Lia stood before shining iron gates to Lord Leran’s estate. It was made of iron bars, shining. A crest made of a side profile of a cat’s face ornamented the bars. The crest of the House Elvia.

They were a fairly new house compared to a millennia-old houses like the Rever or the Ruiz. Still, they were one of the richest ones, holding strategic trade routes connecting the Yrid mines on the east of the empire which only could be reached by sea, surrounded by the virgin forests of the Niph and the capital.

They had acquired that territory two decades ago after siding with the late emperor, Lia’s father’s sworn brother in the civil war forty years after the foundation of the family by a Reveran merchant called Elvia. Tales said that a black cat led Elvia to a great treasury which the man used wisely to establish his house. People said the cat still watched over the territory and eased any problems for the family.

Lia even doubted the fact that the cat existed in the first place, let alone it still guiding the house from the shadows, but she could understand why the people would think that way. Even in a place as large and old as the Empire, it was hard to become an oligarch in one of the oldest and most influential cities in the empire. It was normal that people thought something was abnormal.

Whatever the truth was, there was a fact that Lia couldn’t ignore or doubt. The cat still watched over the territory, not still in flesh and blood but in the crest of the house.

On each side of the gate stood a two meters tall white brick wall that stretched around the gigantic territory of the house. They were on the highest circle of the Whitepeak, only ten minutes away on foot from the great palace and temple of the Saint Rever. This high on the hill, the dirt of the estate was probably worth more than gold in weight.

Behind the iron bars, Lia saw a few men walking around a cart dragged by two pale stallions. On the corner of the carriage’s roof, Lia saw a laying cat a figure carved in the same polished dark hardwood that made up the cart.

A butler approached the gate as Lia watched inside. He was an old white man, with a clean-shaved face and a receding hairline. The old man opened the gate, making way for the cart and asked the group to leave.

To this, Lia kindly asked the butler if she could talk to Elder Leran. Lad, however, was trying to rush inside through the open gate. Lia would have tackled and pinned him down but Inni and Yel had already done that.

The butler studied the group, deciding whether to call the guards or inform the Lord about the guests. He quickly glanced at Lia, Yel and Lad with a sign of indifference in his eyes. He wasn’t malicious or condescending, but it was obvious that he thought they were unworthy to take Elder’s time.

On Inni, however, Lia could see the old man’s eyes opening up.

Expensive silk, orange hair and amber eyes called for a single house, the Ruiz of the south. Children of the Saint of Fire. The house was founded by the mighty Flamebearer Ruiz, sister to Vaella’s beloved wife. He had given them a piece of the Eternal Fire that kept on burning since the beginning of time and the power of fire dyed their eyes amber and hair orange. The effect could be seen even after a thousand years though not all the Ruiz awakened the power.

Seeing a young lady from the Ruiz, the butler asked them to follow him and went to the cart that was waiting for him to give the sign to depart. Lia was content with not being recognized. That was the purpose of her attire. She looked almost identical to the old butler save for the black vest he had fashioned over his white shirt and the bowtie.

The butler knocked on the window of the carriage. A silky curtain was unveiled by plump brown fingers behind the glass. Soon, the man inside opened the window, still hidden behind the purple curtain.

“What are you making me wait for, Ortel?”

“A few guests are wishing to talk to you, Elder.” Leran was a Lord but also he was one of the Elders of Whitepeak’s council, the greatest authority in the city after the head of the House Rever, which was now dead. That made the title of elder a lot more precious than that of a simple lord.

“A young lady from Ruiz and her friends.” The butler continued.

“Hmm…” The deep voice weighed his options. “I suppose the council can wait for a few more minutes. Prepare a table and some tea for our guests. I’d like to listen to the young lady’s wish.”

***

The carriage quickly returned to the estate and followed the cobblestone path to the blue mansion that stood tall with four stories and dozens of windows on each floor.

The group followed the cart and waited for the Elder to get out as the butler went inside the mansion to prepare what the Elder had asked.

Soon, the door to the carriage opened and a plump Reveran man got down. He was a short man, the same height as Inni but shorter than the rest of the group. He had curly hair tied into thick locks that reached down to his waist. His hair looked a lot curlier than Inni’s, almost as if like it was a sheep’s fur and he wore a traditional purple Reveran robe with white stripes from one side of the chest to another.

Before the Nevra became a desert, Vaella ruled humankind from the northern continent. When the vile demons from hell attacked the heart of the empire that was Nevra and turned it into the crimson hell it was today, the people of Nevra migrated to the southern continent of Revera.

