188 Thralkeld Marke (1/2)

”Thank you for lunch Mr and Miss Carvell.” We all thanked them as I nudged Helen to help pick up the plates.

”Oh, you don't have to.” Miss Carvel instinctively said, seeing us helping to clear up.

”It's nothing.” We both smiled to her before taking the plates to the sink.

”Um, just leave them in the sink, I'll wash them later.” Miss Carvell asked us.

”Thanks,” Helen whispered to me.

”No problems I've got you're back always.” I smiled.

”So What are you guys going to do next?” Mr Carvell asked.

”Hmm probably book some rooms at the local inn.” We answered.

”Jay make sure you go with them! Five girls at an Inn by themselves.” Miss Carvel instructed him.

”You know these aren't ordinary Girls.. they are Atlantis Students.” Mr Carvell laughed.

”Dad's not wrong mum, these girls are capable. Especially Daisy every day she wears that plate armour and carrying her heavy maul.” Jay smiled.

”Still.. I don't feel safe having 5 girls staying at an inn especially with the Vancliffs being here.” She replied.

”Sure mum I'll rent a room with them.” He answered.

”Sperate room.” She corrected him.

”Yes yes mum, separate room of course.” He replied like this wasn't the first time this happened. ”Come on, guys I'll take you to the local Inn where we'll be spending the night,” Jay instructed.

”Thank you for your hospitality.” We all bowed in respect. The others went to retrieve their weapons.

”No, thank you all for coming.” Jay's mum hugged Helen making her smile and embrace her back and waved us all goodbye. ”Remember to stop by tonight for dinner!” She reminded us before we left.

”So these Vancliffs really that bad?” I questioned.

”Don't jump the gun when it comes to the Vancliffs.. they are rich and powerful here,” Jay replied.

”I'm just curious besides we're Atlantis student we have to make sure we can't bring a bad name to Atlantis,” I replied.

”The Vancliff family owns most of the guards and probably have most families and men on their paycheck, it's a family we really don't want to mess with,” Jay warned us looking very serious.

”That explains why that Vancliff girl came and knew you arrived,” Helen replied.

”Well, if I see any injustice, I'm not going to sit back and do nothing,” Daisy informed Jay.

”Don't... like I said they have the guards on a paycheck you're going to end up getting yourself arrested it's a fight you can't win,” Jay warned her.

”Then I'll beat up the corrupt guards!” Daisy replied, flexing her muscles, ignoring Jay's warnings.

”You know.. Paul would probably dislike it if he heard you breaking the law.” I informed Daisy making her expression flip 180.

”Oh, Daisy.” Grace laughed.

”So what did the Vancliff girl really want?” I asked Jay.

”Nothing honestly just wanted to see how I was doing.” He replied.

”So who is she and what's our history?” I questioned.

”She was the other student of my first Mentor. We were just friends until her family found out and forbid her to interact with us and was forced to stop learning magic.” He answered.

”Interesting..” I answered.

”Yeah, she wanted some spellbooks so she could train in secret.” He answered.

”And you told her no, right?” I asked him, assuming it would be dangerous to learn on your own without a mentor or teacher.

”I said I'll try but no promises.” He answered.

”So how many big is this Vancliff family?” Helen asked.

”Their name controls a good portion of the lands around here, but this family has a mum, dad, daughter and two sons,” Jay answered.

”How old?” Grace questioned.

”Forget them.. the more important issue is finding out who this 'Guardian angel Mr Wayne' is and what he has planned for my family.” Jay changed the subject.

”I'm sure there's nothing nefarious going on,” I answered hiding the truth so Jay doesn't feel indebted to Paul since he finds it so hard to accept goodwill from other.

”I know deals like that never play out well,” Jay replied, looking determined to find the truth.

”I'm sure you're right Jay.. but remember what your parents said at first he wanted to do it all for free.” Grace reminded him.

”No one does things out of the goodness of their hearts, there's always an agenda.” He answered.

”That's not true.. you even saw it yourself Paul, Scarlet and Ashley do things expecting nothing in return.” I defended Paul.

”That's not true.. Paul runs on a favour for favour basis, Scarlet does it because she loves the thrill of a fight and Ashley might do it for fame or money.” He answered.

”No no.. you got it the wrong way,” I answered him but found it hard to refute his argument.

”Anyway forget this topic, we're at the inn.” He said opening the doors to a mediocre Inn.

”What can I do you for kids?” The man at the bar answered us as we entered.

”We're looking for, wait what size rooms do you have?” He questioned the barman.

”We have singles and doubles. 10 silver pieces for a double and 5 silver pieces for a single per night.” The Barman answered.

”We'll take three doubles for one night,” Jay answered.

”Sure that will be 30 silver pieces.” The Barman requested.

”Here you go.” Jay paid the barman as he wrote something down and passed him three keys. ”Oh Emilia, here's your bag, thanks for the help.” He smiled, passing back my bag.

”Anytime.” I smiled back.

”So I assume Helen and Grace will bunk up. Now the question is Morgana, where would you like to go?” Jay questioned.

”I'll join Emilia and Daisy, I'll take the couch.” She answered.

”Sure, here are your keys,” Jay said passing us our keys.

”We'll be back tonight,” Jay answered.

”Sure.” the barman replied and went back to reading.

”anything else we can do?” I questioned Jay as we exited the Inn.

”Good question.. there's not much to do here sadly.” Jay said, looking around.

”Ah, our esteemed guests.” A very cultured voice spoke out towards us. ”Hello hello, Edward Vancliff.” An older plump, very cultured man wearing a finely woven dark black checkered suit with a long black cane with a big jewel-encrusted on the top, introduced himself to us with an outstretched hand. One by one we introduced ourselves to Edward Vancliff shaking his hand. ”So the talk of the town is that you all are Atlantis students,” Edward asked.

”Yes, we are,” we answered him with a smile.

”That's amazing.. what do you all do?” He questioned cautiously.

”I'm a Sorcerer,” Jay answered him, making Edward look at him with a raised eyebrow like he was trying to remember where he's seen his face or name.

”Have we met before? You look mighty familiar.” He said slowly, shaking his hand.

”I do? Maybe I just have a common look.” Jay replied, hiding his identity.

”Say son what's your name again? I didn't quite catch it.” He asked again.

”Caleb Willowghast.” Jay answered.

”Sorry, son my error maybe just my old age playing tricks on me.” He chuckled, letting go of jay's hand.

”If you all got some spare time, maybe you'd like to visit my estate.” He invited us with a smile.

”We were planning to see the rest of the town first.” I casually declined his offer.

”Really?” He asked looking at me closely, at me closely.

”Well, we have a town gathering tomorrow at lunch, everyone's going to be there, come on by if you're free.” He said tipping his hat towards us and walked off.