Chapter 187: A Bowl Of Beef Stew
Inside the guest room, the air was heavy with the scent of burning woods and spice, whilst Cassian already had the fireplace set, illuminating the exquisite room with a brilliant orange-yellowish light. His attention was instantly diverted to the door that slid open the next minute, revealing Ivan who was all dressed up into something more comfy and simple. His crimson orbs glanced at Cassian who eyed him confusedly, and strangely, they both emitted the same amount of arrogance presently. Ivan couldn’t remember the last time someone had looked at him with such guts, but, however, he always overlooked the ones of this particular stranger for no valid reasons at all.
In the end, they both sat in front of the wooden table with a paper and quill resting on the surface. Dipping the quill into an ink bottle, Ivan laid out a drafty map of the village before explaining the strategy he had come up with to Cassian. The matter was indeed a crucial one, and Cassian gave the vampire King his listening ears before nodding his head in understanding. In order to gain more information from the subjects of Fernwood, they’ll have to make them speak without making their intentions too obvious, and Ivan’s present plan seemed to be the best.
"The first phase of our plan begins tonight." Cassian murmured, and Ivan nodded his head in agreement before circling a certain star on the map he drew. A calculative smile curved his lips as he placed a dot at the top of the star, signaling where their first phase for tonight will begin. Cassian’s gaze lingered on the star mark briefly, and when he lifted his Amber-brown eyes to look at His Majesty, the vampire’s eyes glinted ominously before saying.
"Let’s head out for dinner." And he rose to his feet to grab his coat.
—-
"This is beautiful!" Samantha whispered in awe while peering out through the opened window. She had been busy drying her hair with a towel when the lit-up view of the village caught her eyes, and she had been deeply enthralled by it that she was presently standing before the window, gazing out with pure fascination. It felt inexplicably overwhelming to be in her hometown again... except everything felt different than what she remembered of it, almost as if she had stumbled into a foreign land, and it made her hope that their home hadn’t been demolished yet.
With different thoughts running through her mind, Samantha was snapped back to reality when Alain reached her side. Gazing at his somber face, the little boy rubbed his belly, indicating he was hungry, and Samantha crouched down to his level. She had been wondering why he remained so suspiciously calm since they got here, and now she knew why. It made her feel slightly upset with herself that she hadn’t noticed the reason for his change a lot sooner.
"Come, let’s go see if the innkeeper can arrange something for everyone, okay?" Holding Alain’s hand in her own grip, she led him towards the door, but the moment she opened it, her feet involuntarily halted at the sight of Ivan and sir Cassian who stood at her doorstep. Her awed eyes traveled between the two handsome gentlemen who looked prepared to step out tonight, but what she didn’t expect was for Ivan to snap his fingers at her face, breaking her from a dazed trance.
"I’m sorry, am I missing something?" Samantha asked with evident bewilderment.