The Royal Orders

Chris woke up the next day, to see the mansion filled with people. Mostly men in Red robes, with the Firecrest on their chest, he immediately knew they belonged to the Order of the Ignees, one of the five royal orders of the Farlan Kingdom. This also meant William was back.

He went straight to Sarah's room, all the mess from last night was cleared off. The assassin Roger had knocked off was nowhere to be seen, which meant there were more accomplices, yet they didn't reveal themselves.

Sarah was on her bed along with his brother, who was still sleeping. Along with the attendants, he saw a tall woman wearing a blue robe beside Sarah, they both stopped talking when they saw Chris enter.

"Philip, my child, how are you feeling today" even with all that happened last night she was still worried for him. "I am fine mother, how are you and brother?"

"He is still sleeping, under some shock but he will be alright, I am also fine Philip, thanks to Alma here."At this, Chris looked up at the tall woman. She had a very calm look about her, she had long light brown hair, her eyes were pure blue, there were some weird patterns on her ears. But something about her made him feel very calm.

"Hi Philip, I am Alma it is a pleasure to meet you, Sarah says you were very brave last night." Chris couldn't help but blush at this ("Me Blush?Huh?"). For the first time other than Sarah he felt someone look at him with such caring eyes.

"Philip, Alma here is the commander of the "Order of Clepius", and the best healer in the kingdom." Alma turned and looked at Sarah "Oh Sarah no need of introducing me like that."

He could clearly see that they both were close, they probably would have had some past together, Chris thought.

"Do you want me to look at you, Chris?" Alma asked. Other than the strain of training and shock from last night, Chris was feeling ok.

"Thank you, Alma, but I am alright". Alma just smiled back, Chris again noticed how calm he felt around her.

"I will go and greet Father", he said to Sarah and decided to leave.

On his way to meet William, he saw more men wearing Red robes. Right at the entry though he saw two men wearing black cloaks, for a moment panic came in and he thought they were the assassins from last night. But with closer inspection, he realised they were not the same, their cloaks looked darker, with a symbol on their right shoulder, somehow just looking at them he knew they were strong.

Chris was asked to wait. After some time, the door opened and another man in a black cloak exited the room, Chris could immediately understand he was different. He was not very tall, he walked with his hand behind his back.

While turning to leave his gaze fell upon Chris, FEAR! he hadn't felt such fear since coming to this world. His reflex told him not to move, just don't move. They were the eyes of a predator who could devour him at a whim. Chris knew the man was like a hunter and he was just prey in front of him.

The moment passed and the man in black turned with the other two following him, while walking away Chris saw the back of his hands, there were some markings on them, he felt they looked like feathers. Chris stood there for some time "Who was he?" he thought.

Chris shook himself back to reality and entered the room. There were two more people in the room besides William.

William sat at the center of the table, with Roger standing beside him, head kept low. Another person was sitting right opposite William, he had William's orange-red hair but with less intensity. William was addressing Roger, but Chris could figure out that the mood of the room was very intense, for a moment he felt the urge to turn back.

William stopped talking and looked at Chris, Roger didn't look up, the other person also turned to look at Chris, he was younger than what Chris assumed, probably a few years older than Chris. His gaze was unsettling though, the immediate reflex for Chris was to dislike this person.

But what took Chris's attention was William's eyes, it was not fear what he felt, but a feeling that if William wanted, Chris could perish in a second, and there is nothing he could do about it. William was at the pinnacle of the Fire mages, he had a name among his fellow mages "Exatmizo" it had something to do with his unique magic. Looking at William's eyes, he realised that William was capable of burning this world down.

"Philip, I am glad that you are doing well, I will meet you at a later time, you have my leave." It was clear William didn't want to talk to Chris, he nodded and decided to leave. At this the other person also stood up "Commander, I will take my leave, I will submit the report by evening, and I vow in the name of Ignees order that I will find the culprits and turn them to ashes." William nodded, with that he turned to leave.

Chris exited the room along with him, while leaving, the man spoke. "Now I see why commander William has been so troubled in last few years?".

Chris turned and looked up at him."You are weak and there is no place for weakness, especially in the Dreux family, you do not know how much of a privilege it is to be born to the main branch, you disgust me." With that, he turned and walked away.

Taken back by the unexpected event, Chris couldn't collect himself enough to say anything back on time. With nothing to do he just went back to his room, Larka was waiting there, she started off with her high squeaks, he started patting her as he always does. He realised the futility in his anger last night how he wanted to make the people responsible pay, but how was he ever going to do any of that.

Looking at Alma, the man in the black cloak, William, and the other kid he realised how much of a gap there was between them.

He found Roger later and got an understanding of the situation.

William was very angry at Roger and held him responsible for last night, Roger didn't say anything about the training. Chris could figure out he didn't do it so that blame didn't fall on Chris.

Also with further inquiry, he got to know that the person in black was Malqaf, commander of the Sicarri order, assassin's order of the kingdom, and the annoying young brat was Rulian, third in command of the Ignees order, and also a part of the Dreux family but of a subbranch.

The attack was clearly targeted at the next heir of the Dreux family, this also meant a diplomatic situation, as an attack on the noble family of the Farlan Kingdom was an attack on the Kingdom itself, and the Royal order's commanders visits showed that the king has directly taken note of it.

By evening the report came in and the culprits were found, the perpetrators were found to be a small branch of the Dreux family, their leader along with all their other elders were immediately executed, and the branch dissolved, the other members were given the choice to join other branches or forsake the Dreux family name. In this world this meant equivalent to suicide, most had no choice but to join the other branches.

The motive was found to be the downfall of the Dreux family's standing by killing the next heir, which was Chris's younger brother, by doing this the sub-branch could climb up the status structure. They also became desperate as the naming ceremony was getting closer.

But for Chris, this all felt too convenient, he personally felt some things were amiss.

Other than speculate Chris couldn't do anything else, his training by Roger was on hold, as the security of the mansion went up. They couldn't risk exposing it. For Chris, this was yet another setback, just as he was feeling like he was doing something, it was gone again.

His brother's naming ceremony was getting closer, and all he could do was wait.