To Accept and Adapt

When Pharrus awoke the next day his wrist was bandaged and he was dressed in new clothes. Even the bed sheets had been swapped out.

The pain from the day before had all but subsided, but the unfamiliar memories still weighed heavily on his mind. Based on what he had experienced when he first awoke in Haven it may very well take him a decade to consolidate all of the information available to him, and at this point he had no idea whether or not such a task would be worth the effort.

For now his first task was to learn as much about Haven as he could and decide how to proceed from there.

As Pharrus sat up on the bed a flash of movement to his side caught his attention.

Rena sat, curled into a ball, on a small chair adjacent to the bed. The movement he saw was probably the blanket that she had draped over herself shifting as she moved.

Not wanting to wake her, Pharrus remained on the bed, moving as quietly as he could to remove the bandages around his wrist. As the last bits of the heavy cloth were pulled away, he was shocked to see that the wound had completely closed, leaving behind only a jagged scar in its place. The tattoo of the black gemstone was there as well, displayed as prominently as it had been the day before.

For the wound to have healed so quickly was completely illogical, but so was the idea that he had been brought to this world from another, or the concept of magic that seemed so commonplace here. It was likely that this very magic had been the cause of the rapid recovery, just as he had gained the ability to comprehend a completely foreign language in a matter of seconds the previous day.

Returning his thoughts to the present, Pharrus grumbled to himself as he stared at the tattoo, silently cursing the gemstone.

He had no evidence to back up his theory, but he assumed that the gemstone had been the cause of his transference to Haven. In the end however, it was too late to ponder such things, all he could do was try to live as best he could in this new world.

Maybe it would be a good opportunity to change his personality, wipe the slate clean as it were. Pharrus had often been lectured on his poor attitude in his previous life, even by that bastard Damion, though he doubted it would be an easy task to change his personality on a simple whim.

"Ah, Pharrus! You're finally awake."

Rena's voice suddenly broke into his thoughts. Pharrus turned to see her yawning and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"How are you feeling? When I came in to check on you last night, you were in quite the sate. You're lucky that we were able to seal the wound on your wrist in time, if we had been even a few minutes later you would have died."

"I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble." Pharrus said meekly. "I can promise you that something like that will never happen again."

"It's fine Pharrus. As long as you are all right." She paused for a moment, her brows crinkling in thought before she continued. "I know! If you are feeling up for it, how about I take you for a quick tour of the Manor. That should help take your mind off of whatever is bothering you, and you'll learn some stuff too. The healing magic that you received should have brought you to a state where you can at least function normally, but if you would like more rest then there is no need to rush anything."

Pharrus needed no time to ponder the offer. Having being cooped up in an unfamiliar room, in an even more unfamiliar place, with nothing to do but rest as his only other alternative definitely swayed his decision.

And what Rena had said had been correct, Pharrus felt that most of his strength had already returned.

"Then I shall be in your care."

"Wonderful!" Rena smiled brightly, clapping her hands together happily. "There is a change of clothes prepared for you on the dresser over there. I shall wait for you just outside of the door. Take your time to get changed."

After roughly ten minutes, Pharrus finally emerged from the room to find Rena patiently waiting for him.

His new attire was roughly the same as the Captain of the Guard's, Cole's, had been when they had met, a heavy shirt and leather breeches. They fit quite loosely because of his small build, but they were soft enough that he could pay that no mind.

"Now that you are all set, let's begin the tour here. Right now we are on the second floor of the west wing of Greystone Manor, or more precisely where the Lord's family resides. The room you are currently staying in was reserved for the young miss's personal attendant when she was younger, however now that she is almost an adult the Lord thought it fitting to give her more independence."

"Sorry to interrupt, but could you tell me the Lord's name and the names of his family members?"

Rena nearly face palmed as she realized she had skipped over such an importance piece of information.

"Sorry about that, I can be a bit of an airhead sometimes. Ehem, the Lord is the First Sword of King Valen, the highest ranked Holy Knight in all of Kraten, Taylor Samur. His wife, the Lady of the Manor, is Elizabeth Tristain, and their two children, the young master and miss, are Julien and Vivian."

"I see. Sorry for interrupting you and thank you."

"It is my fault for not having told you sooner, but now that you know that, we can continue with the tour. And in the future if you have other questions, feel free to ask."

The tour continued smoothly from there, and the two walked for a bit before they reached a massive opening and the stairs to the first floor.

"If we were to continue forward, we would be in the East Wing, where the quarters for high ranking officials and guests are. It is much the same as the West Wing, so there is no need to go all that way. Directly below us is a small dining area meant for private use by the Lord's family. To the right is the banquet hall and to the left the Lord's office. Straight ahead would take us out of the Manor and into Crescent city, while behind us lies Lady Elizabeth's glass garden, and beyond that the forge and the training grounds."

Pharrus stood in awe as he stared out at the Manor around him. At his front was a grand staircase that looped down on either side of him, leaving a small balcony of sorts between the two wings, and to his back a massive wall of glass that overlooked the entirety of the Manor and even the dense forest beyond it's walls.

The Manor itself was lightly furnished and decorated. The floors and banisters were made of a dark wood. The walls were painted a dark shade of red and were framed by white base and crown molding, and paintings were spread along them at a respectable frequency. The most decorative piece of the Manor was the banquet hall and its massive crystal and gold chandelier.

"This hall is used for many large scale social gatherings that take place throughout the year. As the First Sword of the King, Lord Taylor is expected to mingle and interact with the aristocracy so that he can maintain a strong political impression. Every banquet is such a splendid event. Drink and food of the best quality, men wearing their best dress clothes and women wearing their best dresses, dancing, chatting, flirting, and laughing through the entire night. And most importantly, after every banquet the staff all get a week of more lenient duties."

Pharrus chuckled lightly. "It must be difficult for you all to take care of such a Manor, even more so when such large scale events happen on multiple occasions throughout the year."

"Everyone that works for Lord Taylor takes great pride in what they do. To serve such a master is something that most in our line of work cannot even dream of." As she spoke, Rena led Pharrus out of the banquet hall and into the grand entryway once more. "For now I think we should leave the tour at that. You are still recovering after all and I don't want to push you too hard on your first day of recovery."

While Pharrus was not necessarily tired he knew that with the current state of his body, she was right, so he simply nodded his head in agreement, but as they began to ascend the stairs a voice called out from behind them. It was Cole who spoke.

"Rena, Lord Taylor wishes to meet with Pharrus."