Honor

⚜️ I made my decision ⚜️

I made my decision. I was standing at the front of the door of the Gentry House. I knocked on the door.

The person who opened the door was Beatrix. She smiled at me. "Good morning Saphire. Come on in."

I thanked her and we went into the living room. She called for the other Gentry members. One by one they came down from the second floor. They stood in front of me. Kai was looking at a small pocket sized notebook in his right hand. The two brothers were next to him. Tom was leaning against the wall while Alexander was staring at me. Zoe jumped off from the second stairs not bothering to take the stairs. I would have been surprised that she didn't twist her ankle landing, but I was living in Azia for a months now. The people here were immortal, nothing could break them.

She put her hands on her hips and grinned at me.  "Let's hear it! What did you decide."

I bowed deeply. "Thank you so much for the opportunity, it's very sweet of you and I don't know what to say," I looked up to them, they all looked at me nervous. "But I can't become one of you guys."

⚜️ Zoe POV ⚜️

She couldn't believe her ears. "What?"

The other girl bowed once again and repeated. "I can't become a Gentry member. I'm sorry." She heard correctly sadly. Her plan failed! She didn't understand why the girl would refuse? Did they do something to upset her???

Zoe stepped forward trying to come up something to change her mind. "But why not?" She couldn't think of any other reason than—oh no! Zoe grabbed Saphire by her shoulder and shook her. Shocking the rest of her friends. "Don't tell me somebody heard that we wanted to recruit you and blackmailed you to not join! Who was it tell me! I kick their assess so hard that they will fly over to the Forsaken Prison!"

Saphire gently removed Zoe's hands while she shook her head. "No... I decided this on my own. No one blackmailed me into this."

Zoe felt ashamed for suggesting such a thing and stepped back. She had no words. She wanted sweet Saphire to be part of them because she saw something in her that no one else saw! She had guts, she was capable of so much more than what she let it show. If she was a member they would be the strongest student group of all time!!!

The brunette looked at her friends did help, making those puppy eyes at Tom. Her friend just rolled his eyes at her, but still decided to try to do something as well.

"You know Saphire, if you join us, we can help you with your studies, and teach you some cool stuff too. Like this," he took out a kunai from his belt and threw it across the room. The weapon strikes right into the center of the oil portrait of the Fifth King.

"Tom, you will have to repair that, with your own money...." Kai adjusted his glasses and continued to read his spell book, "such a fool to disgrace a portrait of the Fifth..."

"Whatever." Tom replied leaning back against the wall.

"We can also protect you from people who might target you...." Alexander spoke up for the first time, and held out his left hand. A small fire ball erupted from his palm.

Saphire looked more and more uncomfortable. She smiled kindly. "Thank you. Although I doubt I would need anybody's protection."

Beatrix inclined her head.

Zoe and the red head's eyes met.

"What are we suppose to do!?" She asked her in her mind. 

"I don't know. Let just let her think about it for a week and see if she comes back or not. Until then let's do our best to familiarize ourselves with her."

"You mean become her friends?"

"Yes."

Zoe grinned. She tore her attention back to Saphire, but she found facing the wall. "What the—"

"She left." Alexander stated and left upstairs.

Zoe's shoulders slumped in disappointment. "Why must she be so difficult to convince to come over to us!!!!"

"You guys were over doing it. She won't do it until we don't prove it to her that she belongs here. Your strategy never works, that's why I am the strategists in the group." Kai put a hand to his heart.

"Oh yeah, Genius? I'll let you deal with it from now on." All the members of the Gentry dispersed on their duties.

⚜️⚜️⚜️

A week passed and every member of the Gentry took their turns to persuade Saphire to be part of them. And every single time they were rejected. Tom was assigned to teach Saphire the art of knives and short sword; Alexander was there to teach Saphire the History of Azia, and other subjects; Beatrix was helping the girl with using TFE classes while Zoe tried to, maybe a bit too hard, to become her friend.

Of course Kai excuse shin self form such acts because he concluded that those were "a waste of time and wouldn't get the girl to join them"

She could care less of Kai's sour moods, then. Her priority was to know more of Saphire as a person and a Knight-to-be warrior.

The whole week went chaotically, yet all her friends told her that Sapphire seemed to be enjoying her time spent by all members—of course excluding Kai— anyhow she still refused to join them.

It was Sunday. And school was off. Zoe slammed the door shut in her room, she was filled with rage and let down for the turn of the events. Saphire wasn't like the other students in the school. They all wanted to join the Gentries. Nicole was still trying to get her place challenging her every single Friday for a duel. Zoe knew better. She would crush that girl right in the mud, shaming her in front of the eyes of the whole school. She wasn't that kind to do that though. Jus the thought of how it could turn out if she would not hold back.

No one of the Gentry wanted Nicole to be part anyway. She was way too fool headed and would certainly spill every secret of theirs just to brag to other students.

And to be a Gentry it requires sacrifices, and knowing the right to act responsibly, and bravely. Putting your needs second and the first need to save those who were weak. Just like the King put  needs first of his citizens.

Ha!

She jumped up from her bed. "The King!" Her lightbulb moment came at the right time like always. She squealed and ran out of her room to head to the castle. This was maybe the last resort to get Sapphire to join them!!!!