The Pen and the Sword I

Where to begin... Well, I suppose the first thing I remember is my mother teaching me how to read. She was very patient with me. I picked up the normal sounds pretty quickly, but others were more difficult. My mother tongue is much easier than the trade language. Perhaps that is because it isn't trying to incorporate several languages.
And so, when I was reading to learn, I read the trade language--Common, it is usually called. When I was reading for fun, I read my mother tongue, Thiaran. At home, we spoke mostly Thiaran. When I went with my father to town, we spoke Common. My father told me I must never speak Thiaran when with others.
Life was simple. My father taught me to cook, and my mother taught me to read. They both taught me history. We took family vacations to the beach.
I loved my mother's stories the most. She told me about her time, with its plentiful dragons and shining towers. My father told me stories too, of his days as an archaeologist and how he and my mother met. Because of their stories, I decided to become the greatest archaeologist the world had ever seen.