Andrew woke up sore, he got up from his chair slant against a wall, Documents and papers lay around, he had fallen asleep admist work, he yawned as he sleepily locked his door, dropped his clothes and went into the bath. He came out an hour later, he had fallen asleep on the bathtub, after washing up, he looked down his window mug in hand, he rinsed his mouth after cleaning his teeth, in the court yard, he spotted Bella and Mark making a pretty mild discussion, his siblings hadn't been particularly Inheriting the family's name and becoming the new head. There was no squabble over that matter, they were rich and that seems enough for them, He hadn't really known what Mark was after, but Bella is going to join the knights at some point and she seems determined about that. Sarah on the other hand didn't seem particularly interesting in anything else aside from what ever she was doing. He doesn't really have a relationship with her, he could remember quite vividly those times he made fun of her and felt extremely stupid for it, he sighed, His room was the colour of sky blue, extremely neat apart from his desk invaded by pile and piles of parchments, notes and lots of drawings, his sword lay on the floor abandoned, he hadn't got much practice lately, being the next successor wasn't easy, one last look at Mark and Bella, he was back on his desk.
A knock on his door.
"Come in, he muttered, his voice still heavily tired.
The door rattled but didn't open, he sighed, he had forgotten to unlock the door.
"Just a sec, he said slowly as he approached the door. He opened it, A darked haired female knight stood rigid I'm front of the door, her armour gleaming silver like always, her left hand rested on the hilt of her massive long sword, she was slightly shorter than Andrew.
"Nina? I didn't think it'll take this quickly to finish your task, Andrew said slowly as he let her in.
"They're no leads, she huffed, walking into the room, her metal boots sounding against the carpet, she looked at the room, her eyes fell on his desk since it was the only severely scattered thing around, she made her way there and started tidying up," I left the job for the captain and his men, she continued.
"You abandoned your duties? Andrew sounded astonished.
"Duties? She now looked utterly confused, her gray eyes didn't leave the work she was currently doing," I don't have any duties there, I was just for back up anyways, besides with the captain there I doubt anything would go wrong, he's far stronger than me even, so my presence or absence would pose no problem.
"Still, You should have at least made a proper statement about leaving, Andrew sighed, he sat heavily on the chair Infront of his desk.
"I did, she continued, she had piled most of the papers in a neat file and started on the parchments, I left it yesterday night before leaving, I left him a note.
"Act like a proper knight for once, Andrew scoffed taking a look at a contract that required his signature, he frowned at it.
"I am, she defended, I'm your knight, so isn't it proper I be by your side? The Manor was invaded just weeks ago, As your knight I can't be somewhere else while my master is without a guard, that's my first and foremost duty as a knight, the protection of his master.
"Yeah Yeah, Andrew muttered," Here take a look at this he handed her a slip, She took it looking severely wronged.
"Another attack this month, Andrew said as she stared at the report." What's worse is we haven't been able to catch the creature yet even with us being on guard and searching for months.
"Yeah it's getting concerning, Nina added, tapping the sheet, the people are getting uneasy, we should hire some mages, she suggested, maybe it's more magical than just a regular beast.
" I did, Andrew said handing her a paper of a job description he had posted around the kingdom," I even went to famous guilds around, but no mage would want to go anywhere near a forest after seeing the corpses, they're a scared out of their wits, the bastard, Andrew scoffed. As if we knights aren't scared too.
"A shame, Nina sighed, something caught her eye from the window and went to look, Sarah was sprinting round the manor holding something she couldn't quite make out, Mark was chasing after her yelling incomprehensively. Sarah tossed it, it flew a few feets and exploded taking a large chunk of the ground with it, But it didn't soary debris everywhere, it was clean and circular, almost controlled.
"She has grown quite a lot hasn't she, Nina said to Andrew.
"Yeah I guess so, Andrew said curtly, brooding over more works on his desk. Nina stared at him.
"I think you should take a break, she suggested, "you might die from over working yourself if you're not careful, I mean your father seems to have plenty of years on him.
