Obviously its a baby.

Chapter 4: Obviously it's a baby.

The first thing she saw as her eyes opened was a fair lady, blond hair stuck to her forehead with sweat. Exhaustion etching dark circles under her eyes. Her smiling face was symmetrical with a cute button nose and lips stretched into a pink smile. Of course, she saw everything upside down as the midwife spanked her newly born bottom to make her gasp and cry, which she did.

She was immediately swaddled and cut away from her umbilical cord as the afterbirth was taken away to be buried. A man, she assumed her father, entered the room blubbering despite looking something like a large brown bear with a full beard and brown leather armor. Thankfully she was first given to her beautiful mother to be fed as her father knelt at the side of the bed to see her little face.

"She's beautiful Ellisa. You did a wonderful job." The bear man nuzzled his wife's neck on the opposite side of where their daughter was feeding.

"Did you pick a name for her Gerrome?" her mother's musical voice seemed so soothing compared to her father's congested deep one.

"Yes, we'll name her after your grandmother Avilla, and my grandmother Vesta. So we'll name her Aves Estella"

"That's lovely dear, Aves is a wonderful name. Aves Estella Von-Enroze, welcome into the world." She cuddled the baby close in her arms.

Aves learned that her parents were nobility of the country of Rosenshield. It was a medium sized country on the shores of a sea. It had a king named Armand Wensislaus Von Rosenshield.

It seemed all the nobles and the king had Von in the middle of their names. They also had names with 3 or more syllables to denote status. Gerrome Von-En/ro/ze was a duke so he had a 3 syllable name. Royalty, those nearest the crown, had 4 syllable names, like Ro/sen/shie/led from ancient pronunciation. As a rule royal names were born and not bestowed. Only the royal lines could have them. Disowned royals have a syllable struck off their last names to be reduced to nobility, or if the crime is terrible, two syllables are struck off to reduce them to gentry. All gentry had two syllable last names. Peasants had one syllable last names like Pon, or Hob. Indentured servants have no last name unless they paid off their debts. Noble names could be born or bestowed when a title was given by the king. Two syllable names were reserved for gentry and could be bought as they paid their taxes. It came with a pink stamped certificate and registration in the bureau of names.