Pearl waited for the two servants to open the door, and she was the first to come out, and stopped on the first step of the marble staircase, to take a look around.
The page that was at the entrance of the stable saw her, and he immediately rushed inside to tell the driver to come out.
When Pearl was going down the staircase, Anika, Alex and Wenammy appeared, and a lot of cheering was heard, from the crowd on the sides of the staircase and the street, but none of them tried to come closer because of the gravity line that Pearl created the moment she stepped on the staircase, stopped them. Alex heard his name being shouted and made a slight smile and gave a few nods left and right.
Then, a young girl of no more than ten years old tried to approach the line of soldiers with a flower in her hands, and the increased gravity made her slow down. She bit her lower lip and forced herself up, and slowly walked to get near the soldiers.
With her face red with the effort, she spoke, “Earl… Alex…”
The weight on her body was too much, and she put one knee on the ground. She tried to get up again but couldn’t. Alex noticed the girl when he heard a soldier telling her to get back, and he signalled Pearl to release the girl. As soon as Pearl mumbled a quick Spell, the little girl slowly got up, surprised for feeling herself light again.
Alex approached and touched the left arm of the soldier in front of the girl, and as he stood to the side, Alex crouched in front of the surprised girl. “I am sorry, my friend was using a Spell to prevent the crowd from getting near me. Are you alright?”
“Now I am, Sir. What was that Spell? Suddenly I felt like if my little brother was on top of me like when we play, and I couldn’t get up!”
“It was a very powerful Spell that uses Earth Magic.”
The little girl gave her flower to Alex with her eyes shining. “Earth Magic, really? I can also use a bit of that, but I am still learning! Sir, I wanted to give this to you, I know it’s not much, but this came from the back of my house, where I have a little flower garden. I make them grow with lots of love and I take really good care of them!”
Alex held the flower and smiled at the little girl. “Thanks, I will put it in a vase in my room when I get home, but you didn’t need to have so much trouble to give me this flower, you even suffered a lot to get near me.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t counting with that Spell! But… Sir, I just wanted to give you this flower and to thank you for taking care of me. Well, taking care of my parents, actually, but still. They have a stand in the Market, and they sell many of the vegetables that grow in your lands… so… thanks… I… also go to School and… I know that not many girls my age can go, since I am just a commoner, like my parents.”
Alex held the little girl’s hand and squeezed it gently. “You mean that your parents work for me in the Market, is that it? That’s nice. Are they happy? Is anything more I could do for them, or you?”
The little girl vigorously shook her head. “No, Sir, I didn’t come to ask anything from you! You already gave us so much, I don’t need anything more. I know I am very lucky, I can’t be greedy! I just hope I can be of some use to you when I get older! I am going to study hard at School, and train my Magic every day. I want to be a wise and powerful Earth Mage so that I can apply to your army! I want to help you as you did for my parents! We used to have a hard life, where we were living before… with another Noble…”
Alex stared at the little girl, and he gently cleaned her tears. “I am glad that now you and your parents are happy. By the way, what is your name?”
The little girl made a deep bow by holding the tip of her light green dress. “I am Sara Perry, Sir.”
“So, Sara, shouldn’t you be in School at this hour? Are you skipping classes?”
“No, Sir, I never skip classes! We had the day off because you were coming here! I came with my friends from School to see you arrive, and when you leave, I will go to the Market to help my parents.”
Alex made a slight frown. “If it’s your day off, shouldn’t you be playing with your friends instead of working in the Market?”
“I already did that, Sir, but now I must go help my parents. We received a new batch of vegetables early this morning, and every time that happens, my parents have a lot of work, because everyone wants to buy them!”
Alex slowly got up and caressed the light brown hair of the little girl and then a woman’s voice made both of them jolt. “So, not only I have to fight Wenammy and Pearl for your love, now you have a little girl after you as well? The nerve of some girls nowadays!”
Sara Perry became bright red, and she looked down, afraid of the blue-haired woman that was looking at her with a frown while surrounded by Magic. Alex stood next to Sara and said, “Anika, do you mind not terrorizing her? Try to behave like a proper lady, will you?”
Wenammy spoke while crouching in front of Sara Perry, “Don’t mind Anika, that Mermaid is jealous of her own shadow. You are rather cute, you know?”
