Rose and the old man were leisurely strolling on the large pave road. She had been truly amazed at it at first, having only seen dirt roads at best during her entire life.

Not far away, she could see the walls of Malburg stretch out, made of good stone, a rarity here in the northern regions. Normally the castles were made of wood, cut from the giant forests that seemed to be everywhere in these lands. The art of building huge fortifications came from the south, with the Talians.

She took a quick look at the old man, who was sitting on the horse. They had switched places not long after leaving the camp, as Gorm needed the ride way more than she did. The only reason they had waited, was because she feared Loïck wouldn’t agree with his horse being given out to him, when he had given it to her. He didn’t seem to like her teacher all that much.

Her eyes were drawn back to the city, and its walls which were bigger than anything she had ever seen before. She wondered how something could be even bigger than that. She knew how long it took to build a single house back in their village, how many people had they needed to be able to build that?

”Gorm, have you ever been to Tal?” She asked the old man curiously.

He looked at her, a little surprised. The question came out of nowhere for him. ”As a matter of fact, I have.”

”Really?” She exclaimed, excited. She hadn’t expected as much from the old man, who had been travelling with them from the eastern dukedoms.

”Yes, I have really been there.” He said with an eyebrow raised.

”Then how was it?” She asked with a curious smile.

He chuckled slightly. ”A little disappointing at first, I have to admit.” He saw her excitement fall, and quickly resumed. ”The city of Tal has long exceeded its city walls, and stretches for miles in all ways. That means that the first things you see are the newly migrated peasants who have built crude houses around the walls. The city itself is built on a hill, on the old Imperial Palace rising from its top, which is now called the Senate. It is made of marble, and it is massive, with immense columns supporting its roof. Then there are all the smaller palaces over the city, build by rich senators and merchants.”

”What about the nobility?” She asked, confused. In her mind, it was the nobles who had the castles, not the merchants.

”There is no such thing there. There is only citizens and slaves. Any citizen, with enough money and power, can rise to become senator, and maybe even consul.”

Rose frowned. ”What about the slaves?”

The man shook his head. ”Don’t worry about them. They are criminals, or war prisoners. Uncivilized people, who would pillage, rape and murder given the chance. They deserve what they get.” He said with a nod.

Rose nodded, understanding. It made sense. Instead of rotting in prison cells or simply being killed, these despicable people made their own contribution to society, by helping honest and good families.

Their road ahead was more crowded than before, as other roads joined in with the main one. Soon, they found themselves walking through the giant gate, guarded by quite a few legionaries who watched every person entering the city carefully, sometimes taking people aside and asking them some questions.

Upon coming through the gate, they saw why this city hadn’t exceeded its city walls yet. There was still more space inside, a few hundred meters with no real structures, only tents and crudely made huts. Some building were in the process of being built.

“That explains it. The wall does look pretty new.” Gorm mumbled, while scratching the top of his head. Rose smiled at his seemingly insatiable thirst for information.

They walked through the busy streets, Rose staring with wonder at the endless stream of different people. There were people of all colours, even a few with midnight black skin from the distant south, selling exotic and expensive wares. Rose had to resist approaching their stands, for fear of spending the coin Loïck had given her.

The smells were abundant and varied, some worse than the latrines of the army she had followed here, some having a delicious and enticingly sweet flavour.

She followed Gorm, who led her over to an inn named the sunflower. A young lad stood and waited outside. He was of average height, with red locks falling down his eyes.

“Gorm! You’re back!” He cried out when he saw them, and warmly moved in for a hug before changing his mind and shaking the old smiling man’s hand. His eyes moved on to Rose and then he awkwardly greeted her. Then he took their horse to the stalls, and came back with their sacks.

“I’ll carry them for you, Milady.” The young lad said with a timid smile.

Gorm opened the door and walked in, and was immediately submerged in the warmth of the inn. He was then greeted by a small and middle-aged man, with an impressive red beard.

“Long time no see!” He exclaimed, and went over to shake the old man’s hand with both of his, Gorm eagerly shaking it back.

“It has been a long time, Ingvid.”

“And who might this delightful lady be?” He said with a welcoming smile. Rose saw nothing but kindness and warmth plastered on his face.

“Rose, this is Ingvid, the innkeeper of the Sunflower, and an old friend of mine.” Gorm said while putting a hand on Ingvid’s shoulder. “Rose is a friend, who I am teaching.”

Ingvid nodded. “Well then! Two rooms? I will give you a good discount!” He said eagerly. Gorm nodded. “I don’t know how long we’ll be staying, so we’ll give you a good amount as a starter. Tell me when it runs out.”

Gorm then looked at Rose, who understood she was supposed to pay. She took out the pouch and handed Ingvid some gold coins. She didn’t actually have any idea as to how much a gold coin was truly worth, but expected it to be a lot.