The Reveran people looked different from the Nevran. The cold hills and green steppes of the Nevra housed the pale people of the north, that looked like Lia and the warm mountains and the fertile river lands of the Revera were darker in skin just like Yel and Elder Leran.

The house of Rever was the reason the continent was called Revera. His kin and descendants would be called Reverî, the rulers of the Whitepeak and the northern territories, and his subjects would be the Reveran, the welcoming black people of the southern continent.

“How can I help you, young lady?” Elder Leran reached to Inni’s hand and kissed it as the servants quickly prepared a small table on the garden. “The doors of Elvia are always open to the Ruiz and its nice people.”

“We weren’t expecting this warm of a welcome, Elder. I appreciate it.” Inni replied and smiled with a grace that she kept hidden most of the time. Especially when she talked to Yel.

The table was full in an instant. Desserts, tea, various sweet-looking pastries, and cookies. The servants were working with the swiftness of experience that was expected from a rich house like Elvia.

All that experience of a lifetime but the servants had only brought a pair of chairs and cups. That was no mistake on their part, however; Lia could see the hubris of the Elder that was approaching them like a storm. His people knew he would pay respects only to the Ruiz and set the table accordingly.

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Elder Leran quickly sat on one of the chairs like he despised using his legs to stand. He left the great blue mansion and the horde of servants behind his back as he sat and pointed at the empty seat.

“Wouldn’t you like to sit young lady?” The man smiled, with joy in his round cheeks. “I believe your grandfather the White Flame himself sat at this exact seat as an envoy to Lord Faenall with my father U’tua just before both of them became very happy men. I hope history repeats itself.” He laughed and took a large bite out of his cookie.

“I would be delighted to take a seat.” Inni bowed slightly. “But I’m afraid there aren’t enough seats for all of us.”

“Oh.” The man interlocked his fingers, palm touching palm. “Forgive me, young lady. Your servants must be tired too.” He looked at one of the servants as Lad giggled. “Vemra!” Leran shouted, fast and irritated. “Lead young lady’s servants to the annexe and feed them well.”

To this, one of the servants, a tall Nevran man in long robes replied.

“Yes, master.”

“They are my friends. Not servants.” Inni furrowed her orange brows.

“Oh, how kind of you. Of course, they are your friends.”

“We are here for business, Elder.” Lia picked the wooden coin from the pocket of her trousers, hoping that the news of the coin didn’t travel far away and showed it to the mage in robes. The mage nodded at Leran, confirming the authenticity of the artefact.

Doing that was quite easy as the coin contained Levise’s mana. It was faint and was hard to detect if one didn’t know where to focus but seeing it in plain open sight, one couldn’t help but notice the serene aura of the Saint.

She wasn’t going to resort to the coin but seeing Inni squirm as she talked with the Elder, she felt like she needed to.

“We are working on a mission under the order of her holiness. I am Lia and these are my friends Yel and Inni. And this is our master, Lad. We would like to have some of your time if you would permit.” Lia wished that the word didn’t go out of the mansion.

“Forgive your highness.” Leran jumped out of his seat in shock as he understood who Lia was. Beads of sweat trickled down his dark skin.

Lia already hated every second of this encounter and it looked like it was going to get only worse.

“Please, take my seat!” He brought the chair over to Lia, a newly found glare shining in his eyes. The merchant looked like he already had found a way to advantage off this visit in whatever annoying political way he liked.

“It wouldn’t be proper to sit while my friends and master stood up.”

“Of course, your highness.” The man turned at the mage instead of the servants. “Bring our esteemed guests their seats.”

“Aye, master.” Vemra rushed back to the annexe behind the mansion and brought some fine chairs.

Everyone finally sat, except for Lad who took a stroll around the estate without telling anything. Leran told the butler to accompany Lad as the latter almost got out of sight. The butler obeyed and followed after the long-haired mage, increasing the chances of Vemra getting more orders unrelated to his job description.

Rich houses often hired mages in their court. They proved to be both a useful tool for safety and for prestige which confused Lia. Why would the Elder treat a precious mage like this? Lia thought

Mages were prestigious people. Expensive to house and hard to please. More than half of the mages she saw had an ego greater than the Empire itself. Most of the time, this hubris was backed with talent so the people overlooked that small issue thinking of the protection and prestige a mage in their house would bring.

“I am honoured by your visit, your majesty.” Lord Leran bowed his head slightly, now sharing the table with the trio.

“Would you like some wine? Or something to eat perhaps. Vemra! Go fetch them something to eat.”

“Thank you for the generosity, Lord Leran. A glass of water would suffice. We are on duty as I have mentioned. We…”

“What are you waiting for, Vemra? For our guests die of thirst? Fetch her a glass of water.” Lord squinted his eyes and hissed at the poor guy with a smile as he cut Lia off. His benevolence to his guest seemed like covering only feeding and seating.