Sara Perry opened wide her mouth when she noticed the wings near her, and she looked down again and spoke with a trembling voice, “Thank… you… Milady… I… never saw a Fairy so close. Your wings are so beautiful…”
Wenammy winked with a smile. “They are, right? Way prettier than a Mermaid’s tail, but don’t tell her that, she will get angry!”
Sara quickly shook her head with a worried face. “No, I won’t! Is she… mad at me? Because I just wanted to give the flower…”
“No, she was just joking, don’t worry. She has a strange sense of humour, but she didn’t mean to scare you, I am sure.”
From behind them, Pearl’s voice spoke, and Sara Perry looked up and stared at the beautiful smiling Elfian, “So, what do we have here? A little Earth Mage, I suppose? What Spell are you practising, lately?”
“I am training to control my Magic… I can make a small rock marble… and… I can open small trenches to put seeds, and close the trenches again with my Magic… I can help the seeds to grow faster… a little each day, but they grow faster than they normally would. I know I still have a lot to learn…”
Pearl crouched near Wenammy and Sara with a smile on her lips. “I started to train my Magic just like that, many, many years ago. It’s amazing when you make a little seed to grow into a new plant, right? The first time I grew a tree, I cried of happiness.”
“Yeah… I… also cry of happiness every time I make a new plant. My little brother always mocks me, he calls me a cry baby. There is something special about making a seed grow…”
Pearl smiled and caressed Sara’s left cheek. “I am sure you will be an amazing Earth Mage when you grow up. You have a lot of Magic in you, you just need to keep on practising.”
“I… I have? Really? I… it’s my dream, to be a powerful Earth Mage… and help the Earl… you mean… I can really do it?”
Pearl nodded. “I am never wrong about the amount of Magic a person can use, even when it’s a little girl like you. You just need to practice a lot, and you can be whatever you want, in the future.”
“Thanks, Milady!”
Pearl got up and looked down the stairs, and saw the page already near the carriage with the door open. She looked again at Sara and said, “It was a pleasure meeting you, but our carriage waits for us. Maybe we see each other someday, and we can throw against each other a couple of Spells, for practice.”
“I… would like that, Milady, thanks!”
Wenammy caressed Sara’s face and went to Pearl while Anika was waving at Sara. Alex smiled and said, “I need to go, I have a meeting to attend to, after lunch. Maybe we will meet on another day.”
“Yes, Sir, I hope as well. Goodbye, have a safe trip! And thanks for everything!”
As Alex waved at the smiling little girl, the crowd shouted his name again. They were all in silence, watching him interact with that simple commoner little girl, like if it was a normal thing for him to do, despite most Nobles never cared about anyone that would call their name from afar, or dared to give them a mere flower. They all saw how Alex carried the flower against his chest while going down the stairs, like if it was the most precious gift he ever received. Before he entered the carriage to join the three women inside, he looked back and made one last wave to the crowd with a big smile.
As soon as he entered, the page closed the door and retrieved the step, going to his place near the driver in a rush. The driver slashed the reins, and the horses began walking while the crowd was still clapping and shouting Alex’s name and title.
Inside the carriage, Anika was staring at Alex that was looking at the flower in his hands, with a slight smile.
She noticed a tear forming in his eyes, and exclamade, “If I knew a mere flower would have that kind of effect in you, I would have given you a bunch of them, days ago!”
“Yeah… It’s not because of the flower. It’s just… Something she said, about having a hard life when she and her parents lived with another Noble. The way she said it, and the darkness in her eyes when she remembered something… I wonder what happened, and who was that Noble. At least now she is happy, which means I am doing something right. I know I am improving the lives of a lot of people, but sometimes I tend to forget how much my actions influence others.”
Anika nodded with a puzzled look. “Yes, I got the impression you are doing some amazing things in your lands, judging by what we saw while we were arriving yesterday, and with everything I heard in that Chamber of Lords. I just don’t quite understand why you work as an Adventurer. If it’s not for the thrill, what moves you?”
“Duty, I suppose. I have a lot of Magic at my disposal, and I can also fight very well, be it unarmed or with any kind of weapon. Being an Adventurer grants me the opportunity to learn more about the World, because staying in my lands and getting reports about what was happening around me, wasn’t enough. My father also worked as an Adventurer, and that granted him a particular vision about the state of the World and the people. I am just trying my best to be a good replacement.”