"Your Lordship!" The voices of the guards could be heard, as they got down on one knee, clasping their hands.
Still holding onto the neck of the suffocating guard who didn't dare to struggle, despite his situation. Luck had saved him, including his power level. Having enabled him to quickly, and unconsciously strengthen up his skull to take on the impact. He found it almost impossible to breathe, the only thing keeping him from passing out or worse. Being the fact that his lungs and heart were coated with spiritual energy. But since it wasn't comparable to actual air, he could only hope to last a few more minutes.
"Haaa!"
*BOOOHOO!
*BOOOHOO!
Coughing out blood as the hand left his throat, the captain quickly got up and with his face down along with one knee, he apologized. Seeing their captain do that, the entire unit did the same, not sparing a chance to offend him no matter their spite towards his kind.
"You must be, Sir Kaleb." The old man stated, tossing the token he'd taken back from the guard mid-slam.
Catching it with ease and a single hand, Kaleb wearing his golden robe took a glance at it and spoke. "May I know the name of my elder brother's guest?"
"Lo-an Mune." He said, heading back to his courser as reaching there, he deactivated the protective runes engraved on its right side. Since without it, he'd have a dead mount with his previous energy blast.
"Mune." Kaleb mumbled, wondering where he'd heard that name before. "Welcome to the Elmore Mansion, Master Lo-an."
"Good then." Lo-an was about mounting his horse once again, when Kaleb spoke. "No need for that, the guards will have him well taken care of at our stables."
"Ah no, Rae here hates stables. But he'll be a good boy in an all-you-can-eat open field. Right Rae?" The courser neighed cheerfully in reply, as gently rubbing his neck. Lo-an poured enough energy into the runes to give it a faint barely noticeable glow. As, when faced with danger it was sure to light up and protect him long enough to come to his aid.
Leaving the reins in the hands of the captain, since he'd volunteered by stepping closer. Lo-an walked towards the gates, having Kaleb standing by it with his right hand stretched out towards the mansion to welcome him in.
Walking past him with a brief nod, he followed behind, soon walking beside him and having four guards who seemingly weren't part of the entrance unit also following. Glancing around, Lo-an could notice more guards in the area, effectively patrolling. Seeing this only made him wonder how many enemies the Elmore's had nowadays to need to be on high alert.
Halfway through without a word, Kaleb broke the silence with a question. "You said Vans sent you. Are there any dealings between the my family and the Rune Corps?"
"Not any I could think of, I'm actually not here on behalf of the Rune Corps. Mia requested I took a look at the young Lord." Lo-an stated, his eyes wandering around the part of the mansion he could behold.
"My son? Something's wrong with him?" Kaleb's voice was soft and calm, too calm only if he'd been told what was up with his son— which he supposed he hadn't.
"Nothing much, a few check ups and a scroll's use would do the trick." The old man assured. Walking past the arch, wide and high enough to fit two wagons at once. They finally found themselves in the midst of the quadrangled structure, the Elmore Mansion itself. It's height blocking away the moonlight, though torches and a few braziers were burning.
At the center of the mansion, a large square opening, a fountain could be seen. Going around it, the flight of stairs leading into the mansion, it's ground floor raised from the ground itself. A figure stood at the top of the staircase, a female and young woman probably in her late sixties.
However, a simple look at her made him feel uneasy for the first time in a long while. She had the most intense glared he'd ever seen, her fiery sapphires burning right through him. Lo-an could tell she had no aura, having a lowborn background, since that was the common reason one wouldn't have an aura at her age.
Climbing up the stairs and avoiding her gaze which she made sure to lock it on him, without minding who saw it or not. From the corner of his eyes, he could even see the guards— now two since the others had taken a stand downstairs— kept their heads turned away from her direction.
'Who was she?' He could only ponder on it, as still having entered the mansion though still able to see the outside from the opened doors. He could feel his hands being wet and sweaty, feeling daggers at his back.
*CLAM!
"Make yourself comfortable, Master." Kaleb informed, closing the door shut.
They found themselves in the moderately lit study room of the mansion, being the one dedicated to having private conversations, also serving as a mini and personal library. Though there were much more luxurious and office-like ones on the upper floors compared to this, Kaleb did have his reasons of course.
As Lo-an proceeded to take a seat beside the desk which had the opposite one being luxurious compared to his.
Kaleb on the other hand, made his way to a table just near the door. On the table, a transparent glass bottle of wine and two glasses could be seen on a tray. Grabbing the bottle wine, he poured out some into both glasses.
"Master Lo-an, you said Vans sent you. Where is he?" He threw a question, shifting the tray to the side as his hand moved on the surface of the wooden table.
"There was some needed business to be taken care of around Tilon." Lo-an informed. Meanwhile, Kaleb's hands finally found their destination as with a soft press, a square piece of wood part of the table raised up by a millimeter.
"Tilon, in the NobleHouse Allan's territory?." He asked, sliding the square piece to the side. Exposing a hidden compartment having an ample number of vials, which he reached in to grab one of them.
"Yes, the doorstep of the Allan's somesay. The backdoor I say— hahahaa."
"Hahahah. Master sure has a good sense of humour." Kaleb turned to walk towards the other, having two glasses in his hands. Handing any of them to Lo-an the conversation continued. "As they say, with more years comes more wit."
"I never knew my brother had some friends back in Tilon. The Ferns I suppose."
"You know these guilds, you never know when an higher rate reaches out to the lower ones." Lo-an said, removing the eye path on his left eye. Channelling his spiritual energy to his runed eye, wanting to examine the contents of the wine— a habit of most runers— Kaleb's voice was heard.
"Forgive me Master, but aura isn't allowed in the mansion."
"I—"
"Vans's rules and he's quite strict on having them enforced accordingly." He cut in on his protest, as wearing back the eye patch. Lo-an grabbed the glass and gulped it all down at once.
Seeing this, a brief curl up at the corners of his lips was seen as he spoke. "You spoke about my son earlier?"
"Um, yeah." Lo-an squinted his eyes, his vision blurring up a bit. "A few check ups and a scroll would do. Seeing him now will help since it might be a lengthy process."
"That would be better. May I see the scroll, just a father worried about his son— a young Lord."
"Ah sure sure, there are few of these around here." A scroll appeared in his hands, one unlike the known and usually ones. It's parchment paper was a dark purple, being one Kaleb could recognize quite well— though few wouldn't be able to.
*BAM!
"Are you kidding me?! That's a taboo scroll!"