233: Hidden
Wyatt went off to show Jen the way to reach the roof while I looked outside, worried we’d somehow done something by putting the skull up. The dragon wouldn’t know, would it? There would be no way it could detect it, surely.
I pushed that thought out of my mind. Even if it were the dragon, that wouldn’t explain the bright sky. If he had arrived, there would be a storm, not a sun-like glow. The only time I had seen the sky light up like this was at the arrival or departure of Alira.
We sat in silence, staring out the window. It was getting darker, so whatever happened seemed like it might be passing. Even Crisplet came over to see what was happening when both Jen and Wyatt came back in.
“Something is going on. I think in the capital?” Jen said.
“Capital?” My mind raced. Had the sea creature attacked? Sylverith assured me that she’d keep my friends safe, even going as far as to include Clifford in that.
“Well, there’s what must be a giant pillar of flame going high into the sky.” She looked concerned.
“Should we go back?” I asked.
Hari immediately shook his head. “No. If it is what we fear it might be, there is absolutely nothing we could do. We’d be like the villager against the galvonson.”
That image came to my mind immediately and I recoiled. He was killed so effortlessly.
“That said, it doesn’t look like a fight. It’s hard to say from this distance, but outside the initial glow, that pillar of flame is still there,” Jen added.
Not sure what to do, I took my scarf off from around my neck and looked into it. “Lily, are you there?” I asked.
An eye lazily opened and stared at me. “Is everyone okay in the capital? It looks like something is happening there.”
The second eye opened before they both vanished. I had to assume she was checking. I knew she liked me, but she was incredibly close to Sylverith.
“I think Lily is checking,” I said to everyone as they watched me.
“They’ll be fine. We have protocols in place if the capital comes under attack,” Luis said from the corner.
Everyone stopped.
I actually jumped. Since entering the inn, my memory of him even being here was gone, and I don’t recall seeing him at any time. I wasn’t the only one either, as everyone stared at him surprised, but none more so than Wyatt.
“Who are you! When did you get here?” Wyatt asked, pointing.
Luis smirked. “I’m Lewie. I apologise, I’ve been here the entire time.”
Milo let out a laugh, which considering the dire situation happening outside, was strange.
“Those are incredibly powerful relics you’re wearing there. I had completely forgotten you were even with us until just now. When did you activate them?” Milo asked.
Wyatt was just looking between them. “Wait, hold up, no! You’re telling me he’s been here the entire time? We’ve been talking for hours. Who are you?”
“Truthfully, I would have introduced him, but even now thinking about it, I don’t remember him even being with us in the city at all,” Milo commented.
“That’s about right. I activated most of them as we were about to enter,” Luis said with a laugh.
“Amazing,” was all I could mutter.
“I need whatever those relics are,” Liane smirked.
“You already have stealth!” I retorted.
I was interrupted by Wyatt. “Wait, we’re not just glossing over this. A guy shows up in the room’s corner, who has been here for literal hours, apparently. Who is he, really, or I’m getting my sword, because something is not right.”
Hari looked over, getting a nod from Luis. “Well, this is Lewie, publicly. Or Prince Luis.”
Wyatt’s eyes widened. “Pr…”
Hari literally put a hand over the giant man’s mouth. “Lewie publicly. If you were anyone else, it would be Lewie. Even Coral. It will be Lewie.”
“What’s going on?” Wyatt said, staring hard at Hari.
“I can’t tell you what he’s doing, but he’s travelling with us. Though, as we’ve just discovered, he’s able to fade from our thoughts and sight without us even realising it. Just accept it’s important, old friend,” Hari said.
Wyatt seemed to study Luis. “You don’t look like any of the others in your family.”
“That would be the phoenix’s fault,” Luis laughed.
“She gave him a gift before we left,” I said, not elaborating more than that.
“And are you going to fade away again?” Wyatt asked.
“Yes, most probably. Not tonight though. I’ll stay out of the public eye, and you might not see me tomorrow until the night. I have a few things to do. Though back on topic, something happening in the capital is concerning,” Luis said.
Wyatt fell back into his chair.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Wyatt, it’s important that you don’t speak a word of this,” Hari said seriously.
Wyatt raised his hand. “On my inn.”
“You said you had protocols?” Milo asked.
“Yes. It won’t be comfortable, but there are relics in place that if the capital was ever truly under attack and looking to fall, every single resident would be relocated to a location I can’t reveal, to escape,” Luis explained.
“I never knew…” Hari said.
“Most don’t. The royals, the nobles, those who need to know, know. Those who don’t, it won’t matter until it happens, but it’s a last resort,” Luis said.
The conversation was interrupted as Lily appeared next to me. “Is everything okay?” I asked.
She looked over at Crisplet, who just let off a large burst of sparks.
“Was it an attack?” I asked, now realising I was going to have to force information out.
There was a single spark from Crisplet in response before Crisplet came out of the fire and put up a wall of ash, which formed to take the appearance of Alira, and then burst into flame which shot straight up.
“Ah, so it’s Alira doing something?” I got a burst of sparks as a response.
“And the city and all our friends are safe?” I asked.
Lily just looked at me and tilted her head. “My friends then,” I added.
