Deeper Blue

I

- We will go to court. The mayor will answer for his abuses. - Rupert repeated to his boredom, nervously shaking his leg. - He will pay dearly. I'll make sure of that, I'll take the last penny out of his pocket.

- Perfect. - Replied for the umpteenth time in the five-hour train ride, young Edgar. - That's enough for an overhaul.

- The house is probably in a deplorable condition. - He said for the hundredth time. - I don't know if it will be profitable to rebuild it. Better to find a buyer and sell it as soon as possible.

- Maybe it won't be so bad? - Edgar replied, wiping his large round glasses with a cotton handkerchief.

- After four years? - Rupert raised his eyebrow high, looking at his younger brother with pity. - I assure you, the house has long been looted and destroyed. And it's a shame, because from what I remember, it was quite cozy.

This is something Edgar has also heard many times before. The only way he could answer his brother without dragging the discussion further was to loudly let the air out of his lungs. It seemed to him that Rupert was not angry about the devastation of the house but about the fact that the last mayor of the barony had appropriated the property. Rupert was a lawyer and that probably measured him in the whole situation. Breaking the law with impunity by state authorities.

Edgar's family found out about the whole scam several months ago. When the mayor of the region, who had been in office for many years, could no longer run for re-election, power naturally shifted. As soon as someone looked into the barony's land records, he found many irregularities there. From the unjustified sale of state lands into private, magnate hands, to the secrecy of wills. It was an unprecedented scale of corruption throughout the country. Rupert said it was a real miracle that no one had decided to buy a house from the mayor for so many years. Many other families were not so lucky. The case became so high-profile that a number of private lawsuits began to flow into the barony's district court. Not only that, but the former mayor also felt the breath of the prosecutor on his neck, who intended to win the harshest punishment for him. At least that's what it said in the newspapers.

Edgar dipped his hand into his pants pocket and pulled out a small silver watch. He opened its lid and noticed that it was approaching two o'clock. This meant that any minute now the brothers would reach their destination. For the twenty-two-year-old Lynx, this was probably the most strenuous trip of his life, and he was glad that in a while he would be able to stretch his legs in the fresh air. Maybe the compartment on the train was comfortable, but the constant frustration that his brother was pouring out left and right was really tiresome.

Soon, as the town buildings began to appear outside the large window, the brothers began getting ready to leave. They didn't take much stuff with them, for they intended to stay in town until tomorrow. Rupert made sure that their stay in Ilawa, lasted as short as possible. His older brother was a busy lynx, and Edgar should be preparing for the entrance exams to the Academy of Fine Arts. They would be only a few months away, but the young boy knew that he had to constantly practice his craft to have a chance of getting into his dream studies.

The train began to emit a loud screech of braking. When the brothers heard the conductor's loud shout of "Ilawa station," they immediately took to the exit. Edgar corrected his large round glasses, highlighting his blue eyes, and adjusted the collar of his dark cream shirt. Rupert put an elegant black bowler hat on his head and corrected his aesthetically pleasing black mustache. He grasped his black cane in his hands and clutched his suitcase in his other hand.

- Finally. - Said Rupert loudly. - Come on, it's time...wait, where's your hat?

Edgar decided not to answer, because he knew how the discussion with his brother would end. So he shrugged his shoulders, which his brother took with evident displeasure. Fortunately for Lynx, Rupert didn't have time to discuss the matter with the boy.