"hmm, what kind of name would suit you. Dead fish is the best suiting name for you considering those dead eyes of yours. "
Marcus tried to joke.
The boy glared at Marcus. Marcus noticed it and tried to cheer him up. "come on, there is no need for us to be like this we don't have to glare at each other every time we meet. And now that we know, we are connected by blood. We should get along."
the boy was unable to trust Marcus's words due to his deep-rooted hate against nobles. Even after the baron cleared him up. he can't seem to place his trust in them.
"Okay, seems like you are unable to trust me or my father. But I can vouch for my father. What he said was true. Every single one of those words. If you question how I know. I did it the same way I found you out in the market. Give me one chance I can prove that there is someone in this world you can trust other than yourself. It is a promise. I realised my mistakes after experiencing my ordeal with the death cobra. I want to change my image and also I want someone whom I can trust." Marcus tried to sound as honest as possible. He was afraid of giving the adult vibes so he decided to act like a pure innocent child who realized his mistakes.
The boy fell into deep thought. His miserable life revolved in front of his eyes. He never remembered his foster parents clearly. But he believed that their daughter was his sister. So, he strived hard to feed her and make her happy all the time. The butler never cared for his well being he only taught him what he needed to and gave him few meagre coppers. He remembered the betrayals of his close friends at the orphanage. They snitched on him to the bigger kids, when he bought something for his sister with what he got from the butler. And he was beaten until he gave them whatever he had. This made him cynical and violent. Instead of backing down, he gave them a bitter fight. He once bit down the ear of a senior.
From then on he was marked as a mischievous and rogue boy and was sent to difficult works instead of errands that is how he ended up in the blacksmith shop. He always despised the baron and his family and he hated them for abandoning him. Whenever he saw Marcus he felt if he was not a bastard would he have lived a life like that and his sister could have gotten a better life if he was a noble. He thought that Marcus was a spineless idiot. That changed when he saw him saving his sister in front of his own eyes. He tried not to believe what his eyes saw. When he failed to notice the threat to his sister, this noble brat risked his life for her. Although that did not help change his view of them favourably. He always kept in mind that he has a debt to this noble brat.
After a long silence, he gave his reply. even he wanted to change, he wanted someone he could rely on. he wondered countless times what would happen to his sister. If something bad befalls him. "okay I am willing to trust you for once. Since you saved my sister's life."So he decided to test the waters with this noble brat.
Marcus was flabbergasted to hear what he said
"I that girl was your sister ??"
"yes, her name is Monalisa. I searched a lot of novels in the bookstore I worked and finally decided on that name." there was a hint of pride in the boy's face.
Marcus couldn't understand this boy's thought process. he took the pain to read through novels for a name to his sister but never bothered to find one himself.
"What sort of freak are you? to not even have a name yourself. "
"I never thought of having one. My sister calls me brother. And the rest call me urchin or boy and I don't even know what the orphans call me it is something like a biter. And I never found something that suits my taste. So I never bothered with it. "
his reply was like a jab to Marcus's face that made him question this boy's sanity and common sense.
"Alright, I will take the task of naming you. Hmmm, What about Leonardo others can call you Leon."
after listening to the word the boy's eyes glistened he muttered the word "Leonardo, Leon".
A smile crept up his face "I actually like it, my sister loves lions she always wanted to ride on one this name suits her taste perfectly. Hahaha". He laughed like a maniac.
Marcus was starting to feel giddy due to his long walks. And his brain being baked with the one after other news. So he wanted to take a rest.
"Hey, help me to get back to the keep. I am feeling unwell."
but the symptoms did not end there, his legs felt like noodles, and his head started to feel like thousands of needles were piercing it.
His sense of growing weaker due to the dizziness. He wanted to explode like an overfilled balloon. But he persisted in the pain he did not give in and he tried his best to maintain the composure. His body was shaking so much that one might think this was in the middle of winter.
Thud he fell on his knees. And hit his head on a small rock on the road blood trickled from his head and dyed the road with a small puddle of red
Leon rushed to his aid. He heard about the rumours that the young lord shouts like a beast out of nowhere. They said it was an after-effect of being bitten and surviving the Death Cobra. They also say the god of death visit him in his nights of sleep to remind him of his escape from him induces nightmares in him. Yet, when Leon looked at him, it did not feel like a nightmare but true torture it was like Marcus was feeling a ginormous amount of pain. He rushed to his aid and lifted him from the ground. And started rushing to the training grounds He felt like this was the least he could do for the saviour of his sister. Luckily Marcus was light due to his recent illness. So, it was comparatively easy for Leon to lift him. He looked at Leon while running. He had his eyes open and he was trying to say something. A thought to stop and listen occurred to Leon. But his reason said time is of the essence here so, he increased his pace. After few minutes he saw the baron who was returning to the training grounds. He screamed at the top of his lungs to let him know he was there behind him.
As expected the baron turned his head towards him. His calm face contorted slightly when he saw Leon holding Marcus and was running towards him.
He asked, "what happened boy?"
Leon was in no shape to answer the questions of baron he was panting like a hound after its hunt.
But he managed to squeak out few words "he. ...pant... fell...pant...head... rock.... Pain...".
baron did not completely understand what the boy said but he got the gist of it. He took Marcus from the boy's hand and exerted his full power and rushed towards the castle. His steps left a series of impressions in the ground. They were as deep a complete finger He was running at a pace that would make even Usain bolt question his title. White energy engulfed him and protected him and Marcus from the opposing air current.
Leon stood there stupified after seeing the baron's power. He vied that power, his body wanted to feel how it would feel if he were in place of the baron and had that much power. He felt something change in his body as if there was something in him that was trying to come out but it was being stopped by restraints. Leon has never felt like that before his heart told him that if he has a power equivalent to what he saw. Then protecting his sister from the goons is as easy as flicking a finger.
As for Marcus, the pain disappeared after some time but in the place of pain, he heard a burst of laughter, quite an eerie and irritating laughter it gave him a feeling worse than a clown. He never knew there was something eerier than a clown but he was feeling it now. A presence that was giving out vibes worse than an army of clowns.
When he searched for the source of laughter but he realised. He was in that void again the one he went to after he died at the accident. The laughter resounded throughout the void it was as if it was everywhere pointing it out was impossible.