The manor house was set into the slope of the mountain, allowing its occupants to look out, not just over the valley and the village within, but to have a clear, beautiful view of the stars.
It was the stars that had charmed the little boy watching them now. He was lying on his back in the grass, as he did nearly every night when he was home, since before he could remember. If he wasn't at home, he still found a way to look at those stars.
"When you were a baby, the night sky was the only thing that could make you stop crying," his father said gently. "There was my little one, only a few days old and already going 'wah, wah,' all the time, and your mother and I had no idea what to do."
The boy listened eagerly, though he'd heard the story many times before.
"So finally, I showed you the only thing that has been known to silence me all my long years: the endless beauty of a starry sky. And the first word you spoke was Polaris, picking it out of the rest of the stars so easily." Andrei smiled at his son. "I tried not to be too jealous."
"Papa!" the boy laughed. "Tell me about one of the constellations," he insisted.
"Ahhh, my little one, I have told you their stories many times over, and the stories that other cultures have given them. Aren't you bored with these tales yet?"
"Never," the boy said dreamily.
"Pavel Andreivich, come inside this instant!" his mother yelled. "Your room is a hazard zone!"
Andrei laughed. "Little one, how many times must we tell you…your head belongs at your chores first, and then you may send it among the constellations."
Pavel grumbled only a little before going inside to clean.