Chapter 3

A New Beginning

Only a single day has passed since Azon settled the matter of taking care of Ornias. Duty-bound, he wasted no time and quickly instructed the mercenaries to split up the money and the cargo from the village raid. Then regarding the slaves they captured, he tasked the men guarding them to head towards Domington so they could sell them for a good price.

Like-wise he also needed to leave Fengle’s Grove, since he needed things from the city of Domington, especially now that he was to raise a child. While regarding Ornias, he was also rather desirous to obtain clothes for Cecilia, who wore mostly rags since her clothes were dirty and torn.

His strategy was to follow the slaves to Domington; so correspondingly, he saddled up his horse as well as Cecilia’s horse. After saddling up, Cecilia held young master Ornias in her arms as they rode out.

Originally, her clothing was quite unpresentable, so until he purchased her new clothes, he had provided her with a crimson red robe which enshrouded her figure hiding her delicate features. Still cautious, she was decisive in keeping her hood up in order to prevent other men from seeing her pretty face and desiring her.

Per his command, the slaves that they captured were being marched off from the stockades to Domington in order to put them up for auction. Catching the eyes of many, they galloped past a considerable amount of the slaves while heading to the forefront of the group; when abruptly Cecilia decided to slow down.

Unabated and impolite she then yelled out, “Master, I have a humble request if it isn’t too much trouble.”

Slowing down he turned his horse around presenting a slight frown showing his dissatisfaction. His gaze turned cold, because he knew these were all slaves from her village, and because this so called request was most likely in regards to that.

Cautious, she paused almost reconsidering her suggestion, and then making up her mind she carefully spoke, “Master, this little girl here.”

She pointed at a girl in chains walking slowly with the other slaves. Hesitant in her decision to speak out and trying to convince Azon, she continued, “I’m certain this girl would make a wonderful slave for the little master when he grows of age.”

Attempting to confirm her assessment, he looked over at the little girl she mentioned. Looking rather shabby, she wore a tattered dress that was covered in dirt and grim and what used to be blonde hair was soiled and gave off and dirty blonde color.

She appeared to be no older than six, and had bruises and cuts on her body that most assuredly came from disobedience. Although beaten, she held a fire in her brilliant blue-green eyes that showed that even in her current situation she still had life in her.

Taking careful note of this girl, he found that he actually agreed with Cecilia’s judgement. Determining that it would be a missed opportunity otherwise, he spoke with the slaver leading the slaves to Domington and dropped a gold coin in his hands.

After receiving payment to release the girl, the guard unlocked the chains on the girl and directed her towards Azon. Then the slaver quickly proceeded to make the other slaves move along and disregard the little girl’s release.

Taking the little girl aside, Azon hunched down to her eye level and spoke to her, “My name is Azon, Little girl do you have a name?”

Holding considerable defiance, the girl raised her head and stared at him straight in the eyes while fiercely saying, “My name is Rana!”

Rather Obvious, the difference between this girl and Cecilia was heaven and the moon. On one hand, there was Rana full of fighting spirit, on the other, was Cecilia who acted like a beaten down dog.

Pleased with her spirit, he smiled and said, “Rana, from now on you will follow me and I will take care of you.”

He paused momentarily then gestured towards Cecilia and said, “This woman here is called Cecilia and she will also take care of you. Now Rana, be sure to listen to Cecilia as well, she is your elder after all.”

Glancing over where he pointed, she saw Cecilia and Ornias for the first time and immediately changed her disposition. In the end Cecilia was from her same village. While Ornias, being a newborn, she could deduce was most likely the exact same baby that her grandma Daphiel was helping giving birth to.

With the sudden realization, she turned back to Azon smiled slightly and said, “Little Rana wishes you to take good care of her.”

At the sudden change in her disposition, his gaze grew slightly warm and he couldn’t help but let out a hearty laugh. While feeling favorably towards Rana, he decided to place her in front of him on the horse as he galloped ahead with Cecilia holding little Ornias trailing behind.

Unperturbed, Rana still held the defiance in her eyes as they rode but she knew that through this man she could escape a worse designated fate, so she casually put on a pretense of gratitude. Sadly, she didn’t know that Daphiel was dead and she tried to look for her among the slaves as they rode, but she was unsuccessful and couldn’t find her.

It was rather traumatizing for a six year old girl to be all alone with no one to take care of her. Although Rana was smart enough to realize she would never see Daphiel again, she at least wanted to know whether she was dead or enslaved.

