Ollie, Maddie, Matt and Annie all looked at each other and then at Curtis, Ivor had asked them a very delicate question, they doubted that they would be able to tell him the truth, after all, they had only just met him, and they could not possibly just trust him just like that, that would just be craziness.
"Well there are some answers we seek on Caligo" replied Curtis as he gave another vague answer, he did not say too much, neither did he say too little.
That answer was enough for Ivor to take the hint that they did not want to speak about their real reason for being here, and he did not blame them, only fools spoke of their plans to complete strangers.
"Well I hope that you find the answers that you seek on Caligo" said Ivor as he gave a slight smile and he sipped his tea.
"Thank you, I have hope that we will" replied Curtis as he sipped his tea as well, Ivor could tell that Curtis was the leader of the group, after all, the rest of them stayed completely quiet, not saying anything at all, only waiting for Curtis to reply, while they agree with his words.
Ivor had to say that he was a bit envious, these people were so respectful of Curtis that they did not say anything at all and they went with what he said, while his own disciple over here, was a chatterbox, he had been too lenient with her, he would have to warn her, this would only be a one time thing, he could not have her brining more strangers over here, that was not acceptable at all.
"Hmm" said Ivor as he smiled.
"What did you say your names were again?" asked Ivor.
"Forgive me, I have terrible memory when it comes to remembering names" said Ivor as he smiled and Alina just laughed.
"That is no problem at all" said Curtis as he smiled.
"I am Curtis" said Curtis as he introduced himself once again.
"Curtis, alright, I will remember that" said Ivor as he smiled and Curtis nodded his head as Ivor looked at Annie as if asking her to say her name.
"Annie, my name is Annie" said Annie as she smiled, Ivor nodded his head and he smiled, it was the first time he had heard her voice, he had to say that there was something that he could not quite put his hand on.
"Oliver, but you can just call me Ollie" said Ollie as he smiled.
"Alright Ollie" said Ivor as he smiled and Ollie nodded his head, finally happy that his nickname was catching on.
"Matt" said Matt as Ivor paused and he looked at him, he felt something odd about the boy as well, he did not know if his senses were tricking him, or maybe he had drank too much tea, but he could smell the scent of a vampire, although it was not too strong.
Ivor was sure that his mind was just playing tricks on him, Matt did not even look like a vampire at all, he had to be mistaken.
"Maddie" said Maddie as she introduced herself.
"Well it is nice to meet you all, having some visitors over is nice for a change" said Ivor as he smiled, everyone in the colony knew each other, and it was easy to know if there were some new people in their midst, after all, their colony only had 25 people, and then of those were children.
"You see Master, that I all I have been trying to say all along" said Alina as she smiled and Ivor just looked at her as he shook his head at Alina, he was going to remind her that this was only a one time thing, if she dare try do something like this again, he would not tolerate her.
"Alina, do not push your luck" said Ivor as he looked at Alina.
"I am still upset with you for going to the forest, you disobeyed me" said Ivor as Alina bowed her head.
"I said that I was sorry Master" said Alina as she bowed her head.
"You do say so, but will that stop you from disobeying me and going to the forest again?" asked Ivor as Alina shook her head, she could not lie to him, she would still go to the forest, it was like her second home, she just felt so at peace over there, and she did not know why, maybe it was because it was the same forest that she was found in as a baby, and maybe that was why she had such an attachment to it.
"You see, you will still go there anyway" said Ivor as he knew her well.
"But Master, it's not dangerous out there at all" said Alina as she looked at Ivor.
"I beg to differ" said Maddie as she scoffed under her breath, but Ivor heard her, and he turned to look at her.
"You see, Maddie agrees with me, that place is dangerous" said Ivor as Maddie smiled sheepishly, she did not know that he had actually heard her, she had to learn to keep her thoughts to herself.
"Oh but it isn't, it's so peaceful, and well, I don't go there at night, it's only dangerous at night, but I only go there in the mornings or afternoons" said Alina.
"Pleaseee, please Master, don't forbid me from going to the forest, I can't stop going there, I love the forest, the trees, the animals, so pleaseee master, please be lenient with me" said Alina as she begged Ivor with her big brown eyes, hoping that they would work and help him change his mind.
"Fine, you can only go to the forest two days out of the week, no more" said Ivor.
"Oh thank you, thank you Master, you are the best" said Alina as she smiled, he was the best Master ever.
"Mhmm" said Ivor as he shook his head.
Annie could not help but smile, the relationship that Alina had with Ivor was cute to watch, they both cared about it each other, they were like a real family.
"Oh Master, how about we invite our new guests to stay for dinner?" asked Alina as she looked at Ivor with a bright smile.
"I mean, if they are in no rush that is" said Alina as she did not want to sound pushy, but she would really love it if they stayed for dinner, and then for a day, or two, or three, it would be fun to have some new people around, it was always only her and her master, but if they stayed it would be fun.
Annie, Maddie, Matt and Ollie all turned to look at Curtis, it was his call after all, if it was up to them, they would have loved to stay, all except for Maddie who believed that they were getting way too comfortable here and losing focus on their main goal.
Curtis noticed that all eyes were on him now, and well the decision rested on him, the thing was that he was feeling a bit tired, and they had already wasted enough time catching Alina, following her back here, and having tea with Ivor, so if they were to leave now, they would not cover as much ground as they usually did, and then the sun would set, and he was already tired, because they would have to set up camp again, so the only reasonable choice in this situation was to stay.
"We would love to" said Curtis as Annie, Matt and Ollie smiled as Maddie sighed internally.
"Yayyy" said Alina as she smiled, she felt like jumping for Joy.
"Master, please say yes" said Alina as she smiled and she turned to look at Livor.
"I do not see why not" said Ivor as he smiled, he could see that Alina really wanted them to stay, and well, she had not been this happy in a long while, so he would allow her host their new guests, only for a little while.
"Yayy, thank you Master, thank you" said Alina as she smiled, she could not wait for dinner time, she was going to make the most delicious dinner that she had made in a while.
"This is going to be so cool, I am so happy that you guys are staying, thank you for saying yes Curtis" said Alina as she smiled at Curtis and Curtis just nodded as she smiled happily.
"Well I am done with my tea, Master, may I be excused?" asked Alina as she smiled and she looked at Ivor as he waved her off and she smiled.
"Hey, do you guys want to come with me?" asked Alina as she smiled and she stood up.
"Sure" said Annie as she smiled.
"I don't see why not" said Ollie with a smile as Alina smiled happily and they followed after her.