In her whole life back in the village, she had never once seen a gold coin. They had been mostly self-sufficient, only paying the yearly taxes to the Lord in form of grain and sometimes cattle.

Ingvid thanked her, and then showed them to their rooms. Rose was agreeably surprised by the cleanliness of her room, which was otherwise well endowed. She had a small desk, a proper bed and a chest for any belongings she might acquire.

“Please leave them there.” She said, pointing next the chest into the corner. The young man nodded and put it down where she said with another timid smile. But instead of leaving, he then stood awkwardly, tipping his weight from one foot to another. “Yes?” She asked with a polite smile.

“Em... My name, it’s Halfdan. Nice to meet you!” He then quickly left before she had the chance to respond, closing the door behind him.

She smiled at his clumsy demeanour, the boy was obviously infatuated with her. He was not bad-looking, but couldn’t hold a candle to Loïck.

She opened her sack and searched through it. She had told Loïck she would write him a letter, informing him of where she was staying and such. He had also explicitly told her to keep him informed of how she was using his money, so she wouldn’t make any dumb decisions.

She sat at the desk and dipped the pen in the ink, and then began to carefully inscribe the small letters on the parchment, like Gorm had taught her.

A few hours later, Rose passed the letter to Ingvid, who promised to send it to take care of it, using a little of the money she had given him. When she returned to her room, she saw Gorm waiting outside of it.

“Where have you been, young lady?” He asked her with a concerned frown.

His tone was almost reprimanding, a side of him she hadn’t seen until now. She ignored him and entered her room, using the key she had been bestowed.

Gorm sighed. “I’m sorry, but I would prefer if you didn’t leave the inn without me. The dangers out there are very real. But that is not why I came.”

She looked at him curiously, sitting down on the bed.

“Do you know why I have consecrated so much time teaching you?” He asked, while sitting down inverted on the chair at the desk, leaning his arms and chin on top of it.

“To be honest, I’m not sure. I guessed it was because you took a liking to me.” She said, unable to guess where he was going with this conversation. It only made her even more curious though.

The old man chuckled. “If I taught every child I took a liking to, I wouldn’t be here...” Then he paused, assembling his thoughts. “No, I chose you, because you’re special.”

Rose’s brows shot up in surprise. “I’m special? How so?”

“ Sometimes, there are people with powerful abilities who are born, people who are more than simple humans.” Rose grew more and more incredulous as he explained.

“Where are you getting at?” She asked him with excitement, her heart furiously pounding in her chest. If he was saying what she thought he was saying...

“You have the potential, to become a sorceress.” He said, his brown eyes locking with hers with uttermost graveness.

“Like a witch?” She asked with a mix of fear and thrill. Witches did not have the best reputation among the folks, but just the thought of obtaining power like that easily outweighed it.

“No, a sorceress is more powerful. More dangerous.” He declared.

Rose took a deep breath, forcing her to calm down and think. “How do I know that you’re telling the truth? How do I...” She went quiet when he abruptly put a finger in the air. Then he slowly pointed it at the burning candle.

“Look closely.” He whispered. Then he closed his hand in a fist, and the light went out, making Rose gasp, her eyes widened and her mouth hanging open. Gorm lightly smiled. Then he slowly opened his fist, and the light materialised again, first as a minuscule flame, and then slowly growing bigger until it had reached its original size, and Gorm had his hand fully opened.

Rose smiled, first hesitantly, and then beamed, almost wanting to hug the old man. “I can do that?”

“That, and so much more.” He said, returning her smile. Then it vanished and he frowned. “There is one slight problem though.”

“What? What? I’ll do anything!” She exclaimed, scared of losing the hope she had just gotten.

“You can’t stay here, waiting for that man.” He said. “He belongs to your past, you most move on, and you will achieve more than you can possibly imagine.”

“Oh...” She frowned slightly. “Why? We can just stay here, while you teach me.”

He shook his head. “I am but a magician, I could not teach a sorceress. There is a place, a castle where they can new sorcerers like you. I will take you there.”

She hesitated. It felt wrong, to just abandon Loïck, while he thought she was waiting for him here. He had taken good care of her, and trusted her with his money.

“Think about it. He has profited from you, and now he has paid for your service. That is what that money is for. That’s how he sees you.” Gorm explained, trying to convince her.

“I don’t think that’s true.” She said. Even though he said otherwise, she knew that look in his eyes, which had changed from lust at first, to become more caring, and concerned. His eyes didn’t lie.

“If he means that much to you, then you can always come back! Think of the new respect he will have for you! He won’t have to protect you anymore, no you, can protect him.” He shifted tactic, trying to play on her emotions for the knight.

“He has grown attached to me, I am quite sure of that. However, I don’t love him.” She said calmly, having made her decision. “Take me there.” She was still grateful to Loïck, and certainly didn't dislike him, but a whole new horizon had just opened up for her. Maybe she could learn on her own, maybe Gorm could even teach her. However, why let Loïck hold her back?