So knowing that her circumstance was dire, she decided that Azon could provide her an opportunity. Considering how rich he was in being able to purchase her as well as have Cecilia and Ornias, she was positive she could live a better life.

“Indeed, this man Azon must be an important figure,” she thought.

Throughout the journey she was not able to discuss anything with Cecilia while she rode with Azon and she decided to wait till they stopped to make camp. Given their pace the journey to Domington would at most take two days and they would need to stop to make camp soon. Without marching along with the slaves it could probably only take a day but marching with the slaves offered more protection because of all the guards.

Finally after the sun lowered down and was about to disappear from the horizon, the guards that were escorting the slaves decided to make camp. Once the whole caravan slowed down and started to pitch tents, Azon took the initiative and slid off his horse. Leading the horses and tying them up to a log he then proceeded to help Rana off the horse by picking her up and was gentle in setting her on the ground.

Then he moved to Cecilia, and trying to be delicate with her and Ornias, he carefully helped her off her horse as well. Leading the two women into the makeshift camp he instructed a couple guards to watch over their horses.

By now Rana could tell Azon was indeed an important person because the guards of the slaves provided him with his own tent and catered to his every whim. She started to realize that he was most likely the Leader or an important figurehead of these men because of how they acted towards him and how he treated them. The admiration the men showed him was very amicable and his confidence in them was shown in return.

A tent for them was already prepared by the caravan guards, and under directions of the guards, he lead them towards the tent provided. Closely following behind him, Cecilia and Rana were able to get a glimpse of a large tent surrounded by a series of smaller tents. It was apparent some men did not have any tents at all and would have to sleep on the ground outside.

Arriving at the largest tent he lifted up the tent flap revealing that the tent was indeed very spacious and much larger than any of the other nearby tents. It was assured to be able to fit Rana, Cecilia, Ornias and him within the same tent. The tent itself seemed to be made for ten people but it was just to be occupied by the four of them.

Obviously there were no beds, but rather comfortable animal furs were sprawled on the ground and pillows stuffed with feathers. Other men in the camp would not be as lucky as them and would definitely not be sleeping in such lavishness on the journey to Domington.

Gesturing inside, he politely said, “Go ahead and sleep here. However, I will not be sleeping with you and will be outside with the men tonight.”

His words surprised the two women since they assumed he would rather sleep in comfort then on rocks. Seeing his resolute sincerity, both of the women grew some respect for the man.

Flattered at the gesture, Cecilia took the initiative to respond sweetly by saying, “Thank you your grace for your benevolence.”

It was not as if she choked on bile while saying those words, because she was indeed truly grateful and touched. In fact it has been two days that she’s been with him, and yet he still has not touched her like the other men did since she was enslaved. This left a very good impression on her, but she still felt guarded. She knew full well that she could not refuse him if he wanted her in that manner.

As Azon exited the tent closing the flap, he left Rana and Cecilia holding Ornias alone. Instantly after Azon left, Rana let out a noticeable sigh. Cecilia also relaxed a bit and took but a moment to gently set down the sleeping Ornias on the animal furs. Afterwards she straightened herself back out and looked at Rana, knowing that they would now be able to finally talk about everything that has transpired.

Slightly smiling Rana looked up at Cecilia and said, “It’s a bit unfortunate given the situation but it’s good to see you Cecilia.”

Without waiting for her to respond Rana ran over and gave her a big hug not letting go. Right now having someone Rana knew, now that her whole world was shattered, it meant a lot to her and she needed Cecilia’s support.

Cecilia gingerly patted Rana’s head then hunched down and hugged Rana back. Throughout the entire time with Azon she had never cried, but now that Rana was hugging her, they couldn’t help but cry together at how their lives changed.

Tears streamed down her face as she mumbled, “It’s good to see you too Rana.”

To be honest, Cecilia and Rana were actually related since they came from the same clan and Cecilia and Daphiel were actually close neighbors in the village so it wasn’t strange they acted this way.

Wiping away her tears Rana couldn’t help but ask, “Cecilia do you know anything about my Grandmother?”

Tears still plastered on Cecilia face, she became grim at the thought. She could only shake her head as she stammered, “Ra… Rana… I didn’t see her.” The bad news was already expected but nonetheless it still hit Rana hard. After all she was just six years old and she already had seen death and enslavement because of the events of the village raid.

Almost unwillingly Cecilia continued staring at her recalling the horror of that day, and mumbled, “I… I don’t think… she made it.”

