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Markus and Pirro returned to their home an hour later. Pirro rested peacefully on the puma's bed while Markus busied himself preparing the deer from the hunting trip that morning. He wasn't a master butcher, but he had managed to separate the hide in one piece with a bit of luck and went about separating the meat as he remembered watching the butcher and his mother do more than once before.

He salted the hide to begin the curing process, putting it in a warm spot to dry. He had decided it would be more useful to him as a hide for his or Pirro's bedding than it would be as money. He deboned the meat and went about the curing processes required to store it all long term, giving the whelp a smile every once in a while. It took him well into the night and once he was done he had a good pile of bones for making stock and, if he managed to get a millstone, fertiliser in the form of bone meal.

Two days later Markus was sitting upon the front porch playing with Pirro when the sound of heavy footfalls and hooves came to his ears. He looked up to see Lord Augustus approaching atop Sofia. Sofia was pulling a cart and around them were several guards in light armour on horse back. The stallion looked regal riding atop the huge drake who seemed only too happy to have him seated on her saddle.

“Greetings young Markus, as you can see I have completed my preparations and am here to seek your answer," He announced “Will you be joining us in our endeavours?" Markus gave a sigh and slowly stood, Pirro in his arms as he approached.

“I would my lord but... I can not leave my home unattended," he informed him solemnly “I have a hide mid cure and my food stores..."

“I have arranged a house keeper for you while we are away," Lord Augustus said gesturing to his side at a young female human and a stag approached who gave a curt bow “This is Linnet and her husband Yax. She works as a maid on my estate and he as a general hand. They have agreed to maintain your home while we are away." Markus gave a sigh looking to them.

“You have thought of everything it seems Lord," Markus muttered almost in awe “I suppose I shall journey with you, although without a mount I will struggle to keep up."

“That is what your cart is for." Sofia said matter of factually and rolled her eyes.

“My cart?" Markus asked in confusion “But I don't own a..."

“You do now," The stallion tells him giving his drake an irritated look “It was a spare that was no longer in use on my estate, consider it a gift. If you do decide to head on to Senforth, this will allow you to travel a little easier, once little Pirro has grown somewhat anyway. For now, please inform Linnet and Yax of anything you need to while we turn around, then climb aboard."

Markus spent the next five minutes informing Linnet and Yax of the quirks to the house: dangerous floorboards over there, what to do if the flue backed up with smoke, the hide that needed curing and the meat bones that he currently had stewing for stock and wanted kept for making meal for the garden to the rear of the property.

When eventually he returned to the front of the property, the cart had been turned around in preparation. He climbed into the cart and got himself comfortable, Pirro curling up in his lap although he seemed too excited to fall asleep any time soon.

“I am ready, Lord." He called out, placing a hand on Pirro's back to try to help settle him.

“Excellent, Sofia, lead the way. Men follow us," The stallion called out with authority “It is time we uprooted the weeds in our midst." There was a round of cheers from the men and they started moving, the cart starting to move with a rock.

The ride was fairly peaceful, Sofia remarking on the lovely day and idly chattered about random things as she walked. Markus largely ignored her figuring that she must not get out much and was enjoying her time away from her stable.

“Lord... I feel I must warn you," Markus piped up once they were within sight of Libreian “She will likely try to accuse me of some slight against her when we arrive. Probably something along the lines of I stole something or burned down my own home or the likes."

“She can say what she likes, I will believe the truth and the evidence that will back it." he responded “Once in town, protocol dictates I am in charge and the town authorities follow my orders. You are under my protection and there is nothing she can do to change that."

“Yes Lord, Thank you." Markus replied as they finally trundled through the gates.

“HALT! STATE YOUR BUSINESS HERE MULE!" one of the towns guards shouted as they approached. Markus recognised him as the head guard of the town and he was fiercely loyal to the Mayoress. Their swords were drawn and Sofia gave a deep angry growl and snapped her teeth in his direction as they approached.

“Sofia! Heal!" the stallion commanded then turned to the guards “You should watch your tongue, she does not take well to those who insult her master. I am Augustus Naossi, LORD Augustus Naossi, appointed lord of the Orsong region." A couple of them took a step back in alarm, lowering their swords, although a few did not.

