Heir

5) Lord Tisern

I headed for my room. Outside the main hall, someone carried his bag out. The golden light from the chandeliers shone on his face, revealing Tomato Man. He looked extremely dejected.

"Erh...why are you leaving?"

He turned to face me. When his gaze fell on me, his eyes narrowed into slits. His teeth were tightly clenched together, and so were his fists.

"You," he hissed. "You're a curse, you know that?"

"No...what's the deal?" My words came out harsher than I had expected. Why was he so rude? What had I done?

"Oh, you wanna know, huh?" he spat onto the floor, which would have made Mr Raverton execute him in an instant. "I'm fired because of you. Enrolled last week, so I don't know his him that much. I placed tomatoes in the Lord's dish, but no one told me that he hates them!"

"Erh..."

"Happy now, Miss?" The word he used to acknowledge me was like a title I didn't deserve. "Hope you rot in..."

"Ahem."

The voice was powerful, full of confidence and intelligence. It wasn't loud, but it commanded respect. We turned as one, startled.

"Mr Raverton, Sir, good day, Sir!" I blurted out, surprised, then I almost kicked myself. Why do I always say stupid things when I'm surprised. Curses.

Tomato Man's face paled. He shot a shocked look at me, which I did not know why. "My Lord, I..."

"I heard everything." Mr Raverton announced.

And you didn't bother to step in? Freak.

"Sir..."

"I saw you..." I thought he would say 'treat my awesome employer like trash', but he continued. "...spit on my floor, Mr Oakwood."

"It's Oakroot..."

"Get out, or I'll consider locking you in the dungeons for vandalising my property."

He fled, pushing the doors open gently as he could without slowing down.

A guard from outside peeked in. "Sir...?"

"Leave him be. I dismissed him."

"Of course, my Lord." His face paled and he returned to his post, the doors closing slowly, like 'Yeah, you're gone. Good riddance.'

There was silence for a while before Mr Raverton turned and left.

Regret pierced my soul like electricity. It was all my fault. I forced my guilt down and walked briskly towards my room.

...

Mr Raverton started battling me, training me with what I had been taught. I could barely block his blows!

This happened for about a week before the day came.

I walked into the main hall to find my teacher pacing the room. His white eyes seemed dark and his raven-black hair seemed to be messier. He had a scowl on his face. Great.

"Miss Jas," he snapped without turning his head and stopped pacing. "Here. Now."

I hurried towards him, unsure what to expect. "Yes, Mr Raverton?"

He finally looked at me. "It's time to test if you're up for the task. I felt a shiver of anticipation. He wouldn't immediately send me to look out for those creatures yet, right? No, it must be something else. Something to put my skills to the test.

"First, I need you to understand that this is very important. No blabbering this to any of your friends or anyone else, otherwise I will and I will not hesitate to have your head. Do you understand?"