Chapter 120 - Dhampir Knight

"I think I'm going to be sick," Theora mumbled, feeling a wave of dizziness, probably the same that had made her fall down the stairs, surging.

"You're filthy rich," Cylea repeated with glee, ignoring her.

"No, no, I'm not. This isn't my money."

"The Royal Bank seems to think it absolutely is," her cousin let out a little chuckle of disbelief. "This is insane, Theo... I mean, I figured you might receive something someday since you're a duke's daughter, but..."

"I can't possibly accept that money," Theora hissed. "It's... It's appalling, Cyl. This amount is just insane. And I didn't do anything to earn that money!"

"Welcome to the world of nobles," Cylea scoffed. "You were born with some important people for parents, this is what you get."

"This is the exact reason I wanted to take things slow. This is insane, they shouldn't have sent me that money. He doesn't even know me!"

Her cousin sighed, and slowly lowered herself down, putting a hand on Theora's shoulder.

"Theora, if it makes you feel any better, this kind of money is just small change for people like them. They ought to be at least fifty times richer than this, and that's without accounting for all the physical assets like properties, land, shops they own, and so on. Maybe this is their way of acknowledging you in a small way. Your father missed out on nineteen or twenty years of your life. Maybe he tried to show he cares in a way he knows, considering that your mother went from being a noble to a commoner to raise you. He might think this is what you deserve, considering you weren't... raised the way you should have been."

"But I'm... I'm not that girl," Theora muttered. "I'm not the wealthy Duke's daughter. I was raised in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere. My neighbors had to help me pay my entry fee at the Academy, remember? I had to sell my hawk!"

Her heart inevitably ached when she thought about Augie. She hadn't seen her hawk in so long, but she wasn't giving up on buying the bird back someday. She just hoped it wouldn't be out of reach when she finally did. Cylea sighed, glancing at the stairs as they could hear Mymesia approach.

"Well, on the positive side, think of everything you'll be able to do now that you have that kind of money," she smiled.

Theora had a hard time swallowing that amount, she couldn't possibly imagine using that money. It felt too sudden, too impossible. She grimaced, and pushed the letter in Cylea's hands as Mymesia was coming back.

"Can you keep it for me?" she mumbled.

"Sure. We could go to the bank to ask for information about that account if you want. You could take out some spending money, now that you have some..."

"Theora got some money?" Mymesia beamed.

"She got paid by the Academy, nineteen whole silver credits," Cylea smiled while intently looking at Theora, omitting the mountain of gold credits.

"Really? That's amazing, Theora! That's a lot of money!"

"Sure is," her sister chuckled, getting back up.

Theora rolled her eyes, but took Cylea's hand to get back up, exchanging a long, understanding look with her cousin before going to drink their afternoon tea. While she chatted with her cousins, telling them about the past three months as a White trainee and catching up on their lives and the dull season in the Capital, Theora couldn't help but keep thinking about the insane amount of money she now owned. Fifteen hundred gold credits was an insane amount. One gold credit was worth twenty-four silver ones, or two hundred and sixty four copper credits. Fifteen hundred gold credits was almost enough money to buy a small house in the countryside!

Theora had never envisioned herself being rich. It wasn't even a dream of hers. At best, she had thought that someday, she might come up with some invention that would make her wealthy. That she might eventually have enough money to buy a tiny house or something, maybe if she met someone who also made decent money, but to think that she was this wealthy by twenty years of age, not finished the Academy, not accomplished anything for herself yet... Should she just return the money? She could already imagine the King being vexed, and if her father saw it returned, he'd probably take it negatively, too.

"Theo?"

"Sorry," she said, snapping out of her thoughts. "You were saying, Cyl?"

"Dad wanted to have you over for dinner at least once," Cylea said. "Could you let us know as soon as you have a free evening?"

"We should take you to the fairs, too!" Mymesia exclaimed cheerfully.

"I promise I will," Theora nodded. "Well, I should probably get going, actually. I'd rather not be late for the beginning of my assignment and meeting the older knights, too. I promise I'll pop by whenever I have time. Tell Herise to stock up on those biscuits for me."

