I leaned on the windowsill and crossed my arms on the wooden ledge, watching the pine trees and evergreens. People were walking by, heading to who knows where and minding their own business. Though it was still eight in the morning, the town was already bustling with activity.
Stores were opened and the streets were full of kids on bikes selling todays morning news paper. A few kids were in small groups running around while the other kids were helping their parents with outdoor chores. I could also see people in fancy clothing being accompanied with their servants walking from one street to the other. Life was going on as usual.
I was sitting inside a two-wheel carriage with my suitcase beside me. Sitting across from me was a man with a straight face and black hair, wearing a black suit and a black hat. His gloves were also black, and he had a monocle over his left eye.
While swinging my feet over the wooden seat I kept on replaying our encounter this morning in my head.
The girls were the ones who saw him first while they were playing out in the snow today. I was inside helping peel potatoes in the kitchen while the cook was cutting chunks of meat. That is when the girls ran in, forgetting to take off their wet boots, and told me that a weird man came looking for a blonde boy. I was the only boy left in the residence.
Everyone knew what that meant.
They were jumping on their toes with excitement, singing that this would finally be a girl only residence after I am gone. That was the only reason they wanted me adopted. However, I told them that there was a possibility I will not get adopted. The man said he wanted a blonde boy, but I am not blonde. I have dark crimson-like auburn hair which is the exact opposite. My eyes are not deep blue either. They are hazel with a hint of crimson.
However, they did not care. They grabbed my arm and dragged me to the living room where our caretaker was so that I could meet the man. When he saw my hair, he frowned and turned to leave. However, the caretaker told him to wait. She said that they should try to negotiate first. We watched as they both walked down the hall and entered her office.
When the girls saw this, they immediately ran to our shared bedroom and brought out every single possession I owned.
My books, a suitcase full of clothes, medicine, and my monthly income that I have been saving for a while. They even brought out my missing neckless. I knew that these girls had been waiting for a long time for me to leave, now they had finally reached their goal. I could not tell if I should be celebrating with them or feel offended.
After speaking with our caretaker for a while, the weird man returned.
He walked towards me, picked me up in his arms, paid my caretaker with a bag of gold and instantly left then and there. It all happened so fast. At that moment I was glad the girls had already brought my suitcase and shoes before he left the office with the caretaker. They were already in the carriage.
Now here we are.
It was the end of march, early spring and the sun was offensively shining over the frozen lands while trying to blind me in the process. Mountain of snow piled up near the roadside, indicating that the roads were recently shovelled this morning. Everything was either white, green, or blue.
The carriage was shacking gently while riding on the main road that led to the capital. Although the boiling spring season had begun around two weeks ago, snow would still pile up over the road like a white blanket. In other regions this would be abnormal.
However, this was normal in the Rosavin territory. It was marked as the borderline between the North and South continent, separating our Kingdom and the Empire with the largest mountain range.
The carriage I was riding in was not adorned with anything. It was just a simple wooden carriage used for transportation. However, I could tell that the man in the suit was not simple.
He had an eerie energy surrounding him. The kind that would leave anyone he met nervous. Before I had left the warm residence, the caretaker came to warn me. She told me that this man was trouble. The place I was heading to was going to be the most dangerous place that I have ever been. She warned me not to trust anyone just because they treat me well, no one could ever be trusted in this world.
"Treat them with respect but always be on guard. Do you remember how you acted during the practice drill?" She told me to act exactly as I did that day.
I glanced out the window and noticed that we had already left town. There was no one in sight and we had left the main road. The only thing around was a forest of towering trees, shrubs, and snow.
This would be the perfect place for someone to commit murder. They could strangle their hostage and then bury them under the snow. With how cold it gets in this region I bet the body would not be found until late spring. The body would have become an ice sculpture. After it was found, people would think the victim died from the cold while wandering around alone in the forest during a snowstorm.
While I was lost in these dark thoughts, the man interrupted me with a question. He had crossed one leg over the other while sitting near the window. One arm was resting on the ledge while the other was laying on his lap. I mentally prepared myself for an interrogation.
"What is your name?"
"Cedric, sir."
"Cedric, do you know the reason why you are here and the role that you will play henceforth?"
"No, sir."
He closed his eyes for a second before he began to slowly tap, he is finger on the window ledge. I could not tell what he was thinking. Was he annoyed, mad or was it something else...? Is he going to kill me!? I was not ready to die yet; I just started living!
After staring at me for a full minute, the strange man sighed in disappointment. Is my value too low for his expectations? Did I have any value towards him? I felt a cold shiver trail down my spine.
"Tell me your age and your level of education.", he continued his interrogation.
"I turned twelve years old last June on the fifteenth. I can read and write. I understand simple, basic mathematics and biological science. I have recently learned the history of the Rosavin territory.", I stated.
"Is that all?", he asked.
"Yes, sir."
After my answer he stared at me for a while. It felt like he was trying to read me which made me uncomfortable. I lowered my head and decided that now was the perfect moment to look at my long feet. They were long for a kid my age. Maybe I was going through puberty. Who knew?
I looked out the window to check my location. We were nearing a huge lake. The ice from the middle of the lake was already melting. If someone were to fall in there, they would not be able to get out in time with how deep it was.
The man then cleared his throat and asked me an unexpected question.
"You know how to use magic now, don't you?"
"W-what?!" What did he mean by that!?
"Everyone has heard about the legendary 'Time of The Myths' and I am sure you are not an exception. People these days do not believe in its existence. However, I heard you have something that normal people do not and that is exactly what I need. I hope that we can get along."
I slowly turned my head in his direction and looked him right in the eye. He was smiling. However, his eyes were not, they were threatening me. They were telling me to either co-operate or I was the one who would drown in that lake.
Goosebumps started to rise while a shiver ran down my spine, my heart was beating uncontrollably. This was what the caretaker had warned me about. This man has killed people before.
I tried to calm my heart by doing the breathing exercise that I had learned from the residence. It was meant to give you a clear mind during a life-threatening situation, to remind you to breath. This was the perfect time to use it.
"So, he continued. "What can you do?"
"I can change my appearance with my magic for a certain period of time."
"Exactly for how long?"
"One year, sir."
"That's more than enough."
The man was no longer smiling, but that made me feel better. It made breathing easier. Whenever he did smile, the feeling of being hunted would consume you and drown you in fear. The kind of fear to which I could relate.
By the time his interrogation was over, the carriage had already left the snowing woods and was riding over even grounds. The ride was not shaking like it did a few hours ago. I could tell that we had reached a clearing.
Everything was quiet while no one spoke, I did not have anything more to say. He did not seem like he had anything to say either. This made me uncomfortable. Minutes slowly passed by.
After a while, the man looked out the window while tapping his fingers on the ledge, staring at the changing scenery. He then announced that we were there. I do not know where 'there' is, but I wish that it would be bearable.
'Hopefully they treat children as one should. . . like a living human being.', I thought.
That was my only wish.
Suddenly the carriage stopped. The couch men had walked off and was arguing with someone I had not noticed before, but he was not alone.
I spotted three people standing a few meters away from the carriage, hiding behind the trees. They were all in a black veil worn tightly on their body. I could not tell if they were thief's, informants, or assassins. All I knew was that the couch men were not pleased with this person's actions. However, they had a high level of authority because they ignore the couch men.
The stranger walked towards us and greeted the cold man sitting across from me. He then leaned his head near the window and whispered something to him. I watched them whispering back and forth among themselves.
'They know each other.', I whispered.
After the stranger left, the cold man looked at me and told me that now was the perfect time to use my magic.
My job was to aid the heir of their master in any way possible by becoming his assistant. I could not tell anyone my real name or my age regardless of the situation. The outcome for disobeying this rule would be instant death.
I replied by nodding my head.
If all I had to do was assist someone then minding my business and looking the other way was not a problem. I have done this before.
No way was I dying anytime soon.
The couch men waited for me to finish using my appearance altering magic before he continued driving. My hair slowly turned into a striking deep blonde while my eyes turned as blue as the lake, I was threatened to drown in. Someone would feel like drowning if they saw these eyes.
I turned towards the man for confirmation. I did not want to fool myself by dyeing the wrong shade of blond or blue. However, his expression was not what I expected.
I do not know exactly what I was expecting but I knew it was not shock. He did not smile nor was he angry. All he did was stare. From the top of my head to the bottom of my boots, I could feel his eyes rolling over me.
"This will do." Then he signaled the couch men, telling him to continue driving.
A few minutes later, the couch men announced our arrival. When I stuck my head out the window, I saw something spectacular. A fancy house that could have been mistaken as the royal palace was standing before me.
It was full of large windows through-out the building. It was also surrounded by a large brick wall that stretched farther than I could see. This house alone was four times larger than the residence!
I started to wonder how large the estate could be.
'Who exactly is their master?'
Two huge black gates with flower designs were being opened by two men in dark heavy armor while a tall brown man in foreign clothing walked towards us and asked for identification. His accent proved that he was not from around here. Is he a foreigner?
I did not ask.
While the carriage was entering the gate, the man brought out his hand before me and told me to shake it. This was to prove about that we were business partners and to honor our contract. This sudden act of honor confused me. What type of man would prepare a contract for a child.
I shook his hand as we were taught in the residence.
No matter how weird someone could be, everyone deserves an amount of respect.
He gave me a small smile. It was not the cold, threatening smile that he had given me a little while ago. This one seemed quite genuine and soft. It nearly made me question my memories.
We had already reached the entrance of the house. The couch men then opened the door to the carriage and waited for the men to walk out.
He stepped off the carriage, held the door open and took my hand to guide me down. When we got off the carriage, the man kneeled on one leg, placed his hand diagonally over his chest and said the craziest thing I had ever heard in all my twelve years of living.
"Well, welcome to the Roswiv's estate Young Master. I'm the Butler assigned to this estate."
He kept on smiling.
"You can call me Diedrich."