"Greeting, Miss. Welcome to Morrow Jewellers. My name is Alias Morrow, how may I be of assistance?"
Vy bowed and introduced herself, "My name is Vyrena, Vyrena Blackfire. I would like to get this emerald appraised."
She hands the emerald over to Alias who received it with both hands. He brought it to the table and took out some tools to appraise the emerald.
"You have piqued my interest, Miss Blackfire. May I know where you had gotten this emerald from," Alias asked as he examined the emerald under a magnifying loupe.
"I found it at an Antique Market stall in Timbretune. I had brought it to Rudy's…"
"Rudys," Alias asked with a surprised expression.
Vy was taken aback by Alia's statement, did he happen to know Mrs Rudy? Sensing the awkwardness, Alias apologised for his interruption.
"My apologies, Miss Blackfire, for cutting into your conversation. When you say Rudy's you meant Mrs Rudy, who owned Rudy Jewellers?"
"Yes, the very one. Do you know her?"
"Oh we are not quite well acquainted but we have met on occasion," he continued to speak as he examined the emerald further, "And I can see why she directed you to come to the Elves Alliance for an appraisal. This emerald was made here."
"Here? Like in this store?"
"Oh, pardon me, no. But it is definitely Elven made."
Alias placed the emerald down on the table and waved his hand over it. The emerald started to glow in a shade of bright green.
Alias looked up at Vy and said, "This is truly a remarkable find you have here, Miss Blackfire. As you humans sometimes say, you hit the goldmine!"
~
Lycster opened his eyes, only to see darkness all around him. The ground beneath him was damp and the entire place smelled horrible. The stench stung his nose, causing him to dry heave. The familiar smell of an abandoned alley was the last thing he wanted.
As he tried to move, he realised that both his hands and legs were chained down by heavy metal cuffs. He could barely move at all. When he tried to speak, he realised how dry and coarse his throat was.
That was when he recalled how he had been dragged, kicking and screaming across the market. When the guards became annoyed with him, they kicked and punched him until he was unconscious.
He could feel the sore bruises all over his body now that he was awake. The pain from the bruises reminded him of the days where he was bullied on the streets. The unpleasant memories did not bring him any tears, but it brought him pain.
Lycster buried his head in between his knees, refusing to shed any tears. But with his eyes closed, all he could see was Carole crying and screaming at the men to let him go while Vyrena's words echoed in his mind.
-I trust you, Lycster.-
The boy broke down, with the tears stinging his eyes and the bruises on his face.
"I'm sorry, Miss Vyrena. I'm sorry I let you down," he sobbed.
Lycster felt useless, powerless. Vyrena placed her trust in him, and just like that, everything was gone. He had no idea where he was, he was all alone. The Baron was a bully, he hated him, but he was too weak to fight back. As he continued to wallow in self-pity, two men came to his cell and unlocked the door.
They threw a bowl of food onto the ground and grinned at the boy.
"That's your meal for the day, eat it while it's still hot," said one of the guards.
From the light of the torches the men held, Lycster could see a little better. He could see the bowl of spilt rice porridge that had mixed in with the dirty water on the ground. Lycster's stomach growled, how long had he been here for?
"Hey! Hey boy! Are you listening to us? The brat must be deaf," the other guard said.
They put down their torches and walked into the cell, stepping onto the spilt food without a care. The guards unlocked Lycster's chains and immediately he instinctively tried to make a run for it.
But he was quickly pulled back by the guards. Now they were enraged. The guard with a tattoo on his right arm grabbed onto Lycster by the collar of his shirt and yanked him back.
"Where do you think you're going, boy?"