A fair-featured black-haired young man wore silver armor; the light shone on the Armsworth emblem that was carved into his shiny breastplate. Despite the supposed weight, his armor made no sound as he steadily moved forward. It was an enchanted piece of gear.
The man slightly bowed his head looking at the geared child in front of him. The child had an enchanted piece of gear as well, but it had a less than impressive appearance. It was a mix of leather and light silver armor giving it an apprentice look. Naturally, the Armsworth emblem was carved into it as well.
"Greetings, little lord Eldric. I heard you will be accompanying us in this hunt. I will be protecting you."
Eldric nodded his head,
"Greetings, Sir Jackson. That is indeed the case."
Eldric greeted the man with some respect. He at least deserved that much in his mid, he was the only [Expert] rank among the Armsworth guards, after all.
The guard commander's eyes smiled pleasantly at Eldric's show of minimal respect. '… He really is different from the other higher-ranking noble children.'
Jackson had his fair troubles with them. He was only the son of a Viscount at the time, the third son of the Fars house, in fact. His troubles lessened greatly once he disregarded his last name and chose the path of a knight.
Such were the rules. For one to become a knight, one had to completely relinquish his house's name and step down from the position of inheritance. But that was only on the surface. The established knights wouldn't suddenly forget about their families. Especially since the Fars household was known for producing knights.
Their blessing was that of absorption. The user would directly take a portion of the damage an ally would take.
The perfect blessing for one that swore to protect others.
"I was a young boy like you once, magic beasts may sound charming." Jack shook his head, "They are anything but. I hope you understand that, little lord."
As Sir Jack continued on giving advice and recounting his personal experiences with beasts… Eldric couldn't help but feel that something was missing. He couldn't put his hands around it.
It was frustrating.
Eventually, Eldric decided to shelve it to the back of his mind. He smiled. It was time to see what those beasts were all about— first-hand.
Well. His father would no doubt not allow him to fight one. It was out of question. But It would be his first time seeing how people fight in groups. It would be an interesting experience.
Eldric looked at the small battalion-like force that were gathered, multiple men were carrying all sorts of weapons, just like the other time. This time, however, many mages were added to the equation equipped with staffs and potion on their belt. They were mainly mages from the Captiosus house.
Eldric knew that the Armsworths had a glaring deficiency of mages, but it was only made more apparent now. The mages only constitute about fifteen percent of the total Armsworth force.
The horses in the Armsworth territory were known to be tough and sturdy. So they were used now instead of the horses that came with the Captiosus family.
It was impressive cooperation for such sort of notice. Everything blended together to create a pretty competent force.
That was only possible because of the close relationship between the heads of the two houses.
Eldric smiled wryly, 'If I didn't know, I might have guessed that we're going to war instead of simple hunting…'
"It is a bit overwhelming, isn't it child?"
Eldric turned around and met the emerald eyes of Beothrice.
Sir Jack seeing that the head of the ducal house wanted to talk with Eldric, headed out with a head bow.
He had no reason to stick there. It was way above his pay grade.
Eldric was tongue-twisted for a while, unsure how to respond. At the end, he simply nodded. " Yes."
"I don't know what you used to get close to my daughter, child, but I will be surveying you."
Eldric giggled, " I'm a simple seven-year-old, sir. I do not know why you have such feelings towards me."
Beothrice sneered, " Just the fact that you can say that with a straight face is more than enough to tell me otherwise… You may have fooled James with that innocent act, but not me. I know you are somewhat special, but I don't care."
"...."
"Just simply don't hurt my daughter. She seems to enjoy your presence."
'Hard on the outside, soft in the inside...'
Eldric smiled, " Do not worry, sir. We are great friends."
"Is that so?" trailed off Beothrice.
.
It was the private chambers of the first lady of the Armsworth. The ceiling was decorated with various ornaments, and the walls highlighted with multiple paintings.
A child and a woman stood looking at each other. The older women sat on a chair, while the child chose to stay standing.
"You will not go, Ellah." The cold voice of the long crimson haired woman dominated the atmosphere. The tone seemingly gave no room for negotiations.
"Moth—"
"That is non-negotiable, daughter. You will not go and dirty your elegance with the common knights and soldiers in a 'hunt'."
"Ridiculous."
"Your place is not in the battlefield…"
Faith sighed, why were her children all like this… One wanted to do the opposite of what she wanted and other couldn't even accomplish what she wanted.
"But, mother…" whined Ellah, but one look at the sharp expression of her mother told her that she would not get her way.
This time, Ellah really wanted to go. She decided to do something that she wouldn't do otherwise.
She decided to retaliate, to answer back to her mother.
Ellah's eyelashes fullered as tears slowly escaped her eyes. She clasped her hands and closed her eyes.
" Why can't I go? I'm sick and tired of those stupid lessons, I don't want to go there, I don't want to get married off like some pawn!"
Uncharacteristically, Faith's mask cracked for a second allowing for the same expression on her daughter to surface. She knew those feelings, but those feelings don't matter at the end. The world of nobility was a rough one, no 'free' woman was needed.
It was inevitable.
Faith sighed and looked at her daughter. "Ellah. Is getting married that bad? I don't understand."
Ellah opened her eyes and nibbled at her lips. Hesitation was clear on her face.
"I know father doesn't love you. I know. I don't want to be in a fake marriage like that. Why can't I not get married?"
Faith tensed and grabbed the handle of her chair in shock. Her daughter's words had hurt deep. Of course, she knew James didn't lover her. She always did.
Neither side spoke a word.
"Whatever, you may go and play around."
.
"Oh, you're here Ellah. I thought your mom wouldn't let you come…" muttered Eldric surprised at Ellah's appearance.
Ellah chuckled, " Well, I managed to convince her."
Eldric's eyes widened at that, "You did…"
"Ouch."
Eldric grabbed his side in pain and looked at Ellah.
"What's with that expression? She is still my mother…."
"Yeah, my bad."
After a few rounds of banter and chatting between Eldric and Ellah, James came to the both of them.
The man in front was not their father at this moment but the head of the Armsworth. His face was stern.
"Listen here. Here is how this is going to work…. The two of you are going to stay in the carriage along with the child of the Captious household."
Eldric paused, "Udel is coming too? I thought she wouldn't..."
On the side, Ellah tilted her head, "Udel?"
"Ah. It's the daughter of the captious household."
'What? They're already that comfortable with each other?' thought Ellah shocked at the quick succession of the even leading to that.
James nodded to Eldric's question, "Yes, she is coming. They will head off in a while, after all. The safest place is right next to their guards."
James grinned, "What? Disappointed your fiancé isn't staying longer?"
Eldric's mouth corners twitched in response, "Not at all, it is just strange."
James nodded, " It is, but Beo is a rather busy man as you must have already known. He can't afford to stay here for too long. Leaving the only daughter of a ducal house in the north is rather problematic…"
"Politics, huh?"
James sighed, " Tell me about it…"
After a few moments have passed, Eldric found himself in the middle of the carriage of the captious household.
He and Ellah were sitting on one side, while Udel was sitting on the other. Ellah looked at the window and her eyes literally shone when she saw the armour wearing knights and the mages on each side.
Eldric smiled and sighed, "Sorry, Udel. She is a bit of a problematic case you see."
The same way as before, Eldric could feel a nudge on his stomach and he met up with the angry eyes of Ellah.
Udel giggled,
"I can see that. We are friends though, I don't mind my friend's sister."
Ellah sneered, " Yeah, friends."