Just as Iris thought she and Lord Kieran were getting along well, he had given her an order not to meet up with Marcus and Ali anymore when she asked if she could leave the castle to meet the siblings in Greydale Town, three days after their shared kiss in her quarters.
"I would rather you not see them again, Iris. Considering that Marcus had the guts to face an Elder Lich on his own is already suspicious. Ricci claimed she'd known them for over three centuries now, but I have never seen nor sensed their presence here in Aisgarth. What does that tell you, Little Flower?" Lord Kieran argued, and Iris hated the underlying suspicion in his tone.
He meant that Marcus and Ali were powerful darklings and not just mere travelers that Iris and her friends happened to meet. If anything, Lord Kieran was curious about the two siblings. How come he never met those two whenever he made his rounds in Greydale Town? Something was strange about them.