was formed because in the past people did not know what wielding was. So in a sense, magic is just another word for wielding." Victoria could see a slight confused look on Bart and Charlotte's face and realized they weren't really following. "I won't get into the politics of it all."