"What are you doing?" are the first words out of the noble's mouth.

"Nothing." The panicked lie comes out automatically. He has a handsome face, maybe as good looking as Eryk, but with soft blond hair instead of black, so clean and shiny it even catches the light from the hall window, ending neatly around the tops of his ears. But that face is quickly turning to a scowl at my response.

My mind is racing as he's closing the door behind him. What do I do? What do I say? Who is he?! I'm still standing up on top of the chair in the middle of the room. I start to turn, to get down, but I still need the paperwork. But I can't just try to take it right in front of this man, who knows what he might think, or what he might do?

What if he's here to pick up where the last one left off? What if he's also looking for my papers? Before I can stop myself, I glance down at the crumpled paperwork on the desk. I know he's going to follow my eyes, so I force myself not to look right back at him, switching my gaze to the arm of the chair I'm climbing out of.

Then some part of me, both intentionally and unintentionally, starts to slip. My foot catches on the arm of the chair, and I go head over heels. The back of my foot slams the underside of his desk, scattering the stacks of paper everywhere, as I tumble facefirst to the floor with a loud, painful crash, barely turning enough in midair to keep from landing directly on my neck.

"Urgh..." I groan, my previously uninjured shoulder screaming from taking the brunt of the impact. I don't think it's broken, but that was a nasty fall... "Ow..."

"What are you doing, girl?!" the man demands angrily as the scattered papers land all over the floor. Somehow, my luck holds out, some crumpled scrap from the papers I need landing right in front of my face. Still partially hidden behind the desk, I snatch it and shove it down my shirt. I moan painfully from moving my shoulder to do it, while the man stomps up to the desk.

"Cretin, look what you've done!" he glares down at me on the floor, tears starting to well in my eyes from banging myself up this badly, again. "Get out! Now I have a mess to clean up on top of... of all this!" and he waves his arms outward at the whole room angrily.

I obey immediately, practically dashing past him on all fours, despite the stabbing pain from my injuries both old and new. I make it out the door and partway down the hall, stumbling through the children, to the floor as the crumpled paper falls out of my loose fitting shirt.

Grabbing it off the filthy floor, I stare at it, and grin, letting out a long, painful sigh. It's the part of my guardianship paperwork that has my name and unknown parents on it. Without this piece, even if he has the rest, they're not my guardianship papers, so they're useless. I can't say how well that will help against a noble though...

Still, as long as I know I don't have any other papers floating around that could be used against Eryk after he adopts me, it should be fine, right? If we talk to Frank, I'm sure he'll let Eryk adopt me. He knows how bad things have been here, and he knows I'm connected to Reena. He'll definitely give the ok as long as no one else already has claim on me.

After sitting and just breathing until my heart stops hammering so hard, I start to stand up, then crash to a halt. What about Emily? I didn't get hers! I'm just starting to panic, when the door at the end of the hall suddenly opens and the noble walks out, his gaze landing directly on me. My eyes go wide, did he realize I took something?

As he's stomping toward me, his hand coming up to point with the other children fleeing, I do the one thing I can that I think might help.

I shove the scrap of paper in my mouth and swallow. Now there's definitely no way he can get those papers together completely.

Staring down at me, the noble asks, "Is your name Aria?"

Do I lie? No, I'm a terrible liar! I can't just lie outright to a noble!

"Yes."

"Come with me." Unable to do anything else under the dark gaze of the man and all the surrounding children, I stand, and slowly follow him down the stairs to the first floor. Everyone watches as he marches me out of the house.

To my surprise, there's a strangely shaped, bright red cart stopped directly outside, in the middle of the otherwise empty street, pulled by a pair of huge horses and surrounded by a half dozen guards, all equipped far more nicely than the city guard. When I look more closely at the surroundings, I catch movement, and a few eyes peering from shuttered windows, out at the strange sight in the street. I continue to trail behind the noble.

A man in a nice green jacket with big brown buttons and a hat, climbs down from atop the front part of the cart, a section that looks like a long bench built into the cart itself. He holds open the door in the side with one hand, while bowing into a high class gesture with the other. I can't tell exactly which gesture, it's probably either a greeting or showing respect, based on the way he has his palm pressed to his chest.

"Put the girl on the carriage," the noble instructs without even turning to look at the bowing man.

"Yes, Master." Once the noble climbs the steps, the well dressed servant closes the door and turns an irritated expression on me. That's all it takes for me to realize, cringing, that on top of being a peasant, I'm already dirty from my trip into the orphanage. I rolled around on the filthy floor and everything...

Not sparing a word to me, the servant grabs me under my armpits and tosses me onto the back of the cart. Taking another look at it from my new position, I'm reminded of some earlier thoughts I had seeing carts like this. While it has four wooden wheels like other carts, the middle section is like a little house, where the noble went inside.

Then there's this spot, on the very back end of the cart, just a little lip of smooth wood which would be a lot more difficult to sit on if I wasn't so small. Looking to the ground below, I gulp, not wanting to fall off. Since the wheels of the cart are more than twice my height, and this lip is even higher than that, it would be a much worse fall than that chair earlier...

There's a loud snap, and the cart suddenly jolts forward. With a shocked squeak, I'm immediately sent tumbling off the narrow ledge, exactly what I was just worrying about. My hand flies out automatically, and I catch onto something sturdy and metal, saving me. I let out a shaking breath, then rub my shoulder which hurts more after that move, and carefully hold tight to... a metal bar?

When I look at it, there's a metal bar attached to the back of the house part of the cart.

"To hold onto, so you don't fall," I mutter to myself. "Duh," and shake my head. I keep a good grip on it, because the cart is shaking and jolting violently under me as the big wooden wheels clatter across the broken cobblestones. I follow our path briefly, as we turn onto North Main Street and begin heading south.

Then I think forward again. Where are we going? Where is this noble taking me, and why? My best guess is that he's taking me to whoever wants to buy me. Right, even if he isn't Marvin Salazar, maybe he was sent by him. Or maybe he was sent for some other reason, but then he saw that message Mister Fredricson wrote about selling me. Even if I did scatter the pieces, maybe he put it back together? No, that couldn't be it, there weren't any names given on that message, he wouldn't know what noble it is that tried to buy me.

Unless he is related to Marvin. But then he wouldn't need the message.

So maybe he's just holding onto me until he can figure out who? Or maybe he has some guesses based on the letter? But it was just a V, making me think Varish. But how many people would he need to go through in the Varish noble family to figure out who he's actually trying to contact? And what if there are other nobles with that letter in their name?

Of course, this is all just wild speculation, but I can't think of any other reason he would be taking me with him after asking my name. It has to be related... right?

Then the doubt sets in. I don't know nearly enough about what's going on. My guesses could all be completely off base. Turning my attention to one of the guards following behind the cart as it rolls down the street, I know I need more information. "H-hey..." I call uncertainly to get his attention. "Who is this man?" I ask, pointing make it clear I mean the man inside the cart.

I'm not even surprised when he scoffs at me. At least he answers, "That's Karl Liffan, show some respect, girl." That... doesn't help. It isn't one of the families Eryk mentioned in the Varish faction, so I don't know if it's just one he didn't mention, or if they're in a different faction. Is that even the sort of question I can ask them about? Would it make them suspicious, coming from a peasant?

Even if it does, I have to ask. They're already eyeing me - mostly my huge waves of hair hanging off the back of the cart - anyway. "He... umm... Is he part of the Varish faction?"

The dangerous glint in his eyes makes me shrink back. "Be glad he didn't hear you, girl, or that tongue would be out of your mouth faster than you could blink!" he barks. "Another comment like that and I'll do it myself."

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

I clamp my mouth shut and avert my eyes. Why is he so angry?! Why is he so scary?! I stay silent for the rest of the ride, slowly rumbling south on my painfully bouncing seat. When I've managed to calm down enough after his threat, I do at least realize that reaction means Karl Liffan is not part of the Varish faction. Which of course makes me question, who is he and why is he taking me?

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The journey grows much smoother as we reach the southern areas of town. The roads are so much nicer that the violently jolting ride smooths out to a steady roll, only a few big bumps here and there by the time we're passing through the southern district. I still can't say it's comfortable though, just from the constant rattling of hard wood against my butt.

After we pass the church, far in the distance to the right of the cart, I carefully peak around the side to get a look, and find we're entering the huge southern main street. The one that goes straight between the southwest and southeast gates. I've hardly ever been down here, I think it's called Castle Street though, since it goes past the castle wall. There are way more carts here, pulled by more horses.

