City of Dionar. The Empire of Diolas. A month after the Battle of Castle Weytenford.

A great, beautiful manor house, standing in the middle of the city. Many soldiers standing guard, or sentries, looking out for any intruders. On the walls of the manor, red banners with the emblem, depicting a sword that cuts the armor in half, were blowing in the breeze. An inquisitive mind, versed in the inner workings of the families of the Diolas Empire, would immediately recognize in this emblem the distinctive mark of the Bale family.

Inside the manor, next to a beautifully decorated, enormous door, stood a small boy. On the other side of the door, one could hear a woman's laughter and words coquettishly flirtatious. After a few minutes, two beautiful ladies in gorgeous, almost royal dresses, both beautiful and young, came to the door. Blushing slightly, one of them approached the little boy and said, almost in a whisper:

- We are visiting Sir Arthur." The boy gave them an expressionless look, the ladies did not notice the young man's cold stare as they giggled and whispered amongst themselves, blushing.

Jack walked over and knocked on the door. Three thuds and two thumps. He and Arthur had agreed that three thuds meant "The girls are here," and the thumps meant the number of girls. As soon as the other party heard the thumps, the laughter stopped, the hurried footsteps were heard. The huge door swung open with a jolt, nearly hitting Jack. A handsome young man in a black robe painted with gold dragons stepped out of the door. His silver hair was a mess, his belt was tied loosely, and he was covered in sweat. He gazed at the girls with a beaming smile, lust flickering in his pupils. The ladies, seeing such a handsome man in front of them, sweaty, with muscles protruding from under a tight robe, with hair in disarray, everything in their eyes gave him even more sex appeal. One of them even bit her lip at the sight of him.

Jack stood motionless, like a guard who is not allowed to look around.

- Lady Gillian, Lady Lorraine." Arthur made an elegant greeting bow in their direction.

- Sir Arthur." The ladies curtsied and covered their smiles with their palms as they ran their eyes over Arthur's body.

- Come in, what are you standing around for. The sooner you enter my abode, the sooner we can begin our séance." Arthur walked over to the ladies and stood between them, hugging each one around the waist. From the corner of his eye, Jack noticed that he was subtly stroking a part of their bodies below the waist with his palm as well. The ladies were embarrassed, but didn't mind. Calmly, they went inside the spacious room, with a huge gorgeous bed capable of placing more than 10 people, and closed the door behind them, leaving Jack standing in the empty hall. A couple of minutes later, loud moans were heard from behind the door.

Jack had long since become accustomed to Arthur's behavior. He had served him for a month now, he had had time to understand and study the man well. During the month after the battle, Arthur had done nothing but engage in carnal pleasures and the drinking of Monean wine in the presence of those very girls. Fortunately, thanks to the word of his exploits spreading almost throughout the Empire, there was no shortage of girls willing to share a bed with the hero of the Battle of Weytenford Castle. Marcus did a good job of embellishing an already embellished story. All for the sake of his beloved nephew so to speak.

Besides all of the above, Arthur sometimes attended events, balls, ceremonies, in general all places where noble, chaste maidens congregate. Sometimes he walked around Dionar in the company of his buddies, their favorite pastime was - to dress up as beggars, ordinary people and seduce ordinary girls from the people. Jack was sometimes present at this. Sometimes Arthur would make him play his little brother, Arthur would tell the girls that they were orphans and he was the only one who cared for his little brother. Of course, the girls, in their innocence, fell for such a ruse and warmed Arthur's bed, while Jack stood outside, in a merciless downpour sprinkling from the sky like needles, and waited for Arthur to finish.

It would seem to anyone that Arthur takes good care of his squire. He feeds him well, dresses him well, talks to him almost respectfully, gives him plenty of free time, in short, treats him almost like a brother, but it's all just dust in the eyes. He hated Jack. But he thought he was useful, so he kept him to himself. And all because one lady, came up to Jack, leaned over him, put her palm on his cheek, and said, turning to Arthur: "Wow! He's so handsome! When he grows up, he might even be prettier than you! Maybe even more handsome than me! Hee hee."

Yes, Jack was handsome. Handsome enough that all his life he was often mistaken for a girl. A little, beautiful, girl. The only thing that made them think otherwise were his cold, bloodthirsty eyes and the thing in between his legs. But this beauty was what got Jack into so much trouble. Arthur hated him out of simple envy. He saw Jack as a future rival. And knowing Arthur, Jack had no doubt that he was already planning to kill him. But unfortunately for Arthur, his squire was Jack.