“As I have mentioned, we are on a quest. Hunting for a rogue mage that we believe to be interested in a piece in your treasury.”

Yel was too tired to care about the political play and the noble quarrels. Instead, he grabbed a cookie and sipped the tea that was prepared for Inni. Yel never bothered rich people ignoring him and never could be as he was also ignoring them.

“Oh, dear.” Leran laughed, his whole body wobbling in his giggle. “There are always some petty thieves after my wealth, commoners with greed.” He glanced at Yel as if he accused him of being lesser of a being.

Yel could have been angry, but the cookies were damn delicious.

“It should not concern someone of your stature.” Leran continued and turned back at Lia and Inni as he neared finishing his words.

Lia and Inni were nobler than him, both by blood and virtue. However, Lia believed that the Elder believed otherwise. With his smiles that ignored their discomfort and eyes that looked through them, it was hard to think he respected them.

“I believe they are, Elder, but this one is quite capable. You shouldn’t underestimate him, especially in these…”

“No worries, honey.” He turned back, looking at the mage who poured water into the crystal glass on the table, slightly leaning forward. His eyes and lips pressed tightly shut for a brief moment, one hand struggling to hold the glass.

Others have missed it, but a brief moment was enough for Lia to catch on.

“Vemra!” The Elder gargled the mage's name. “Young lady is thirsty! Be quick. Anyways.” His deep voice softened again.

“What was I saying dear.” He turned back without waiting for a reply. “Oh, yes. There is no need to worry. The whole premise is under protection. Not to mention that we have this great mage with us!” He looked at Vemra, standing like a servant with a glass carafe in his hands.

“He is supposed to be fairly strong, though he needs to learn how to be quick with his hand too or else he’ll be a waste of money.”

To this remark, Lia said nothing because if she opened her mouth at that moment, she knew that her words wouldn’t be kind enough to please the Elder.

So, she took the glass of water from Vemra and thanked him.

She wanted to spill the water over the Lord’s face, or just smack him with the glass itself. Instead, she took one sip and put the glass on the table. This was not the day.

“Are you alright?” Lia asked Vemra silently as she gulped her sip, giving the mage a slight look. To this, Vemra only smiled as if he didn’t hear Lia’s voice echoing in his mind.

After seeing no visible replies, she turned back at Leran. “I was going to offer our help. We are after the thief like I said, and four more mages would offer you quite the security. I believe there wouldn’t any harm in that.”

“I wouldn’t dare to make your majesty work in my estate! You are free to stay as long as you want. We are already preparing a chamber for you as we speak.”

“That won’t be necessary, Elder. We believe that the thief will strike tonight. We’ll be gone before sunrise.”

“How sad.” Leran’s face soured. “I hoped you would stay longer. I’d like you to meet my son.” A wide grin Leran failed to suppress appeared on his face.

Here were go, Lia thought. She was surprised it took this long.

“He is on a vacation and is to return to Whitepeak a few days later. He takes lessons from Vemra too, and I believe he is going to be very famous soon. I believe he could help you on your quests and be a wonderful friend.”

“I don’t doubt it, Elder.” Lia surpassed the urge to sigh and passed the responsibility to Lad. “But that choice is up to our master. We, apprentices, have no say in with whom we work.”

There was no way Lad would approve of Leran’s son. The man refused to be around the Elder and went off to some faraway corner to laugh his ass off. There was no way he would approve the son.

“I’ll talk it with your master then. I’m sure he too would agree. After all, the Crown, the Ruiz and our humble house have always been friends. It would be a shame not to give the younger generations a chance to continue this bond of friendship.”

To this, Lia and Inni gently smiled, hoping that Lad would smack the guy in the head preferably with a wooden stick in their stead. Yel, on the other hand swiped the crumbs off the cookie table as there were no cookies left. His eyes quickly shifted towards the other plates and after cleaning the plate, he reached out for another one.

Receiving no replies, Leran got up. “I would like to tell you the tale of how my father and the White Flame valiantly fought and subdued a necromancer but I’m afraid I have to go to the council now. We shouldn’t make the delegation from your father wait so much.” He took a glance at Lia and continued.

“You are welcome here as far as you’d like and can ask anything you want from Vemra or Ortel.” He then looked around for the butler but couldn’t see the butler.

“Vemra. Take care of our guests in my absence.”

Elder Leran later went to the carriage that was waiting ready for him during the whole talk and left the estate.

Both the servants, the mage and Lia took a deep breath after the guy left. All looking at each other in understanding.