Penn opened the door to the meal hall which suddenly went quiet as she entered but the silence didn't unfazed her, instead she took wide strides to the man table where she sat down besides Vallas and opened the dishes before her. Vallas continued his conversation with his trainers while Penn listened with half attention. It was a while after that before conversations resumes it flow in the room.

Penn started to pay attention when she heard her name from Vallas in passing words. "…will need Weapons training and a training in subterfuge and in Lessons on behavior."

At the last words, Penn snorted and when Vallas looked at her, she asked. "What am I? a girl? Why do I need lessons as if I am going to be wooing suitors?"

Vallas removed his eyes from Penn own because he knew the exact questions Penn was asking. "That attitude of yours is one of the reasons why you need those lessons."

"No." Penn responded.

"Yes, certain things are required of you to know now because of your station. You will learn them." Vallas orders and watched as Penn face turned calculating.

"This is the best Penn, so that you will get to uphold my legacy." He added softly and Penn signs in defeat.

"Fine, you win." Penn muttered as Vallas smiled indulgingly.

"Master Vallas." One of the people in table drew Vallas attention to himself. "Allow me to volunteer my child to teach the Younger master, all he needs to learn. I think he will be more comfortable with someone close to his age."

"Penn?" Vallas questions and when Penn nodded he clapped his hands together. "We will go along with that plan. And Penn, we should be leaving anytime soon."

"I am done eating." Penn stuff another mouthful in her mouth and chewed messily.

"I… can see that. Let's go and you need to start eating more to have more skin on your bones." Vallas added as he left the meal hall with Penn a step behind him.

They got to the stables where Penn was made to choose a horse of his own before they rode out into town. They got to a closed store as Vallas stops his horse and came down. "The Store is closed." Penn pointed out still on her horse.

"Then it is the right place, nobody else gets to be in the same place as you while your fittings is going on." Vallas responded as Penn jumped down from her horse and they went into the shop.

"My lord." A woman who had been sitting, jumped to her feet before sinking into a deep bow, first to Vallas and then to Penn.

"This is your charge, I suggest you get everything required, spare no expense." Vallas dropped a heavy coin pouch on a nearby table. "He needs free clothes for fighting, those should be his only clothes which will be made with poor quality."

"Yes sire." The woman sank into a deeper bow.

"Good luck with the needles." Vallas said as he ducked out through the door and left Penn with the seam mistress who was watching her with the same curiosity that she was watching Penn with.

"Let's get started, undress." The seam mistress said unsure how to proceed with the man in front of her who was as silent as his master was a chatter box.

"You will take my measurements with my clothes on." Penn voiced.

"I can't do that. I won't get your definite size." The woman protested but Penn smiled.

"You must be talented, I am sure that was why he chose you. Increase the chest size by one." Penn said dismissively as she turned her back on the Seam mistress and waited in silence for the woman to start her measurements. It wasn't long before the woman came close and began to take Penn measurements.

****

Something made Penn consciousness to become alert, she was waiting in the store for her clothes to get ready but the air was not right. Penn could see shapes in front of her through her closed lashes and when she saw the flash of steel, she did the only thing she could do, fling herself away from her former position as quickly as she could. She turned to see where she was seated before and saw a knife sticking out of the cushion where her head was less than a minute ago and the seam mistress trying to drag the knife out of the chair.

"let me help you with that." Penn said in a deadly tone as the Seam Mistress froze as Penn walked to her and yanked the knife out of the chair and turned it to her. "You are going to regret coming after me."

"Please." She begged. "I had no choice, he is holding my baby hostage, all I have do to is give him an evidence that I killed you."

"Who is this person?" Penn demanded and when the woman eyes slide to the floor like she was contemplating lying to Penn, Penn draw her hand back and with a quick flick of her wrist, a thin bead of blood came out from the woman's neck.

The woman held her neck as she stared in Penn in shock.

"The next line I will make will make you choke on your blood. I heard that it feels like you are drowning, do people died from blood loss or lack of air?" Penn wondered out loud.

"The prime minister." The woman let out fearfully as Penn nodded. She had suspected that much and she didn't really know what to do now that she got her answer.

