In the morning, the restaurant in the inn was almost empty with people. Mel, Marcus, Bo, and John occupied one table close to the bar. A rough-looking man sat at the bar eating stew and another table was occupied with two merchants from Ferron.
Penelope brought out a plank with breakfast for the table, complementary to the room they had booked last night. There was bread, butter and jams on the plank, together with a small assortment of freshly cut apples. John scrambled with his coin purse and brought out payment for the last night and the next night for Mel and Marcus.
He handed Penelope the coins, and she counted them in her palm.
“They will stay another night in a room with two beds, right?”
“Yes,” John said. “Is it the right amount?”
Penelope nodded and turned toward Marcus.
“I will make sure your items are moved to the room down the corridor and to the left,” she said. “Perhaps sometime this afternoon.”
“That would be great,” Marcus said. “And do you have a messenger working for you? We need to send a message to the travel agency in town to notify them of our arrival.”
Penelope gave a glance behind her at the man sitting by the bar, eating his stew.
“That’s our messenger,” she said. “For another copper, he can send the message for you.”
John handed Penelope a copper coin with a grudging expression on his face.
“And also, Mel and I will need to get some items for tomorrow's travels,” Marcus said. “Do you know where I could get a thick cloak and she could get a pair of gloves?”
John eyed Penelope, making sure she wouldn’t request more money for this information. Penelope only smiled back at him and kept a calm expression.
“For great quality garments you should go to eastside,” Penelope said. “It’s all the way through town. But if you’re low on cash, then I would try the tailor by the alley just down the street from here. He may not have pure cotton or silk, but he has some cheap cloaks that will get you by.”
Marcus shared a worried glance with John before he turned back to Penelope.
“And how much would a fancy cloak be, do you think?”
Penelope turned her gaze upward for a moment, seeming to estimate prices of fabric and tailoring in her head. She sucked in a corner of her upper lip and when she released it again; she looked back at Marcus.
“Three silver, I believe. Maybe four if you want something embroidered on it.”
Penelope looked down at the silver dragon embroidered on Marcus’s top. He had loaned one of John’s official dragon cult uniforms. Marcus had only brought one set of clothes and since John and Bo were returning home to Windbrook today, John had given him a full setup of the uniform.
Mel winced at Penelope’s expression. She knew they would be recognized everywhere now that Marcus was wearing those clothes. She wished they could afford to buy him something else, but Mel knew better than that. A cloak for three silver was more than they paid for at the inn and they still needed to pay the travel agency for taking them to Aldrion, too. It wouldn’t be possible to throw away perfectly fine warm clothes, even though they were the guard uniforms of the dragon cult.
Bo raised his hand and Penelope stared at him like he was a kid in school.
“Yes,” Penelope said.
“I have a question too,” Bo said. “Where can I find some cinnamon buns? I need some for my trip home and to eat, of course.”
John rolled his eyes at Bo, and Marcus and Mel giggled by the sidelines.
“There’s a bakery just down the street from here,” Penelope said. “If you hit the market, you’ve gone too far. They have the best sweetened bread on the westside.”
Bo rubbed at his belly, and a hungry expression spread across his face.
“Thank you,” he said.
Penelope left the table and went behind the bar. She talked low with the messenger and he shoved the last spoons of stew in his mouth before he got up. He nodded toward Mel and the rest of the party before he exited the inn. He would deliver their message to the travel agency and tomorrow, they would be off to Aldrion.
After breakfast, Mel and Marcus said goodbye to Bo and John. Before they left, John handed Marcus the coin purse, and he looked sort of shocked having this much money in his hands. He also handed him a scroll with the travel agency details on.
“You’ll need to pay the travel agency tomorrow,” John said, then looked around him at the empty-looking inn. “It will cost two gold for you and Mel. Make sure you don’t spend the gold coins and don’t lose them either.”
Marcus nodded, and Mel swallowed a lump in her throat. They had a coin purse with two gold in their possession and Mel couldn’t even believe that much money existed. At most, her parents had given her a silver or two for special items she needed to buy. Like books for school or new shoes. But a gold coin, she wasn’t sure she had ever seen one of those.
John and Bo left Marcus and Mel standing by the door to the inn. The first thing Marcus did after Bo and John left was to empty the coin purse in his hand. He hid the coins from the few people still inside the inn, quickly counting them, and then put the coins back into the purse.
He turned to Mel, a wide smile on his lips and a gleam in his eyes.
