Alise, Esmeralda and myself were gathered at the table outside of the cottage at the orphanage. Nearby Taryn had been assisted by Skara in standing back up, and then walked away toward the dormitory. Some of the children who watched were scared, but thanks to the older kids the situation hadn't degenerated. They had caught on to the fact that Alise was friendly with the stranger, much like Shorty had long before anyone else.

The carriage was where it had been parked with the butler standing rigid near it. The driver had gotten down from the seat and stretched, then started to jog in place. Vargos, the butler, looked in my direction and for a brief moment there was a smile. He was the favorite slave of my mother and one of the people who had helped raise me from childhood.

My attention was drawn back to the table when my mother started to speak. "I didn't realize you were watching over my daughter for me, Allie," she said in a comfortable, soft tone of voice.

It caused me to blink my eyes, then tilt my head a little to the side. Allie? "So you two know each other?" I asked. Alise had never explained her past as a disciple, and how she knew my parents names. I had assumed it was merely a working relationship with my father, or that Mathias had told her everything.

My mother looked at me and shook her head ever so slightly. "Allie and I have known each other since shortly after you were born. She'd stop by and check up on your father from time to time," she explained.

"Plus she was fun to spar against, not many people can fight at Esmeralda's level," Alise pointed out. She sipped at her tea, and then put down the cup before picking up some papers. "Lily showed up about half a year ago and hasn't left since, for more reasons than I'm sure she'll admit."

Esmeralda looked at me, and then a slight smile appeared on her face. "Still, why exactly was your son so adamant in acting like an idiot? If it had been Van he probably would've gutted him."

"It's a fault of his personality," Alise admitted, before she sighed in frustration. "Thankfully you came along and helped show him that he's not all powerful. I'm the only person locally who stands a chance against him, and I'm not exactly rolling in coins so I can't afford a merc."

A little bang noise came when my mother hit her fist against the table. Given what she had done to Taryn the power behind that was like a light breeze in comparison to a hurricane. "I've offered you money before! But instead you ran away on us and set up some orphanage and didn't tell us anything."

Alise waved her hand toward my mother, as though dismissing her comments. "I won't touch the blood money of Mathias, thank you. Plus I figured if I told you where I lived you'd want to come and fight me, or drag your daughter along and have her train under me or something."

The look on my mother's face said that Alise had been accurate in her assessment, as she simply looked down at her tea cup dejectedly. "Still you could've told me about my daughter," she mumbled like a little girl. It was a face and attitude I had never seen before in my mother, one that made me wonder just how heavy Alise's influence was on her.

"If I wanted you to know where I was I would've told you, mother," I reminded her. My tea cup was full but for the first time in a while I had no urge to drink from it. "Because you're going to drag me off somewhere and force me to do some sort of training that I don't want to do."

As though my words were fuel for the fire in her heart my mother's back straightened up, her seating posture fixed in a matter of seconds. She looked toward me with a bit of heat in her eyes, before she spoke in a tone that was scathing and quite intimidating. "You will do what I tell you because I am your mother, and if you don't like it you can go get yourself killed after you turn twenty."

"Emmy," Alise said. A single word, yet one that made my mother instantly calm down and even start to blush a little. "Lily is a fine daughter, don't be so harsh on her. So have you only come to find her?"

"Ah, that," Esmeralda said. She glanced back at me, then turned her face toward Alise. "Back during her childhood I needed to pull a few strings and make a few promises in order to get her enrolled in the Legion, without being a legionnaire."

"Ohhh," Alise exhaled out. She smiled, then lifted up her tea cup. "Now they're calling in the debt?"

"High General Sciroco wishes to request a favor of my daughter," Esmeralda stated in a clear and professional tone of voice, before she smiled at Alise. "I hope you don't mind if I drag her away?"

"Wait! What if I don't want to go!" I said even while standing up.

Both Alise and my mother turned to look at me, their eyes in turn explained why my personal opinion didn't matter. Between the two of them they could probably destroy an entire army of regular soldiers in a matter of minutes. The intensity of those gazes was enough to make me step backward in fright, and remind me of a few times in my youth when I pissed my parents off.

"You can take her, but don't you dare marry her off to someone," Alise told my mother, before she refilled her cup of tea. "Have a nice trip Lily, bring back some souvenirs please."

♪ ♫ ♬ ♫ ♪

The departure from the orphanage was one filled with a few upset children who had grown close to me over the past six months. Maria showed up and hugged me tightly, to which I could only respond with a hug back. She had managed to recover from losing her parents quite nicely, although she had gained a scar around her neck from the type of collar used by the slavers.

Taryn never showed up to say goodbye, although given how he had looked when I had last seen him it was probably due to embarrassment. It isn't every day that someone gets knocked around by the mother of their...whatever I was to him. Skara patted me on the shoulder, then flashed his almost permanently existing grin at me.

Shorty was absent, he never appeared and it made me feel more than a little sad. The guy and I had barely known each other prior to the incident near Fisk and yet we'd grown closer than some families do. Yet there was the fact that eventually I would return to help remind me that sooner or later we'd meet again.