"We will!"

After bidding a quick goodbye to her aunt, Theora let her cousins walk her half of the way back to the Military Hall, but she sent them home before it got late for the two young ladies to be wandering alone. Not long after she had parted ways with them, she crossed paths with Charle, who had also visited some family, and then with Kleis a couple of streets later. They reunited with the other Whites, plus a couple of the older trainees, until they made it back to the Military Hall and, with Darim leading them, left again with their whole group this time. It was a long way back to the De Boreal residence, but after she had visited the gardens the previous time with her cousins and all the times she'd run in the neighborhood, Theora was pretty familiar with the route and the area. As soon as they reached it, Theora couldn't help but glance at the large fence that surrounded the residence. They were high, imposing, and doubled by thick, green hedges that guaranteed privacy to its inhabitants. Except for the space behind the main gates, which were guarded by two knights in emerald green uniforms and obscured by a long structured tunnel full of colorful flowers that barely gave a glimpse at the large, white mansion lying behind, it was hard to see any of the residence, making everyone even more curious. Theora did recognize that the garden alone looked absolutely gorgeous, however. Apparently, the House De Boreal's love for Botany was shown in both their public and private gardens. By pacing around, she managed to get a glimpse of two water fountains, many structures, and even something that looked like a giant birdcage, or a gazebo, in the distance.

"Evening, everyone," Darim greeted them as he arrived with the rest of their group. "Come on, let's get going. The knight's quarters are around the back; they won't mind chatting with us before dinner."

Darim might have had another mission there before, because he looked quite familiar with the area, taking their group to make a long detour around the residence, following the fence and hedges. Theora couldn't help but notice how long they walked to get round the back, showing off the size of the De Boreal grounds. After a while, the hedges disappeared, and the wooden wall of some building appeared, most likely stables. Then again, the stables were a formidable size, and Theora couldn't see anything, but she sure hoped she'd get a glimpse of Orion. She couldn't wait to surprise him and tease him about not returning her letters. Eventually, they reached a smaller gate in the fence, just large enough for a carriage to pass, but also heavily guarded, with knights waiting for them.

"Darim, there you are!" one of the knights in green greeted him with a joyful handshake. "How are you doing?"

"Not too bad," Darim smiled. "It's nice to be in the Capital for once."

"I can imagine! It must be a nice change from the north. Are your siblings still up there? I haven't seen them in a while!"

"My sister is in the Capital these days. Haven't seen her?"

"I wish I had!" the knight scoffed. "I'm stuck here most days, though. You got your documents?"

"I sure do."

Darim handed the knight some documents, several papers that looked official.

"He's checking even when he knows Darim?" she whispered to her friends.

"Noble houses have very strict security protocols," Kleis explained. "This is a ducal house. They can't just take people at face value; if anything goes wrong, investigations could have several knights lose their heads."

Theora shivered. She was a bit glad she had no intention of ever working for a duchy—before she remembered she technically belonged to one. She couldn't help but glance at the mansion that stood somewhere behind the knights, only the back and upper floors visible from where they stood. Was her father's house like this? Or even bigger, maybe, since he was in a more deserted land, cheaper than the Capital? If he had hundreds of gold credits to send to a daughter he didn't know, he probably had thousands of them lying around.

"Alright," Darim finally announced. "Let's go."

Theora accelerated to walk up to him, a bit curious.

"You know the De Boreal knights?" she asked.

"Just a few," he chuckled. "This guy was in the same brigade as my older brother, and my sister was two years ahead of them. I'm the youngest but I saw their friends a fair bit. After two or three years in the Academy seeing the same people, you become close, no matter where you end up. Many brigades stay in touch long after they've left the Academy."

That was a nice thing to think about for Theora. She sure loved her friends from Brigade Three, but she had never given much thought about how they might all split up for their assignments after two years, or even sooner for those who wouldn't bother to take up a speciality, although it was rare not to. Indeed, as they walked through the grounds, passing by plenty of training areas, several buildings that could have been for storage or dorms, Darim was greeted again by several knights.

"Are you a legacy?" Theora asked.

"Sure am," Darim smirked.