There's a really big difference in the sizes of some horses compared to others though. The big ones, like the pair drawing this cart, seem almost double the size of the ones pulling other, normal carts, full of products, or covered with thick fabric tied over the top.

I spot one or two pulled by other animals, a couple drawn by kuran, those short, powerful work animals with tough black fur Claire taught me about, and one elka.

It's really far away, but it's impossible to miss with its pale gray fur, standing at least three or four meters tall, taking up almost half the width of the road. Almost like a walking building. I squint through the crowd, and spot about a half dozen carts trailing behind it. They're so big and impressive in person, I wish I could see one from up close...

We rattle down the street for a while, and I see the tall gate of the noble district approaching. It's about two stories tall, with big hanging fabric things on either side, colored bright red and gold. It makes the gate look really fancy.

We're definitely going in there. All I can do is sit and wait as we roll to a stop, and the servant on the front of the cart declares Karl Liffan's name. There's a pause, and I hear small sounds coming from the front. I try to peer around the side, but can't see anything, before there's a whistle, probably from the gate guard, and the big doors of the gate swing open soon after.

With another snap and a jolt, the cart continues on through the gate, and I watch the big doors swing shut behind, the gate guards also eyeing me skeptically. I do my best to ignore it, trying to keep from panicking at this confusing situation. I just have to watch and listen carefully, then I'll see what's going on and I can figure out what to do about it then.

I keep telling myself that.

Turning my attention to the surroundings is a lot more helpful to distract myself. Because it's not hard at all. Chisa has seen it plenty of times from the air, but it's a completely different experience from ground level.

Everything is so bright and shiny and nice that I can't help but stare around at it all. The houses are all huge, taller than the wall separating them from the rest of the city. They're brightly painted, with grass and little fields of flowers around them. There are big glass windows, some on hinges, thrown open wide to let in the bright morning sun and cool, gently blowing wind.

Comfortable looking cushioned chairs and benches sit out in yards, and a handful of people move around, some around houses, or between them, their somewhat more simple, dark colored clothing immediately telling me they're servants. Still, that's in comparison to the handful of nobles I see lounging in their yards or on little covered portions at the front of their houses, or even inside, drinking colorful drinks as their eyes follow our cart through their clear glass windows.

Compared to them, the servant clothing looks simple, but it's still a match for the nice clothes of higher class commoners like Eryk and Kathy. It's... I don't know, it makes me anxious when I realize that the servants here are a match for the rich people outside...

Unlike before, the ride is practically smooth. The cart still rattles some, but the area between houses is almost entirely paved, smooth bricks ranging from gray to a rusty red all fitted together into spacious courtyards between each of the noble houses. No rough mix of dirt and cobblestone here. They have some trees and bushes, but not a single variety I'm familiar with from the forest, and every one of them is well kept up and healthy looking.

There are still plenty of wells scattered about for the servants to draw water, but apart from that...

It's like a whole different world. Everything is neat and clean and well taken care of. There are no crowds wandering around, only the servants, and the couple nobles I spot along the way. We roll past numerous colorful houses, each a different color, with their own carts sitting just outside. I do notice more red and yellow than other colors though.

Then I squint my eyes when I spot something unexpected. Painted over top of a door is a god's mark, in a cool blue, to contrast with the shiny red over much of the rest of the building. It's immediately apparent that it's a bird, the mark of Saras. They put marks on their buildings too? Is that normal or just something they started doing recently, like the people in town?

Looking around more, now that I know what I'm looking for, I spot others. Almost every house has one. There are a lot of bird marks, but I do see others. The nagi mark for Lila, is the most common after Saras', but I do spot a few Dragon marks, for Rostor. It takes some work to recognize the marks based on the descriptions I've heard, but they're all pretty unique, so it isn't too hard to guess.

As I continue looking at the others, there are some of each, except Reena's, of course.

I get it, but it's still annoying. I only spot one mark of Herat, but come on! Even The God of Chaos and Disorder gets one!

Scowling at the nobles and their stupid dismissal of my goddess, I sit on the back of the cart as we finally reach the right house, stopping in the courtyard out front. A guard waves for me to get off, and I cringe, looking down. I really shouldn't be putting my body through much right now...

