Something Elias had failed to mention to me was who exactly Kathlyn Bywater is.
The city name is Watercrest. Her last name is Bywater
The Earl of Watercrest is Tobias Bywater, her father.
This information is only revealed to me when I asked why her house was so much larger than his own.
"That's because my father doesn't directly rule over Watercrest as a Duke, he has the Earl here report to him. The house I currently stay in to attend Elomburg, was gifted to my father by Earl Bywater. Her house, a mansion more precisely, is bigger because her father rules this city."
My teeth are gritted as I speak.
"You didn't think that was something important you should tell me?"
Elais backs away with his hands up when he sees my fists tightening.
"Easy there Kelric!"
I take a step towards him.
"Hey now, let's be civil about this! I thought you already knew! I mean, who doesn't know Watercrest's Earl and family! You'd have to have just arrived-"
I stare at him blankly as he puts two and two together.
"Ohhh.. my apologies… kinda slipped my mind that you just got to Watercrest a few days ago.."
He put a hand on the back of his head and rubbed it awkwardly as he tried to explain.
I can only sigh and let the matter drop.
This house, or mansion as Elias called it, was a sight to behold. The grass and trees surrounding the place made it seem like it wasn't in the middle of a city.
The amount of space the place took up seemed very wasteful.
As we got closer, various men and women headed onto the large stone path that lead to the entrance of the mansion.
I didn't feel as embarrassed wearing the silly suit, when I saw others with even more extravagant clothing. I looked quite dull in comparison.
A few guards were checking people as they went through the gate that led onto the property.
"Are we supposed to have one of those papers?"
I indicated my head at the gate.
Elias put a hand to his forehead now and sighed.
"Oh yeah.. don't worry about the invitation, I'll just show the guards this and they should let us through."
Elias pulled the gold chain from under his shirt where it sat around his neck. This time, I can see that the chain is connected to a shiny medallion with a lions head carved onto it.
Shrugging my shoulders, I let him take the lead when we get closer to the guards.
They stop us and seem very bored as one of them stretches out a hand.
"Invitations."
"Sorry gentleman, but we forgot to ask for them. I hope this will suffice?"
Elias smoothly shows his chain with a smile.
The guards snap to attention like their commanding officer just showed up.
"Y-yes my lord!"
We get a couple curious looks as we pass the guards.
"What is that?"
He holds his hand over his chest at my words.
"Oh this? This is just a little trinket that shows my standing as noble. It's very useless except for incidences like this."
As we make our way inside, a huge open room enters my view.
On the left side there are too many tables too count with various finger foods. Butler's walk in between groups of people and offer goblets of wine. There's a orchestra softly playing a light tune on the right.
At the back left and right corner of the room are two huge stairs that lead upwards to the balcony overlooking the whole affair.
Elais grabs my attention and his face is serious.
"Can I trust you to behave while I find Kathlyn and Marinah? You're not going to kill anybody before I return, will you?"
My mouth goes open a little at his insinuation. Does he think I'm some kind of murderous… well maybe the question isn't that far fetched.
I nod to him and he leaves.
My attention is now on the food that not a lot of people seem to be eating. There are small plates and little wooden things that you're supposed to use to handle the food.
It seems a little too tedious for my liking and I walk up to a rotating dish displaying small crispy sausages.
Grabbing a handful, I shove it in my mouth.
Flavor explodes in my mouth as I eat as fast as I can. There are gasps of shock and horror at my back and I turn to see what was happening.
Countless eyes lock onto me and I struggle to understand what they were looking at.
I reach behind me and grab the last bit of the sausage and stuff it in my mouth while staring back at the crowd.
'Have they never seen a man eat before..?'
There are whispered voices that reach my ears as I turn back around and look for something else to eat.
"…uncouth.."
"…countryside…no manners…"
"…bumpkin.."
I stop eating for a moment as someone approaches me from the side.
A butler looks at me with a grimace on his face. His hand extends a washcloth towards me.
"Pardon me sir.. but you have a little food on your face.."
"Oh thanks."
I grab it from him and wipe some of the grease off my hands and face.
Handing it back to him I say, "I'm probably going to need another one of those."
He nods stiffly at me and pinches the used cloth on the least dirty part.
Turning back to eat, I'm annoyed when a familiar voice whisper yells my name.
Elias is stomping towards me with an older gentleman behind him. I see Kathlyn and Marinah too.
Giving him a wave with one hand, I use the other to shovel a mystery meat in my mouth. It's very good and has a spicy heat to complement the smokey flavor.
His eyes go wide as I reach behind me again and pick up another handful.
He dashes the rest of the way over and stops me before I can savor the godly taste.
"What are you doing!"
His still whisper yelling.
"Eating?"
"I see that you dolt! Why are you doing it like a barbarian?! We just had dinner a couple hours ago…"
He takes a deep breath and hands me a rag before continuing.
"…take this and clean yourself, Earl Bywater is right behind-"
Elias jumps as the man's footsteps grow closer.
The man's voice is jovial as he speaks.
"Young man, are you Kelric Bladebane?"
"Yeah." I say nodding to him.
He then walks closer and shoves Elias out of the way and tries to pull me into a hug.
My reflexes kick in and I retreat with a backflip, putting the table between us.
My eyes go wide as the man doesn't stop and leaps over it after me.
"Kelric! Come, let this old man give you a hug for saving my daughters life!"
I back peddle further and hit the wall behind me.
"T-that's quite alright. I really only saved Elias, so you can-"
I have to duck and I hear the man crash head first into the wall above me.
He stumbles back and my shock only deepens.
He neatly fixes his hair that fell out of place and turns to me again.
"Kelric, this old man will not let you get away without giving my heartfelt thanks."
His mood turns serious and I can tell this man is strong. His arms open wide and he bends his knees.
Like a stone flung from a catapult, he burst forward. I grab his wrists as he closes in on me and his fingers wriggle disturbingly.
Kathlyn's voice comes just in time, this man is very strong and I lose to him without my rage.
"Father! Stop making trouble for Kelric!"
The man looks somewhat abashed and stops his forward movement. I warily let his wrists go as he steps back.
I turn towards Kathlyn to thank her, but my eyes land on Marinah. Her dress is enchanting and her eyes sparkle with laughter.
My mind goes dumb for a second as I look at her and-
I'm suddenly grabbed from behind and am being swung from side to side.
The older man is laughing.
"I got you now, Hahaha! Let this old man thank you-"
In my half muddled state, my body reacted to the sudden embrace.
My left heel retracts back and up to connect with his groin. My elbow slams backwards into his stomach while the back of my head crashes into his chin.
I'm immediately dropped as the man falls down behind me.
Turning to look at the man and realize I just assaulted the Earl of this city. He's holding his manhood and crumpled in a ball.
I turn towards Elias in panic and am met with him bent over at the waist laughing.
Glancing down at Kathlyn's father, I utter a small apology.
"Sorry about that.."