Tears welled up in Rana’s eyes again but she kept her composure nonetheless. Seeing her strength, Cecilia also gathered herself together and said, “These men seemed to have no interest in the elderly and only appeared to keep young and healthy clan members alive.”

Understanding Cecilia’s meaning she had to just accept the truth of the matter. Daphiel was most likely dead and she no longer had a grandmother anymore. She could only rely on Cecilia from now on because she was the only family that was not going to be sold off, never to be seen again.

Somewhere out there she knew she would find her mother, but now that the village was gone her mother would not be able to find her. Instead she could only take the initiative to try to find her mother in her place. Resolving herself, she made a vow that she would grow strong and find her mother. After letting out their feelings both women were physically exhausted and fell asleep next to little Ornias.

The following morning as the caravan was getting ready to move out, Azon woke up the two women and they saddled up again and headed out with the rest of the slave caravan. The caravan also quickly packed up their tents and got the slaves on the march again. Without any delays, the journey to Domington was not too much further and they should reach there by midday.

On the last leg of the journey, Rana sat saddled between the horse and Azon again while Cecilia followed behind with Ornias. Last night Azon had decided to sleep with the fellow guards of the slave caravan for two reasons. The first one being that both these women were from the same village and he knew they would feel restrained with him present so he wanted to give them time alone to sort their feelings out.

Secondly, he was concerned on the condition of the slaves. As the Crimson Claw leader, he wanted to make sure they were presentable for auction. Although the guardsmen might not care if they were missing teeth or were bleeding upon presentation there would be less money in their coffers.

As they continued trekking along the road the trees surrounding them started to thin out and tree stumps and visible sign of human deforestation could be seen. Domington was a large trading port after all and was the third largest city in Tolboud so the amount of wood and resources it demanded was not a small figure.

Passing the tree line of the forest, the slave caravan could now see farm lands with small huts stretching out for several next several miles. In the far distance a vast array of houses could be seen conglomerated together surrounding giant black stone walls which blocked the view of seeing further into the grandeur of the city.

A sparkle of blue could be seen along the horizon as this city bordered the ocean of Melanra. The sun was shining high above and shined down on the Ocean giving it the beautiful blue glint. Neither Cecilia nor Rana have ever seen the ocean and were amazed at the vastness and beauty of it.

Matching well to the contrast of the Ocean was the big dominating presence of Domington with its large black walls. As the caravan drew closer to the large walls the road started to become paved and grew larger.

Azon galloped slightly ahead of the caravan since he was the basically in charge of this group. While Rana was positioned in front of him on the horse and so she had a good view of Domington. Looking around on the main road they were traveling along, she saw the houses lined up along it. The road itself wound slightly left and eventually met up with the large black menacing wall of Domington.

The specific location of the wall the road went to was where big black massive doors were spread open inwards as people traveled in and out of the city. On the outside of these doors intricate figures were carved depicting the nine saints of the Church of Ascension.

Domington was in fact one of the few cities that held an important acknowledgment to the church since it was a major port to Gramrot where the church’s core was centered. The figures depicted were well defined sculptures and showed them reaching to the heavens in order to achieve the Ascension the church claimed it could provide.

There was six female saints depicted on the mural, these six females were known as Eunomia, Themis, Astraea, Dike, Eirene and Iustitia. The last three saints of the Church of Ascension were Nomos, Tius and Forseti all males.

Out of the nine saints at the forefront was Eunomia the Lawful, flying high in the air soaring to the heavens. Wearing light and decorated armor, she wielded a sword that pierced through the heavens leading the way for the other eight behind her.

Following close behind Eunomia, there was Nomos who wielded a spear and wore strong study armor fitting of a man. Graceful and elegant next to Nomos, there was Themis who wore a set of magician robes as she wielded a staff poised and ready.

Magnificent and dangerous, Astraea followed behind wearing loose garments and wielded a sword that shot out thunder. Next to her side was Tius, a rather big man in thick armor who wielded an ax and a shield as large as his body.

Fanning outwards in a triangle formation, Dike soared behind wearing a dress of exceeding extravagance. While she personally held no weapons, she still held a frightening aura as she instead looked ahead with one hand out stretched and the other clenched into a fist by her side.

On the other side of the formation, opposite Dike, was Eirene. She was also a magician and wore a light robe wielding a staff like Themis but held a book in the other hand. Forseti was directly behind Eunomia and in between Dike and Eirene. Putting off a powerful presence, he wore animal furs and wielded a large spear in one hand with a shield in the other.