"I can't, Andrew said briefly.
"What about your sister and brother? Last time I checked they're mages, just oek has better control, Nina continued staring out the window.
"You expect me to bring them into a dangerous forest? They're not even soilders or knights? Andrew growled.
"Don't get pissed at me, She scoffed, I'm just suggesting, besides we don't need to take them in, they'll just have to tell us if there's any magical signatures come from the forest and point us in the direction. She walked round his desk, picked Andrew's sword and stared at his side profile. She looked severely offended now.
Andrew tried concentrating on his work, but couldn't under her stare,"What is it this time? He asked suddenly, his eyes fell on the sword premium sword in her hands it's sheath laced with gold," oh if it's about the sword, you can just rest it against my desk.
"Did you know I bought this with a year worth of my Salary, She huffed," how can you treat my gift so lightly, do you know how many things I could have bought with that money?
"Sorry about that, but I could have gotten a sword on my own you know, Andrew said signing multiple papers and shifting them aside.
"That's not the point, you shouldn't have accepted it and kept on using it if you could have gotten a better sword, now you're discarding is? Nina's grip tightened around they sword.
"Look Nina, I didn't intend on placing your gift on the floor, but it just happened, I was tired, just let it go, he said brooding over more papers.
"Jerk, she muttered.
"What was that? Andrew asked, as she walked and stood beside his desk, her armour gleaming.
"It's nothing, she scoffed, she placed the sword on his desk and stood still facing the door. It suddenly swung open and Marco stepping in.
Marco walked towards Andrew's desk, his eyes taking both of them in view," It seems you have managed to offend your knight, he said softly.
"Uh? How? Andrew asked looking away from his work.
"Nevermind, Marco said firmly. Andrew stared at Nina who turned away pouting.
" If you're up for it, we're about to make a trip, Marco said slowly, we've found Intel about the group known as the Ordeal, the one that tired killing your brother.
" Of course, I'd be- Andrew was Interrupted, Nina was suddenly coughing loudly, both father and son stared at her.
She faces Marco stood in a salute and bowed,"Forgive me for speaking out of line as a mere knight, but I don't think master should be accompanying you on this journey, She said slowly.
Marco's Eyes swept over her bowed head," and why is that? He asked purely out of amusement.
"He needs rest, she said simply," you can clearly see the dark circles around his eyes from a mile away,though it's unprofessional of me to speak on matters regarding family, but as a knight I must do my best to care for him to the best of my abilities and In this case he deserves a break of some sort, she said her head still bowed.
"In other words, you're not taking on a role as a maid together with being a knight, Marco smiled. Nina's armour creaked as she flinched.
"If that's how it is then so be it, She concluded.
Marco smiled," Andrew what do you have to say about all this?
Andrew was looking back and forth from his bowed knight to his father," I think I'm okay really, I should be able-
"Master is too tired to think straight, Nina Interrupted still in a bow.
"Very well, Marco smiled as he walked away," I can clearly see why you chose her to be your knight among those I selected," you get a week of rest I'll handle all the matters regarding the Manor before then, the door shut behind him.
"Phew! I thought I'd get fired for that honestly, Nina suddenly broke out.
"What did you do that for? Andrew yelled.
Nina gave him a look of severe disapproval and pouted again staring away at the other side of the room, still upset about the sword.
It was around noon before Andrew left his room, Nina walking behind him, he was dressed appropriately but casually, his Ashen hair lay in carefully made clumps, he stopped just outside the door, then stared at Nina as if searching for something.
"What? She asked nervously.
"Why don't you ditch the armour, I mean we're only going on a stroll round the Providence, you don't need to look like a walking chandelier for that, Andrew said slowly, his hand on his chin as he spoke," besides isn't it better to wear leather armour than steel?
Nina stayed expressionless for a while, she stared at her custom made armour, her body mass had always been smaller than the amours they had at shops she went to, it was expensive but she had to custom make her own, it was her size but always felt it was uncomfortable.
