soon they were just outside the Larick estate. It was a lot more crowded compared to a dream. When the boys arrived a frantic looking man in a green suit ran up to them and started to fuss over Maximus in a foreign language.

“This is my attendant he took care of me whenever my parents were busy. As you can see he is a bit of a worrier. He says they have been looking for me all night and if I ever do it again I will be forced to hold buckets of water for three days without food. Also how dare I show up with random young man after worrying them all to death.” Maximus explained somewhat amused by the mans theatrics.

“Hello I am Logan Miles from Lyrdon. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Logan said putting his hand out. The older man shook it firmly with a strained smile, it would seem the man didn’t like him too much.

“My name is Baohu Zhe. I’m not sure what the two of were up to last night but I think you should leave young man before his parents see you.” the older gentlemen said with disapproval dripping from his voice.

“Well if you wanted to have your young master to drown to death via dictator goons than I think you would appreciate my being with him last night.” Logan said vaguely annoyed by what he meant by ‘up to last night’.

The attendants face turned bright red as he released Logan’s hand to turn to Maximus.“What does mister Miles mean by drowned. And what does he mean dictator, what have you gotten yourself into.” Baohu grabbed Maximus’ arms turning him to each side to check for damages “Your father is going to have fit!”

“Shushu I’m fine Logan saved me and took care of me last night after fishing me out of the river. Now we have some things to discuss with my parents.” Maximus smiled nervously before heading into the gate beckoning Logan to follow.

The estate looked just like his dream except it was swarming with people of all walks of life working and talking. It was a very friendly and open household. You could barely differentiate between social class seeing as they all wore the same amount of fine silk and jewels.

“How does your ranking system work here?” Logan inquired. “Are they all treated as equals or do you treat them differently depending on their status. I honestly can’t tell.”

“ we treat them as servants all the same but we still treat them as humans. We incourage them to treat even the lowest ranking servants as equals and friends. Although we still expect them to treat us with the respect we deserve as their employers like any job.” Maximus explained heading to the large building in the center, the estate from the dreams.

“Looks like it’s show time is there anything I should expect like imprisonment, yelling or murder?” Logan inquired

“Not sure but they tend to be overly dramatic so be on guard and try to keep the sarcasm to a minimum they might not appreciate it to much.” Maximus admitted visibly nervous

“I maybe a prince, but I was raised by a smartmouthed scholar. You can’t exactly expect me not to have at least one smart aleck response.” Logan remarked casually

“ I don’t give a damn if you were raised by a court jester behave yourself numb nut.”Maximus scowled at Logan before continuing on his way. Soon they arrived at the steps of the mansion. Logan began adjusting his clothes and hair as they walked up the stairs.

“How do I look, presentable I hope. Should I have worn my cloak instead.” he contemplated as he patted the wrinkles out of his shirt.

“Don’t worry half the staff are probably already in love with you. Face it Logan you are not exactly ugly.” Maximus sighed as he opened the door.

“Young Lord Maximus welcome home, how might we be of service!” asked three young women in sync as they stood by the door heads slightly bowed.

“Tell my parents to meet me in the tea room we need to have a talk.” Maximus commanded with his chest puffed out stretching to appear taller. The women scurried off as Maximus and Logan headed to the tea room. Maximus navigated the twist and turns of the building with speed, while Logan had a hard time keeping up while taking in the scenery.

Each hallway was wide enough for four people to walk side by side without their shoulders touching and still have plenty of room. There were several tables displaying flowers and expensive pottery of various designs and colours, with paintings of landscapes and animals between them.

“How many hallways are in this place, It’s like a maze, how do you not get lost?” Logan inquired struggling to keep up.

“Well, when you grow up always walking the same halls you tend to memorize them.” Maximus shrugged “We are almost there. We make the halls complicated incase of assassins and the such.”

“Rich people are insane. When this is all done and over with I’m going to live on a nice little farm with simple hallways.” Logan huffed

“Don’t worry we are here it’s only three hallways into the house” Maximus sighed as he stopped at a white door with jade trimming and gold embellishment threading through the door to encircle the door knob. “ Let’s get this over with.” He sighed opening the door.

The room was large with a sofa in the middle of it big enough to fit five people people easily. On either side of the sofa were small square tables with small vases of purple and white flowers on each with a love seaton either side making the seating form a half square around a huge table that sits perfectly a half a foot from each seat as if they were a set made for each other. In each corner was a reading nook with a high-backed chair and a small round table beside a small bookshelf everything was white with gold and jade running through it like veins except for the pillows which were a Jade green with gold tassels.

Maximus plopped down in the center of the large sofa beckoning Logan to sit next to him.

“This room is nicer then anything I have ever owned.” Logan sat down beside Maximus taking in the room. “Do you think we can see stuff like this on our travels?” The look of wonder made Logan look so young and naive

“I imagine we will see all sorts of different things probably some really horrible stuff too.” Maximus replied anxiously.

Before they could ponder more about their impending journey the door opened to reveal a short blonde man with the same green eyes as Maximus but a much fairer skin tone and thinner face. Behind the man was a tall women with olive coloured skin and long wavy black hair and chocolate brown eyes the same shape as Maximus’. The couple made their way to the love seat on the left of the boys and sat so they faced them.