Lillian the Crimson Dragon

Chapter 3

We left the shop and started up the street towards her family estate. As we walk I look around and see that all the houses in this area were very nice and the farther we walked the better the houses got. Finally we stopped in front of a huge estate completely surrounded by a ten foot wall. In the center of the front wall stood a double door gate and on either side of the gate stood two guards watching the people passing in front of the estate.

As we reach the gate the guards move so that they are blocking the entrance and one of them says, "Who goes there? State your name and purpose or be off with you."

"We are here to deliver a message and a gift to the masters of this estate, the Lord Finsware and the Lady Ashton," I say to them.

"Who are you so I can see if you are permitted through," the guard who spoke before asks again.

"Tell them that I am known as Dragon and that my message is urgent and that my gift is precious," I say waving them on.

One of the other guards opened the gate slightly and went through to deliver the message. The rest of them stayed in front of the gate blocking the path and keeping a close eye on us as if we were going to try and barge our way through. After about thirty minutes the guard returned and whispered something to the first and stepped back.

"Elton here is to escort you two to the manor. So please follow him," the first guard said while pointing towards the guard that just got back.

They stepped away from the gate and opened it wide enough for us to walk through and then closed it as soon as we got through it. We followed Elton across the large front yard that was separated into two gardens and a small orchard. When we got to the manor I saw that it was three stories tall and had to be at least two hundred yards long. We were ushered in and sent to an office that was down the first hallway on the right side and three doors down on the left.

As soon as the guard left and shut the door Hinata said, "I wonder why we were taken here."

"Why do you ask that," I ask.

"Because I thought we would have been taken to the Attendance Hall, one of my parents' offices, or the captain of the guard's office," she said looking around, "Not to my mother's head advisor's office."

"Very peculiar indeed," I say as the door starts opening.

In walks an average sized man with short black hair and brown eyes. He walks behind the desk and says, "My name is Harold Luxont. You can call me Mr. Luxont. How can I be of service to you?"

"You can help us by notifying the lord and lady of the household that we are here to see them," I say.

He just shakes his head and says, "The lord and lady are very busy. So as you can guess they have no time to talk with commoners today, especially those who won't even give their real names. So you can give me this message and gift so that I can deliver it to them, or you can come back on Friday to have your business dealt with then."

"My message and gift are to be given directly to the lord and lady, and as I said before they are both urgent and precious," I say with complete authority and with little patience.

He looked stunned at my statement. Then angrily said, "You dare think you can talk to me like that. Maybe getting ten lashes will teach you some proper respect for those above your own station."

Hinata gasps and says, "You don't have the right or the authority to do that."

"I am Lady Ashton's head advisor I have all the authority and right I need. So I suggest you hand over that message and gift and be gone before I lose my temper and send both of you to the whipping block," he says very smugly.