"You really think I should ditch it? I mean I'm not objecting, but what if we're attacked, that'll be one less protection, She fuddled with her armour.
"Just ditch it, Andrew huffed.
Nina walked by his side as they made their way outside the manor, she was dressed in all black a type of cloth that clung tightly to her skin, Her sword still in his sheath and strap hung lazily on her hip, There were engaging in a light discussion as they crossed the courtyard towards the gate.
"Is that Nina? Bella asked,"I didn't know she had come back to the manor."Are you even listening to me, She poked Sarah in the head.
Sarah was busy piecing together bits of metals that looked wierd, she was adamant about completing it," Whose Nina? She asked without looking up.
"Come on, you can't seriously tell me you don't know, Bella gasped," you know Nina? The girl almost as tall as Andrew, raven black hair, extremely pretty, You know Andrew's knight that was hired about two years ago, Bella gestured as she explained.
"Nope not a clue, Sarah frowned In concentration.
"You massive Dolt, Bella huffed angrily Raised Sarah's head, That Nina.
"Oh, Oh, Sarah said seriously, She turned back to what she was doing instantly.
"You still don't know her do you, Bella sighed.
"Nope, Sarah said flatly.
Bella with a look of utter defeat, Asked Sarah what she was doing, but before Sarah could answer, they were Interrupted by their father.
"Sarah may I have a word, he said slowly.
"Bella looked away.
"Whatever it is we can talk here, She cursed as one of the metal pieces flew off, Marco caught it and handed it back to her, she took it without looking up.
"The assassin you found in Marks room, may I take a look at what you used on him, he said simply.
Sarah looked at him for the first time, his face was stone cold.
" Be careful, she muttered, handing over a bag she had taken from her coats pocket and went back to work, Marco opened it, inside were tiny metal balls with different lighting, there were quite the large number of them in the bag.
"They don't explode unless thrown, And they don't hit the ground either, they levitated for a while until hit by and external force before exploding,"The more colourful it is the bigger the explosion, also always throw three at a time, it creates a chain reaction, the first explodes on the enemy, the remaining two, tracks down the enemy if still alive and explode one by one, also the colours don't matter for that, you can throw any three at a time, She rambled, a look of joy In her face as her cube was almost complete.
Marco stared at the balls," I think I'll need just three, he said handing over the bag back to Sarah. It was one of the few times they had seen their dad in armour, his was always leather and it enabled him to move quickly, they hadn't really seen him in action but they were sure where ever he was going right now had to have some.
" Is it about the Ordeal, Bella asked.
"Yeah, it's best to be prepared, Marco said not taking his eyes off the pea on Sarah's neck," Well I best be on my way, the knights would get anxious if I waste any more time, he said waving as he went, Bella waved back.
It's finally done, Sarah smiled at the glowing broken metal cube in her hand.
"What is it? Bella asked suddenly interested cause of the glow.
" We'll see in a While, She grinned, I got the parts from our Treasury, it was a fleeting idea, I just hope it works.
"Are you stealing from the Treasury again, Bella asked sternly.
" Well someone has to use the pile of gold's rotting away there, What is wrong with all of you, none of you guys spend extravagantly, how can you call yourselves nobles, Sarah defended.
Bella opened her mouth to speak, but Sarah continued.
She plucked a strand of hair from her head, it resonated with the blue glow coming from the cube, she brought it closer to the cube, the hair slowly disintegrates, it hummed and vibrated violently, but Sarah held on, Bella had already taken steps back, but Sarah still stared at it unfazed.
The cube started breaking apart, It was crumbling and rearranging, soon there were two smaller cubes in Sarah's hand, both of different color, blue and green.
"Here, she called tossing the green one to Bella who caught it cause it flew at her, but held it away from her face, staring at it suspiciously.
Sarah held onto the blue, still sitting" Safe point, She said loudly.
Bella looked at her, nothing happened at first, then almost suddenly she felt massive weight in her hand, She was shocked to see she was suddenly holding Sarah.
