Chapter 4: Thou shall not make ill of her name

"How long?" he asked the driver while feeling bored out of his mind

"Just about an hour, luckily there's full moon tonight so visibility shouldn't be a problem, young master", the old man finished with that honorific that Levi always found so foreign despite being addressed with it during his entire life. It felt like he was being overestimated by those who were around him.

But that title felt even stranger to him when Petra used it, and the fact that he was going to hear her call him "master" when he arrived, and he knew that she would be waiting for him in the entrance lobby, made him feel uneasy. He didn't enjoy having her lowering herself of all people.

Every time he returned home from the loud and stinking atmosphere of London, he had sought out her company. He wasn't sure why he was sharing his books with her or why did he insisted to practice fencing with her during his vacation, a petition that was ultimately futile as even the girl's parents were set against the idea. He still taught her how to pose with a practice foil, though.

Levi had always thought that he wasn't worthy of the child's admiration, but the more he thought about it, he just couldn't figure out why.

Every time he had put her up to speed on his experiences in London, he never lied about anything. She had known about his fights against teenagers, and sometimes adults, twice his size and how many times he had been grounded because of his foul language. However, he did not regret any of those actions and he never considered himself a worse person because of them.

However, he just did not could stand that Petra looked him with so much respect. Every time her amber eyes lightened up when he gave her books of taught her how to hold a foil, he felt his stomach sinking. It was a strange sensation of guilt and sadness that only grew bigger as they became older.

Now, at seventeen, he had finished his last year at boarding school but he knew that he wasn't going to be free of the capital for very long. During his talks with his father the old man had hinted plans of sending him off to trading company in London as an apprentice. "England has become too small" were his words. He had even purchased a small floor for him in the city.

The thought of having to deal with greedy merchants and corrupt sail officers in a daily basis made him ill.

But it also made him think about how Petra would deal with him away from home permanently. Levi had noticed how the little girl would double her pace in the laundry only to get some extra time to speak to him, despite the constant warnings that she got from her parents about "disturbing the young master".

He pondered what future her parents had planned out for her. She was born in a cottage next to a stable and her father had pretty much nothing but the clothes on his back. At the very least Petra would stay in the manor and her parents would search in the neighboring households for a husband…

He felt his stomach tighten at that thought, although he couldn't identify the acidic feeling that invaded him later.

"We're near!"

…..

Levi as surprised to find only Petra's mother waiting for him, but she seemed to understand his expression, since the first thing he heard from the woman was "she was needed in the kitchen" He nodded and thanked her before heading for the kitchen.

However, as he made his way, he heard a multitude of voices coming from the kitchen. It sounded agitated and at first he assumed it was because his parents had overwhelmed the staff once again in their efforts to impress their business partners. However as he got closer the yelling became more desperate.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"You bastard!"

Levi quickened his pace when he heard that. He had seen the employees of the boarding school solving disagreements through brute force and, despite the efforts of the higher ups to cover it, he was well aware that it sometimes ended in the death of some poor bystander. That been said, he had never seen anything like it among the friendly employees that worked at his home.

"Leave her alone!"

"She's just a child" a desperate voice cut in

Levi gasped at that last stamen. His eyes widened as his feet began to race. All thoughts disappeared from his head except one.

No….no…..not her

He opened the door in a hurry and the first thing he saw confused him. A group of frightened maids were gathered in a corner covering the mouths in horror, while not too far from them a group of men struggled to lift a strange person from the ground, but he wasn't unconscious. Levi could notice an intense rage in his eyes and a trail of blood ran down his face.

However, when Levi's vision met the floor, it was his turn to have his face filled with rage.

Bellow the stranger and with her neck trapped between two large hands, a small girl whose hair, face and dress were stained with red laid on the floor.

No…no…..not her…not again

He didn't know what demon possessed him, but as soon as he recognized Petra´s fragile form bellow the unknown man, he ran towards them, fist tight and fast.

"YOU FUCKING BASTARD!"

Before the drunken man could look back at him, Levi's punch had already collided against his jaw with enough force to lift him from the ground, falling loudly next to the girl he was trying to suffocate moments before.

Levi only gave Petra a pare glance to make sure she was breathing; once he heard her gasping, he resumed beating the man who had left her like this.

As soon as the next hit landed on its mark, the teenager began to hear the voices of the employees. Some were begging him to stop and others were pleading for someone to check upon Petra, whom he could hear coughing next to him

"You know that killing me won't bring her back, right?" a third voice began echoing in his mind, it sounded feminine, yet raspy. But instead of stopping him, it only made him angrier, his fist repeatedly hitting the man's face.

All of a sudden he felt several arms pulling him away. He felt his lungs burning with effort and his vision blurred by fury.

"I don't know why you cared" the strange voice echoed in his mind "She was weak"

A faint cough snapped him out of his angered trance, taking a look to his left he could see Petra sitting up, a maid supporting her small frame as she struggled to obtain air.

Levi felt the adrenaline wear off from his system and nearly became limp after letting out a long sigh of relief as the employees dragged him away, the strange man unconscious.

The voice that had been taunting him had disappeared from his mind and, after a couple of minutes, from his memory as well.

…..

Despite the incident with the carriage river, who ended up being taken by the police due to his behavior, Levi's parents could seal a deal with their guest. Thankfully the blood in his hands and clothes provided him an excuse to not to attend dinner with them. But he didn't wash them right away.

He spent most of the night in the small house that Petra and her parents shared near the borders of the property. The girl had both her neck and eyes checked but thankfully neither the cocking nor the wine had made permanent damage.

Petra now laid sleep on her bed as Levi watched over her. By some reason, he considered her another reason for not going to London. Maybe if he managed to take some of the employees to live with him in the capital would help. And his parents wouldn't object to the idea of having people they already trusted instead of hiring new people they barely new…

"What I'm doing?" he though out loud as one of his hands reached for her. Why did he care so much…

"Is she worth it?" the strange voice had begun to resonate again. Before Levi could identify it, he was shocked to hear another voice inside his head, his own voice, answering back in a menacing growl.

"You have no idea"