“Except for the payment to the travel agency,” he said. “We have five silver and a few copper coins left. I think it will be enough to buy the fancy cloak and a pair of fancy gloves for you.”
Mel shook her head and furrowed her brow. “No, this is all we have left,” she said. “What happens when we get to Aldrion? We will need money there to stay at an inn when we arrive and to pay for the school, maybe. I don’t actually know what the school will cost, if it costs anything.”
Marcus dragged a hand over his chin and looked thoughtful for a moment. “I guess you’re right,” he finally said. “The back alley tailor it is.”
#
A moment later, Mel and Marcus were walking down the street together, side by side. Everywhere Mel turned, someone was staring at them with gawking eyes and mouths left wide open. They were looking at Marcus with his dragon emblem on his chest and the red details of his shirt and trousers. He had a sword attached to his belt, something John had also given him for the road ahead.
Mel didn’t even think Marcus knew how to draw that sword, and she thought he would probably hurt himself more if he tried to use it in a fight. Sure, Marcus looked burly enough, and Mel didn’t think anyone would try to attack someone who looked like him. But dangling a sword from his belt that he couldn’t use seemed unnecessary.
Mel had her great grandfather’s knife on her person at all times, but she had concealed it perfectly by hiding it in her trouser lining behind her shirt. No one would think Mel had a weapon with her and no one would suspect her of carrying a magical item. She didn't even know if it was legal to just carry magic around in Stonehearth. But she wouldn’t leave it with her other belongings at the inn.
Marcus and Mel got to the tailor, just a foot inside a back alley that smelled like urine and garbage. When they went inside, an old man sat at a sewing machine, his eyes pointing toward a green garment and his spectacles dangling on his nose.
“Do you have a cloak?” Marcus asked.
The old man looked up, startled by their presence. He looked Marcus up and down and his eyes stayed on the dragon emblem a moment too long. Then he looked at Mel, seeming to glance over her too quickly.
“Oh, you’re a long way from home,” he said. “What kind of cloak do you need?”
“We’re taking the mountain pass tomorrow to Aldrion,” Marcus said. “So I will need something that can keep the cold away.”
The old man furrowed his eyebrows. “I can make you a cloak that can keep the wind away and keep you warm at night,” he said. “But not warm enough for the mountain pass. You’ll need really good material for that, material that’s only sold on the eastside.”
“Okay,” Marcus said. “But I can’t afford the eastside prices and I need a cloak. So, can you get me the next best thing?”
The old man looked at Mel now and chewed on his lip. “Do you also need one, young lady?”
“No, I already have a good cloak from home,” Mel said. “But I need some gloves, though.”
“Hmm…” the old man said. “Gloves you can get from Gladys down the road. Just five minutes by foot, turn left when you exit the alley.”
He stood up from behind the sewing machine and was surprisingly short. He walked around his disk and up to a huge bookshelf spreading across the wall. Fabric leaned against the shelves and he prodded a few of the woolen ones before grabbing a thick-looking forest green fabric.
The old man turned with the fabric in his hand toward Marcus. “I can make a cloak of this, sew on a bit of padding from some old scrap pieces and make a few pockets for your belongings. It will take a few hours and I will need your measurements. I can charge one silver for it. That sound good?”
Marcus and Mel shared a glance. Mel nodded to Marcus, and he turned back to the old man.
“Yes, that sounds good,” he said.
Marcus picked out a silver coin and gave Mel the purse.
“Go and buy some gloves and then we can meet back here,” he said.
Mel grabbed the purse and wished Marcus good luck with the old man. She walked out of the tailor, dragging in a deep breath and smelling urine again. Mel scrunched up her nose and walked out of the alley.
In her dreams Stonehearth had seemed like the best place on earth. Full of people from different backgrounds and no dragon cult to tell you what to do. It seemed like a perfect place to go. But now that she was here in the smelly alleys and the bustling crowds, she realized it wasn’t exactly like she had imagined it.
It was smelly and full of noise all the time. But it had one thing she had always missed in Windbrook, possibilities.
Mel walked down the road and got to Gladys’ hats and gloves in five minutes, just as the old tailor had said. She walked inside and saw an old woman behind the counter, counting money.
“I would like some gloves,” Mel said. “Do you have any?”
Gladys looked Mel up and down and a thin smile formed on her lips. But Mel noticed something was different. She didn’t regard her with the same wide eyes as others had done when she and Marcus were together.
“Are the gloves for you or your mistress?” Gladys asked.
Mel took a step back, feeling like she didn’t quite follow. Who could be Mel’s mistress?
“For me,” she said. “I’m traveling to Aldrion by the mountain pass and need a pair of warm gloves.”
The old woman raised an eyebrow at Mel. “You’re traveling to Aldrion?”
“Yes,” Mel said.
She looked down at Mel’s shirt and pants. The only clean clothes she had now that she had used up her travel clothes on the road here. They weren’t awfully warm or nice-looking. It was just a pair of regular brown pants and a brown shirt. She looked a little like a bag of potatoes inside of them, but Mel thought that was normal.
Gladys gave Mel a small chuckle and rolled her eyes.
“Sure you are,” she said. “Well, you or your mistress will need a pair of warm gloves if you’re going to traverse the mountain pass.”
Gladys pulled out a drawer from behind the counter and picked up three different pairs of gloves.
“These are the warmest pairs I’ve got,” Gladys said. “Can I fit them onto your hands or do you need me to consider some other measurements?”
Mel walked closer to the counter and stretched out her hands to Gladys.
“You can fit them onto me,” she said.
Gladys pulled on a pair of light gray gloves onto Mel’s hands. They felt warm and soft inside, but also a bit stiff around the seams.
“These are rabbit’s skin gloves,” Gladys said. “The outside is thick wool, and the inside is rabbit fur. Very warm and elegant. For the fancy young woman who wants to look stylish while traveling.”
Mel nodded like she was actually considering these, but in her mind she had already said no.
Gladys slipped off the rabbit skin gloves and pulled on a brown pair of gloves. They were thick and warm, but lacking some in mobility and felt rough against Mel’s skin.
“These are the cheapest warm gloves,” Gladys said. “They are made of several layers of less processed wool. Undyed with the natural brown color of the fabric. Not for the more elegant people, since they will make your hands coarse and your skin sore for the first few days.”
Mel threw these off a little too fast and a smile fell over Gladys’ face.
“These last ones,” Gladys said. “They’re made of wool on the outside and inside they have cotton. A little cheaper than fur, but soft and nice against the skin.”
Gladys pulled on a pair of black gloves over Mel’s hands and slipping them on felt like putting on her shirt or her pants. They were soft against her skin, not like the brown ones, but they didn’t look dainty or feel like she couldn’t move in them.
Mel made a fist with her hand and then flexed it out, fingers pointing everywhere. They felt good.
“How much for these?” Mel asked.
Gladys gave her a wry smile. “For the rabbit skin gloves, I charge two silver. For the brown worker gloves, five copper and for these, one silver.”
Mel swallowed hard. It was just as much as Marcus’ entire cloak cost. Could she really spend an entire silver coin on a pair of gloves?
Mel glanced down at the brown itchy workers gloves and her entire body shivered with displeasure. She couldn’t even make herself think about putting those on again. She brought out the coin purse and handed Gladys a silver coin.
Gladys gave her a wide smile.
“Glad to do business with you,” she said. “And if your mistress would like anything else, let me know.”
Gladys gave Mel a wink and Mel felt uneasy when she left Gladys’ shop.
Outside on the street, people walked past Mel without even looking. She was a nobody now that Marcus wasn’t walking next to her with his dragons cult uniform. Mel felt happy about blending in and for once in her life she got to experience fitting in, even if it only was for five minutes.
Back at the tailor’s shop, Marcus and Mel waited together for his cloak to be ready and when the old man stopped sewing on his machine and presented Marcus with the forest green garment, a wide smile spread on Marcus’ lips. He put on the cloak before the mirror and the old tailor had actually done an excellent job.
The wool cloak fitted Marcus’s body perfectly and even had a little extra material for him to wrap it around him. The inside of the cloak was a neat-looking quilt, made of several different fabric scraps shaped in small triangles and sewn together. The pockets were barely visible, but Marcus assured her that there were several sewn in there along the quilt.
Mel and Marcus made it back to the inn in the afternoon, and Mel could feel the uneasiness of walking next to him again. All eyes were turned to them, and everyone knew they were from Windbrook and the cult.
At the Stoneway Inn, Penelope greeted them with a message from the travel agency to be there early tomorrow morning and to be ready to leave by sunup. She also handed them a scroll from the agency, with an invitation to a party held tonight at eastside. Apparently, the other students that were traveling from Stonehearth to Aldrion wanted to throw a goodbye party before they left.
Both Mel and Marcus were mentioned in the invitation. Mel practically ran to their room to clean up before they had to leave and get all the way across town for the party. Marcus looked a little more concerned about this. But he didn’t complain and said that if Mel was going, he would accompany her.
In the morning, the restaurant in the inn was almost empty with people. Mel, Marcus, Bo, and John occupied one table close to the bar. A rough-looking man sat at the bar eating stew and another table was occupied with two merchants from Ferron.
Penelope brought out a plank with breakfast for the table, complementary to the room they had booked last night. There was bread, butter and jams on the plank, together with a small assortment of freshly cut apples. John scrambled with his coin purse and brought out payment for the last night and the next night for Mel and Marcus.
He handed Penelope the coins, and she counted them in her palm.
“They will stay another night in a room with two beds, right?”
“Yes,” John said. “Is it the right amount?”
Penelope nodded and turned toward Marcus.
“I will make sure your items are moved to the room down the corridor and to the left,” she said. “Perhaps sometime this afternoon.”
“That would be great,” Marcus said. “And do you have a messenger working for you? We need to send a message to the travel agency in town to notify them of our arrival.”
Penelope gave a glance behind her at the man sitting by the bar, eating his stew.
“That’s our messenger,” she said. “For another copper, he can send the message for you.”
John handed Penelope a copper coin with a grudging expression on his face.
“And also, Mel and I will need to get some items for tomorrow's travels,” Marcus said. “Do you know where I could get a thick cloak and she could get a pair of gloves?”
John eyed Penelope, making sure she wouldn’t request more money for this information. Penelope only smiled back at him and kept a calm expression.
“For great quality garments you should go to eastside,” Penelope said. “It’s all the way through town. But if you’re low on cash, then I would try the tailor by the alley just down the street from here. He may not have pure cotton or silk, but he has some cheap cloaks that will get you by.”
Marcus shared a worried glance with John before he turned back to Penelope.
“And how much would a fancy cloak be, do you think?”
Penelope turned her gaze upward for a moment, seeming to estimate prices of fabric and tailoring in her head. She sucked in a corner of her upper lip and when she released it again; she looked back at Marcus.
“Three silver, I believe. Maybe four if you want something embroidered on it.”
Penelope looked down at the silver dragon embroidered on Marcus’s top. He had loaned one of John’s official dragon cult uniforms. Marcus had only brought one set of clothes and since John and Bo were returning home to Windbrook today, John had given him a full setup of the uniform.
Mel winced at Penelope’s expression. She knew they would be recognized everywhere now that Marcus was wearing those clothes. She wished they could afford to buy him something else, but Mel knew better than that. A cloak for three silver was more than they paid for at the inn and they still needed to pay the travel agency for taking them to Aldrion, too. It wouldn’t be possible to throw away perfectly fine warm clothes, even though they were the guard uniforms of the dragon cult.
Bo raised his hand and Penelope stared at him like he was a kid in school.
“Yes,” Penelope said.
“I have a question too,” Bo said. “Where can I find some cinnamon buns? I need some for my trip home and to eat, of course.”
John rolled his eyes at Bo, and Marcus and Mel giggled by the sidelines.
“There’s a bakery just down the street from here,” Penelope said. “If you hit the market, you’ve gone too far. They have the best sweetened bread on the westside.”
Bo rubbed at his belly, and a hungry expression spread across his face.
“Thank you,” he said.
Penelope left the table and went behind the bar. She talked low with the messenger and he shoved the last spoons of stew in his mouth before he got up. He nodded toward Mel and the rest of the party before he exited the inn. He would deliver their message to the travel agency and tomorrow, they would be off to Aldrion.
After breakfast, Mel and Marcus said goodbye to Bo and John. Before they left, John handed Marcus the coin purse, and he looked sort of shocked having this much money in his hands. He also handed him a scroll with the travel agency details on.
“You’ll need to pay the travel agency tomorrow,” John said, then looked around him at the empty-looking inn. “It will cost two gold for you and Mel. Make sure you don’t spend the gold coins and don’t lose them either.”
Marcus nodded, and Mel swallowed a lump in her throat. They had a coin purse with two gold in their possession and Mel couldn’t even believe that much money existed. At most, her parents had given her a silver or two for special items she needed to buy. Like books for school or new shoes. But a gold coin, she wasn’t sure she had ever seen one of those.
John and Bo left Marcus and Mel standing by the door to the inn. The first thing Marcus did after Bo and John left was to empty the coin purse in his hand. He hid the coins from the few people still inside the inn, quickly counting them, and then put the coins back into the purse.
He turned to Mel, a wide smile on his lips and a gleam in his eyes.
“Except for the payment to the travel agency,” he said. “We have five silver and a few copper coins left. I think it will be enough to buy the fancy cloak and a pair of fancy gloves for you.”
Mel shook her head and furrowed her brow. “No, this is all we have left,” she said. “What happens when we get to Aldrion? We will need money there to stay at an inn when we arrive and to pay for the school, maybe. I don’t actually know what the school will cost, if it costs anything.”
Marcus dragged a hand over his chin and looked thoughtful for a moment. “I guess you’re right,” he finally said. “The back alley tailor it is.”
#
A moment later, Mel and Marcus were walking down the street together, side by side. Everywhere Mel turned, someone was staring at them with gawking eyes and mouths left wide open. They were looking at Marcus with his dragon emblem on his chest and the red details of his shirt and trousers. He had a sword attached to his belt, something John had also given him for the road ahead.
Mel didn’t even think Marcus knew how to draw that sword, and she thought he would probably hurt himself more if he tried to use it in a fight. Sure, Marcus looked burly enough, and Mel didn’t think anyone would try to attack someone who looked like him. But dangling a sword from his belt that he couldn’t use seemed unnecessary.
Mel had her great grandfather’s knife on her person at all times, but she had concealed it perfectly by hiding it in her trouser lining behind her shirt. No one would think Mel had a weapon with her and no one would suspect her of carrying a magical item. She didn't even know if it was legal to just carry magic around in Stonehearth. But she wouldn’t leave it with her other belongings at the inn.
Marcus and Mel got to the tailor, just a foot inside a back alley that smelled like urine and garbage. When they went inside, an old man sat at a sewing machine, his eyes pointing toward a green garment and his spectacles dangling on his nose.
“Do you have a cloak?” Marcus asked.
The old man looked up, startled by their presence. He looked Marcus up and down and his eyes stayed on the dragon emblem a moment too long. Then he looked at Mel, seeming to glance over her too quickly.
“Oh, you’re a long way from home,” he said. “What kind of cloak do you need?”
“We’re taking the mountain pass tomorrow to Aldrion,” Marcus said. “So I will need something that can keep the cold away.”
The old man furrowed his eyebrows. “I can make you a cloak that can keep the wind away and keep you warm at night,” he said. “But not warm enough for the mountain pass. You’ll need really good material for that, material that’s only sold on the eastside.”
“Okay,” Marcus said. “But I can’t afford the eastside prices and I need a cloak. So, can you get me the next best thing?”
The old man looked at Mel now and chewed on his lip. “Do you also need one, young lady?”
“No, I already have a good cloak from home,” Mel said. “But I need some gloves, though.”
“Hmm…” the old man said. “Gloves you can get from Gladys down the road. Just five minutes by foot, turn left when you exit the alley.”
He stood up from behind the sewing machine and was surprisingly short. He walked around his disk and up to a huge bookshelf spreading across the wall. Fabric leaned against the shelves and he prodded a few of the woolen ones before grabbing a thick-looking forest green fabric.
The old man turned with the fabric in his hand toward Marcus. “I can make a cloak of this, sew on a bit of padding from some old scrap pieces and make a few pockets for your belongings. It will take a few hours and I will need your measurements. I can charge one silver for it. That sound good?”
Marcus and Mel shared a glance. Mel nodded to Marcus, and he turned back to the old man.
“Yes, that sounds good,” he said.
Marcus picked out a silver coin and gave Mel the purse.
“Go and buy some gloves and then we can meet back here,” he said.
Mel grabbed the purse and wished Marcus good luck with the old man. She walked out of the tailor, dragging in a deep breath and smelling urine again. Mel scrunched up her nose and walked out of the alley.
In her dreams Stonehearth had seemed like the best place on earth. Full of people from different backgrounds and no dragon cult to tell you what to do. It seemed like a perfect place to go. But now that she was here in the smelly alleys and the bustling crowds, she realized it wasn’t exactly like she had imagined it.
It was smelly and full of noise all the time. But it had one thing she had always missed in Windbrook, possibilities.
Mel walked down the road and got to Gladys’ hats and gloves in five minutes, just as the old tailor had said. She walked inside and saw an old woman behind the counter, counting money.
“I would like some gloves,” Mel said. “Do you have any?”
Gladys looked Mel up and down and a thin smile formed on her lips. But Mel noticed something was different. She didn’t regard her with the same wide eyes as others had done when she and Marcus were together.
“Are the gloves for you or your mistress?” Gladys asked.
Mel took a step back, feeling like she didn’t quite follow. Who could be Mel’s mistress?