"I'll be back before you guys know it!" I called out to everyone, before hopping into the carriage with my mother. Vargos stepped inside as well, then closed the door behind him. A few moments later the carriage started to move, and the long trip back to my home began.

It was a boring trip, one that made me want to smack my head against the inside of the carriage over and over again. Vargos quietly sat next to my mother and served her refreshments at regular intervals, while in turn my mother merely looked out the window of the carriage.

Normal families would probably talk about what had happened since they had last met. My mother had no interest, not because she hated me but simply due to the fact that it didn't matter to her. She loved me, but in a way that defied normal conventions. If someone threatened to kill me she'd probably feed them their spine, but if I got in a fight which I started and died she would most likely shrug her shoulders and not care.

The carriage rolled south toward Shiadone, then it went west in the direction of the main highways of the empire. Arriving at a crossroad the carriage turned to the north, and began the long boring journey to Scintallia. To entertain myself along the way I began to form and reform the Shatterblade into different types of weapons, trying for greater flexibility in the structure.

Alise had told me that in the past my mother was able to create functioning crossbows and bows, which meant that all she needed was a quiver full of ammunition. The issue with doing that was in creating the threaded parts, metal didn't exactly work well for that. My mother's eyes wandered in my direction to look at the Shatterblade, a slight frown appeared but she remained quiet.

When night fell across the landscape normally people would stop their carriage and set up for the night, instead the carriage of the Rose family refused to cease moving. Onward it went for three days straight before we reached a small, finely furnished hotel in the middle of the town of Primvale.

The next day our journey began once more, silence enshrouded the carriage to the point of nearly driving me insane. The training with the Shatterblade continued, although it had barely shown any sort of progress due to the fact that I had no clue how to make metal string-like. The fact that my mother merely watched my actions without comment only added to the frustration.

The trip to Shiadone with Taryn had been boring, but this was by far the worse. At least when I had traveled with Taryn he showed interest in talking, plus Maria continually commented on things she'd never seen before. The trip with my mother on the hand could only be described as so boring I wanted to kill myself.

By the time we arrived at Scintallia I'm certain that part of my mind had started to snap from the boredom. I nearly leapt out of the carriage when it pulled up in front of my home, and cried for joy to the sky with hands uplifted. It was unladylike and yet I didn't care, because at long last I was out of that accursed carriage!

Vargos stepped out of the carriage next and offered my mother his hand, which she graciously accepted before climbing down. Before she walked away from it she turned toward the carriage and looked up at the top of it. "If you're done hiding, please escort my daughter," she said to thin air, before turning back to the house and walking inside. Vargos followed her without hesitation, he never even glanced at the carriage.

"Scary as Alise ain't she?" came a familiar voice from on top of the carriage, before a small figure jumped down.

"Shorty!" I cried out, though without running over and hugging him. When he had gotten on the carriage and how long he was on it was a mystery to me, although I could only assume it was from the start. "Why did you come?"

"Come on girl, like I was going to leave you to yourself," Shorty said as he walked over to me. His height was so small, yet with him there it felt like everything would turn out well. "Now lead on, you know I've never been to your home before."

"Ah, that's right, come on!" I said with renewed energy. The presence of Shorty was what I had sorely needed in order to survive the trip home. Without any flair or theatrics I simply walked to the main door of the house.

Now to call it simply a house might prove how accustomed to it I was, but given that my father was Vandross Rose we were exceedingly well off. The house itself was really a mansion that was four floors in total height, with enough width to easily house a few hundred people if required. The exterior of it was kept clean and washed on a daily basis, while the interior was looked after by a small army of maids who were all slaves originally.

The massive doors had already been opened when my mother approached the front, twin butlers stood on each side in a bowed stance. They quietly waited for myself and Shorty to enter before they would straighten up and close the doors. As we passed by them I smiled, mostly since it was somewhat nice to see them again.

The foyer of the mansion was large enough to serve as a house all on it's own. Two large curved staircases lead up from the first floor to the second, and then another mirrored set of staircases led up to the third floor from there. The fourth was a reserved area of the house entirely for my father and mother, and so the only access point to that was deeper inside.

The floor was made of a beautiful marble with carpets that cost significantly more than any of the slaves who worked here had. A chandelier rested high above crafted of crystal, diamonds and silver with the candles within left unlit. Along the walls were paintings that depicted various conflicts which my father had taken part in, including some which dealt with monsters rather than humans.

A beautiful looking maid stood near the left side staircase, her outfit matched the same as all the other maids who milled about cleaning the furniture and walls. However on her head was a slight tiara, as though to mark her as the princess of the maids. It was an idea that my mother had during a drinking game, or so I had heard from Vargos.

"Lady Liliana, welcome home," the maid said as she curtsied toward me, her blue eyes sparkled mischievously. "Will you be in need of our services today?"

"Come on Diana, you know I hate it when you act like that," I grumbled. I walked over to her and hugged her, no refusals allowed in that regard. "How have you been doing since I took off?"

