Twisted Wonderland Book 4: Schemer of the Scalding Sands

Chapter 7: Warm Hospitality

Everyone has become silent when Kalim, the housewarden of the Scarabia Dorm arrives on the scene and the students have become uneasy and some even frightened.

Kalim asks in a demanding tone, "What's going on, Jamil? Nobody told me to expect company!"

"Kalim, there's a good reason for this, I assure you," Jamil says as he walks to Kalim.

Briar and the others of Ramshackle feel a bit tense to see Kalim being kind of harsh.

Grim whispers to Briar, "Uh, this guy seems like bad news..."

"Maybe, but..." Briar says.

But suddenly, Kalim says, "How many times must I tell you to always inform me ahead of time when inviting guests?! If you had..." and says in a disappointed tone, "...I would have arranged for an even finer banquet and a whole band!"

"Huh?" Grim, Jasper, and Tanzanite react with confused looks.

Kalim then smiles and says, "Hiya! Welcome to our dorm. Sorry for not throwing you a welcoming parade!I'm Kalim Al-Asim, housewarden of Scarabia. This is the first time we've met, right?

"It's not, actually," Jamil says, "Grim burned your posterior at orientation, and you spoke with them before the Spelldrive tournament as well."

"Oh, really? Aha ha, sorry!" Kalim replies, "I've always been terrible with faces. I hope you won't take any offense. Regardless, it's nice to meet you all over again!"

"Nice to meet you too," Briar says.

"Hello," Sereia says.

"Hey," Jasper says.

"It's nice to meet you," Tanzanite says.

Trinket nods her head in reply.

Briar says in thought, "Kalim is a far cry from the other housewardens we've met."

"All the food looks incredible, as always," Kalim happily says.

Then turns to Jamil and asks, "How did everything turn out, Jamil?"

"Splendidly as ever. There are no dangerous substances in any of these dishes, so eat whatever you like. They've also been poison-tested already," Jamil ays.

Stunned, Grim asks, "Wh-why is THAT relevant?!"

"Kalim is the heir to a very wealthy family. The unfortunate dangers related to that mean that everything he eats must be vetted," Jamil says.

But Kalim says, "You just love blowing these things out of proportion, Jamil. Really, who would do that? Nobody's tried poisoning me since that time four years ago when I went comatose for two weeks. It's a thing of the past now."

"Yes, because you've had someone to specifically prevent that from happening for the past four years. I ensure that anything hazardous is identified and disposed of before it crosses your plate," Jamil says.

Just then, Grim cries out, "Wait a minute. When you were feedin' me all those different dishes, was that to test 'em for poison?!"

Kalim laughs, "Aha ha ha! There's no real danger for you, don't worry. All the food Jamil makes is safe. Jamil would never poison my food."

"Heh. Must you state the obvious?" Jamil replies in remark.

Still stunned, Grim says, "Y'know, I'm startin' to think these guys were only pretendin' to be nice."

Kalim walks to Briar and Grim and says, "Ooh, Grim! Have you tried the goat's milk blue cheese yet? Nothing beats a smear of it on a cracker!" as he grabs the cheese and smears it on a cracker.