Days went by quickly, and in the blink of an eye, Eizan had spent seven months in the Tower. Apart from spending all his time in the garden, he didn't go anywhere else. Agnes and the twins advanced to the second level of the tower and were under the tutelage of some elders. Duobing stopped coming to the garden as his talent caught the eye of an elder. As for him, he still hadn't shown any sign of magic, but he wasn't downcast. One thing changed, though: Thom Klaugsh frequented the garden a bit too much, and Master Cornish was nowhere to be seen. The moonflower was still dead, and Lady Meredith never came to see it again.
One day, while he was tending to the garden, Thom sauntered into the garden, smelling of booze. "My good pal!" he had yelled, "I feel bad for you, and that is why! You are going into town with me!
Eizan tried to pay him no heed; this wasn't the first time he had stumbled into the garden drunk in the past seven months. He made promises of taking him to town. He had never once fulfilled them, and he would feel hurt each time he promised and forgot. Sighing, he harvested a piece of silymarin, set a fire in the makeshift kitchen he had created two months earlier, and placed a cup of water on the stove. Then he peeled the root and stalk of the silymarin he harvested, ready to soak them, but changed his mind immediately; he had to taste the bitterness this time. He cut it into thin slices and put them into the kettle. After a short while, he poured the tea into a cup and handed it over to Thom, then put out the fire.
"Drink," he urged. "But I am not drunk, just tipsy!" Thom protested. Eizan resisted the urge to roll his eyes and pressed the cup against the other's lips. The boy gulped down the tea despite the heat and bitterness, and she gave him a bright smile. He suddenly felt guilty.
"Let's go!" Thom sprang up, dragging Eizan with him. An hour later, Eizan was dressed in black pants, a white undershirt, and deep blue robes; his curly black hair was pressed straight and wrapped in a tight, neat bun; and his old boots were swapped for new ones. He was going to be thirteen in a month, and he had grown a few inches taller, to his eternal delight. He still looked like a child, but that wasn't enough to dampen his happiness.
Thom got horses for them after he had excused them to leave the tower. "Your grey eyes are too prominent; I'll change them for you," he had told Eizan before they took off. He didn't stop to check what colour they were changed to, as it didn't matter. After galloping for twenty minutes, they got to the town where the tower was situated.
The town, called Kings Way, was a bustling town with many attractions, but Eizan was dragged by Thom into a restaurant. "We are going to taste some good food. We will be food connoisseurs!' was his reason. Contrary to his expectations, Thom got a table in the open restaurant rather than a private room; "tasting food while listening to gossip is simply the best!"
"Manager Ye!" Thom slapped the table, and a fat, short man with a bald patch in the middle of his head rushed over, his smile stretching across his face. His hands and fingers were devoid of jewellery, but his neck was loaded; even the folds of flesh couldn't hide them. "Young master Klaugsh, it has been a while since you last visited."
Thom snorted, "Is it me you miss or my gold?"
Manager Ye smiled solicitously and said, "Of course not, young master. Both your money and you are welcome in my restaurant. What will you be having?"
He looked at Eizan and said, "Bring your best dishes and wine; I'm here to teach my little friend how to enjoy life."
The manager turned his gold-digging eyes on Eizan, who instinctively shrank into himself and said, "Of course, of course! Eizan looked at Thom's prideful state and felt the need to ask him if he had brought enough funds, but was interrupted by a slam on their table. A small dog jumped on Eizan and began to sniff at him. It barked, and a group of people suddenly rushed into the restaurant.
"To think such a treasure would be on a country bumpkin is indeed mind-blowing!" A sultry female voice came from outside the restaurant. The crowd that suddenly gathered made way for a scantily dressed lady to strut all the way to their seat. Thom's eyes itched, and Eizan didn't know where to keep his gaze at all. "Marietta, what are you doing?" he began, but a slap landed on his cheek out of nowhere.
"Shut up! Who let you speak, you Glotulzchan dog?"
The crowd began to gossip feverishly among themselves, and Eizan, who managed to slip away in the middle of the lady and Thom's heated confrontation, couldn't help but stay back to listen. The newcomer was Marietta, a third-generation lady of the Hunter clan and Thom's betrothed. The latter ran away after their engagement was finalized; he had disappeared into Glotulzcha and somehow ended up at the Tower, according to rumours. The lady was still bitter about that development, and all of their meetings always escalated into a fight. However, Eizan was certain that the purpose of this meeting somehow had something to do with him. No longer in the mood to gossip, he snuck towards the door but was blocked by a match, and the sultry voice sounded again.
"You! Where do you think you are going? We are just getting started!"