"What fa-"

"Welcome!" a knight's voice boomed ahead of them.

A tall man with the complexion of a southerner, hazel eyes and long salt and pepper hair braided over his shoulder greeted them. He was an impressively tall man, with the extremely fit body of someone who trained for hours daily. It was hard to determine his age; he had crows feet and patches of white in his beard, but he looked like he was in great shape.

"Why don't we have him as an instructor?" Selvie whispered to Theora gleefully.

"I wish."

Kleis snorted next to them, but even she had a corner of her lips going upwards. There was no denying how impressive the middle-aged specimen of a knight greeting Darim was.

"Captain Seilman," he introduced himself with a firm handshake. "Glad to have some Academy youngsters with us. Keeps the ranks behaving and it's always nice to see some new faces; maybe check out our future recruits!"

"House De Boreal is recruiting?" Kleis asked with raised eyebrows.

"We could use some new blood," Seilman replied noncommittally.

Theora remembered her cousins mentioning some unrest with the House De Boreal and the title being transferred to the Duke's son. He had younger half-siblings as his only heirs in line for now. Were there some unspoken tensions that made it safer for them to hire trainees from the Academy?

"Thank you for having us," Darim nodded. "We know how tight House De Boreal usually is on allowing strangers in..."

"Not a problem", Seilman said. "You're going to guard the young lady for the next few days, you should get acquainted with the rest of us. I will give you a tour of the rest of the property after dinner. You have the perfect timing, the young Duke is away on business tonight so we're pretty relaxed."

"Is all of the family away?" Red asked.

"Oh, no. The young lady, the young lord and their mother are here. So is the... older Duke."

He made a bit of a face while mentioning the Duke, glancing toward the residence, and Theora wondered what that meant. They followed him as he gave them a short tour of the knight's training area, mentioning the building where they kept some of their equipment, spare weapons, and riding equipment for the horses.

"Excuse me, are we able to visit the stables?" Theora asked.

"I'm sorry, young lady," Sleiman chuckled. "The Duke doesn't allow strangers near the stables. Even us knights are only allowed to go in and out to get our horses! You may have heard he has one of the most impressive menageries in the Kingdom."

"Menagerie?" Theora frowned.

"Yes. Hunting dogs, battle horses, birds of prey... The Duke loves all animals that serve a purpose for humans. But he rarely opens the gates to the public; he mostly keeps his collection for himself and, sometimes, his friends. As a knight, it's an honor to be able to mount such fine horses, though. He bought me a superb stallion for my ten-year anniversary of serving the duchy! Quite the generous man, isn't he?"

Theora nodded. She wasn't surprised to hear the Duke could be quite generous with his horses; after all, he'd agreed to Orion 'lending' Mischief to the Academy for her sake. She was a bit more surprised to hear how many animals he kept here. Now that Seilman had mentioned it, she could hear some dogs in the distance.

"I just have a friend who works in the De Boreal stables," Theora admitted. "I was hoping I'd get to see him?"

"Oh, a stable hand! What's his name?"

"Orion."

Seilman frowned.

"There's no one by that name that I know of working in the stables! ...Are you sure he works here?"

"I-I think," Theora mumbled, now not sure at all.

Seilman gave her an apologetic smile.

"Well, I'm sorry I can't help. Maybe the stables hired some new hands. I wouldn't be surprised, the Duke is always buying and selling new horses! I'm sure you'll get to see your friend soon."

"Thanks..."

He moved on to chat with Darim about the dinner the De Boreal kitchens had prepared for them, flaunting the cook's ability, but Theora was still utterly confused. Had Orion lied about working for House De Boreal? Why? Or had he left his position? But Seilman had mentioned having worked there for ten years, so it didn't make sense he wouldn't remember a stable hand. Well, if he didn't work there, that explained why he had never responded to any of her letters... Theora felt a bit silly now; perhaps he had mentioned working for a ducal house to try and impress her, but now, she had no way to reach him. Worse, she had just agreed to work from four in the morning until midday, so unless the young lady De Boreal suddenly decided to go for an early walk first thing in the morning, she wouldn't have a chance to meet up with him...