“For me,” she said. “I’m traveling to Aldrion by the mountain pass and need a pair of warm gloves.”
The old woman raised an eyebrow at Mel. “You’re traveling to Aldrion?”
“Yes,” Mel said.
She looked down at Mel’s shirt and pants. The only clean clothes she had now that she had used up her travel clothes on the road here. They weren’t awfully warm or nice-looking. It was just a pair of regular brown pants and a brown shirt. She looked a little like a bag of potatoes inside of them, but Mel thought that was normal.
Gladys gave Mel a small chuckle and rolled her eyes.
“Sure you are,” she said. “Well, you or your mistress will need a pair of warm gloves if you’re going to traverse the mountain pass.”
Gladys pulled out a drawer from behind the counter and picked up three different pairs of gloves.
“These are the warmest pairs I’ve got,” Gladys said. “Can I fit them onto your hands or do you need me to consider some other measurements?”
Mel walked closer to the counter and stretched out her hands to Gladys.
“You can fit them onto me,” she said.
Gladys pulled on a pair of light gray gloves onto Mel’s hands. They felt warm and soft inside, but also a bit stiff around the seams.
“These are rabbit’s skin gloves,” Gladys said. “The outside is thick wool, and the inside is rabbit fur. Very warm and elegant. For the fancy young woman who wants to look stylish while traveling.”
Mel nodded like she was actually considering these, but in her mind she had already said no.
Gladys slipped off the rabbit skin gloves and pulled on a brown pair of gloves. They were thick and warm, but lacking some in mobility and felt rough against Mel’s skin.
“These are the cheapest warm gloves,” Gladys said. “They are made of several layers of less processed wool. Undyed with the natural brown color of the fabric. Not for the more elegant people, since they will make your hands coarse and your skin sore for the first few days.”
Mel threw these off a little too fast and a smile fell over Gladys’ face.
“These last ones,” Gladys said. “They’re made of wool on the outside and inside they have cotton. A little cheaper than fur, but soft and nice against the skin.”
Gladys pulled on a pair of black gloves over Mel’s hands and slipping them on felt like putting on her shirt or her pants. They were soft against her skin, not like the brown ones, but they didn’t look dainty or feel like she couldn’t move in them.
Mel made a fist with her hand and then flexed it out, fingers pointing everywhere. They felt good.
“How much for these?” Mel asked.
Gladys gave her a wry smile. “For the rabbit skin gloves, I charge two silver. For the brown worker gloves, five copper and for these, one silver.”
Mel swallowed hard. It was just as much as Marcus’ entire cloak cost. Could she really spend an entire silver coin on a pair of gloves?
Mel glanced down at the brown itchy workers gloves and her entire body shivered with displeasure. She couldn’t even make herself think about putting those on again. She brought out the coin purse and handed Gladys a silver coin.
Gladys gave her a wide smile.
“Glad to do business with you,” she said. “And if your mistress would like anything else, let me know.”
Gladys gave Mel a wink and Mel felt uneasy when she left Gladys’ shop.
Outside on the street, people walked past Mel without even looking. She was a nobody now that Marcus wasn’t walking next to her with his dragons cult uniform. Mel felt happy about blending in and for once in her life she got to experience fitting in, even if it only was for five minutes.
Back at the tailor’s shop, Marcus and Mel waited together for his cloak to be ready and when the old man stopped sewing on his machine and presented Marcus with the forest green garment, a wide smile spread on Marcus’ lips. He put on the cloak before the mirror and the old tailor had actually done an excellent job.
The wool cloak fitted Marcus’s body perfectly and even had a little extra material for him to wrap it around him. The inside of the cloak was a neat-looking quilt, made of several different fabric scraps shaped in small triangles and sewn together. The pockets were barely visible, but Marcus assured her that there were several sewn in there along the quilt.
Mel and Marcus made it back to the inn in the afternoon, and Mel could feel the uneasiness of walking next to him again. All eyes were turned to them, and everyone knew they were from Windbrook and the cult.
At the Stoneway Inn, Penelope greeted them with a message from the travel agency to be there early tomorrow morning and to be ready to leave by sunup. She also handed them a scroll from the agency, with an invitation to a party held tonight at eastside. Apparently, the other students that were traveling from Stonehearth to Aldrion wanted to throw a goodbye party before they left.
Both Mel and Marcus were mentioned in the invitation. Mel practically ran to their room to clean up before they had to leave and get all the way across town for the party. Marcus looked a little more concerned about this. But he didn’t complain and said that if Mel was going, he would accompany her.