For a month, Jack watched Arthur and studied his habits and schedule, his character. He noticed that Arthur had never trained or practiced with his sword, the only time he ever took his sword out of its rimmed crystal sheath was when he decided to show off for the ladies. Jack, on the other hand, was given a lot of free time, every minute of it he spent training. Jack had many swordsmanship teachers, as many as the masters he served. Every time they practiced with a sword or sparred, Jack watched, memorized, and made mental images in his mind, images of every movement that he would later reproduce from memory. No one knew it, but Jack was a born genius. He was brilliant at many things, but in swordfighting, ugh, he was just a little monster. However, he never got to test his skills in actual combat in his entire life. This made him a little sad.

Jack could feel Arthur's irritation toward him growing by the day. Every enthusiastic, admiring comment toward innocent Jack and Arthur's anger was released outward. The hour was not far off when Arthur would decide to end Jack once and for all. Therefore, Jack planned to finish him off first. Unfortunately, in battle, on the battlefield, there would be no stealthy way to kill him. Arthur was a coward and would never go to war. So Jack came up with another plan to kill him.

At the incessant groans coming from behind the door, a sinister smile bloomed on Jack's face, he covered his face with his hand, his eyes frantically running from side to side, which signified how fast the mental process was going on in his head. After thirty seconds, his pupils ceased their movement and Jack straightened up, putting on his mask of equanimity again.

Well, with his own weapon, then...

***

The city of Dionar. The manor of the Luxir family. Evening of the same day.

A young man, clad in a leather cloak that cast a hooded shadow over his face, was walking toward the huge manor. He approached the gate and was blocked by a pair of guards with their halberds crossed together.

- Who are you? With what do you come to Manor Luxir?" came the gruff voice of one of the guards.

- Hello misters, my name is Jack, a squire of the Bale family and Sir Arthur's personal servant, and I come with a personal message from him, addressed to the young Lady Luxir," said Jack, throwing off his hood.

Glancing at the boy, the guard muttered: "Wait here." And disappeared behind the flaps of the gate.

After a couple of minutes, the gate opened and Jack was allowed to enter.

As he entered the manor he was met by a beautiful young girl with fiery red hair and a wasp waist. She looked like a fox in human form. And her personality was that of a fox.

- Hello, Jack. What brings you here?" Lady Luxir asked the young man standing in front of her.

- Hello, Lady Luxir, your beauty is as dazzling as ever. I come with an invitation from Sir Arthur, he invites you to his estate for a cup of tea and a private conversation." Jack bowed and gazed at the floor, waiting for the reaction of the person he was talking to.

- Gilbert! Get the carriage ready! I'm going to Bale Manor!" shouted Luxir deafeningly. Her face flushed and her breathing became more rapid, she seemed to have been waiting for this invitation for centuries.

On the huge paving of the sidewalk, under the reflection of the evening stars in the floods of the river, the carriage of the color of dawn was rushing. In the carriage sat a boy and a young lady. The lady tried to put makeup on her face, under the constant shaking, and the boy, sitting opposite her, shot her anxious and indecisive glances. Finally, the lady got tired of these stares from him, and pulling back the mirror, she spoke:

- Well? Say it already, if you have something to say."

Jack hesitantly began to bite his nails and furtively look out the window and then at Lady Luxir.

- Speak, or I'll make you speak." said Luxir in a threatening tone. Jack pressed himself against the seat.

- Th-This... I wouldn't advise you to go there, milady..." said Jack in a faint voice.

- What? And why not?" Luxir raised a charming eyebrow.

Jack fidgeted in his seat, looking as if he didn't want to say what he had to say. But pulling himself together, he said it nonetheless:

- Sir Arthur... I have heard him speak badly of you, Milady... He spoke such nasty things about you that it made me feel uneasy myself. I have a liking for you milady, so I don't want to see and hear him talk about you like that..." said Jack and dropped his head to the floor.

- W-what! What did he say! Answer me! Now!" Luxir stood up abruptly and grabbed Jack by the collar.

- He... said you were... the worst girl in bed he ever had... and that you gave yourself to him the way a sailor's whore gives herself to a sailor... He called you nasty names and laughed together with Lady Baganur..."

- BAGANUR!? WHAT!?" the sight of Luxir, now resembled that of a witch, ready to cast a spell on her hater's entire family.

Jack knew that Lady Luxir and Lady Baganur were adversaries. In fact, they hated each other so much that every time they saw one another, they would roll on the ground scratching and grabbing their opponent by the hair. The entire town of Dionar knew about their feud. Jack decided to play on it.

- Y-yes. He and Lady Baganur... Have been seeing each other at nights for a very long time. And every night they talk about you, and I have to stand outside the door and listen to all this nastiness about you. I just can't take it anymore!" Jack began to cry and grabbed his hair, cringing.