However, out of the nine saints, Iustitia was the furthest from reaching Ascension depicted on the doors. This was because breaking the triangle formation she still stood on the ground atop a large rock with her head held high.

She wore a blindfold over her eyes with visuals signs of blood dripping onto her face and a cape embroidered with designs. The dress she wore conformed to her figure and lavishly adhered to her appearance. Upholding justice and right from wrong, she held a pair of scales in one hand and a long sword in the other.

The power of this mural was explosive and it definitely conveyed a sense of superiority as these nine saints attempted Ascension through the heavens. Even though the appearance of the mural was split in two since the doors were open inwardly, the image was still conveyed properly.

Unperturbed by the mural, Azon walked towards these large open doors with the slave caravan following closely behind. Nearly fifty Guards were stationed at these doors and they would inspect those entering or leaving the city.

As he drew closer a small group of the guards made haste in approaching him. Only five or so of the men approached him, and ultimately the squad captain was the one who asked him a question directly.

“What’s your business here at Domington?” The captain asked roughly.

Taking a better glance at Azon and the slave caravan, the guard spoke again without letting him reply, “This looks like a slave Caravan you came to sell your wares?”

Trying to be polite to the rather rude captain, he smiled then nodded while saying, “Indeed we are. I came here to sell a fine stock of slaves.”

The guard condescendingly waved his hand gesturing them entry and snorted saying, “Go on through, I don’t have time to bother with you, just remember your slave sell tax is due before your leave.”

Frowning, he forgot that they recently implemented a form of taxation on slave merchants so that the cities could reap profits for providing an environment to sell slaves openly without fear of someone wanting to stop them.

It was a preposterous taxation, but slavery was not entirely considered humane either so to let them conduct the slavery business without troubles it was an ideal situation. Motioning forward he slowly led the caravan inside past those large black doors with the murals engraved upon them.

Inside the city, past the doors, laid a vast network of house and manors. Some of the buildings were exquisite mansions and the most outstanding buildings were located in the center of the city. The largest building appeared to be almost like a castle but it was actually the main cathedral for the Church of Ascension in Domington.

Further down the main road they walked on, a scene of shops and stalls were spread throughout the city. The main road then split off and on the left hand side the road started going downhill where further down the docks were located. The docks held a large market area were the slaves would be put up for auction.

Azon motioned the closest caravan guard and spoke softly, “Take the slaves down to the marketplace and put them up for auction. I have other matters to attend to. Just be sure to pay the slave tax and head on back to camp. Do not wait up for me.”

The caravan guard nodded showing he understood and said, “Of course commander, I will do as you ask.”

The slave caravan that had accompanied them for the past two days, now walked past Cecilia and Azon’s horses towards the market place, leaving them all alone.

Getting off his horse, Azon gently helped Rana down. Then he proceeded to walk over to Cecilia and helped her down as well. Cecilia and Rana were in complete silence as they followed him take both the horses’ reigns and lead them to a stable keeper within the city. Rather generously, he paid the stable keeper to take care of the horses until he returned.

With that out of the way, he stared at the two women and shook his head. Cecilia, who was carrying Ornias, still wore the red robe that he had lent her and Rana looked absolutely dreadful with a muddy and ripped dress. In fact Rana’s body seemed to look no better than her clothes, as she was obviously beaten by the slavers.

Sighing he knew that new clothes, food and possibly a good bath for them were in order. His usual icy gaze seemed to be warming up with empathy to their suffering. Usually he was a cold and calculating man especially after his exile, but now had someone to protect and assume responsibility for.

Slowly his character was changing. Although he could still make brutal decisions, since he was the commander of a group that was portrayed as bandits, his heart never truly felt right with some of the decisions he made as the leader.

Most of the decisions came from the Azarasi Kingdoms nobles, but ultimately it was him that gave the order to kill or kidnap. He had to admit the incident of the village of Limwell was not something he typically would sanction, but he was power hungry for that divine artifact.

In that hunger for power, he didn’t care for the lives he ruined or the after effects because with a divine artifact he most assuredly could return from exile and be welcomed by the capital. Unfortunately he did not get a divine artifact and instead got Ornias.

Glancing at Ornias in Cecilia’s arms he smiled thinking dotingly, “We can’t forget about you either. I’ll need to get you some things as well.”

