A Thymely Surprise

The tavern looked like it was the nicest looking building in the whole village. I dreamed of a bed that wasn't made of straw and had a blanket that was made of finer wool than the one I had used the night before. I noticed the sign above the door just as I walked in, "The Broken Clock." It was a fairly open area with a stage on one side, tables scattered along the floor with no rhyme or reason, and benches and chairs surrounding them with several local drunks occupying a few seats. Along the back wall were several casts of what I could only assume was alcohol, mead or beer most likely, with a short stout man working the bar proper. A young woman was walking to and from delivering drinks and chatting with the patrons.

My entry didn't go unnoticed by the people in the alehouse. I inwardly sighed and walked up to the counter.

"Greetings friend, welcome to my humble establishment, where no matter the time, it's always a good time to drink. My name is Alphonse, you must be that man that Lise saved." He greeted me with a warm smile that made me sick to my stomach.

"So, you've heard about me then?" I replied back.

"Whole towns heard about the broken man who's under the care of our beautiful healer. I will admit, you getting up and walking around is a bit of a shock to me. By how the boys described how you looked."

"Well, Lise is a miracle worker that's for sure. Helped me get back on my feet in no time flat." I faced a smile.

"Well, friend, they told me your name last night but I can't recall it."

"Justin Thomas is my name sir."

"Well Justin, I'm sure that how you got in such a battered state is quite the tale." The short man probed.

"Not entirely sir. I was attacked by bandits a ways up the river and they nearly took everything from me, including my life." I repeated the lie I had told to Analise.

"Bandits? By Thyme, what is this world coming to. I'm assuming you've heard about the terrible sorcerer that walked these lands? Word is that he was slain by the great hero Mathios. Right, good, I say. Only good magic user we've seen was that Thyme fellow. Good lad he was. Even stayed in this very tavern while he was helping the good folk." He said, picking up a glass and started to clean it.

It took all my self restraint not to attack the man. So, news of my death really had spread to this backwater town. I wondered how they found out about it though, it couldn't have been that long since my alleged death. "I've been away from civilization for a while, how long ago did Mathios slay this tyrant?" I nearly choked on the words. Partly because of how funny it was thinking that he believed he killed me and partly because of how it made me want to gag.

"Don't rightly know, but we learned about his death a week ago. It does take a bit for news to reach us and that's because traders stop in every once in a while." Alphonse said, placing the glass down on the bar. I almost reeled back in shock. It's been at least a week since I had encountered Mathios. I couldn't believe it. I had assumed that it had been a couple of days. Maybe four at the most.

"Damn, that's a long time then. I didn't think I was away from the news for that long." I muttered out trying to keep the conversation going.

"Aye, now was there anything else ya needed, lad?" Alphonse said, giving me a warm smile.

"Room for the night, mainly" I said, grabbing my new purse from my cloak.

"Very good, we have the very room Thyme stayed in when he was with us. By far the nicest room we got. Only 1 gold piece."

I blinked at the man. A single gold piece for a room for the night. That was highway robbery, "What exactly does my gold piece get me, Al?"

"The room has a double sized bed, made up of real cotton stuffing, finely loomed wool blankets and pillows. With a standing closet and a writing desk. Dinner and breakfast are included and are made to order." He said, selling me on the room. I sighed, as the same room in the city cost 3 silver with meals included.

"Toss in drinks for the evening and you have a deal." I counter offered.

"Ridiculous, what type of business would I be running if I just included all the drinks for an evening for 1 gold."

"Alright, alright, no hard stuff, only beer but half now and half when I check out." I sighed coming down from my offer.

Alphonse smiled and held out his hand, "You drive a hard bargain friend, but I can agree to those terms." I shook his hand and counted out 5 silver pieces and handed them to him. He placed the key on the counter after taking the coins and pointed towards the stairs. "Door is all the way down the hall. Dinner will start to be served at 5 and ends at 9. Bar closes at 2am. Enjoy your stay here Mr. Thomas."

I grabbed the key and thanked him. The stairs looked like they had been replaced in the past decade or so and didn't creak when I walked up them. The door to my room had giant letters on it exclaiming that this was in fact the Thyme Suite. I flipped off the writing and walked into the room. To my surprise the room looked very much like my grandfather's room in his villa.

I scowled and put The Library on the bed and sat down. I would have to make my way back to my castle so I could get my things. It was in my grandfather's bag of infinite space. It was probably overlooked because of its shabby design. I had also put it in the entrance hall and you could only grab something out of it if you knew what you were grabbing. Though I had this feeling that putting the Library in my bag was a bad idea.

I sighed and grabbed the letter from my cloak. On the front of it said, "To my dearest grandson Koga Coltman." I scoffed at reading it. Dearest, huh? Fat chance, I knew that I was only dearest because I came from the son of his wife. He had other grandchildren, like that Analise who worshiped the ground he walked on.

I threw the letter on the bedside table and sighed. I would read it in a bit. I didn't want to know what the old man said to me at the moment. I still was pissed at the fact I had lost at least a week. "Ahhhh! My castle must have been turned over 15 times by now. That stupid peasant Mathios might have even burned it down or worse moved in."

