With Annette and Mary's departure from the small room that John was recuperating within, only the siblings were left inside. Noah as the eldest and most observant was momentarily lost in thought while considering his options from here, while Leah held fast to the hem of his clothes, biting on her lips.
"N-Noah." Leah tugged to draw attention to herself, snapping Noah's attention towards her.
"Escape?" Leah asked, shifting from the balls of her feet and glancing towards the window and door.
Watching Leah squirm sobered Noah. As much as he had to consider what to do from here, he couldn't just neglect Leah and John. Leah was six, and the sudden shift in environment was no doubt jarring her senses. In the slums, getting too comfortable was the same as taking your livelihood for granted. Not all kindness came with no strings attached, especially if you were a girl.
Young boys could be sold into slavery, but girls could be sold immediately into prostitution to satisfy all sorts of desires. In fact, many even considered younger girls more desirable as an investment to mold them to their exact preferences.
Noah, John, and Leah were no exceptions. They'd heard the screams, the despair and grief, and were not ignorant of their own vulnerability.
It was why Leah had been so desperate to stop Mary, and refused to believe in her until the end.
Noah had warned Leah numerous times about trusting strangers and so inspired a healthy deal of caution within her. Noah and John were unconditional, but it would take a great deal of effort for Leah to grow comfortable with others. The sadder part was how difficult it was going to be for Noah or John to beat away the negative habits she'd picked up in the slums.
Her manners, her speech, and even the opportunistic gleam she had in her eyes when she wanted something. It was even more of a motivation to get her and John off the streets as soon as possible.
"It's fine." Noah tousled Leah's hair to dissuade her paranoia. "Your brother found a job. If things go well, we might even end up staying here for a while."
"Then," Leah swallowed. Licking her lips, she pointed at a prepared table where bread, butter, cheese, a roast chicken, and warm soup had been set down by Mary as a gesture of goodwill by Annette. "T-This? Eat, okay? Hag no poison?"
Noah sweat dropped.
Leah was fortunate Mary wasn't around to hear her say that.
Mary was a Knight, and Knights uphold honour as high as they uphold noble pride. Known as the foremost powers of humanity, Knights and the vested ranks within them, symbolize the greatest prestige a human can achieve outside of the scholarly works of mages and their wide scale magic. The primary difference between the two were that Knights were specialized for combat while Mages were war weapons that required extensive preparation for wide area spells…unless you were a Gemstone. That was why Gemstones were so coveted, fulfilling a role that neither Knights nor Mages could properly fulfill.
"It's fine." Noah gave his permission, coaxing Leah to the table where he took a seat and left another open for Leah to sit next to him. She did so quickly, her legs dangling from the height of the chair to the point she pulled them up and sat on her knees to better reach over the table.
Noah slapped her hands from reaching over to the chicken, Leah gasping in surprise and sulking at him in confusion.
Pointing to the offered utensils, Noah watched Leah make a face at him.
"Hands! Hands!" She protested, never having to use cutlery before.
"Here, watch me." Noah ignored Leah's protest, took a napkin, and gently tucked it under Leah's chin before doing the same with himself.
"Noah, you silly?" Leah poked at the napkin and then laughed at Noah, having never seen how a napkin was used before.
"Not silly Leah," Noah patiently explained while showing Leah how to properly hold the knife, fork, and a spoon. "It's called elegance and dignity."
"Tasty?" Leah smacked her lips.
Noah's brow twitched incessantly, but he couldn't lose the teaching opportunity. "Dining etiquette," he answered.
Leah tilted her head, but Noah would not let her start eating until she copied him, even if it looked sloppy. Only then did they start eating.
"To eat this, try dipping the bread into the tomato soup instead of eating them separately."
Noah put down his cutlery, broke a piece of bread, and then making sure Leah was watching him, he dipped it into the soup before biting into it.
"Oooh?!" Leah childishly followed suit, her eyes lighting up like it was her birthday.
The bread and soup disappeared quickly from then on.
"Say, why do you call that woman a hag?" Noah asked after swallowing.
"Leah said no, and she kidnap Leah, John, and Noah!" Leah said, bits of food spitting out of her mouth as she told her story, looking upset and indignant in the way only a child could. The napkin under her chin was already stained with tomato soup, but Leah didn't even seem to notice while sitting down and kicking her feet beneath the chair. "She mean. Call Leah dirty, and try to drown Leah in bubble water! So hag, hag! Ugly!"
Noah raised a brow, trying to instill a sense of appreciation or gratitude for a favour towards Leah. "Her lady is providing us food."
"Trick, guard down!" Leah answered quickly, lifting her chin up and spilling crumbs over her cheeks. "Leah no fool!"
"Then should we stop eating?" Noah asked, leaning forward and cleaning up Leah's mouth.
Leah froze, hesitating. "Ugh, nngh, food…Leah weakness."
"It's fine." Noah snorted. "Just eat. I'm here, aren't I?"
"Noah the best!" Leah cheered before she started pushing food to the side with a high level of concentration.
Noah observed that all the food Leah was putting aside were the ones she felt were particularly tasty. He had an idea of what she was doing, but it amused him to no end.
"What are you doing now?" He asked, the edges of his lips tugging upward.
"This, this, and this, for John." Leah pointed at the cheese, bread, soup, and chicken thigh she'd set aside.
Noah figured as much, but the older, the wiser.
"I already put some aside for him," Noah said, gesturing to his side of the table where portions of the exact same food were left out.