He felt if he raised Ornias as his own maybe Ornias could return his lost glory in his stead. With that thought in mind, he led the females and his adopted son he stole to their first stop which is getting new clothing. Being the smart person he was, he wanted to get clothes that would suit Cecilia well and get clothes that Rana could wear and also grow into.

On that note, he bought several pairs of clothes for them and even allowed Cecilia and Rana to choose some of their own clothes. They seemed to open up a little more to him after the purchases, seeing that he was genuinely a pretty good guy deep down.

Taking a decent amount of time, he scouted out good clothing for Ornias while he was at it since toddlers need clothes too. However, it was far harder finding clothes for babies, but luckily he found a store owner that recently had a baby and bought clothing from the man.

Happy with their recent purchases, the group walked around the city while Azon was on the lookout for a good place to stay the night. They passed multiple inns until he found a good one called the Grey Domain Inn and led the women inside.

Entering the inn there was a small area off to the right side where tables and chairs were set up around a bar. Around the bar area a few of people were sitting down at the same time as chatting amongst each other while drinking and eating.

Azon looked at Cecilia and said, “Wait here while I get us a place to stay for the night and a warm bathe for you two to clean yourselves.”

Leaving the two women alone with Ornias, he walked up to the left side of the inn where the rooms were and approached the counter. The inn keeper was a middle aged man in a dusty set of clothes. The man lay back in a chair behind the counter quietly sleeping.

Attempting to wake up the innkeeper, he cleared his throat and the innkeepers eyes peeled open. Startled the innkeeper rapidly looked around the room before calming down and noticing he had a guest.

Composing himself, the innkeeper stood up and said, “Welcome friend!”

Flashing a warm smiling, he asked, “Were you in need of a room?”

Amazed at the man’s quick adaption, Azon’s mouth curved upward in a half smile and said, “I would like two rooms preferably and a hot bathe prepared if possible.”

The innkeeper nodded and said, “Hmmm… indeed we have two rooms I can prepare and I will have them get a hot bathe started for you immediately.”

Satisfied, Azon gave the innkeeper his thanks as paid for the room and bathe.

Standing where he told them to wait, Cecilia and Rana didn’t move not because he told them not to but rather because they didn’t know this city and didn’t know anyone else here. The time they spent with him proved was also not entirely a bad man either. Even since he paid for them, he had not even treated them like slaves and seemed to be rather considerate to their needs.

In fact on the journey to Domington, more than once Rana had to go to the bathroom and Azon would let her down off the horse and threaten that if anyone dared to watch her go to the bathroom that man would be expected to be a dead man.

In short simple acts Azon proved to be a decent man although he was still the leader of thugs that destroyed their village, killed, and enslaved many members of their clan. If not for this fact Cecilia and Rana would have no issues with him but currently they still couldn’t trust him.

Wielding a pretty keen sense of hearing, Cecilia suddenly picked up a conversation taking place on one of the tables to their left.

At the table, a man was chatting with a female who both appeared to be wearing magician robes. Excitedly, the man was saying, “…I’m telling you, that magician completely outclassed Gramus, the Master Magician from the imperial court of Tolboud.”

“Gramus was visiting here in Domington and was handling matters related to recent developments in Gramrot. The man who defeated him if I remember correctly… I think his name was Novaron.” He placed his hand on his chin, stared off into the distance, and thought for a moment.

The man pondered briefly then resolved himself, said, “Ya, he called himself Novaron.”

Resuming his previous excitement, he said, “Shortly after beating the Master Magician, Novaron went and took his seat as Master Magician and handed it off to his apprentice. Now his apprentice is in one of the most powerful positions in the Tolboud court, and he isn’t a weakling either.”

The female magician that sat across from him was not amused and said, “Stop spewing lies the Master Magician is at that of a seventh or possibly eighth rank. Unless this Novaron was a peak Magician in the cultivation of the Laws, there is no way he would beat Gramus, the Tolboud’s imperial court Magician.”

The man shook his head and said, “I was there Tallia, and I saw him not only use the Laws of Magic to surpass him but he seems proficient in the Laws of the Warrior too.”

The man leaned forward and said excitedly, “Do you remember that dense fog a couple nights back, well apparently Novaron claimed that there was a bandit attack in his apprentices’ village where bandits torched it.”

“He is demanding justice, and wants the imperial forces to take action against these bandits.”

The woman named Tallia laughed and said, “The imperial forces taking care of the Crimson Claw Bandits? What a joke they don’t do anything about crime within their own capital what would make them heed this man’s request?”

A shine gleaned in the Magicians eyes as he said, “Because… he is from the Church of Ascension!”

Gasping Tallia said, “No way… a real cultivator from the church? Damos you better be telling me the truth!”

The man named Damos nodded and then shrugged saying, “It seems that the imperial court is going to discuss the matter. It might take some time before they put pressure on the bandits”

Puzzled, Cecilia eyebrows furrowed, since she didn’t know if she should be pleased or worried; because she didn’t know this magician called Novaron, and only knew of Amron.

Was perhaps the Apprentice that Novaron spoke of Amron, and was it their village that they were talking about, unfortunately she could only guess.

While she was deep in thought, Azon came back over and said, “I got us two rooms and they have a bath for you two fine women.”

Struggling, her heart was now in conflict over this man, wondering was he good or bad. Objectively, he had just gotten two rooms just so the women could have their own privacy. Yet, his actions as the Crimson Claw leader showed him as merciless. Without dwelling on it anymore, she thanked him and followed him to their rooms.

After arriving at the rooms, the women thanked Azon and entered their own rooms while he proceeded to enter his own appropriate room next door. When Cecilia and Rana arrived in the center of their room where a tub of water laid, smiles cracked on their faces. They could now finally wash off the dirt and grime from their bodies.

Ecstatic, Rana was the first one to ditch her clothes and spring into the warm water with Cecilia taking it slow and easing herself into the water. They decided to take turns to wash each other’s bodies good and proper. After the wonderful bath they were happy and they both had a good night’s rest knowing that life will definitely be better.

Azon had decided to let the women have some personal time and elected to take care of Ornias that night. In truth he and the child rarely spent any time together so he wanted to form a better bond with the baby. Luckily, Ornias seemed to surprise him by being well mannered and not crying even once throughout the night.

Feeling confused, it was a mystery to him because he knew babies normally needed to be fed at regular intervals yet Ornias was a bit special and only grew hungry a couple times in the day. He knew that the moment he stared into the baby’s eyes for the first time, after he took him from his mother, that he was special.

Even now the strange baby slept peacefully and would sleep long intervals like regular grown men. Growing tired himself, Azon eventually turned over and fell asleep with Ornias.

The following morning after waking, Azon knocked on the women’s door and woke them up as well. They then promptly gathered their belongings and left the inn. In a hurry to divide up the recent earnings for the slave sale he didn’t want to waste any more time and wanted to head straight back to the camp. After he picked back up the horses for the stable master he decided he wanted to hold Ornias on the journey back and continue his bonding time with the child.

Cecilia thought it was strange that he wanted to keep Ornias close to him all the sudden but relinquished Ornias to him regardless. The arrangement on the journey back to Fengle’s Grove was that Rana would ride with Cecilia and Azon would keep Ornias with him.

As they rode back the only times Azon didn’t have Ornias was when he grew feisty because he was hungry. Thankfully, without escorting a caravan of slaves it only took a single day to return to Fengle’s Grove.

While returning back to camp they had no unfortunate encounters and returned promptly with few stops. Once they reached the camp Azon immediately led Rana and Cecilia to his tent, where he handed Rana a pin of the Crimson Claw just like he did for Cecilia.

He stared intently at Rana then said, “Rana, this pin is to show you are under my protection.”

His mouth curved upwards in a warm smile as he said, “If any problem arises in this camp you be sure to tell me and it will be sorted out.”

Stunned, she hesitantly accepted the pin. This sort of treatment she did not expect in the slightest. Feeling rather grateful, she looked up at him and said sincerely, “Thank you.”

A warm light shined in his eyes as he chuckled at her sincerity and said, “Of course, of course…”

With a sense of sudden urgency, he realized that he other responsibilities that demanded attention and couldn’t dally any longer. With this realization he politely said, “Well I have other matters to attend to now, but please make sure you feel at home.”

Excusing himself, he briskly walked out of the tent as he attempted to find the men that escorted the slave caravan. It took some time but after finding them he meticulously handled the earning from selling the slaves and distributed it amongst the men of the camp. Now that he took care of the most pressing matter, with slight reservations, he tasked his men to build him a small house outside the encampment area where he could raise Ornias efficiently but still reside over the camp.

Using the recent amount of money from the village raid he paid for materials and commissioned his men to make him a nice place. In a couple of months with the completion of the house he would start a new life with Ornias and these two women.