Ileus didn't answer her. He looked ahead at the faint lights that were emanating from the undraped windows and doors of the wattle-and-daub homes that were made of thatched roofs and stones. The village looked quaint. Gusts of breeze from the ocean made the tree branches groan. It was strange that there was hardly any noise coming from the village. They reached the nearest home. Kaizan dismounted his horse and asked for instructions to the place of stay. A child who had come out told them about it and they immediately started. 

Except for a cat that paused to gander at them probably during its hunting rounds, the narrow dirt roads of the village were deserted as the darkness chased the sun westward. The main street they rode through was lined with houses that were filled with lamplights and hearths emanating from the open windows and doors. Curious faces appeared from behind the windows to see as to who dared to ride their village at this hour. Almost every shop was closed except for the loud noises from a blacksmith's shop somewhere in the back alley. Smell of a closed fish-market still lingered in the air. 

"I am going ahead to look for the lodgings for the night," said Kaizan and rode off. Guarhal joined him. 

Ileus leaned over and looked at his wife. "Are you sleeping, love?" 

She shook her head. She was very sleepy, but she found the village so strange that she was on alert. "Will you start looking for her right away?" she repeated her question. 

"I don't think so. From what I can see, no one would be available to answer my questions." He looked left towards the ocean whose waves were now crashing heavily against the shores. It was as if the underwater activities of the leviathans had suddenly increased. "However, from the smell of the fish market, I am pretty sure that this place hosts a good catch," he said. "I will ask Darla to purchase provisions tomorrow for our trip further into the ocean."

The inn where they were to stay was on the other side of the village and the distance was covered in barely twenty minutes. It was spread over a small area with trees and lampposts all around. Light and soft music filtered from the inside. There was one more wagon and five horses that were already filling the space of the small stables right next to it. Guarhal came out of the inn to guide them all inside. 

"They have only two rooms occupied, my lord. The rest four are free and the innkeeper and his wife are very happy to receive us." 

Tadgh snorted. "I am sure they are jubilant. Who must be coming to this place?" 

Ileus dismounted and then helped Anastasia to get down. Guarhal handled the reins when Anastasia got down. A boy, who looked young enough to have some beard but not old enough to shave it, came running out. He looked eagerly at them. 

As Ileus walked inside, he said, "Take the horses to the stable and see if they have a storehouse for the wagon." 

"We have to leave the wagon here, my lord," said Guarhal, pointing towards the other one in the yard. 

"Okay," said Ileus wearily and they walked inside the inn. The young boy helped Guarhal to take the horses to the stables. 

The innkeeper and his wife were standing at the counter with a big smile on their faces. Both were short in height and pudgy. While the man had laugh wrinkles on the corner of his eyes, the lady looked sweet and kind. They rarely had such a large number of guests in their inn and this group was great business. The amount they charged from them would last them a year at least and that too comfortably. After the initial formalities, they all went to their rooms. The owner of the inn had already sent his people to arrange a hot bath for all of them and asked them to come for dinner an hour later. The innkeeper's wife needed at least an hour to prepare for so many of them. 

The room they walked in was spacious, neat and situated far at the end of the inn. Two oil lamps scattered the light inside. As Anastasia sat down on the chair wearily, waiting for the bath water, Ileus said, "I will be right back, sweetheart." 

Before she could ask him as to where he was going, he had already closed the door. 

Ileus strode back to the counter in order to meet the innkeeper. He found him barking instructions to his men now that they had a large group. "Get that basket and take it to the kitchen. Ada would need it!" A servant picked up the basket full of fish and hurried towards the kitchen. He passed Ileus on the way and bowed to him with a soft smile. The innkeeper clasped his hand and walked up to him when he saw Ileus. Nervous, he asked, "What can I do for you, my lord?" From the looks of the man, he was surely a nobility. His wife was beautiful beyond words. In fact he had yet to see a woman that beautiful. 

Ileus gave him a firm nod and said, "I would like to have a private conversation with you." 

"Sure!" said the innkeeper. "You can call me Casux, my lord." He guided them to the small room behind the counter. 

When they were comfortably seated, Ileus narrowed his eyes and said, "How come I see Lamia in this part of the Lore?" 

Casux' green eyes glinted and flickered a yellow. "My lord, you are a sharp werewolf," he replied with a smile. 

Ileus leaned back in his chair and waited for him to speak more. It was important to know who these people were and how far he could go with his investigation with them. 

"My wife is half-lamia," he replied in all honesty. "I am half-lamia too. This entire community is of hal-lamias as we all have human genes too." He knew that lamias didn't have a good reputation and were mostly shunned by the Lore people. That was one of the reasons amongst a few why they stayed in this part of the Lore… away from the Loreans… "We are a very quiet community, so please be rest assured." 

Ileus smirked. "I can see that. Why is it that there is no activity in your village after dusk?" 

Casux let out a sharp exhale. He lowered his head as if reluctant to talk, but he had to say it. "Tides of Bromval is adjacent to Zmjia. This is the first village that the pureblood serpents shape shifters have to cross this village if they have to go to other parts of the Lore. And they slither out of the ocean when the night falls. Since we don't want to have any interactions with them, we stay indoors." 

"That is funny… coming out of half-lamia," Ileus quipped. 

"It is not. The purebloods Lamias are vicious, cold and ruthless and when in a state of anger can swallow us whole. There have been many such instances. My ancestors used to help them a lot earlier, but now no one wants to see them either. Even though we are half-lamias, they don't spare us, so why should we help them? We just… stay within boundaries. They don't come to us nor do we go to them."

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