Homebound

"So where to next?" Grace found herself asking as she drank the last dregs of her tea. "Where do we go now?"

"Let's go back to Penrith." Falael suggested. "We are more likely to find answers there."

"I agree." Rinomve started clearing away the dishes. "If anyone is going to know anything, its the people who knew the Melarins best, and most of those people don't live here in Oakenspell."

Grace had always hated the drab grey walls that separated Penrith from the rest of the world. The town, in another life, had been a military encampment, and many of the soldiers that had been stationed here decided to stay when it had been decommissioned.

Dreading what she would find in the town beyond, she took a deep breath and approached the heavy cast iron gate.

"Who goes there?" A voice from behind the gate asked as eyes peered out from a slot.

"Relax, Tobin. Its Grace. Can you let me in please?" The slot closed and the gate creaked open.

"Don't hang around, Lass. Something is amiss here, and it started with the murder of your family."

"Is that why the gate was closed in the middle of the day?"

"Aye, that would be it."

"Is there someone that my father trusted more than anyone else?" She asked, unsure whether or not she wanted to know the answer.

"Even more than your mother? There was only one." Tobin looked at the group confused. "Why do you ask? And who is this handsome stranger?" He motioned to Rinomve.

"This is my friend," Falael replied, cutting Grace off. "And we ask because it might just be a piece of information that cracks this case wide open. Now, does this person have a name?"

"Epeseed Cixiram."

"The chemist?!" Grace asked, not believing her ears. What did her father have to do with one of the most famous people in town?

"Aye, that's the one."

"Well looks like we know where we are going next." Rinomve, who had stayed quiet through the whole encounter, said. "Thank you for giving us this information."

"That's okay lad." Tobin turned back to Grace. "Look after yourself, lass. The missus has been concerned about you." Grace smiled.

"I'll be okay, I have Falael here to look after me." Grace spun around to look at Rinomve and Falael. "Cixiram lives on the other side of town. If we move quickly, we might be able to get there before he closes up shop for the night." She finished, turning to the road.

"I swear this girl has too much energy." Falael grumbled, as Rinomve laughed.

"She's got a firm hold on you, brother. Be careful that it doesn't cost you the chance of a throne."

"I don't know if I want a throne." Falael sighed as he started to follow the tracks that Grace had started to make.

"You might change your tune by the end of this."

It didn't take long for Grace to arrive at the doorstep of the most famous chemist in all of Asharia. She had been here many times before, when her mother would bring her and her siblings up to the house, telling them that if they worked hard just like Cixiram had, they might be able to afford the small castle that the famous Epeseed Cixiram inhabited. I miss you, she thought as she used the heavy bronze knocker shaped like a wreath of amaranth centered on the heavy the wooden door that separated her from her estranged father's best friend. It didn't take long for Rinomve and Falael to catch up to her on the top step.

The door creaked open.

"Can I help you?" A voice asked.

"Yes." Grace replied. "My name is Grace Melarin. I believe you might have known my father, William Melarin?" She took a deep breath. "If that is the case, I would like to ask you a few questions about him." The door opened more widely.

"The name does ring a bell." The haggard man replied. "Let me talk to my master, and he can answer your questions." The door closed. Grace turned back to her travelling companions.

"You are doing well." Falael assured her as she let out a deep sigh, as if she was trying to readjust the weight of the world.

"Thanks." The door reopened, this time creating an opening so large that a horse could have fitted through it.

"My master will see you now." The butler said, motioning for the trio to enter the grand house. "He is in ill health, so you cannot stay for long, but he wishes to see his goddaughter." This statement made Grace freeze.

"What do you mean goddaughter?" She asked the butler.

"You don't know miss?" Mr. Cixiram is your godfather."

"And here I was thinking that my life couldn't get even more complicated." She clasped her hands together. "Alright, where is my godfather?"