"I've been fine, Vargos has watched over us to make sure Vandross didn't do anything dumb," Diana told me. She smiled while she hugged me back, almost giggling with happiness at my return.

A cough came from behind me, and with a start I turned and noticed Shorty standing there looking altogether confused. "Oh, sorry Shorty. Diana, this gentleman is Shorty, he's helped me out a lot," was the lame introduction I produced. If my mother had heard it she would've clicked her tongue and threatened to beat me.

Shorty nodded toward the maid, yet he seemed mostly uninterested in her. "Thank god we didn't bring Skara with us," he commented.

"Skara isn't allowed anywhere near my house," was my reply. Then we both started to laugh at the little inside joke, while Diana could only raise an eyebrow quizzically.

"Your mother left instructions for you, she said that you'll meet with the High General later, so expect summons at any moment," Diana told me. Then she bowed deeply, as is the duty of any proper servant, and motioned with one arm toward the direction of the first floor bedroom wing.

"Very well, thank you Diana," I said, before walking toward the door that lead to the bedrooms. The door was opened by a butler who stood there, his entire duty was to stand guard on that doorway and make sure only the proper people were allowed through.

"Your family sure does have a lot of servants," Shorty commented while we walked through the doorway. On the other side was another butler who had the same job as the first, though he worked the opposite side. Nearly every major doorway in the house had a pair of butlers who worked together on it, and every one was trained to fight to the death against intruders.

"My father doesn't like to be bothered, so the small army he hired helps keep unwanted intruders out," I said in response. We walked down a straight hallway that had a single door leading to the right every hundred yards or so. "Just to let you know almost everyone here is a slave, so don't start any fusses over slaves please."

Shorty stiffened a little at the mention of slaves, but nodded his head. "I understand, I'd rather not piss off your mother or father, given how easily she thrashed Taryn," Shorty commented. Then he started to chuckle as he thought about how Taryn got knocked around.

When we reached the fourth door I paused, then turned and opened it up without concern about unlocking it. The door opened immediately, as I never bothered locking my own room since the servants knew better than to steal from me. Into the room we walked, before Shorty drew in a sharp breath at what he saw.

The inside of my room was at least two times the size of the cottage itself back at the orphanage. The bed was large enough that at least five people could lay on it with plenty of room to spare, while a reclining chair was nestled up against a bookcase. The bookcase held two hundred and thirty six books at last count, none of which were really all that interesting to read.

An ornate fireplace was settled up against the western wall, gold and silver trimmed with a hint of platinum. The fireplace was cleaned daily even if it was not used, and so it shone beautifully in the dim light of the candles. The candles in turn were placed strategically around the room in order to maintain a certain level of illumination. Every week they were replaced by the servants, who also cleaned up any wax that might have dripped away from the holder.

Along one wall was an array of different weapons ranging from primitive clubs to bows crafted of the finest wood. There were even some experimental weapons such as compound bows that used multiple pieces to create a whole, something that was still unused in the empire.

In the center of the room was a large table that could easily serve a dozen people, rectangular in shape and cleaned on a daily basis like everything else. The chairs near it were so well cushioned that merely sitting in one tended to make it hard to stand back up, as it was near intoxicating.

"Please, take a seat Shorty. I need to get changed, otherwise my mother will probably punish me," I told him while walking toward a door that was set against the east side of the room. I opened it up and stepped inside, while Shorty could only watch me with a very confused look on his face.

Needless to say the room on the other side was designed for getting dressed, and contained all of my clothes. The amount was a staggering sum, most of which was purchased by the maids who wanted to see me wear a variety of different dresses and outfits. Still given that we expected company it would be best to wear a formal outfit, and so that left a greatly decreased selection of only a hundred to choose from.

The problem was that putting on the dress would require some form of help, which Shorty most definitely was not going to be allowed to give. With a sigh I could only turn to the door, and walk back into my room. Shorty looked at me with a question in his eyes, but I merely waved him off and told him to stay.

A short while later I was back in the dressing room with two maids, neither of whom I knew very well. One was Felicia and the other was named Ophelia, and both were recent hires. Diana promised me that they were more than capable of helping to dress me, though, and so began the torture of putting on a proper attire for the evening.

When I stepped out of the dressing room my body was garbed in an evening gown that went all the way down to my ankles. It was a one-shoulder design that was tight enough in some spots to leave little to the imagination of how my body probably looked, yet loose enough in the important spots that nothing showed. The dress itself was the color of a dark red rose, while an embroidered flower rested near where the one-shoulder strap met the rest of the dress.

My black hair had been pulled up into a bun, then a beautiful crystal hairpin had been placed into it. The pin itself had a carved jewel that resembled a blooming rose on it. The maids had been kind enough to do my makeup for me as well, and so my facial features looked almost entirely different to Shorty.

My feet had a pair of dark red heels on them, they were not very comfortable and made walking much more difficult to pull off. The overall color scheme was designed to match up together along with the ruby lipstick that the maids had applied.

"Really good thing we didn't let Skara come," Shorty commented again, while he looked at me with a bit of awe in his eyes.