Chapter 11: THE PARTY
It was the day of Rollo's birthday party and the house was bursting with Thrall and his children's friends. The ceremony was taking place in the big hall where servants were punished. The place was completely transformed and no one who wasn't a part of the household would have believed it was a cold, dark, and empty place mainly used for torturing servants.
Thrall had spared no expenses in his effort to completely transform his home into a place Worthy of a court official. His house had been whitewashed. The floor scrubbed until it was almost shining and the hall expensively decorated.
The servants moved between the guests with servings of food and rum. They all had smiles on their faces but were fuming inside. They had been forced to work non-stop for this party and they were very tired. To add insult to injury, Rollo had been on their necks the whole time, shouting and hitting them for any little mistake on their parts.
They only wanted to rest, not forced to wear fancy servant uniforms with fake smiles as they served stuck-up Merchants and nobles.
As the guests arrived one by one, Thrall and his children will go to meet them with pleasant smiles as they welcomed them to their home. Rollo had only a few friends. He had fought all the others and driven them away due to his bad temper. Not like he cared. He had no time for weak fools. He also had no interest to play the perfect host.
The only reason why he was with his father and sister at the door, welcoming an infinite horde of people he had no love for was because he wanted to meet the Royal trainer when he arrived.
Due to his status in the kingdom, the royal trainer was bound to be the last person to arrive just like any other person powerful than he was would always come after he did so as to prevent the hassle of introducing himself over and over again.
Rollo was already dreading the long wait for the royal trainer and would have gladly gone inside to have some rum and chat up some girls but he knew his father would skewer him alive if he gave them the slip, especially after forcing him to organize this big event in his stead so Rollo stayed.
After waiting for what seemed like an eternity to Rollo, The royal trainer, Orion finally arrived. He was a well-muscled man in his early forties with blonde hair and sky blue eyes. He was powerful as he was tall and Rollo couldn't help but gawk at him like a fool. Here was a man with great achievements unparalleled by anyone.
The royal trainer had been a soldier who had risen through the ranks due to sheer bravado and skill. At the height of his power, when he was barely in his thirties, he had led a small team of 50 soldiers to victory against a samurai village with no casualties on his side.
Anyone hearing the tale would think it nothing but a small achievement until they found out just how powerful even a small samurai village could be. The Samurai were skilled swordsmen and very scary. It was rumored that they served demons and some crazed soldiers who had managed to escape the Samurai's settlement had reported that they could wield magic.
For a man as young as Orion to be able to lay siege to such a village and conquer it with zero casualties, the king had deemed him castle material and asked him to teach his children whatever he knew about combat, hence his title, the Royal trainer.
Orion smiled as he got out from his coach and saw the awed look on the young boy's face. He liked that look. Anytime people gawked at him, he remembered how he had started. From the bottom of the barrel, now he was at the top and he felt he deserved all the praises and respect that came from his achievement.
"Aaah, his royal trainer, Orion. Welcome to my humble abode, sir. It is such an honor." Thrall immediately grabbed the man's hand and started shaking it vigorously with a delighted smile. Orion didn't like physical contact with people he barely knew but he was nice enough to let the Merchant's actions slide.
"Don't mention it, my dear.. Thrall" Orion's personal assistant whispered the Merchant's name into his ear which he delivered like a professional actor.
"I had nothing on my schedule today so I decided to grace a friend's party. We men have to stick together." Orion said with a small fake laugh. The truth was that he was only wasting his precious time there to further his own agenda. He wouldn't spend a second longer if he wasn't sure he would reap as much or maybe even more than he invested in the near future.
"True, true. Please meet my lovely daughter, Nynna." Rollo's sister bowed to the royal trainer graciously with a smile lighting up her face.
"As you can see, she's very beautiful and brilliant. She took after her mother"
Orion had no doubt that she did. The girl Infront of him was very beautiful and delicate, he just couldn't place her as Thrall's daughter. Maybe he adopted her. The royal trainer thought.
"She's already of age to marry. I don't want her to go for any of the vagabonds that roam this town though. My lovely Nynna deserves better. She's royalty. Speaking of royalty, how's your family? I heard your son is shaping up to be quite the soldier just like you." Thrall asked Orion sneakily.
"Oh, everyone's fine. And yes, my boy is doing quite well in the army. Maybe your boy over there whom you've not introduced me to would see him when he joins our next raid." Orion replied calmly with a smile.
He was not stupid. He knew what Thrall was hinting at the moment he brought up marriage. Unfortunately for Thrall, Orion already had plans to marry his son into the king's family so found Thrall's not-so-subtle hints as nothing more than a waste of time.
"Oh.. that's my son, Rollo." Thrall was disappointed but he quickly hid it. Maybe the man hadn't understood his covert hints. There was still a long night ahead of them.
"This is his birthday. He will be joining our next raid and Is practicing for it." Thrall continued the introduction. Rollo immediately moved forward and bowed to the Royal trainer before stretching his hand for a shake.
"Such a fine young man. I hope we can expect great things from you." Orion said as he pumped Rollo's hand in a shake.
"Certainly. I'm sure my worth would be proven before this night ends, sir" Rollo said with a grin before stepping back to allow the Royal trainer way into the house. Thrall took a glance at his son as he said those words but kept his mouth shut since he had no clue what was going on.
"This way, sir. The party is yet to start. For real. There is a lot to keep your boredom away for the night. I promise." Thrall said and lead the way into the house, followed by the Royal trainer, his two personal assistants, several guards, and Thrall's own children who couldn't wait to dig their way into big times through Orion.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone