Rolling up his sleeves, he bumped into someone, and Cain stumbled back, surprised.
In front of him, Cain found a woman who was quite easy on the eyes. She had pale skin with dazzling brown eyes, puffy cheeks, small ears, and a softly shaped jaw. Her straight, light brown hair reached her shoulders.
"I'm so sorry, it was my fault," the woman said, dropping to the ground.
"Not at all, the fault is mine," Cain replied, helping to pick up her books.
"Lord Fullmore asked for these, and I was rushing to get them to him." Her small hands began to gather the dropped books. Cain spotted an open one, and words caught his eye Orange Eyes… Beasts… Thorned God. Snapping out of it, Cain shut the book and handed it to her.
The woman hurried off once again down the hall before turning back.
"My name is Elisa. What's yours?"
"It's nice to meet you, Elisa. My name is Cain," he said, slightly tipping his head in his signature bow.
"Be seeing you," she said, hurriedly walking back down the hall. Cain watched her leave before continuing downstairs, but his mind was stuck on what he had read.
Orange eyes. Beasts. A Thorned God.
I'll have to investigate those things when the time comes. But first…
"There he is! Welcome, Cain. It must feel nice to wear real clothes again." Leonard warmly welcomed him. "Come on, there's someone who wants to meet you."
A tall woman stood next to Leonard with a stern expression on her face.
"This is Lady Fullmore, daughter of Lord Fullmore, and she is usually the one to lead recruits on the hunts. She's got the highest kill count of those nasty beasts out there."
"Nice to meet you, Lady Fullmore. The name is Cain," Cain said, bowing his head. Lady Fullmore simply watched and studied him. She was a pine-skinned woman with dark grey eyes and thin eyebrows.
"What's so special about you that you caught Lord Wigram's eye?" Lady Fullmore asked, her thin lips showing no emotion.
Cain raised his eyebrow slightly, catching a glimpse of the ring that sat on her finger and noticing it was different from Wigram's.
"I rolled around in the dirt with a pig and made a fool of myself," Cain said honestly.
"Is that so?" Fullmore asked, pushing her dark red hair back. "Tell me what's your last name, Cain? Why were you cast down into this nightmare?"
Cain understood that the question was not truly a question, but a command.
"With all due respect, I think I'm going to hold onto my last name and that information until I feel a little safer here," Cain replied, glancing down at the guns and blades at Fullmore's and Wigram's sides.
"Hm. Smart and foolish." Glancing at Wigram, Fullmore continued, "Not telling me your name makes it harder for me to track you down, but it implies you have something to hide. Keeping things hidden usually results in death."
Cain opened his mouth to speak, but Fullmore spoke first.
"Wigram, get Mr. Cain fitted with a blade and a gun so he may begin to feel safer. We leave as soon as I get the other two ready."
"Yes, my lady." Leonard bowed with a hand over his chest. Lady Fullmore turned on her heel and walked away quickly.
Cain looked to Leonard.
"Where are we going?"
Leonard patted Cain on the shoulder. "Lucky you, Cain. As sleep-deprived as you are, you get to go on your first hunt in ten minutes."
Downstairs in the armoury, Leonard opened the locks and handed Cain an old revolver with a long barrel. Looking past Leonard, there were a ton of these sitting in the old metal safe.
"Do you really think giving me this is a good idea? I've already taken a swing at you," Cain said, opening the long-barreled revolver's chamber and holding his hand out toward Leonard.
Leonard dropped eighteen bullets into Cain's hand. "Yeah. You're a good guy—willing to go back after that Roland fellow—and you know we're good people. We take in and protect folks from all walks of life."
Cain nodded at that, opening his mouth.
"How do you think that went over with Fullmore?" He filled the revolver with six shots, pocketing the last twelve.
Leonard was silent for a moment before answering.
"I think it went as well as it could have. Lady Fullmore has a lot of pressure on her shoulders. As I said, she's responsible for many lives, even as young as she is. I respect your decision to keep your last name to yourself, but she undoubtedly sees it as a reason not to trust you."
"I can't blame her," Cain said simply before moving on. "She mentioned getting the others ready. Who are the others?"
"They've been here longer than you but have yet to go on a hunt. Similarly to you, they were thrown in here for crimes committed in the outside world and unlike you, they told us why."
"What did they do out there?" Cain asked, picking up a waterskin and some gauze.
Leonard chuckled. "Cain, to everyone here you're Mr. Mystery. You don't get to ask why others are down here if you're not willing to share yourself."
"Fair enough," Cain said, fastening the sword to his hip.
"Go wait for me and the others by the main door. I need to get some extra things," Leonard said, shooing Cain away with his fingers.
Rolling his eyes, Cain left the underground cellar-meets-armoury and made his way to the door where he had first arrived. He was the first one there. No one else was in the main hall except one black-coated lord enamored with a book. Cain took a seat on the front steps and sighed.
"This is going to be a while, isn't it?"