After walking up the carriage and entering, Tibaut immediately bombarded Elizabeth with a question.

"Why the hell are you guys not in yet?"

"Oh, you two returned." She said. She was clipping her fingernails and looked quite bored.

Jake was on the other side of the carriage tapping a pencil against his head while looking intensely into a small notebook he had open. Hearing Tibaut's voice he turned to him.

"Oh, you're back Tibaut. How was the town?"

"Elizabeth, how long have you guys been waiting here?"

Jake started sulking from being ignored.

"Hmm, about two hours by my estimation." She said as she clipped another nail.

Tina made her way beside Elizabeth and sat down, not seeming to care about what Tibaut was saying.

"You'd think from what that maid said, you guys would be inside already."

"Maid?" She asked, turning her attention to him in interest.

"Yeah, some maid of theirs tried to take my head as a trophy."

"The rude bitch tried to do something to my spear as well," Tina stated.

They briefly explained their encounter with her.

"I see."

Before Tina could even react she was flicked on the head by Elizabeth.

"Ow, why'd you do that?"

"I can't believe, out of the two of you I'm telling you to be careful. With you two so close to the gate they would have been able to easily make the argument you two were trespassing. They seemed to have been attacked recently so the place looks on edge."

"We didn't enter it but she still attacked us. If it was just some regular people they would have been killed."

"Yet you were quick to trade blows. What would you have done if you killed her without even attempting to explain the situation?"

Tina piped down and turned her face away.

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"Anyway, you said she pulled out a piece of paper and confirmed you two were part of the guards sent."

"Yeah, why?"

"So she's the one that has been running late."

Tibaut tilted his head slightly.

"Running late?"

"From what the guards at the front said," Tibaut looked outside and saw they were also women, "This person you ran into supposedly is the only one on the compound that has our descriptions. So we can't get in until she shows up."

"It didn't look like she ran this way after she told us to come up here." Tibaut quietly muttered.

After another eventless hour of waiting the gates were opened and someone approached the carriage from behind.

"You will have to excuse me, I had various matters to go to first before I was to let you in." The woman stated.

It was the same woman that had attacked Tibaut and Tina earlier. The lord's head maid, Avis. There wasn't a hint of emotion on her face which made it hard to determine if she even remembered Tibaut after trying to kill him.

"I'm afraid we don't want anyone except our employed guards on the property so I'll have to ask you to carry your luggage from here."

"Very well," Elizabeth commented before telling the coachman he could leave as soon as they unpacked.

Tibaut was surprised Tina didn't have anything to say to the maid and turned to her to see how she was keeping herself quiet. Elizabeth had a hand firmly placed on her shoulder and Tina had her arms crossed while pouting.

After several minutes they were walking across the property with their package in tow. Tibaut as before was forced to carry most of Jake's luggage.

"Sorry, Tibaut." He apologized.

"Tch, why the hell can't those pack mules help me?"

"We're carrying enough as is, so be a man and help him out," Tina said carrying considerably less.

"It is unsightly for a man to complain too much," Elizabeth commented also carrying considerably less.

"Well, I never expected that one to be the runt of this group," Avis commented, seeing them force this on Tibaut.

Saddened by no one trying to correct her, he continued walking in silence and looked around the property. Most buildings looked like their exteriors were made of marble and it seemed quite fancy.

"I must say, this place is quite luxurious looking for a former border fort," Elizabeth said as she looked around.

"Well, my lord's family has been renovating this place. The old fort is still here but my Lord has personally decided to make some renovations to it."

"They must have quite the disposable income to make something like this."

"Of course. My lord's family is one of few noble families that have direct ties to the royal family."

"How prestigious," Elizabeth commented leaving their conversation there.

After walking some more they were soon at the doorsteps of a comfortably sized building.

"Make yourselves comfortable. This is your guesthouse which you will be living in for your tenure."

"How grateful of him."

The maid bowed before taking her leave.

"This place looks pretty decent," Tibaut said.

"Wait, so when the hell are we gonna meet this bastard?" Tina said, as she no longer had to worry about Elizabeth scolding her.

"Nobles operate on a different set of time than us, Tina. He'll meet with us when he feels like it." She said opening the door. "Ugh."

"Tch, so he's one of them," Tina commented walking towards the front door. "Ugh."

("Oh I know those types. I remember when I was getting my inheritance, I had to meet with a lot of those types of guys. Me and my brother would agree to a time to meet them and they'd have the gall to show up 2 hours later. You'd think with so much money they could afford a watch.")

Tibaut thought, realizing some things are the same, no matter the world.