“A Beastfolk Lord? That'll be the day!" the head guard said. However when he went to approach he was stopped by Lord Augustus's own guards who moved to block his way, their own swords drawn.

“What is going on out here?" A familiar voice called out which Markus had hoped to never hear again “I was in the middle of my massa... Oh Lord Augustus! What brings you here?" Her voice had changed from demanding to worried.

“Ahh, You must be the Mayoress, Angelica Clair if I can remember rightly from when you were appointed. Well I shall make this short, you remember this one do you not?" he gestured over his shoulder to Markus who stood up, the Mayoress's face first going to one of shock then going red with rage.

“GUARDS ARREST THAT LITTLE THIEF!" She screeched pointing at Markus who took a fearful step back clutching Pirro tightly. As her guards moved forward Lord Augustus drew his sword and Sofia snarled loudly. She moved herself to block their advance, teeth bared at them, wings extended and smoke staring to waft from her nostrils.

“Markus is under my protection," Lord Augusts announced, his tone leaving no room for debate “Explain your accusations at once!"

“You need simply look at him! He stole my dragon egg and look! He has bound it to himself!" she claimed, Markus gave a whine and Pirro gave a hiss in her direction.

“I assume you have proof of the egg having belonged to you?" the stallion asked watching her.

“Of course I do!" She claimed and Markus had no doubt that she did. Forged proof that is. She had never been above dirty tactics to get her way, his destroyed home being proof of that. Lord Augustus gave a half amused huff.

“Then you will have plenty of opportunity to locate it won't you? As per Royal decree, I am taking over this town pending investigations into allegations of corruption. The Mayoress, head guard and hunt master are hereby under house arrest until the investigations are completed. Men, detain them."

The Mayoress went to protest but was quickly grabbed by one of Lord Augustus's guards and pulled away. “Zamiel, take the rest of our men and secure the town. Darnel, you are with me, Markus, guide us to your old home please."

“Yes Lord Augustus," He replied and slowly climbed out of the cart and walked over next to Sofia, giving her a pat to her flank “This way... to what's left of it." The walk to his old home was awkward and uncomfortable for Markus. The townsfolk regarded them with disdain and mistrust as they passed by, it unnerved him to the point he handed Pirro to the stallion to hold onto. When the white horse gave him a puzzled look, he explained that he felt safer with the whelp in the lords arms.

As they walked up to his old home, the puma could see that it was, just as it had been left, a charred ruin. It looked more decrepit now than it had when he had been forced to flee it, weather had not done it any good.

“This is it... well was it." Markus finally announced as they reached the front garden. Lord Augustus nodded and dismounted Sofia and handed Pirro over to him.

“Seeing as she has contested your right to Pirro, we shall start here looking for evidence to the contrary," the stallion said and patted Sofia's flank “She will wait out here and keep guard while we have a look around inside."

“Do be careful, I am unsure how stable the structure is." the feline warned as he placed Pirro on his shoulder and started his way inside. The smell of wet charred wood was prevalent throughout the building but what surprised Markus was that other than the burn damage, there was no evidence of rain having leaked in.

“If it is going to be anywhere, it will be in what was my father's study." Markus said and started picking his way through the wreckage. He hadn't entered his fathers study the day he had fled and he found it had mostly survived the burning. Singed books and paperwork sat around the desk in piles and messy heaps. The feline gave a sigh as he realised the enormity of the task ahead.

They were methodical, going slowly from one stack to another, checking the books, book shelves, drawers and cabinets. A lot of the paperwork was about the construction efforts on the town and the costs of the materials used.

Markus was starting to lose hope; the file could have been destroyed for all he knew, or stolen at any point in the past. Looking sideways at Pirro on his shoulder he frowned a bit. Would he lose his hatching? He hoped not, he had nearly lost him once before, he didn't want to experience that feeling again.

“I think I may have something," Lord Augustus announced as he shuffled through a book “It appears to be your fathers diary... there is mention of him attending an auction in a few days time... even a part about you running with a knife?" Markus felt his ears blush.

