"I'm frightened by what I see
But somehow I know
That there's much more to come
Immobilized by my fear
And soon to be
Blinded by tears
I can stop the pain
If I will it all away
If I will it all away"
It had bothered him the whole way back to Velius' place and once there Fen'Fael finally picked up the courage to ask, "how did you figure out it wasn't me who broke the vase? Or rather the other elf? I mean, the cat could have easily done it too."
The human chuckled again, "the dwarves are no fools. Your friend has broken a few vases in his time there, apparently and besides," Velius paused for a moment to open the front door, "your friend is really bad at lying and told the truth within moments of them asking what had happened. I guess he did not want you to get into trouble, seeing as the dwarves would only want me to teach you better manners. It is unusual for one of my rank to have such a..."
Fen'Fael cut Velius' words short as he said with a snarled tone, "...barbaric idiotic wild brute of an elf?"
The human shrugged, "more or less. Though that would have been their words, not mine."
With a frown, Fen'Fael asked,"and what would you call me then?" He slowly moved into the house, feeling rather annoyed and worried once more about his friend.
"I think you have... a personal charm to you, if you must know. I wouldn't worry too much about it, my little pet." Velius laughed, "unless my opinion is that important to you?"
"Not your 'pet'." Fen'Fael sighed, "and no, I do not really care what you think of me. We have a deal, and that is all I care about." He said with a huff.
"Then do not think too much of things of little importance to you." Velius said calmly as he removed his long coat and handed it to Fen'Fael to hang up.
The youthful elf did so without being told, though he did show his annoyance with a mumbled complaint. He glanced over his shoulder to the human man, watching him give some orders to an older elf servant.
"What exactly is your position anyway? You never did tell me." Fen'Fael confessed as he recalled Kerrav's words to him.
The other man smiled over to Fen'Fael and said simply, "a powerful man, I own a very... good business here in the city. My father is also a magistrate and I his heir. Though my main job is trade right now. At least until my father finally kicks the bucket. Then I will have two powerful jobs to handle."
Fen'Fael wiggled his nose, "so you're a mage then? I had no idea." He looked down to his feet as he realised that there was so much about the human man that he did not know about. There was so many things that Fen'Fael wanted to know, but was afraid to ask. Curiosity killed the cat, after all.
"So," Fen'Fael said, nervously, "how does the whole heir thing work here? I know only a little of what humans are like, and less so those in the Imperium."
Velius moved to take the leash off of Fen'Fael, though he kept the collar around the elf's neck, "well, it is not as simple as me just inheriting the position, there is a lot more to it and even then it is not a guarantee that I will take the position, but there are few as likely to succeed the spot." He calmly stated as he turned to walk away, motioning for the elf to follow him.
"Even if I did get the spot, I would have to make sure someone else did not try to kill me for a chance to take the position for themselves. It is a dangerous game to play, even if no one would admit to it." Velius continued as he led Fen'Fael into one of the studies. More paperwork, the elf noted.
"You... do you use blood magic?" Fen'Fael asked warily. He knew the mages here often used such spells to gain even more power over others, but it was mostly just hearsay from other elven folks in their travels.
Velius sat down at his table, he gave the elf a sickly sweet smile, "where did you get that idea from?" He said, amused. This gave Fen'Fael reason to shudder. There was something about that look that gave him reason to believe the rumours of powerful blood mages to be true and he realised that Velius was becoming more and more a man that was better left in a good mood.
"I... see." Was all Fen'Fael could say as the words Kerrav had said to him, rang through his ears over and over.
Velius however seemed more amused by the elf's reaction, but made no mention of how frightened Fen'Fael almost looked. He did however laugh and confess, "yes, I know a bit of blood magic. That is not uncommon here. Though most people would never admit to it in polite company."
Fen'Fael gave a slow nod and Velius smiled that sweet smile again, "does it bother you that much? I have not used it on you, and have no plans to do so." He said, pulling some parchments in front of himself so that he could work on signing them. Fen'Fael assumed they were some form of contracts for the humans business though he could still not understand the language of them to be sure.
"Why would it not worry me?" Fen'Fael said, rubbing his left arm absently, "everyone knows how dangerous someone with that kind of power is."
Velius smirked, not looking up from his work now, "dangerous? I wouldn't say I was dangerous, just making sure I have as many options open for me to use, that is all." He said without much emotion to give away his implications of the meaning for his words.
Fen'Fael wrinkled his nose, "I think you're probably dangerous enough even without the blood magic, but I cannot tell just how much. You are... you... are odd."
A laugh escaped Velius' lips and he glanced up from his work, "how sweet of you to think so. You flatter me."
Fen'Fael wrinkled his nose again, "I wasn't trying too..."
Another chuckle came from Velius.
"I suppose it is..." Fen'Fael paused, looking for the right words, "...good that you are helping me, and not my enemy?" He bit his lower lip, he wouldn't have called Velius a friend, or even an ally. Not really, and it was hard to tell if Velius was even on Fen'Fael's side. The whole situation felt more like it was in the humans favour.
"That is the best way you can look at it," Velius said, returning to his work, "at least you'll be able to help your clan at my side. More than you could do otherwise, yes?" Velius pushed the completed paperwork into a pile and continued with more of the same.
"In any case, I really need to finish all this work before I head to my quarters. Why don't you make yourself useful and help the slaves in their tasks. I am sure they could do with the help."
Fen'Fael shrugged a little, "I don't remember agreeing to be a slave... though I guess as powerful as you are, I am beginning to doubt you even really need a bodyguard." He huffed, heading to the door.
"Whatever term you wish to be called, that helps you sleep at night, my little pet." Was Velius' only reply to the elf.
Fen'Fael wanted to protest and complain about the humans words, but he thought better of it. Velius was no different than any other stupid human after all. He was a slave to the man and that was all he would ever think. Fen'Fael didn't know why he assumed Velius would be better than the others.