It was nearing dusk, and the time for Riley to arrive was drawing near. Marcus was standing outside the front doors along with Sylvia. He was dressed in his full set of armor and had his warhammer in its holster on his back. Sylvia was wearing the simple white dress that she had on upstairs, it went down past her ankles and had little flowers embroidered on the hemline. Her blonde hair was done up in curls, every time her head moved they bounced up and down, brushing against her exposed shoulders.
"So, how long do you think this will take?" Marcus asked Sylvia.
"I honestly can't say, but if we're lucky, not very long." Sylvia said.
"I guess we'll find out soon enough, here he comes now." Marcus said, pointing to a carriage that was struggling up the steep hill leading up to the villa.
It was the same carriage that Riley had taken from Rockwell to here, but they had at least cleaned it. It wasn't anything overly fancy, a run of the mill small noble's carriage. The only problem was that it was a little too small for Marcus to sit in comfortably, he seemed to have that problem a lot, not many things were made for a man his size. The carriage squeaked to a stop in front of the villa, the driver quickly got done and opened the door for the man inside.
Riley stepped down from the carriage with his head held high, he seemed to be in a particularly good mood. He was dressed rather well, wearing a blue dress suit and white undershirt. A blue ascot was around his neck, it matched the suit quite well. It was really too bad that Riley was so ugly.
He strode over to Sylvia with a wide smile on his face. Stopping in front of her he gave a polite bow.
"Good evening Miss Sylvia, I'm here to take you on our date."
"Oh, it's a date is it?" Sylvia asked, half surprised, half gagging.
"Of course. First we'll go to the edge of the city to view the sunset, there's a particularly beautiful waterfall. Then there is a play being shown that I managed to secure tickets for, I do think you will enjoy it. Finally we will have dinner at one of the finest restaurants in the whole of Rosevalley." Riley listed off the night's activities.
"Oh wow, that's quite the night." Sylvia said with genuine surprise.
"Well….. Lead the way."
Riley bowed again and led Sylvia to the open door of the carriage. After helping her inside, Riley followed her. Seeing that there wasn't enough room for him to squeeze in, Marcus told Sylvia that he would follow close behind them on foot.
"I was under the impression that it would be just the lady and I." Riley said with a little bit of anger in his voice.
"Don't worry, it will be like I'm not even there." Marcus said to Riley with a smile, then closed the door of the carriage.
Riley turned to Sylvia, his brows furrowed. "Does that big oaf have to tag along?"
"Yes, Marcus does. He was employed by my father, so he wouldn't leave my side even if I told him to." Sylvia said, emphasizing Marcus's name.
"Haaaa, very well, driver, let's go." Riley said with a long sigh.
The carriage lurched forward, squeaking and creaking with every little bump. Marcus was going at a slight jog in order to keep up. It was a little bit faster of a pace than he would have liked, but he could still keep up easily. They took a few turns, keeping a steady speed, but when they turned onto the main road the carriage sped up significantly. Marcus had to almost sprint to keep up, he couldn't help but feel that it was intentional. Marcus had almost changed his view on the young noble, the date he had set up was actually well thought out and Sylvia might actually have a good time. Now though, since he was being so petty by making him run like this, he dropped down several pegs in Marcus's good book.
They were almost to the western edge of the city, this was the side that was closest to the Frontier. The city was nestled in between two towering mountain ranges, this fact alone elevated the beauty of the city. Along with the mountains were many waterfalls made from the snow melt coming from the peaks, they were heading towards one of the more popular ones.
Being so popular, there were many people coming and going from the area, with all the people came many stares pointed towards Marcus's direction. It wasn't just because of his size, it was the fact that he was basically sprinting after a carriage that was going faster than usual, it was a sight to behold. Marcus couldn't help but notice many people pointing and laughing at him, he had thick skin but still couldn't help feeling embarrassed.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the carriage began to slow down, eventually coming to a stop. Marcus was red in the face from all the running, sweat was dripping off his nose. He just wanted to sit down and rest, but his dignity was already injured, so he wouldn't let people see him sit. While he was standing and catching his breath, the driver got down and opened the door for the two inside. Riley got out first, held his hand out, then helped Sylvia get down as well.
Sylvia's face had a scowl on it, she looked very upset. She then looked over to Marcus, mouthing the words 'I'm so sorry'. Marcus just smiled at her, letting her know that he was fine.
They had stopped at the bottom of a trail, you could hear the sound of roaring water in the distance. It was a little bit of a steep walk in order to get up the side of the mountain to view the waterfall. Commoners had to walk the whole way, but they had mules waiting at the bottom for any noble who wanted to make the journey.
Riley helped Sylvia to mount the mule that was waiting for them, then got on his own. Riley didn't even glance over in Marcus's direction, just dug his heels into the mule's side and started up the mountain. Marcus looked at a larger mule, but then shook his head. It would be torture for the poor animal to try and carry Marcus plus his armor up the mountain. It looked like there was more walking in his future, at least he wouldn't have to run up the mountain.
The view was spectacular, the river was about one-hundred feet wide before going over the edge and falling about five-hundred feet before crashing on the rocks below. The evening sun still managed to make a gorgeous rainbow, but with pinks and purples mixed in from the sunset. You could see large birds of prey circling the water, waiting for any unlucky fish they may see. There was a large plateau overlooking the waterfall, this was where the people would go to watch the beauty unfold.
