We stepped in, heavy linen bags hung against our waist. "Oh god why in the bloody devil do we have to carry such heavy bags? It's not like I even do anything!" I said as I carried a very heavy postcard through the threshold as my manservant and the brat carried satchels full of legal papers and documents. "Yes young master, why do we have to endure such hardships?" Rupert said letting out a chuckle. "Hardships?" Jared asked. "This is only one-tenth that a sword is required to train to carry." We cross the threshold, Jared kicking closed the door behind him.

"Home sweet home, here we are," I said sarcastically, throwing my arms, gesturing around in a grandiose way, adding more to my unimpressed sarcastic demeanor toward the state of my gigantic home. I turned to Jared, "Pretty big huh?" I said deviously. He chuckled, "I've seen much bigger at the capital palace." My ego took a big hit with that. I guess I had kind of been hoping that Jared would have been a peasant farmer or some sort of uneducated trash. Never had I ever expected him to say that he had seen one bigger than mine. "I'm sorry to say," Rubert interjected. "My lord, a Sword is forged directly under the watch of the highest castle in all of the land, and even such a grandiose place such as this would be no more than a pebble in comparison to a diamond, to such a place," Rupert exclaimed extravagantly, gesturing around the room with his hands. I frowned and looked at both of them. "Rupert there is no need to treat me like a child." I grabbed the shoulder of my manservant, got close and whispered into his ear. "You could have told me all of this in my private quarters," I said desperately. I let go of him then looked up at Jared. "So welcome to Manor Loch Bryan. There is no high lake in sight nor ever. Sorry about that." I frowned sarcastically. Rupert quickly interjected, obviously upset with my sarcastic jokes. "The young master means of course that it is amusing and hardly appropriate for the manor's name to mean Manor High Lake since there is no lake, nor is there an elevation. It is an ancestral name. Excuse my master's musings." Rupert bowed at the brat.

I scoffed, "Rupert that was meant to be an inside joke privy to no strangers." I huffed my way towards the parlor. A clang and sputter, as one of Dad's expensive liquors, hit the bottom of my crystal glass. "Young master," huffed Rupert. "It's 9 am." I extended my arm dramatically, pulled my arm into my line of vision, hunched over myself, peered down at my wrist and said, "It's 9:26, practically 5 pm." Rupert scowled at me. "That's more than 8 hours away." I looked at Rupert as his arms were flailed about in disapproval. "Pffft, it's only 7 hours away from now, add or subtract a couple of minutes. So it's practically  5 pm." Rupert's head hung low. "Young master," he said. "I thought I'd had taught you better, especially in front of company," he said gesturing towards our company, but he was nowhere to be found. I looked at the empty space where he should be and said, "Where the bloody..." I trailed off and heard laughter from the internal crevices of the manor. If I could place it I would say the living room, and to that, I thought, oh no, mother and father... Rupert looked at my terrified expression. "We must go forth, tally ho, to save your young man." I furled my eyebrows and slightly blushed. "He's a Sword, Rupert," I said with embarrassment in my voice. "I don't expect such things to be capable of being called my boy." Rupert looked at me and sighed, "Oh yes, whatever it is you want my master," a slight sarcasm in his voice. "But we must go save him or it from your parents." We hurried through, past the parlor, towards the inner sanctum of my home. I saw my father's big armchair and my mother's extravagantly expensive loveseat where she loved to laze about in the living room of our needlessly redundantly expensive manor. But saw neither of them sitting, but standing and laughing right in front of the fireplace with Jared himself as he smiled and chuckled with my father's arm around his shoulder, as he hunched over in exuberant laughter. My pace slowed to a halt and I said, "What the bloody devil is going on here." My mother saw me out of the corner of her eye as if she was slighting me. She put an arm around Jared then walked towards me, letting that arm slide off of Jared's back onto his shoulder as it carried her way towards me. She looked at me and said, "Oh darling, I hadn't seen you come in. However are you doing?" my mother said in a distant tone, as she was dissociated from reality. I thought to myself, how the bloody hell could you be asking me how I'm doing with a bloody sword in front of your mantelpiece telling you jokes. Dad keeled over in reaction to how funny these jokes are, nearly having a bloody stroke. You seeing this sword followed by me and Rupert coming into your bloody living room, how could we or would I possibly be okay? Even enough for you to ask me how I am and not concerned! I looked at my mother straight in the eyes and yelled, "No mother, I am not okay!" She looked at me sternly. Father snapped himself up from his laughter, looked at me sternly, both of them staring deeply into my soul. Father huffed, "That is no way to talk to your parents." Mother chimed in agreement, "Yes of course, where are your manners." I looked at both of them, huffed and charged towards my brat, grabbed his shoulder, pulled him close to me and said. "This is my sword. There has been an attempt on my life today and I am not in the bloody mood to deal with either of your shenanigans," I said angrily, almost wanting to reach over and strangle this bratty redheaded brat. They both looked at me, shocked, flabbergasted way beyond all emotional reasons. They shook in their boots as they both said in unison, "An attempt on your life! You're our only son!" "Wait," I said. "I have a little brother."