Wizardly

Chapter Thirty-One: A Guild Master Arrives

Once at my room Lilliana was waiting at my door and I smiled at her. She's so cute and I'm glad she gave me a chance.

"What brings you here again?" I asked as I walked up and gently hugged her. She smiled and leaned into me. "You can stay if you want to. People might get some ideas if you keep staying in my room though," I mumbled.

"I don't care what they say. I just want to stay close to you," She mumbled and I kissed her head gently. We headed inside. "Besides that we have something to talk about anyway, like what you said to me earlier," She added as we sat on my bed.

"I meant every word. I've had a crush on you for a long time now. However, I didn't want any part of your world and didn't want to force you to choose whether to leave with me or stay here. I'm still worried about that, but now I'm the one torn on whether to stay here or leave," I said.

"So then decide that when the time comes for that decision. Planning that far in the future isn't something that will always work out. You never know what will happen in the meantime.

That all said, I do have to admit I've felt the same way. I've had a crush on you for a long time now, but wasn't sure if you had felt the same. I decided I wouldn't accept anyone else until I knew for sure how you felt. I'm glad I did, because it turned out you felt the same," she said and my breath caught. It could have broken her heart if I had said no. Even knowing that she stuck it out anyway?

"You mean you've turned down everyone who asked you out up to now? You really are surprising," I mumbled. I'm shocked that she felt that strongly about it.

"Yes I did, because there was only one person I loved and I chose to trust in my heart," She said and I smiled at her. I'm glad she feels the same way and she didn't just say yes to dating me because she was a nice person and didn't want to hurt my feelings.

"Thank you for waiting so long and trusting in me like that. You really are an amazing person and that's why I love you," I said. She turned red and I smiled at her. She told me to just go to bed and rest. I have a busy day again tomorrow so I had no objections. We laid down and she cuddled up against me. In no time she fell asleep and I followed soon after.

In the morning Captain woke me up and I felt my face heat up when I realized Lilliana was still cuddled up against me. Of all people to wake me up why did it have to be him? Lilliana woke and rubbed her eyes gently as she tried to focus on what was going on. She reminded me of a little kid waking from a nap, it was adorable.

"What's going on? Uncle? Let me sleep a little longer," She mumbled sitting up a little. Some how her calm nature at the situation calmed me down too and I sighed.

"You can go back to sleep, Lilliana, he's just here to get me for training," I said and kissed her head gently before getting up. She nodded and laid back down. I grabbed some clothes and headed into the bathroom real quick to change, then met Captain outside in the hall way. I closed the door behind me gently so as not to wake Lilliana again.

"She's like a child still sometimes. I bet she keeps coming to your room because she's worried about you and can't sleep. I trust you, because you're not the kind of Man who would take advantage of her like that. So, I don't really mind if coming to you helps her sleep and keeps her happy," he said calmly. I wonder if he knows she's had a crush on me all this time too.

"Sir, I don't mean to offend anyone, but I've been wondering. What happened to her parents?" I asked.

"Hmm, I'm glad you asked me instead of Lilliana. Her parents were killed in a battle between us and a dark guild. They killed a whole town of people and we stepped in to stop them from hurting anyone else. The battle wasn't easy and we lost a lot of people. Lilliana's parents died in that battle.

A few survivors told us that they were looking for some kind of magical object and when they didn't get anywhere asking questions they decided to use force instead. Since her Mother was normal like you and her Father was a wizard. None of her other normal family would take her in so I decided to have her join our guild and became her guardian," he said.

Somehow it felt like that answer was too vague, like he was hiding something from me. But it wasn't my place to pry. Still something in me felt like his story about that battle seemed familiar. Had my parents mentioned it before? I don't think so, since they only told me about magic when they died. Hmm. Maybe Shay or someone else at the guild mentioned it before, I just don't remember.

While lost in thought I ran right into Captain's back and apologized to him for not paying attention. He waved me off and apologized for stopping so suddenly. At the entrance to the Training Grounds there was someone standing there. I couldn't see too clearly since captain's tall frame was in the way, but I could tell it was a guy. I don't think he was someone from our guild. Yet I don't think he was from a dark guild either.

Captain sighed and walked over to the man and the man seemed to glare daggers at Captain. He didn't look happy at all to be here. So why was he here?

"When I heard you over the phone I decided to visit your guild and try to bring Nash back with me, but he stubbornly refused to come home with me. I heard this dark guild you are facing is responsible for the train incident, so him refusing to back away from this fight of yours doesn't surprise me. However, if anything happens to him while he's here I will hold you 100% responsible," the man said.

"I understand what you are saying, Jackson. I will do what I can to see not only Nash but all of the kids return to their Guilds," Captain said.

"Wait, you can't lay all of the blame on our Guild Master. I am the one who called them all here, so at least most of the blame falls on me," I interjected. Not that I plan to let anyone die, but if something does happen they can't place all the blame on Captain, that wouldn't be fair.

"So you're Tyrian? Nash has told me quite a bit about you. And, all of your friends defended you both when I was trying to convince Nash to come home. Even though you are only human they all seem very loyal to you and respect you. They want to support you through to the end. Are you really willing to sacrifice your friends? They wouldn't need to fight if you would stop being selfish and sit this out as well," he said.

"I can't do that, they're after me and I can't watch my guild get hurt and do nothing about it. That said all my friends chose of their own free will to stay and fight or not fight and protect the citizens. I didn't force them to come, didn't force them to stay, and didn't force them to fight," I said calmly.

"He's right you know. We got their answers in writing before he even told them he planned to fight too," Captain said, "He asked them and they chose to do it of their own free will. If any of them had any doubts about their decision they could have come to me and I would easily rip their paper up and send them on their way. But none of them have expressed any doubts."

"That's pretty much what the others said on the matter. Still, I don't see what is so special about you that your friends are willing to do this for you. Why haven't they tried to stop you and why do they trust you when your just a human? I can't comprehend it," He said.

"We couldn't stop him even if we wanted to. It's easier for you to see rather than trying to explain it to you," Master said coming from the doorway to the training grounds. "Why don't you come out here and watch, or you can fight him yourself if you'd like," he added.