A Wolf on the Mountain (III)

"Cecily, are you okay? I'm sorry if I was rough. There's no bruise is there?" Sorin asked since he noticed that she was holding onto her wrist.

The concern in his voice was touching and she shook her head.

"Oh no, no that's not it at all. I guess this is why ladies should stay at home or only do house visits," she said with a small smile, obviously still shocked.

Her heart was still beating fast and now she wasn't sure whether it was because of the incident or the sudden contact with Sorin.

There seemed to be someone calling Cecily's name and they turned in the direction.

The older woman just saw the horse cart speed by where Cecily was previously standing, and her heart almost leapt out of her chest.

The material shop they were visiting was quite busy so there were spectators waiting to see the outcome of the incident.

"Cecily!"

"Mother, I'm fine thanks to Lord Sorin."

"Young Master Ulfric, thank you for saving my daughter," commented the older lady with a smile.

She hadn't even known that he was back in town meaning they returned that very day.

"Madam Vogel, as long she's safe," he replied with a small bow.

"If the ladies would excuse me, I have yet to report to his Grace. Good day."

Sorin made his exit before they could bring up another topic of conversation and Cecily could only watch as he left not knowing what else to say.

Her sparkling eyes followed his every move while her mother studied her expression.

When they were finally out of sight through, Altair cleared his throat.

"Since when do we report to his Grace?"

"Since whenever I say so. You know that woman wants to go on about everything under the sky."

Altair laughed as he tipped the stableboy, and they retrieved the horses.

Sorin was so masterful in avoiding contact with people and possible gossip that he had averted that entire disaster by pulling on Cecily's wrist and sending her to someone else instead of grabbing her arm and pulling her closer to himself.

'Young Master is quite scary,' thought Altair as he followed behind Sorin and his horse.

It wasn't long before the castle walls came into view.

They passed the entrance of the main castle.

Sorin's military position wasn't high enough to report to the duke directly so the general and those under him were most likely with the duke at that moment.

Sorin lived in a completely different part of the estate and preferred not to be at the main residence if he could help it.

As soon as they arrived, he eagerly jumped off his horse and handed the reins to Altair and unloaded some of packages before jogging across the large courtyard.

Some of the servants excitedly bowed or curtseyed when they saw that the young master had returned.

After crossing one of the smaller gardens, he saw his target. She was busy watering some flowers with a smile on her face. He carefully crept up on her.

"Young Master, I suggest you save the tricks for someone who didn't help to deliver you."

It was near impossible to sneak up on her after all and she merely smiled as the rather tall young man caught her in a hug.

"Young Master isn't a child anymore; you'll crush this old lady."

"I missed this dramatic old lady. Here, to make up for the time I've been gone," he said holding up the wrapped parcels with what he had bought at the market earlier.

"You think I care more about sweets than seeing you alive," she commented.

"No, but it's an added bonus."

"Oh, you, what will I do with you?"

She smiled again while moving away the wild strands of hair hanging about his face.

At this stage, it was too late to ask him to have his hair tied and slicked down like other noblemen.

The young man might as well have been her own son but the line of work he had chosen didn't bring her much joy.

Hymr made a playful growl from outside the door and Nanny could only smile at this beast trying to be cute. How was it any different from the big owner standing in front of her?

"Is this our boy Hymr? We'll have some treats for you immediately," she insisted.

"Nanny, is it just me or does this place feel a bit empty?"

There were usually more servants, running around doing random things around the property. He had only been a gone a few months and already there were such big changes.

Since overseeing his own residence, most of the people he hired came from very impoverished backgrounds or had been convicted of petty crimes which didn't require imprisonment and no one else would hire them.

Some were even unfairly punished due to influential families playing up their power.

As a soldier, he saw these types of cases very often. Nanny only sighed and led him inside before calling over a younger maid to prepare some refreshments.

Altair came in a few minutes later to find Sorin sitting opposite Nanny Mei with a cloudy expression on his face.

Not even an hour back and the play was already in progress. As exhausted as he was somehow Altair couldn't wait to leave for the capital.

Sorin was storming over to his study when he heard laughing in one of the gardens.

He was about to walk past but couldn't stand the laughing chatter.

He stood and observed the group that was having a grand time without his presence but at his expense.

Hymr could sense the air around his master get even worse and roughly barked a few times to get his attention.

Sorin looked at the dog and compliantly scratched behind the ears making Hymr howl in joy. The howl seemed to awaken the other animals on the property.

The sound of barking dogs and random howling suddenly stunned the group in the garden.

Could it be that the prodigal ancestor, no, the young master, had returned?

Although wolfdogs were used in the Louvarossy army, the young master kept hunting hounds since he was young and had even picked up a particularly ferocious thing less than a year ago.

Normal dogs didn't have a such howl.

Sorin leisurely walked towards the pavilion, the two young women sitting there immediately stood up when they saw him while the older two remained seated. All four attendants, old and young curtseyed to him; he was still a young master of the family after all.

"Your Grace, eldest Aunt," he said in a rather disdainful tone as if saying the very words disgusted him.

He completely ignored the two young women, and they didn't make a squeak either seeing as he was not in the best mood.

"If it isn't our dearest Captain. We thought you'd be away for a few more days so we came to accompany the girls for a while," replied the duchess with an innocent smile.

"Where are the rest of my servants?"

"M- my Lord. I had to send some of them away after an incident," replied one of the young women.

"By whose authority?" Sorin asked the question corresponding to her answer, but while staring directly at the duchess.

Though the man wasn't shouting; his commanding voice and grim expression even made the duchess and aunt intimidated.

They had not expected his temper to become worse, usually he seemed mildly annoyed and never questioned them when it came to household things.

"Son, don't be upset at Sanya, she's just merely been trying to keep this household together since you're always so busy."

Sorin knew this conversation was headed to her suggesting he take a wife to keep everything in order because even though he had given Nanny Mei authority to run the household, in the duchess's words she was just a servant after all.

Undermining his authority and getting rid of the servants he had personally hired was a completely different situation, but they would link it to him getting married somehow.

If he heard that one more time at that moment, he was convinced that his head explode.

"Rubbish," he turned to leave without another word.

"Such disrespect, who does he thi-" the duchess cut off her sister-in law with a look and afterwards bid the girls to sit down.

"What can I say, I'm only a stepmother after all. Maybe once there's a daughter-in-law, he'll be better to her."

The Duchess took a sip of tea with a worried look on her face.

Sanya glanced at the young woman sitting next to her who happened to be looking at her at the same time. The aunt nodded, agreeing with duchess about the situation.

He needed someone who could pacify him. With that imposing presence and temper, if Sorin ever decided to be ambitious, there would be no stopping him on his intended path.

He was already a wild thing without regard for authority or family. Imagining such a person with more power and influence made the duchess uncomfortable.

"I'll find out if he's especially friendly with anyone. No matter how rough or unlawful a man is, there'll always be a flower he'd die under," said the aunt.

The Duchess nodded with a relieved smile, but the subject of the imperial capital was a bit of a sore point to her.

She would have preferred that the eldest son attend the gathering, but she couldn't even try to convince her husband on the account that he was not attending either.

He had passed everything over to be handled by the military leaders and a few other officials from the other families.

She would just have to find another way to deal with Sorin's situation while he was in the capital.