Sarah smiled at her,"I think it works.
"What? Bella asked confused, how did you? Is it the cube?
"Slow down old one, Sarah sighed, I'll call them point keys, The blue is tied to me, while the green is the safe point, so practically I can place it anywhere and as long as I'm with the blue one I'll be able to go where ever the green is... thought I'm not sure if magic nullifying would work against it, it's an artifact so I doubt it will.
Bella stared at her amazed," how do you come up with these things? She blurted out.
"To be honest I'd be lying if I said I knew, Sarah put both cubes in her pocket," they just Keep coming to me like someone is feeding my mind with new info, She sighed.
"So what are you going to use it for? Bella asked.
"Well unlike you guys I can't take a hit or pratical defend myself if the opponent is just severely strong or way faster, so this is like an excape plan, she smiled.
"But you do have means of fighting back, I mean you have all those artifacts, Bella started.
"They're tools They can always run out, Sarah tossed the cubes in her hand," or worse some may not work the time you need them the most.
Bella noticed Sarah looked sad for some reason, had her artifacts failed her before? But when, she thought
" So where are you going to place the green cube, Bella suddenly asked changing the topic.
"I don't know, Sarah muttered, it has crossed my mind many times and to so many places, but to be honest I really don't know, her eyes were on the floor.
"Honestly when I started this walk I didn't have a definite goal in mind other than seeing the town...but for some reason, it some how turned into something else, Andrew said.
"It's just a little mud master, no need to fret, at least we helped the man pull his cow and cart out of the mud, Nina said brightly, mud covered her from her chin downward, Andrew was covered entirely in mud, he sighed.
"There's supposed to be a bath house somewhere around town but I can't seem to find it, Nina looked around in vain, people passing by waved at them happily, she waved back.
"We should just head back to the Manor, Andrew suggested getting up from the stump he had sat down on, his hair was scattered and artistically painted by black muck.
"No! Nina blocked his path, that'll ruin the whole point of all this, She shrieked.
"Point? What point, I just wanted to go on a light stroll, but so far, we helped catch a start chicken, advertise a store that business had gone down hill lately, tend to animals in a barn cause it was too much work load for an elderly, helped man offload his carts which had like a thousand heavy goods, and now I'm covered in mud, I should have just looked the other way when he sank in, I mean you did warn him, Andrew said tiredly.
"But it was fun wasn't it? Nina asked suddenly nervous.
"Yeah, that's if you considered slipping on dung, Getting your finger crushed by a heavy crate and getting pecked by an angry bird, fun...yeah sure I'm having the time of my life here, let's just go home Nina.
"So you had a terrible day, She muttered.
"Not quite, I didn't take notes about things we need to do for the town, stuff my father is too busy to attend to at the moment, for one almost all the lamps in most district are bad, then there's the gaint hourglass that's broken and the church is in ruins, they're many things we should be able to fix in the span of a week, Andrew said thoughtfully.
"You're not spending your week off doing all those things, sure they're fine and laced with good intentions but-
"But what? Andrew Interrupted her, sure I'm supposed to be resting but whatever this is he said stamping his foot, the mud made it have the opposite effect, it was squishy and sprayed mud everywhere, this is the opposite of that, he calmed his voice down.
"Sorry, I didn't realize that-
"It's not your fault Nina, Andrew sighed," the day was chaotic but I wouldn't call it my worst days, but I actually liked helping those people, just that they didn't go the way I expected, I'm just paranoid about how everything went out, don't beat yourself up, the day was great, now let's go clean up, I don't think I can stand the stench any longer, he said sniffing his outfit.
He started walking but Nina wasn't following, after a while he sighed and turned back." What's wrong this time?
"Forgive me Master, But I think there's somewhere you have to see, and seeing as it's almost dusk, it's the perfect time, Nina said softly almost silently.
" What? I can't hear you speak up, Andrew came closer, She suddenly grabbed his arm and started pulling down the off-road trail.