There was a burst of sparks, and I couldn’t help but laugh internally at her. Even after spending months with them, she still wouldn’t recognise most of them as friends.
She didn’t explain anything else; instead, she just moved to the fireplace and flopped down, taking a nap.
“I guess that is that then?” I said, shrugging.
“Better than nothing. At least we know the capital and our friends are safe,” I said, though I quickly thought of something else and knew exactly how to get the information.
I knew that Clifford would have been in the more populated section of the city, so, “Crisplet, you should ask if Clifford is safe.”
There was a pause as Crisplet looked towards me before turning to Lily, who now had her eyes closed in front of the fire.
There was a brief pause, and she didn’t stir. Then the fire vanished.
She still didn’t stir. It wasn’t until Crisplet started to throw coals at her that she opened her eyes with a huff.
Crisplet then let off a big burst of sparks, and the fire lit back up.
“Clifford would have been in the lower areas of the city.” I didn’t need to explain more. Everyone seemed to put it together.
The rest of the night passed without any more dire events, and we had the same rooms as last time. Lily was quick to steal my bed. I was growing used to this now, and she had left a small amount of space for me at least.
Just as I was leaving to go to sleep, Luis leaned over towards me. “The eyes were a good touch, by the way.”
I couldn’t help but feel proud of Crisplet and everything he had done.
***
The beds here were incredibly comfy, and I didn’t realise it until I slept here again, even more so than what I had in the capital at the mansion. I’d need to remember that if I ever ended back there for a long time.
I got up for the day, Lily already missing and Crisplet missing as well, but heading out of the room and down the hall, I quickly found mostly everyone sitting in the same sitting room. Only Wyatt, Hari, and Luis were missing right now.
But at least I remembered Luis was with us.
“Morning!” Jen waved.
“Afternoon, you mean,” Milo snorted, book in hand.
“It’s not that late, is it?” I asked, slightly concerned.
“No, it’s not. Ignore him,” Jen waved it off.
“I wanted to head to the market today, see what I can find,” I said happily.
It was only then that Crisplet appeared, rushing out of the fireplace.
“Mind if I join you?” Jen asked.
I was rather surprised that it was Jen asking. I thought for sure that Liane would be the one to tag along.
“I’m going to stay here today. Enjoy the peace and quiet,” Liane said, stretching out on the chair once Jen stood up.
“Before I go, Anthony, Paro and Nero won’t need the wagons today, right?” I just wanted to make sure in case they needed them.
Milo waved it off. “Not at all. They have all their goods in the storage devices. You might even see them at the market. I’m fairly sure that’s where they are.”
I didn’t bother getting breakfast at the inn, choosing instead to find something at one of the food stalls, which wasn’t hard at all. We’d only arrived at the market and I spotted at least four stalls that interested me.
“Food first!” I said happily to Jen, while Crisplet was still in his brazier.
I walked past several stalls that had things I had tried before. Grumfels on a stick seemed to be a staple everywhere, and Jen even purchased two, but I wanted something I had not tried before. Something new.
The first item I found was something that appeared at first glance to be bread, and I was about to walk away until the smell hit me. It was twisted like a knot, but the smell of meat and garlic grass drew me in.
“Hello there, young adventurer! Can I interest you in some garlic twists?” the lady said to me.
“What’s in them?” I asked.
“We have three types. This one here is just garlic grass and our secret salt blend. This one here is made with melted cheese on the inside, and it’s perfect to warm you up on a frosty morning like this. Our last one is if you need something to fill you up. It has pulled buvul and an onion gravy,” she said happily.
I was staring at the meat ones. They didn’t look any different. “How do you get the meat inside?”
The lady let out a hearty laugh. “Secret! That’s what makes ours so special, so what’s it going to be!”
In the end, I got two cheese and two meat. I was told the secret salt blend was on all of them, so I didn’t bother getting the plain one. They were also only three copper each, so it felt reasonable, maybe a little expensive.
The first one I tried was a cheese one. The lady mentioned it was best to eat them while they were hot. Taking my first bite, I first got the salty taste from the seasoning on the outside, followed by the garlic grass that must have been stuffing the knot part where the bread was contacting each other.
But inside, the melted cheese was so stringy that as I took a bite, it stretched nearly the length of my arm. It wasn’t overly sharp, had a hint of saltiness, and complemented the garlic perfectly.
Seeing me enjoy it so much, Jen ended up purchasing one as well.
I stored my second one to keep it hot and moved on to the meat. Taking a bite, I immediately saw the appeal of it. Truthfully, it wasn’t as good as the cheese one, but there was a thick, stew-like mixture inside the bread. It could have done with more seasoning, as it tasted rather bland.
My mind raced. If I could work out how to do it though, I could certainly improve it. I knew I could make a better stew mixture than this.
I kept eating, wondering how they achieved it without it bursting. My immediate thought was to chill the stew so it was really thick, almost solid. Then I could easily wrap it in the bread.
“Are you alright, Trev?” Jen asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Yeah, sorry! Just thinking,” I quickly said, walking away from the stall, waving to the lady as we left.
“You’re wondering how to recreate that, aren’t you?” Jen laughed.
I felt embarrassed that I was yet again read so easily. “Am I that predictable?”
Jen walked off laughing, mouth full of the cheese roll. “Yes!”