“Well, they said not to run with scissors, but no one said anything about knives..." he responded and saw the look from Augustus and Darnel “Hey I was five! At the time!"

“Says here you were four actually," the zebra guard retorted with a chuckle looking up from the book with a chuckle.

“Ah here we go," Lord Augustus said interrupting them and started reading “Written only a week after your knife incident 'We attended an auction today at Lord Nekvibus's estate. There were many items that interested us, however the supposed dragon egg was the only item we managed to purchase. It cost me a small fortune, ninety gold pieces but with careful trading I should make that back in only two or three years. It isn't very large, around six inches long and just over half that in width. It is the colour of white marble, and very smooth to the touch. My wife believes I have purchased a very expensive rock, but I have faith because it seems to weigh less than if it was made of solid stone. If anything it will at least look pretty on the mantle and be a good story to tell'."

“Nothing about a receipt or document of purchase though" Markus said, stepping over and looking down on the book.

“True... Wait here, two days later," The horse said pointing “'We are finally home after the auction, the trip was not far but it was still exhausting. We shan't be permitting Angelica to watch Markus for us anymore. He was in tears when we found him in his room claiming that she had told him we were not going to be returning. With such a valuable purchase, I have taken steps to protect our proof of ownership. Taking great care, we have hidden the document to this piece of treasure where our greatest treasure lays'."

“Their greatest treasure?" Markus asked confused “I didn't know we even HAD any treasure."

“He could mean you?" Darnel asked “A child is often called a parents greatest treasure."

“If that is true... it may be in my bedroom somewhere..." the feline responded and slowly made his way out of the study and towards his former bedroom “Just hope we can get in there..."

The door was open, and most of the room destroyed. Barely any of the bed frame remained, cabinets just piles of charred wood and very little else that wasn't just charred ruins. If it was in here in the past, the chances were slim it had survived.

“Any thoughts?" the stallion asked. Markus gave a soft chuckle.

“Many... none of them relevant to the current task at hand." He replied looking around the room. Could it really be in this mess? If so, where could it possibly be? He had spent his entire life in this room and thought he knew every corner. Recollections flooded him as he looked about; a trunk in one corner was where he used to store his toys, now dilapidated and ruined, and nearby the place where he had drawn on the walls. Neither gave away any secrets at a glance, where could it be hidden? They started searching: knocking on walls for queer echoes, lifting the piles of burned wood to see if it was hidden beneath or inside the charred debris.

“I'm surprised the floorboards survived this blaze." Darnel remarked.

“The ground under it is damp and soft, a lot of moisture soaks upwards into the wood," Markus explained “My parents had to replace some boards under my bed once or twice because of it."

“Wait... Could that be it?" came the rhetorical question from Augustus and the stallion started stamping a little with his hoof under the remains of the bed till finally he gave one good hard stomp and the boards split and gave way exposing a small cavity below. Sequestered within was a metal box.

Lifting it out, they pulled the bobby pin free of the latch and opened it with surprising ease. Inside was a sack of coins and a browned envelope with Markus's name on it. It was all reasonably old but had survived the fire and the damp ground reletively unscathed for who knew how long.

Opening the envelope, Markus found it contained a letter for him and the document they had been seeking. Lord Augustus checked over the document while Markus read the letter aloud to himself.

“Dear Markus, our loving Kitten,

If you are reading this then we are sadly, no longer with you. We know that Daddy was rarely around enough to play, always away working or building, and Mommy was always busy but we were always working to make your life better.

Contained here is what little treasure we could save for you. We have told you for years that the stone on the mantel is a dragon egg, and we hope deeply that that is true. We pray that one day it will hatch for you if it hasn't already. It was always destined for you, as something to remember us by.

It isn't much we know, but it is all we have to give. We know life isn't easy but stay strong for us, and a good boy. We will always be watching over you Kitten and love you dearly. Remember you are, and always will be our greatest treasure, so please live life to its fullest for us, the way we always wanted you to.

Love, Mommy and Daddy."

By the end of the letter Markus had fallen to his knees crying loudly. He clutched the letter tightly to his chest as he wept openly. Pirro gently nuzzled at his cheek while chirping and trilling, hoping to comfort his 'parent'.