Someone to trust (Books of the beginning fanfic)

Chapter 7-A familiar place

We stepped through the portal that brought us right in front of a big mansion, Rafe coward in front of the massive building. He didn't want to take another step. Kate kneeled next to him, petted him and whispered "It's okay. It's all gonna be alright." Mom and Dad looked nervous too.

"Well, let's go in. No use standing around here," said my dad. He still looked very worried. 

We started moving again. Rafe slowly put paw for paw, like he was hesitant about every step. And Kate didn't take a pace without Rafe taking it as well, she didn't stray away from his side. Even Micheal seemed intimidated by the place. All kinds of people and dwarfs were walking around with beds and boxes, loot and toolboxes in and out of the house. We walked in and I have to say I was impressed. The entryway alone looked like a ballroom and had a very fancy look. When entering Rafe almost pressed his snout to the flour as if he wanted to be invisible. This place surely brought up terrible memories for him. He was probably being eaten alive by shame and guilt. This whole building was a reminder of his past that he couldn't ignore and surely wasn't proud of. 

Kate leaned down again. "Don't beat yourself up about it. That's who you were, but it's not who you are now." He actually nodded back, but he still looked just as scared and ashamed. Never thought I'd say this but I actually do feel bad for him. We walked into the gigantic ballroom, where even more people were running around in. 

"Idiot! I told you to sell the curtains, not buy new ones! Go and try to sell them again and you better not lose too much money! We still have to buy building materials, shoo!" 

"There he-" my dad started but I interrupted.

"Hey, King Robbie! Over here!"

"Aah, if it isn't my favorite family in the world. How are- Aaaah! What in the gem is that?!" Robbie yelled and pointed at Rafe.

"Oooh, that's our pet," I said. "But don't worry. Kate keeps him tame."

"Oh,... well... nice to meet you..." Robbie said hesitantly. "Well, um... nice to see you again, Kate."

"I feel the same," she responded and gave a quick smile.

"And you, my boy."

"I'm very happy to see you again too, your majesty," Micheal said with a stupid smile on his face.

"Why don't you ask him to marry you while you're at it?" I teased.

"Come on, Emma. A little respect for your brother," my mom said.

"Aah, Clare. Richard." My father bowed, he's just as much of a suck-up as Micheal. And my mom curtsied a bit. King Robbie looked at my belt. "I see that you have the slingshot I gave within your grasp. Well done, little one."

"Thanks"

He looked at Kate. "And the knife? Does it cut well?"

"Yes, it does. Experienced it first hand." She rolled up her sleeve to show her in bandages covered arm. It had a red stain on it. The blood was still flowing out and we had to replace them every few hours.

"Ooh, that's not good. How did that happen?"

"That's what we wanted to talk to you about like I mentioned in the letter,"  answered my mom.

"Alright, we'll talk in the office. The room is finished and private, so no one will interrupt us there." 

When we got there Rafe was actually shivering. Kate tried to convince him to go inside with us and I tried to pull him in. But he refused, he stayed outside while we told Robbie what happened. 

"And that's why we're not sure if he'd come back and if it would be safe to stay in our house. So we wanted to play it safe," my mom ended the story. 

"Smart decision. Plus, we could use a few extra hands around here."

"We'll help however we can," promised Kate. And my dad agreed by nodding. 

"Well, the sun is almost down. Go get something to eat and we'll talk some more tomorrow. Richard, got enough money with ya to buy some food?"

"Yes."

"Great, then I'll see ya tomorrow. Good night."

We said goodbye and walked out of the office. Rafe looked very happy that we were back. Wait a minute, correction; he looked very happy that Kate was back. We put our things by the sleeping rooms. There were two big rooms filled with beds. One for the men and one for the women. It kinda looked like the orphanages we stayed in for so long. I think Kate and Micheal made the same connection because they looked really down. 

"Well, who's hungry? I know I am," Kate said, trying to lift the mood. "And I know the perfect place to eat."