"Off, girl!" he growls at me, forcing me to jump down before he can turn to real threats, or worse... Hopping down, I do my best to land with all my weight on my right leg. I grunt, and still get a bad spike of pain from my left. It's only thanks to how much earth mana I'm still holding that my one leg can support basically all my weight falling on it without me collapsing.

"First day on the new legs?" the watching guard jokes insultingly as I stumble. With the pain only just starting to fade and this whole situation putting me in a bad mood, I want to snap at him, but stop myself. I don't know what's going on and can't afford to make anyone angry right now.

So I push it down and calm myself, standing straight as the servant climbs down from the front of the cart and opens the door for Karl. He steps down the little stairs inside the cart, out onto the road with a crisp clack of his nice boots.

"Come," he calls, his hand pointing in my general direction without looking at me, then he begins to walk. I'm flustered for a moment, before I rush to follow. He leads me toward the house, his house? The door in front opens up, and a woman with the most poofy, ruffly dress I've ever seen glides out to meet him. It's like, yellow, but also has layers of different shades, more yellows and greens, with these frills everywhere. It's kind of hard to even understand what I'm looking at.

Besides the dress, she has this jewelry, like I learned about. Bracelets far more elaborate than Claire's on either wrist, with little dangly bits of shiny whitish metal and little bits of blue gem that are so bright and shiny, they almost glow. She has a similarly impressive necklace, with one bigger, white gem right in the middle, at her throat. That one... I blink at it. Is it actually glowing...?

She taps down the smooth stone path from her door, rows of flowers on either side, approaching Karl directly, with her long, braided blond hair bobbing around behind her. Without a word, she grabs him and they lean straight into a kiss. I blink a couple times. Are they... married? Married people kiss, right?

When they pull apart, the woman asks, "Home already, dear? I thought they gave you that awful assignment in the slums?"

"It's a bit of a tale," he chuckles. "I have some work to do, but it might just pay off big. Come now." Taking his wife's arm, he continues on, and I keep following toward the house, uncertainly.

"Daddy!" a high pitched voice shrieks, making me flinch a little. With the voice, a girl rushes from the doorway ahead. Maybe eleven, with a dress almost as fluffy as her mother's. She dashes down the path, and leaps straight at him without slowing down at all. He kneels, catching her in a hug with a grunt, and scooping her up into his arms.

The somewhat shocking display, and her behavior, remind me of two things. First, that she is bigger because she's a noble, so probably more like nine or ten, rather than eleven years old.

And, that normal children don't have to grow up as fast as I did. I shake away those thoughts as I watch Karl lift the girl high into the air, even with visible struggle. She's pretty big to be throwing around like that...

"Good to see you, too, Rachel," he says, his tone light and friendly, totally different than before. He finally sets her down on the ground, continuing forward just as another woman in a bluish green dress appears, with her dark hair all tied up in a bun.

She comes out through the doorway, walking at a swift pace, like she's trying not to run. "I'm very sorry, Master. She got away from me," she apologizes with what I think is a respectful gesture.

Karl waves it off. "No matter, Kelly. I need you to take care of this," suddenly pointing a finger back at me. Everyone turns as one to look at me, expressions ranging from surprise, to confusion, to disgust.

"A new servant, Master?" Kelly questions, trying and failing to hide the skepticism in her tone.

"No," he actually laughs a little, then draws something from his pocket and hands it to her. "Copy this, then come to my office."

"Of course." With another polite gesture, the woman heads off, and Karl pushes everyone forward once more. However, as soon as he passes through the front door, he turns back to me.

"Girl. Stand there and do not move until instructed to do so." Standing on his doorstep, I look around uncertainly. Right here? Like, directly outside his door?

When he clears his throat with a dangerous look, I jolt. "Y-yes, sir..." I answer uncertainly. Without another word, he closes the door in my face. I'm just... supposed to stand here...? Wouldn't it be better if I at least moved from in front of the door? I look around again as I'm considering it, but when I do, I catch sight of a couple guards, staring holes in me with hard expressions that say they'll do very, very bad things to me if I don't do exactly what that noble tells me.

I gulp nervously, turning away to keep the guards out of my line of sight, and just stare at the closed door in front of me. It's all I can do to study the door and the little flower patterned paintings across its surface in a slightly lighter color than the rest of the door. It helps me to keep from thinking about what on Loqa is happening right now.