"R-Really?" Leah used the chicken drumstick she took from the roast chicken as a wand and used it to gesture to the other food on the table. "Then this, all for Leah?"
Noah's face twitches violently.
He'd let it go once, but he had no choice but to nip it in the bud before it too developed into another of Leah's bad habits.
"Please, don't talk with your mouth full," he pleaded with his sister.
Father may have allowed Leah to get away with it if he were still around, but Mother would be turning in her grave if Noah let Leah's manner's go. He really needed to find her a proper etiquette teacher.
"Hehe, Noah, you funny?" Leah didn't seem to get it, and smiled at him, chicken caught between her middle teeth.
-Noble features, noble beauty, his mother's eyes and laugh, all spoiled by ill manners.
Noah could not bear it.
Were his words not getting through to her? Then fine. Admittedly, he was the one who taught her how to speak like that when he'd used baby talk on Leah as a toddler.
"No. Not funny. Noah serious." Noah stooped to Leah's level for direct translation. "Noah eat everything if Leah keep talking with mouth full."
Leah gasped, panic bleeding into her expression before she did her best impression of a hamster and stuffed her cheeks. "Leah good! Leah good! Spare Leah's food!"
Noah's face grew cold as spittle escaped Leah's mouth in her panic.
"You're still speaking?" He warned.
"Mhmph." Leah covered her mouth with her hands, air fraught with tension.
It wasn't until Leah focused solely on her food that Noah eased up.
"Good," he muttered as Leah ducked her head, fearing more admonishment.
With Leah distracted, Noah could turn his attention to other matters. Namely, the eyes peeking out from under blankets that quickly evaded his stare when Noah glanced at them.
Standing up, Noah moved to John's bedside.
"I know you're awake." He said, waiting for John to stop acting.
Noah had noticed half-way through talking with Leah that John had woken up and remained silent out of guilt.
John twitched, and eventually sat up on the bed.
"S-Sorry." John apologized immediately, remembering what had happened before he'd passed out.
"I'm disappointed." Noah did not hold his words.
John flinched, bowing his head and mumbling excuses. "I, I just wanted to-"
Noah hugged John, cutting him off.
"I know." Noah grunted, shifting his hug over John into a headlock and noogie. "And that's why I want you to remember that feeling, and put it to use for Leah. A younger sibling should not have to look out for an elder sibling. It's my duty John, not yours."
Noah let John go as John began to squawk in protest.
Staring John down, Noah placed his hands on either side of John's shoulders, and made sure John was listening.
"You are not your brother's keeper, but your sister's guardian, as I am to the both of you. Understand?" Noah pressed, flaunting his authority as the eldest.
John opened and closed his mouth, but he couldn't find the heart to make such a promise. Instead, he nodded before nervously taking in his surroundings on a warm bed and food laid out for him.
"Where is this? What happened?" John asked warily.
"I'll tell you later," Noah didn't want John to try to put any burdens on himself. "You just need to rest."
"I feel fine though?" John protested until Noah called out to Leah, making her aware that John was awake.
No sooner, Leah jumped onto John, the weight of the two sprawling John back onto the bed.
"Leah, watch him." Noah instructed. "If he tries to do anything else than eat, you have my permission to magic him."
"Trust Leah!" Leah saluted, patting a hand over her flat chest while John groaned. "Hehe, Noah say John watch Leah, now Noah say Leah watch John! Leah hierarchy up!"
John wilted at Leah's statement, silently pouting; the opposite to Leah who was gloating.
"Wait what do you mean by magic- Is that water?"
Noah's attention turned to the door, eyes narrowing as John and Leah's bickering turned into white noise. A note had been slipped through the front door that neither John or Leah noticed yet. The timing was too convenient, such that Noah alone was able to see it.
Crouching down, Noah picked up the note and read it. Unlike Leah and John, Noah was fluent and could read.
The response was quicker than he expected.
Careful not to alert John and Leah of anything, Noah excused himself by saying he was going to the latrines.
"Pee pee? Noah, corner, there!" Leah tilted her head, something dying inside Noah as Leah strayed further and further away from the image of the noble lady she should have been.
He chose to let John explain to Leah that the corner did not count as a latrine even if you squatted, and hid yourself behind something.
This wasn't the slums.
Closing the door behind him, Noah's expression hardened as he began walking and reviewing the contents of the note.
His steps led him to the Apprentice Knight barracks where he, Henri, and Annette had passed on the way to John and Leah.
"Will you continue to just watch?" Noah called out to a maid that had been quietly following him since he left John and Leah. It may have looked like an ordinary maid, but other than her, there were no other servants around, making it all too suspicious.
The woman dressed in a maid's attire soon stepped in front of Noah, the frills of her white bonnet tucked over long black hair tied into a bun.
It was Natalie, Duchess Everbright's personal handmaiden.
If Natalie was surprised that Noah caught onto her, she didn't show it in her neutral features.
"You need proof?" Noah cut straight to the point.
It was an expected outcome from the moment he admitted he was a Gemstone, just that he never would have expected Henri to have brought the news directly to Duchess Everbright's handmaiden.
Annette's insistence coupled with Mary's own testimony had managed to rouse the slightest bit of doubt in Henri to confide with Natalie, and Natalie was a woman trusted by the Duchess to take matters into her own hands.
Natalie did not deny Noah's speculation and acted on expectation.
"If you would follow me," she said, moving to lead the way deeper into the barracks.