"When punishing me later, pls don't touch my salary! She yelled as she broke into a run and Andrew was forced to run too.
It was almost 30 minutes and they were still running, though he was fit but was no where compared to that of an actual trained knight, Andrew was running out of breath.
"Almost there, just hand on, he heard Nina call out, She was slowing down, the mud on her boot had gone hard and we're breaking apart like cookies. Eventually she stopped, She turned around staring at him looking smug.
" Behold, My spot, she smiled and showed him the view, The river was wide and seem like it went on forever, the setting sun reflected red in the water, the red sky clear, cold breeze blew from here and there, Andrew took a deep breath, he rested on a tree just close to the water, a smile on his face.
"Sure I appreciate you bringing me here, But claiming this is your spot is a bit much, He laughed," They're lots of couples all around, how can you not see them?
Nina stared around frantically, surely she saw quite the number of people all scattered across the bay of the river, hidden behind trees," Oh no! Sorry I- She stopped Andrew was laughing and laughing hard, she smiled to herself.
"The look on your face when you claimed this place was priceless, Andrew teased," well that was a colossal waste of time, but it was fun, he smiled.
" Really you think so? So I'm not getting penalized? She smiled hopefully.
"Oh no you're definitely getting punished, Andrew laughed, you're not getting out of that, He stared at Nina as she panicked, well I guess I shouldn't tell her that I've been here before, he thought.
"Let's get back Nina, Andrew said softly, nighttime is almost upon us. He started walking back.
"But about the punishment master you're joking right? She asked trailing after him.
It was nighttime before they made it back to the manor, Nina was still pleading that Andrew not cut her paycheck, he was pretending not to listen and going about his way, They went their saperate ways eventually, she went to the knight quaters.
"So I'm going to a knight academy soon, Carl sighed, I feel bad about leaving Lia behind, but there's not enough tuition money for the both of us, besides according t father she doesn't have the potential to learn the sword.
" Are you sure she'll be safe alone though? Sarah asked, Didn't you say she was constantly picked on by the people of your household without you there?
"Yeah, but there's nothing I can do about it, Carl breathed deep breaths.
Sarah tucked her legs in under her sheets, holding the pea close to her face she listened attentively to every thing he said. Is it possible that what happened to Lia in the past was when Carl was in knight school? He didn't mention it back then, but was vague about it, Sarah looked at the moonless nightsky from her bed.
"Carl?
"Yeah, he responded.
"I'd like you to keep rapt attention about your twin, Sarah said softly.
"More than anything that's what I'll like to do right now, but there's no way she could co with me to the academy, His voice was pained.
"What if there's a way? Sarah asked slowly.
" What?
"I mean what if the house rose were to sponsor your sister, wouldn't that be great, Sarah suggested.
" Yeah it'll be great, but I don't feel too good about taking money from some other family, Carl said respectfully.
"But it's my family tho, Sarah replied.
" Same thing, I don't feel like-
"What if it's a loan, Sarah interrupted him, what if you have to pay back, then it wouldn't be just giving you free money you'll have to pay it back.
"If that's the case, it'll be great, but I feel like we lack the power currently to make deals like that, Carl laughed, Sarah smiled.
" When are you leaving? She asked.
"In a month time I think, Carl grunted in pain.
" Is everything alright? Sarah asked alarmed.
"It's fine I just hit my head on my bed post, he laughed, I think we should end here for today, I'll contact you again when I feel it's safe," Goodnight Sarah. The connection dropped.
" Goodnight Carl, Sarah muttered to the silence suddenly in her room, she turned off the light, holding the pea close, she slowly drifted off to sleep.
Carl looked at the moonless sky, he was sweating heavily, the training ground was disheveled and ragged with debris and broken dummies, he panted as he swung his sword, the blade hissed and cut through the air swiftly, his blonde hair reflecting off the little lamp that lay by Lia, who was fast asleep on the stairs leading to the training ground, Carl stared at her for a while.
"Look after her uh.