Chapter 6

Elias embraced Sable in the tightest hug he could for what seemed like hours. He hadn't seen his friend in a few years, and this seemed like a stroke of luck.

"How have you been?" asked Elias, releasing her.

"I've been great! The family that adopted me has been incredibly kind to me over the years, and I'm even on track to become a full fledged Apothecary!"

Elias smiled the biggest smile he had in years. Hearing that his friend was close to achieving her dreams gave him more joy than anything else.

"That's amazing!" said Elias. "I know you've been wanting to do that ever since we were kids."

There was a long silence between the two of them, reaching an almost awkward point before Sable broke it.

"Eli...I want you to know that I never forgot about you out there. I would have come looking for you, but I could never convince anyone to come with me for protection from those Lower Street gangs."

Elias placed a comforting hand on Sable's shoulder.

"Sable, you don't have to apologize for living your life. In fact, I'd be pretty pissed right now if you left me alone for all of those years with nothing to show for it."

Sable smiled at the little joke, thankful to have Elias back in her life, even briefly.

Some time passed as the two regaled each other with stories from the past few years. Elias told her about all of his brushes with the local gangs, and Sable told him some horror stories about her Apothecary apprenticeship.

Before they knew it, the day had slipped into the evening and the house was bathed in a warm, orange glow.

Without warning, Sable jumped off of the bed.

"Gods, I almost forgot that Father wanted to talk to you when you woke up!" she said frantically.

Sable gently pulled on Elias' hand, urging him to follow her.

"Don't worry about a shirt" she said, "he shouldn't keep you long."

Elias followed closely behind Sable as they wound their way through the various rooms and halls.

The house was bigger than anything Elias had ever seen. He imagined it was probably just slightly smaller than the grand castles he heard about in stories.

Just like in the room he woke up in, the walls were made of a solid white stone, as were the pillars placed symmetrically throughout the building.

Large red and gold tapestries also adorned these walls, but each one seemed to show a different scene, almost as if they were trying to tell a story.

After what felt like hours of walking, the pair finally fell upon a large set of iron doors, painted gold and red to match the colors Elias had seen throughout the rest of the house.

Sable knocked loudly on the doors, which were opened just wide enough for a person to fit through.

The inside of the room looked extremely similar to the room Elias had woken up in, though the bed and fireplace seemed to be larger and more ornate.

Weapons of various shapes and sizes were hung delicately on the walls, and more creatures were stuffed and mounted above the weapons.

A large man sat on the ornate bed, with a smaller woman next to him. A second man stood just off to the side of the bed, speaking with the first man.

Elias immediately recognized the two men as the ones who were with Sable in the Town Square the day she was attacked.

Sable did a small curtsie when the group noticed them, before introducing Elias to her Father.

"Eli" said Sable, "this is my father, Magnus Ironseeker. He's the Baron of Oclus, and right hand man to the King himself."

Magnus nodded his head slightly before taking over the conversation.

"This beautiful woman is my wife, Orelia Ironseeker" he said in an extremely deep voice.

Elias took notice of the slender woman who looked quite a bit like Sable, except with blonde hair instead of crimson.

"This man here" Magnus continued, "is Dominik Serpentfist. He's a Warden for the Aristocracy."

Sable could see the look of confusion on Elias' face when Magnus introduced Dominik.

"A Warden" Sable said, "is like a personal guard for the Aristocracy. Essentially, each Aristocrat gets their own Warden, and together they form a private militia for us to use to keep order within the realm."

"Yes" chimed Magnus, "that's a pretty spot on explanation."

Magnus stood up, towering above Elias. He knew he was a large man from when he saw him in the Town Square, but he was much bigger up close.

Magnus eyed Elias up and down, as if trying to find something special or different about him. That's when he landed on Elias' white hair.

"By the gods, you're the boy that was with our Sable all those years ago: The boy from Shadespear."

"Yes, sir" stammered Elias, not quite sure what title to give Magnus.

"Sable, why didn't you say something when we first brought him in?" asked Orelia from the bed.

"I had to be sure it was him" replied Sable.

"Elias, can I ask you something?" asked Magnus.

Elias' attention had been stretched between everyone at this point, and he was starting to feel a little lightheaded.

"Of course, sir" he said.

"Why did you take a knife for my daughter?"

Elias thought it over briefly, but he didn't really have a good reason. After all, he hadn't known the girl he was protecting was Sable when it happened.

"Honestly, I'm not sure, sir. I didn't know it was Sable that I was protecting - I just felt a need to do something in that moment."

Magnus looked back at Dominik, who just nodded his head.

"Well, I don't know how to thank you enough for saving her life" Magnus said.

"Oh, please, think nothing of - "

"I wasn't done yet" said Magnus, cutting Elias off. "I'm not sure how to properly thank you, but I do know I want to make you an offer."

Elias looked perplexed. He'd never been offered anything aside from the occasional food scrap, but he imagined an offer from the Aristocracy would be far better than that.

"Young Elias, I want you to become Sable's personal Warden."