Of course, Lady Luxir did not know that Lady Baganour had not met Arthur or even known him. Not until tonight. In fact, a few hours ago, Jack had visited Baganur's mansion and invited her to "tea" on Arthur's behalf, and she had agreed and come. The rest was a matter of technique, Arthur did his job and soon voluptuous moans were coming from their bedroom.

Luxir, hearing what Jack said, rounded her eyes, her face made in such a way, at the sight of which, any child would cry. With a fierce impulse, he poked his head out of the carriage and shouted to the coachman, " FASTER! FASTER!"

As they rode, Jack described in great detail how Arthur and Baganur had called Lucxir names and mocked as they made love behind the bedroom door. With each word, Luxir's face grew darker and darker. Jack knew she had the fiercest temper of any girl he knew, but he seemed to have underestimated her. She sat and looked fiercely, clenching her fists, staring toward Bale Manor.

When they finally pulled up to the manor, Luxir, not waiting for the carriage to stop, jumped out and ran inside the manor. Jack ran after her in a panic, shouting to her, "Wait!"

Luxir stopped in annoyance and almost coughing up blood yelled at him, "WHAT'S NOW!?"

Jack stopped in front of her and slipped a beautiful, moonlight-reflecting dagger out of his long cloak and handed it to Luxir.

- Hold this for your safety, I saw that Baganur always carries a dagger like this with her just in case, considering your relationship with her... I'm afraid she'll use it if you force her... Please... take it..." With eyes wet with tears, he dropped to his knees in front of her and looked up at her with a pleading look.

Luxir was a little taken aback, her gaze warming slightly. She accepted the dagger from Jack's hands and touched his hair with her thin, elegant hand.

- "Thank you. Jack." she said to him with a smile and ran into the manor.

As soon as she disappeared behind the walls, Jack stood up, shook himself off, wiped the rest of the tears from his face with his cloak, and with a nonchalant look walked to the carriage. Taking out a few silver coins, he tossed them to the coachman and said:

- Go, Milady will be here for a long time."

Catching the coins on the fly, the coachman nodded to Jack and turned the carriage in the opposite direction to fade into the haze of night.

The estate of the Bale family. Leaning against the cold brown wall of the manor, a young man sat with an iron can of milk in his hand, greedily drinking its contents while snacking on a beautifully baked Dionar pretzel in the other hand. As he enjoyed his meal, he could hear the distant shouts coming from the manor itself, the shouts adding even more richness and flavor to the milk. After he finished his can, he strode inside at a measured pace to see the results.

Jack walked to his usual spot, where he'd been standing for almost a month, guarding his master's chamber. Looking around, he saw the door to the bedroom open, and inside, the guards were running around in confusion, giving each other orders. With his hands in his pockets, Jack entered the bedroom. The first thing he saw was a woman's body, lying peacefully on the bed with her belly up, her arms spread out at the sides. There were bloody splatters and red stains everywhere, both on the body and on the bed. Jack walked over to the bed and peered into the girl's face. Lady Baganour. What misfortune. Quickly losing interest, he went to the place, which was surrounded by a ring of guards. Squeezing through them, he saw Arthur's body lying on the floor. His face was frozen in perpetual terror and incomprehension. From his chest, sticking out was the hilt of the dagger that Jack had kindly handed to Lady Luxir. The dagger was fully bladed inside his chest.

With what force had she pierced him? Terrifying woman.

He shifted his gaze to Lady Luxir, who was being held, by her armpits, by two guards. She was unconscious. It looked as if she had been knocked out by those same guards. Jack turned and knelt on one knee in front of Arthur's body, like a hunter kneels before the body of a dead deer, and looked Arthur in the eyes. With a smooth motion, he closed the eyes of the sedated man. And before the guards started asking unnecessary questions, he hurried to the exit of the manor. He made it across the street without too much trouble, since it was a pitch black night, with two moons shining like suns yet yielding no light. Jack dug out from under a bridge the large sack he had hidden beforehand, loaded it on his back, and headed in the direction of the moons. Walked to where he would find his new master. Where he is needed. Where his skills might come in handy. Hundreds of miles away, toward the two moons, was the border between the two empires: Diolas and Mercia. In that place, battles were fought every day, a never-ending war, an endless battlefield. A squire would come in handy there. A squire named Jack.

Leaving Dionar, Jack turned over his shoulder, looking around the city with a sad look.

Farewell Sir Arthur.

Straightening his sack full of supplies, Jack headed off with a smile, on his way for adventure and new masters.