Hurburn is a very influential merchant in the town; he deals in different kinds of trades, hence he is among the richest men in the town. He owns a lot of properties and lends money to a lot of people in return for an extremely high interest.
Hurburn is a very ruthless man and goes the extra mile just to get his money back. Whoever refuses to pay back as and when due will have to pay an additional interest which is unlimited to money alone; he goes as far as claiming anything as collateral till a debt has been paid. He really doesn't care as long as he gets his own profit.
As he rode on his horse, a myriad of thoughts went through his mind; he was already thinking of what he had to do with the new baby in his custody.
' I might have to sell her off at a high price, ' he thought.
' Or I could keep her,' He had a slight smile on his face as the thought ran through his mind as he rode on.
He looked up ahead and could see his guards, who were riding up ahead, suddenly begin to dismount from their horses.
" What's going on?" he asked as he turned towards Aaryah, who was riding beside him, with the baby tightly tied to her chest.
" It seems like there is an obstruction on the way ", she said without turning her head, her eyes fixated on the road.
His guards, who had been riding right in front of him, had stopped on their tracks and dismounted their horses; there was a huge log of wood obstructing their path. The guards were trying to raise the huge log as two men stood their posts at either end of the logs.
" This seems strange", he said quietly, wondering how such a big log might have found its way onto their path. He looked around and couldn't find any trail of where the log might have been from, as there weren't any trees with that kind of log anywhere on that path due to how large it was.
They rode on, and as they got to where the guards were, they had already moved the log from their path.
So, they mounted their horses and went on their way as they continued on the paths.
***************************************************************************************
The big gates to the estate flung open as Hurburn and his entire troupe got close; there were guards waiting on each side of the gates so they could close them back.
As Hurburn rode past the gate with his troupe, the guards who were at the gate had closed it behind them.
The estate had a very large compound; there were lots of people in every corner of the estate, each focusing on their activities. It looked more like a small town, as there were little huts scattered all over the estate; they also seemed to be some other buildings, and these buildings seemed better than most of the huts.
Everyone seemed to be focused on one thing or the other, but as soon as they saw Hurburn, they all stopped to greet him.
Hurburn owned a lot of property, and this estate was the largest of all his other estates, mostly because he lived there. The huts scattered across the estate were owned by him; a larger part of the huts were for the workers, while some other buildings were rented out to people who just wanted to stay on the estate.
As Hurburn and his troupe rode continuously into the estate, everyone seemed to wave or bow as they rode past them. They kept on riding down the lane that led to Hurburn's dwelling place, and far up ahead, a really big construction began to come into view.
"Ahh," Hurburn sighed as he saw the building up ahead.
He seemed really tired as he had ridden on his horse for a really long time.
'At last,' He said quietly as he rode on
" EEYAH! "
"EEYAH!" He shouted, raising the rein and hitting it really hard on the horse to nudge the horse to move a lot faster, which it did, as Hurburn rode past his guests who were right ahead of him and also leaving Aaryah behind.
Right up ahead stood a really big Mansion, they were guards standing at the front of the mansion, fully armed. They seemed prepared for any adversity.
This was the biggest building that could be seen in the estate, and it really did look like a castle compared to the huts and other buildings in the estate.
As Hurburn got to the entrance of the Mansion, a younger boy ran towards him, helping him down. Then he took the horse by the rein and walked towards a different direction.
Hurburn was accompanied by a guard into the mansion as he walked in.
He walked through the hallway, then up two flights of stairs, leading him to another hallway with guards stationed at different posts in the hallway; they were all fully armed and seemed ready for an adversary, just like the other guards stationed outside.
Hurburn walked a few steps forward before entering a room with its door flung open. As he walked into the room, he seemed happy, as his face lit up into a smile.
A large bed was seen in the large room with a cream tapestry hung across the room; in the far corner of the room they seemed to be a large, sturdy desk. There were stacks of leather-covered books arranged on the wooden desk; there was also a jar of ink, a feathered pen and a pile of papers arranged on the desk.
Huburn walked into the room with the guard still right behind him, but this time he stood at the entrance of the room.
Hurburn sat on the Chair beside the desk. He grabbed a paper, inserted the feathered pen into the ink jar and then wrote something on the piece of paper.
" Gatson " He called.
The young guard walked hurriedly towards where Auburn sat by his desk.
"Sir " He said as he got to where Hurburn sat.
" I want you to give this to the messenger; tell him to send it to Ser Torin " Hurburn continued.
He was pressing the seal on the envelope.
Gatson, stretched his hand towards collecting the envelope.
Hurburn handed the envelope over to Gatson.
Gatson bowed before rushing out of the room with the letter in his hands.
" That should do it " Hurburn said.
He stood up, stretched and then went on to lie on the bed face flat.
He seemed really exhausted.