There were several couples already on the plateau when the trio arrived, they were either sitting holding hands or edging closer to the edge, seeing how close they could get. They dismounted their mules and walked closer to the edge. Marcus kept his distance, silently agonizing. He had just sprinted for a good thirty minutes, followed by a one mile hike up a mountain fully armored. He had a huge amount of stamina, but his legs were still on fire and his lungs burned from the cool, dry air.
Marcus leaned against a tree, watching the two of them talk. He saw Riley try to put his arm around Sylvia's shoulders, but she wiggles away from him before he could. That put a smile on his face, he was hoping that only bad things would follow Riley around until the day he died.
They stayed at the waterfall for half an hour, taking the scenery in. They then got back on the mules and made their way back down the mountain. Marcus had mostly recuperated, and going down a mountain was much easier than going up one, so he had no problems on the return trip. He was just praying that the theatre wasn't across the city.
...........................….
"Would you like something different? You have barely touched your plate." Sir Allister asked Clair who was sitting across from him at the dinner table.
"Thank you, but no. It's just that my appetite hasn't returned, Ellenore says it may take a couple more weeks for it to get back to normal."
"Ah, that makes sense. Well if you have enough room for dessert we have vanilla cake or a cherry tart that was made today."
Silence once again reigned over the table. Clair had been invited to dinner by Sir Allister earlier in the day, and she couldn't refuse since she was a guest at his house. It was very awkward for her, they had barely spoken since she sat down, but that didn't seem to bother Sir Allister one bit. After a few more minutes of the deafening silence, Sir Allister finally broke it.
"What do you plan to do once you are fully healed?" He asked, putting down his wine glass that he had just drank from.
Clair winced at the question, this was what she had been waiting for, and dreading since she realized that he was taking care of her. She just knew that he was going to use this to trap her in an unfair contract or to steal her recipes for potions. She didn't respond right away, she was mentally weighing her options, trying to think of a way out of her predicament.
"I'll rebuild the store. It may take awhile, but I should be able to do it on my own."
"Do you have the funds to rebuild such a large store? With all the equipment that you would need to purchase and the glass vials?" Sir Allister pressed.
"I have some money saved up, it should be enough to get me started" Clair protested.
She did have some money that the Merchant's Association had in their vault, it wasn't a lot, but enough to start construction. She would just have to barrow the rest, she also had her lock box hidden away in her apartment. It should have survived the fire, she was just praying that it was still there.
"Do you have enough to purchase everything you need? That, plus the treatment you've received is quite expensive. I will help cover some of the cost, because we are friends, but I can only do so much." Sir Allister said, smiling a toothy grin.
Clair didn't say a word, she didn't like where this conversation was going. Seeing her not reply, he continued.
"But do not worry, I'm sure we can work something out. Either I can invest in your apothecary, with a percentage of profits going to me in order to cover your treatment costs, or you can just sell me some of your recipes. Either one should be acceptable."
"And just how much are my treatment costs?" Clair asked hesitantly.
"Oh, I think Ellenore charged two-thousand gold coins." Sir Allister said, almost as if he believed his own lie.
Clair's heart skipped a beat, that was a ridiculous number. That was more money than she made in three years, even being the top apothecary in the city. There was no way that it should cost that much.
"I'm sorry, did you say two-thousand gold coins?" Clair asked with a pale face.
"It's true, your injuries were extremely severe. You very nearly died. It took nearly all of her magic power every day for three weeks for Ellenore to save you, she barely succeeded at that." He explained, with a serious look on his face.
In fact, Sir Allister could barely contain his joy. Everything was going as he planned. Ellenore really only charged five-hundred gold coins for her treatment, it was still a huge amount, but nowhere close to two-thousand. The only thing was that he had already sent her away earlier in the day, so no one was around to verify that amount. So Clair was stuck with whatever price he threw out.
"And how much could you cover as a….. friend?"
"I could cover three hundred gold coins, but no more."
"Hmmmm, I'll have to speak with Lady Ellenore, maybe I can negotiate a reduced price." Clair said to no one in particular.
"I'm afraid I've already tried, she was very insistent on the price. She left just after your walk around the garden this afternoon, and it would be almost impossible to recall her." He said dejectedly, putting his head down.
Clair was pale as a ghost, her mouth was dry, and she was trembling slightly. She didn't know what to do, that was a massive debt she just couldn't repay without tying herself to Sir Allister. She was almost sure he was lying about the amount, but couldn't prove it. Without finding Ellenore, she was stuck with the price, and she was sure that Sir Allister would never let her find her to ask. She suddenly felt very sick to her stomach.
"Excuse me." She said standing up slowly.
"I feel ill suddenly, we'll have to finish this conversation later. I'm going to retire to my room."
"Please, by all means. I pray you feel better." Sir Allister said, the concern clear in his voice.
He stood up and helped Clair to the door, there, a maid took over and walked her to her room. Sir Allister sat back down, a fiendish smile on his face. There was no way she would be able to pay him back anytime soon. She would never sell her recipes, so she would most likely go with the set percentage of profits. He was sure that he could rope her into unfavorable terms in a contract, ensuring his future profits.