The odd sensation disappeared as quickly as it had co, at which point Anice sensed that Alistar had begun making his way to the dining hall with hurried steps. Strangely enough, nobody spoke during his approach, the eyes of the servants remaining locked onto Caedmon as if awaiting an explanation for what had just occurred. It was this atmosphere that greeted Alistar as he slowed to a walk and entered the room, no surprise on his face as he saw the gathered group.
"Hello everyone," he smiled, looking around the room with happy eyes. The first thing that he did was rush over to Anice, surprising her with a light hug as he looked at her with excitent. "You were right, Anne!"
He was still shirtless, which made her freeze up at the contact.
"I—I was?"
"About the limiters. I just took so of mine off and my magical awareness beca much more sensitive!"
"Of course I was right," she said proudly, though she pushed him away a mont later. "Look what you did. Now I’m all wet!"
Alistar was soaked, clearly having been caught out in the rain.
"What are you doing ssing around with those trinkets?" snorted Tramon. "If you don’t have the next defensive stance down by tomorrow, you’ll suffer for it."
"Don’t worry, Master. I think I’ve gotten the hang of it."
"You think, or you know?"
"Shall we test it out? I’ll go grab my sword!" Eyes shining, he turned to leave but was stopped by Patricia’s outstretched arm.
"Are you trying to trail water all throughout the house?" She snatched the closest napkin on the table and began to pat him dry. "You don’t want to catch a cold now, do you?"
"I’m sorry, Patricia. I’ll dry the floors before I retrieve my sword."
"Do I look like I want to spar?" snapped the sword master, who finished off his wine and then poured himself another glass. "You’ll have plenty of opportunities to be beaten by tomorrow, so cool your head."
The ladies didn’t seem to like Tramon’s tone, though admittedly neither did Anice. What kind of man spoke about beating a child so nonchalantly? She decided to teach the old man a lesson once she beca proficient at using magic. A child picking on the elderly couldn’t be any worse than the elderly picking on a child, right? Reminded of Mr. Albeck’s presence, she pointed at the man and hurriedly exclaid, "Alie, look! Papa found us a magic instructor!"
Alistar looked genuinely surprised as he laid eyes on the man, as he had been so excited over his limiters that he had hardly paid any attention to anyone else.
"My apologies," he said, straightening his back and clearing his throat in a well-practiced manner. "My na is Alistar Silverkin. How do you do?" He gave a polite bow, only for Tramon to slam his wine glass down in annoyance.
"You’re only just noticing him? Forget sparring. You’ll be ditating outside my house for the next week’s worth of lessons."
Alistar ducked his head, dejected. "Yes, Master."
Caedmon’s guest cleared his throat. "It’s nice to et you, Alistar. My na is Jin Flores Albeck, and I’ll be tutoring you in the ways of the arcane from this day forth. I hope you’ll work hard at your studies."
"I will," said Alistar, raising his head. "Do we start today? I’ll go get changed, and then—"
"Easy there," said Caedmon. "Mr. Albeck just arrived after spending weeks on the road, so we should give him so ti to settle in. Your lessons will start tomorrow in mid-afternoon."
"But that’s when I usually visit Mr. Herst."
"You can only do so many things in a day. From here on out, you’ll have to take extra care in arranging your schedule."
Although Anice’s cousin had appeared heartbroken for a mont, his eyes regained their forr fire and he nodded at her father’s words. "I understand. From now on, I’ll have lunch with Mr. Herst. That way I won’t have to spend the extra ti running back and forth from town."
"A waste of ti, that," muttered Tramon, draining his glass with a single gulp. In the face of Alistar’s glare, he stood up and waved him off. "He’s your friend and all, yes, yes." Lifting his cloak from the back of his chair, he draped it over his broad shoulders and then walked toward the door. "It’s about ti I head back, now." He fixed her father with an exasperated stare. "Next ti, let know what it is you want to talk about before you make co all the way over here. And you, boy. I’ll see you tomorrow at the usual ti. Don’t bother bringing your sword."
"Yes, Master. Be careful on your way ho."
The man exited the room without sparing anybody else so much as a fleeting glance, leaving the group silent in his wake.
"A pleasant man, if nothing else," said Mr. Albeck.
Alder snickered, leaning in to mutter in his old friend’s ear. "And that was him on a good day."
Anice was happy to see that she wasn’t the only one that disliked the old sword master.
"Oh, and Alistar?"
"Yes, Uncle?"
"Anice tells that you’ve been spending so of your allowance on a young man in the marketplace. What was his na? Ruk?"
Anice blushed as Alistar sent her an annoyed look.
"Only a few sticks of at throughout the week. He doesn’t make much money, you see, because he’s a Dru—an Inverted. Sotis he works from sunup to sundown and still doesn’t get paid. As your nephew, I thought it only right that I help him."
Why her cousin was so obsessed with the Inverted people of Mayhaven, Anice had no idea. It wasn’t just Ruk that he shared als with from ti to ti. There were several of them that made a living off of helping people move rchandise to and from the marketplace, as well as setting up and taking down street stalls and other miscellaneous work. Alistar seed to go out of his way to help them, sotis going as far as doing so of their work for them. Regardless of his reasons for doing so, she couldn’t help but notice that it had attracted a lot of negative attention from so of the sellers that frequented the square where the market was located, including the old lady that sold sweets. It seed that almost every ti they visited her stall, she would warn them both of the dangers of keeping undesirable company like Ruk and the others, warnings that Alistar always thanked her for with smiles that Anice knew were forced.
Hearing Alistar’s reasoning, her father let out a prolonged sigh. "It seems I’ll need to have another talk with the stall owners about treating people fairly."
"People?" said one of the gardeners, who evidently couldn’t help but speak up. "These is demons we’s talkin’ about. I say let ’em starve."
Caedmon silenced the man with an upraised hand, withdrawing a silver lucet from his breast pocket and handing it over to Alistar to replace the money he’d spent on his aforentioned endeavours. "I’ll take care of their als from now on. You just worry about yourself, okay?"
Alistar nodded before turning his gaze to their new teacher in the curious manner that characterized him. "Mr. Albeck, why is it that I can hardly sense your aura? It’s as if you’re not even here."
"A trick to hide one’s presence," said the man. "I’ll teach it to you in ti." Mr. Albeck’s eyes lingered on the limiters that Alistar wore, all eight of them, before turning to the room at large and addressing everyone present with a kind expression. "Although it’s quite early, I think I fancy so rest so I’ll be heading to my room now. It was a pleasure becoming acquainted with you all, and I’d just like to say that I’m looking forward to living here and getting to know everybody. If you need anything at all and think that I might be of so assistance, then don’t hesitate to seek out."
After the man had been seen off by the crowd, Caedmon dismissed everyone present so that it was just him, Anice and Alistar that remained in the dining hall.
"What do you two think of your new teacher?"
"He seems okay." Anice didn’t know the first thing about the man, so she couldn’t think of anything else to say.
"He’s powerful," said Alistar, glancing back at the doorway just as Madeline returned with a dry tunic for him to wear. After putting it on and thanking the house servant, he continued on in an interested tone. "I don’t know why, but he gave off that impression."
"He’s certainly no slouch. You know, back in our younger days he was the most talented student at the arcannia. Even the older students respected him."
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