Where There’s Smoke…

Ajax smelled smoke. The upper areas of the manor were filled with smoke already and he was suddenly trapped between two flaming wooden pillars. Nearby, there was a vase with what he hoped was a little water.

He tore his shirt and dumped the small amount of water onto it before getting low to the ground and tying the shirt around his face to help with breathing. His long ears were feeling the heat quite a bit, and he could feel his consciousness drifting in and out as he tried to wait for help.

As his muscles went slack, his consciousness left him. Then moments later, he regained consciousness. 

"Where am I?" he asked.

Ajax got up on one knee to assess the situation.

"Looks like I am in a house fire. I think the smoke is moving that way, so I should be able to find an exit if I can make it through the fire."

He steadied his heat and charged for the possible exit. The fire seared his skin as he jumped over the flaming beams and pillars until he finally found a window that was cracked from the heat. Luckily, it seemed he was on the first floor, so he leaped through the window and out onto the grass and started to cough.

A man in a butler uniform came over and looked panicked, "Young master, weren't you supposed to stay at Lady Isabella's house tonight? Why have you returned and not notified me? To think what might have happened if nobody knew you were in there."

He looked mortified at the possible loss of Ajax. 

Some emergency personnel arrived and started giving Ajax some Oxygen. To help him breath better. Some cream was applied to the severe burns he had suffered.

After a few minutes, a limo pulled up and two well dressed elves stepped out, followed by a third that looked younger but stuck up.

The third looked at Ajax and said loudly, "Ajax, why did you burn down the house. Just because Isabella turned you down doesn't mean you can lash out at the family."

Ajax realized this guy had known that Isabella would send him home, and most likely arranged for there to be a fire to discredit him. Too bad for him, he knows nothing of any of this, so it wouldn't matter anyways.

He shook his head, "Nice to know I can start fires in my sleep. I will have to find a solution so I don't get burned alive again."

The kid flinched at his comeback, but smiled, "Surely you are joking, only a bastard like you had anything to gain from burning down the house."

Ajax looked at him like he was stupid, "What would I gain from burning down my shelter, nearly getting choked to death by smoke, and burned all over my body? I fail to see any reward for all that."

The kid smiled like he won, "What about the insurance? You are the beneficiary."

Ajax tilted his head, "Wait, since when was I the beneficiary? Shouldn't it be our parents?"

The kid shook his head, "You went with them the other day to become the beneficiary of the house's insurance. Surely you can't say you didn't."

Ajax smiled, "Oh? Let me say now, Give me a Lie Detector test and ask me if I knew I was the Beneficiary of the house's insurance before you just told me. I wonder what will come up."

Their older elf squinted his eyes, "Very well. We shall see if that is the case."

The butler nodded and cast a spell that surrounded Ajax.

"Since when did you know you were Beneficiary of the House?"

"When that kid there told me just now," he replied.

There was a nod from the butler.

The older elf asked, "Did you have anything to do with the fire?"

Ajax shook his head, "Nope. Almost died in it when I woke up surrounded by it."

The butler nodded again.

The older elf sighed, "Looks like we will have to thoroughly investigate this matter."

The kid looked like he just lost his dog and said, "He could have cheated the spell."

Ajax felt he had enough of all this, so he looked at the old man coldly, "Old man, you take all but a small amount to get me the hell out of here and do whatever. I don't want anything to do with this family anymore."

The kid then laughed, "Good, I can use that money to buy a house for me and Isabella!"

Ajax shook his head and stood up while removing the oxygen mask, "I gave it to the old man not you brat."

The old man took out his communicator and walked forward. Then he noticed that Ajax didn't have a communicator on him.

"Bring a communicator."

A servant quickly handed over a communicator, which Ajax fiddled with and registered a new account and number.

The old elf frowned and looked a little angry, "Here is 10,000 Enas. That should get you anywhere in the Shattered Star Ring that you want and help you set up a new life. I…I know that since your mother died in childbirth and my second wife didn't, that you have felt…alienated, but I always…"

Ajax raised a hand, "It is fine. Life isn't always fair, and there is always someone who hates you for no reason or wants to get rid of you. That is the politics of civilization."

He recalled Godora and the Darkstar Terrorists.

"Look at Godora. They went out and made children with many different species and then turned around and made them second class citizens. Now Darkstar wants to kill them and eat their eyes like some kind of tonic to be Equals or whatever. If the Godoran had just made them Equals in the first place, since they are the reason mixed race Godorans exist, everything would have been fine. I get it, asthetics and all that. Pureblood and nobility. It is all just non-sense that they made up to feel more privileged than someone else."

He took a breath and finally said, "I care not that one was born royal, noble, or commoner, let any who be worthy find me and call me friend. And let those who harbor ill intent know the wrath that I call down upon my enemies."

Ajax walked away after his final words.

The kid looked smug and was fantasizing about what he would buy with all that money, while their father and his second wife looked a little disturbed by what was just said. They were said Nobility, but he seemed to hold them in contempt.

Something their father never disclosed was, Ajax was the son of the eighth princess of their civilization and actually held a claim to the throne. While they didn't have many powers, the royal family held the right to veto legislation and appoint Dukes who vote on legislation. It was the sole reason he was a Duke. His first wife made him one when they married with the understanding that Ajax would inherit the title.