"Yes, that would be a shame, my love. Where would we have our romantic encounters then?" I heard a female voice coming from the doorway. I bolted up sending magic to my fingertips and sending a bolt of fire at the raven haired beauty. I knew who it was from the seductive voice but I always greeted her like this.

"Hello, my dear Amelia. How nice of you to drop by. I've missed you terribly." I said, swinging my feet over the bed.

"Don't stand, you've been through a lot." She said walking over to me wrapping her arms around my neck. "I almost believed it when I heard the news of your death."

"You were worried about me? Aw, you shouldn't have been." I smiled at her

"Of course, I wasn't worried about you. You're a capable sorcerer and a peasant like Mathios could only dream about killing you." She said touching her forehead to mine.

"That just might be the nicest thing you've said to me since ever." I chuckled.

"I won't make a habit of it then, you vile, villainous, scoundrel that I love." She sent a small surge of energy into my body causing parts of me to go numb.

"That's fine with me you lying manipulative succubus that I love." I said grabbing her waist pulling in close. "I'm glad you found me, Amelia. I've thought about burning down this town several times since I've been here."

"Yet it's still standing. I'm impressed and disgusted. Such restraint for laying low, but I found you easily because your energy has such a unique signature. It's only a matter of time before Mathios finds out you're alive. Using a healing spell twice and Electric Palm in such a short time along with the Fire Bullet will surely draw attention here." She said, climbing onto my lap.

"I know my love. There was a peasant I had to remind who was his better." I said looking into her gray eyes. I loved staring into those pools of murky water.

"So when are you leaving this backwater and joining me in the capital again?" She said, staring back into mine.

"Going back to Hills Crest? I don't know, but I'm leaving this place after breakfast. I paid for it, and I'm going to enjoy it dammit." I chuckled.

"Well, we need to celebrate you being alive. I might have an idea on how to do that." She smiled devilishly at me.

"Oh, you do? Well, I'm all ears then you little succubus." I said brushing the hair out of her face.

"Don't play coy with me, it doesn't suit you" She smiled.

I kissed her and pulled her down into the bed with me.

When I woke up a few hours had passed after we. I looked down and saw she was still in my arms. I remember the day we met clearly. She didn't know who my lineage was or that I could use magic. I didn't know she could either. We fell for each other over the course of a month. I smiled at her and felt myself drifting off again.

I stirred and didn't feel her presence in my bed anymore. I opened my eyes and saw she was gone. No trace of her anywhere. I sighed and sat up. Amelia leaving without saying goodbye was a regular thing. She was an important advisor to the queen and needed to be back at the castle. So I would often wake up alone. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the letter on the nightstand. The seal was broken already.

"Couldn't help yourself, my love. That's fine, there's no secrets between us anyway." I smiled as I grabbed the letter. She knew this was my endeavor and would help when she could but she wouldn't take the books before me. I pulled the sheet of paper out and unfolded it.

"To Koga,

I know you're just a small child as I'm writing this and you remind me so much of myself when I was your age. Though, that is the worrying part. That you will be too much like me. I don't expect you to find this letter until after I've pasted and have read my Journals. My grandson, as you know I haven't been the best person throughout my life. I've killed innocent people for a multitude of reasons. None of them were ever good enough to kill someone who's just trying to live their life. I'm afraid that you too will walk a similar path as me and hurt innocents even though you have been surrounded by a family that loves you dearly. But if your path is similar, then you will come to regret your actions and try for the rest of your life to make up for it. This first book in your inheritance is a test of character of sorts. It's a highly destructive spell, the one I used to kill those innocent people that fateful day. I hope you only use it to defend the ones you love and not to kill those you hate. As you follow in my footsteps literally across this land that I fell in love with and found your grandmother. I hope you haven't started following my footsteps figuratively as well. Be better than me, and be the Hero I always pretended to be.

With all the love I can give,

Grandfather Thyme"

"Following your footsteps literally? Ugh, that means my next stop is the town of Greenwater," I sneered at the letter. I had a love hate relationship with the town Greenwater. It was a den of thieves and cutthroats. I snapped my fingers and a small flame appeared on the corner of the letter.

"How dare you old man assume I'm anything like you. You were weak and lacked conviction. I, on the other hand, am willing to do what must be done." I said throwing the burning letter on the ground. As the paper burned, I watched the flames dance and consumed it. I smiled and grabbed the Library and pulled out the book. I opened it and started reading.

The first couple of pages detailed on casting the spell, the rest was about different techniques and how to get the most out of the spell. As I read, I gathered magical energy in my palm feeling a warmth growing while not burning me. I looked over and saw a small ball of fire floating over my palm. I smiled at how easy it was to learn such a spell. I began to wonder if anyone else could learn this; Amelia maybe. Then a flash of my castle appeared with dozens and dozens of students in the courtyard mulling about. I dismissed the thought, me running a school for magic users. Silliest idea I had in a while. I heard a loud knock on my door and almost dropped the spell. I wanted to burn down the town but not with me alongside it. I extinguished the spell and got up. The pounding continued and I yelled, "I'm coming, I'm coming."