"You are going to leave your shop and walk around to find my master, when you do find him, you are to kneel in front of him and I will take care of the rest." Penn orders and the woman looked like she was about to complain, whatever she saw in Penn eyes was enough for her to swallow her words and walked out of her shop, searching for Lord Vallas, who hadn't gone far. He was laughing with some men who were in front of an enclosed space where two people were inside fighting.

"And there is my Heir." Lord Vallas boomed in a jovial tone, a cup in his hand. It wasn't in Penn to judge but she knew it was too early for someone to be drunk then she looked at Vallas eyes and saw the uncanny intelligence in them. The man was not drunk, he was only acting that way.

"My lord." The seam mistress knelt in front of Vallas who looked taken back by the action.

"Remove your hands from your neck." Penn ordered quietly but her voice was fierce like a whip and the seam mistress quickly scrambled to do as she ordered.

"What happened?" Vallas asked sitting up when he saw the blood welling from her neck. The noise around them reduced sensing the change in the atmosphere. "Where you two attacked?" Vallas looked at Penn who shook her head.

"Not exactly." Penn looked around. "Somewhere private."

"I own everything here, they are all loyal to me, we can talk." Vallas responded.

"Not everybody." Penn kicked the seam mistress back as she fell forwards and tried to make herself look smaller. "She came after me with this." Penn showed Vallas the knife.

"What?" Vallas questioned, his voice going dark and losing the playfulness the man always had around him. The fighting had stopped and everybody attention was now on the new entertainment which was not funny or faked.

"Already questioned her. The prime minister sends his regards and he is with her baby." Penn adds as Vallas back handed the woman.

"You should have known better, you know that the babe would be dead by now." The seam mistress just sobbed on the ground.

"Master, what are we going to do to her?" Penn asked.

"Do you want us to kill her?" Penn just stared at Vallas after he had spoken his words and didn't say anything. "Right." Vallas continued. "Too early for you to start making those decisions. Can I see the knife?"

Penn handed the knife over to Vallas who inspects it. "This is a beautiful work of art."

"Spare me." The Seam Mistress whimpers.

"Like you would have spared my child." Vallas asked her and when she kept quiet, he went back to inspecting the knife.

Penn actually felt sorry for the woman, she didn't know what would happen but she knew that Vallas was not a forgiving man and since he had thought that she was safe in his town, he had left her alone with danger and for that alone, she must be punished. The seam mistress scream brought Penn attention back to the scene before her. Vallas had the woman hair in one grip as he sliced off one of her ears.

"Mercy My lord." She begs.

"Your babe is dead, it wouldn't surprise me if she had been dead from the moment the prime minister stole her. Even with this possibility, you still chose to betray me. There will be no mercy from me." Vallas said close to her other ear before he slit her throat and then stepped back from the woman holding her gaze with his as he watched the last of her life leave her. Penn turned her face away from the scene, her teeth clenched together, no willing to show vulnerability. She would have never been given Mercy, Penn kept repeating to herself. The woman was going to murder her. "She is dead, look at me." Vallas orders as Penn turned to look at the man who was her master and adopted father.

"She was one of us. She was your person, she betrayed you. She is a traitor. Never feel sorry for them. Makes sure they know that you are not to be trifled with. Clean those tears off your face, she doesn't deserve them." Vallas shouted at Penn who jumped then cleaned her face of the tears she never knew were falling. "Never be weak." Vallas spat out and when Penn nodded her understanding, Vallas smiled. "Someone clean my son new knife, Take this trash out of here and Pour the boy a drink so we can continue watching our fight." Vallas tone was that of a playful man once more. "Have a seat son."

Penn sat close to the man who was her new mentor. Was this who she wanted to become? She was not sure.

"Take me that the traitor made something at least." Vallas asked.

"She did." Penn replied.

"Perfect, I will send somebody to pick up everything from the shop, someone else will continue your clothes and Leda might start a new chore for the women so those items will be my gift for her..." Vallas continued talking but Penn tuned him out.

The man was not stable. All that was going through Penn mind was: What had she gotten herself involved with?