"This shouldn't be possible."
A quiet voice muttered an oath as he read the report in his hand.
"That much potential?"
He rapped his desk with his fingernails, then drew a blank parchment closer. Dipping his quill in his inkwell, he began to write.
Vassal Kira,
I have received word of the talent discovered in your province, in Dedri. While somewhat implausible, if true, it would pose a huge boon to the advancement of our House.
Take this chance, and use it well.
Make contact with the youth and claim him with all haste, lest our enemies acquire him.
Lodge him for six months, and ready him for presentation. Identify his strengths and relay them to me accordingly.
Your Lord,
Chantal
The door opened just as he put down his pen.
A blindfolded man entered. He had strange symbols tattooed on his forehead, and his movements were slow and controlled.
Without a single word, he accepted the outstretched letter from Chantal, bowed deeply, and departed.
Chantal sank back into his chair, his eyes thoughtful for a few breaths. He shook his head, and his quill levitated into his right hand once more.
"I have work to do."
##
"Your Lord, Chantal." Kira calmly read out the contents of the letter in her hand, then held it over a candle till it burned to ash.
Her brown eyes regarded the flame in front of her. Her desk was cluttered with papers, but she paid them no mind.
"What are you going to do, Kira?" To her side, a man in nightclothes tapped his foot against the floor. "If what he says is true, then we'll be expected to house him for a time."
"I know, Liem." Kira ran her hands through her short red hair and sighed. "We have no choice, either way. It's not often the old man contacts us directly."
"Still, Kira….do you want to do this?" Liem spoke softly. "He sounds just like you, before everything."
"I'm aware. In the end, my only role is to execute. That's my job as a single link in the chain."
Liem's eyes were focused out the window, into the night. "Should I dispatch someone to obtain the boy?"
The room was quiet, rendering only the rustle of wind-stirred curtains audible.
"Of course." Kira picked up her pen and a blank piece of paper. "We have our orders already.
With no response from him, Kira glanced in his direction. His lips were tight, his disapproval evident.
"Steward."
Her words were quiet, but the hardness behind them wasn't masked.
Liem's foot stopped tapping, and he went still. Moments passed before he answered.
"Your orders, Vassal Kira?"
Every syllable was deliberate and perfectly neutral.
"Ensure this is given to the rider, to deliver to the local devotee. He'll explain our offer to the boy." She quickly jotted down a few paragraphs and placed the parchment into an envelope.
Taking a wax stick, she held it above the candle on her desk for some seconds, then dripped it onto the envelope.
Kira finished by stamping it, creating a seal bearing a heron insignia.
"Have it delivered to the stablemaster with instructions to have someone ride with haste for Dedri."
"As you wish, Vassal." Liem received the envelope and exited.
The solid wood door clicked behind him.
"I know how you feel, Liem. But I'm no longer who I used to be, and when you understand that, we'll all be happier."
But Liem wasn't close enough to hear her whispers, so they fell on no ears.
##
Outside, Liem issued orders to the chainmail-clad guard standing next to the door.
"Give this letter to the stablemaster and tell him to have a rider deliver it to the devotee in Dedri."
"At whose command, Steward?"
The guard's cold tone caused Liem's eyes to narrow.
"At your lady's command. I expected you to know that."
"My apologies, Steward. I only wished to confirm." The guard bowed, but it was slight, barely bending his body.
For half a breath, Liem locked eyes with the guard, and neither spoke until Liem turned round, his back facing the guard.
"There's no time to waste, get on with it."
"Of course, Steward."
While Liem paced away, the guard's blank expression gazed after him for seconds before stalking off in the opposite direction. He strode down the tapestry-adorned hallway, before descending a flight of stairs into the main hall.
He passed a few servants who bowed deeply to him, but he paid them no mind.
Leaving the house through a small door next to a pair of great ones, he walked through a manicured garden and some distance more, reaching a tiny house next to the stables.
He knocked three sharp times.
"Who is it?" a voice grumbled. The door opened to reveal a scruffy-looking man in loose clothes holding a lantern. His eyes wandered up the metal-clad person facing him until he spotted a heron brand on the guard's hand.
"How can I help you, sir?" His voice was still tired, but there was now a professional edge to it.
Merely fifteen minutes later, a horse raced out of the settlement, carrying a message.
A message that would set a boy on a path of no return.
##
"Ethani, what are you going to do?"
Ethani's mother's voice whispered into his ear as he stared at Devotee Carrice, the leader of their local church.
The office was small but neat, and the sounds of clamoring children echoed in from outside the window.
Devotee Carrice's eyes were trained on Ethani's face, a wide grin aimed at him.
"Three Houses want to sponsor you, Ethani. This is unprecedented."
It was absolutely shocking. There was no other way to describe it.
So instead of answering, Ethani just smiled weakly.
And felt the stares of two bewildered people bore into him as his smile wobbled.
"Why aren't you more excited, Ethani?" His mother gently smacked his thigh. "You're going to be a big man, just like the owner of the farm."
Ethani glanced at Carrice. Why was he smiling so much?
And why did it irk him so much? It felt like the devotee was genuinely happy, not just putting on airs.
Ethani shook his head in disbelief. It was impossible after all. Even if they were inferior Houses, whatever that meant, their wanting to sponsor him was insane.
"I don't know anything about this, Devotee Carrice. Are you sure they're here for me?"
Devotee Carrice frowned. "I told you two months ago, after the test, that people would be coming for you."
"I know, but I didn't know you meant it like this! Why do they want me?"
Ethani's mother's eyes went wide, but you could feel her irritation in the sharpness of her tone.
"Do you know what having your potential means, Ethani? You can be anything you want! You can learn anything and make lots of money!"
He could understand why she felt that way. If what the devotee had said were true, it would change their lives forever.
"Ethani, you have to say yes. You could be a lawman, or a merchant!" She listed out professions on her fingers, one after the other, and the devotee chuckled.
"Much more than that, Roseia. Far more."
Carrice grinned at Ethani so widely that it almost made him feel uncomfortable.
"What do you want, my child? Let Vivain guide you to lead her flock." Devotee Carrice kept smiling. What was it with that beam?
"Anything at all?"
"Anything."
Ethani's head dipped for a few moments, then he raised it gradually.
"I want to be a Hunter."
Neither his mother nor Carrice responded, and everything was still.
So still Ethani knew what was coming next.
Promptly, he was smacked on the back of his head by his mother.
"Ow!"