Shacking Up

The following weeks, nothing major happened. Loraine opened up her store and the popularity of the store was growing rather quickly. With the rate that the store was growing, Loraine was even thinking about opening up a branch in another part of the city.

Initially Aiza was not happy to take in Mira as an apprentice, however after Loraine promised her an increased pay she accepted it. Aiza even liked having Mira as an apprentice, as she could discuss cooking with someone else. Moreover Aiza also liked the power that it brought.

Mira started to improve her skills. With the guidance that she got from Aiza as well as her mother, she started to become good in the trait. Moreover, with the wage that she got from working in the store, she was finally available to pay off the medical expenses that her mother had.

After improving her condition, Mira's mother also decided to help from time to time in the store. She even provided Aiza and Mira with some unique recipes that the other two never knew existed. This also improved the state of the store.

As for James, in the end he decided to take the offer that Jacob had. After the party, he enjoyed catching up with the knights. No matter where he was, he always felt more on his own with a sword in his hand. The recruits that James started to train even started to like his methods. The previous trainers didn't know how to approach the recruits, either from inexperience or the age difference. Therefore having James lead the men was the best option.

In this time, James even started to build his own connection. Many of the recruits started to become more loyal to James, rather than the family that they were serving. His influence also started to spread to some of the nobles. This was also thanks to the impressive influence that Loraine's store had.

After the uneventful weeks, a large convoy of knights and soldiers entered the city of Valencia. As the convoy was walking in the streets, many people started to spectate who they were. Hundreds of people started to form rows as the convoy passed between them. Some of the knights in the convoy looked prestigious. They had a certain atmosphere on them. However some of the knights had a weird atmosphere on them. Unlike the prestigious looking knights, they looked dangerous.

The convoy stopped in the city square. One of the leading knights, a middle-aged man got out of his horse and walked over to where the crowd was. Looking around, he took a deep breath before speaking up loudly, "I am Sir Percy Adinwood, and I am at the service to the Bloom family. We are looking for Loraine Bloom, who was abducted by a renegade knight called James Witterton. The one that can provide information about their whereabouts will receive a heft reward." Percy looked around, to see that a lot of people got interested in the offer. To make sure that the people provided correct information he pulled out a picture of Loraine and showed it to the crowd, "The one named Loraine looks like this."

Seeing the picture, many of the people got quite in an instant. Everyone who attended the popular competition knew the woman on the picture. They even knew where her store was, as it now was one of the most popular locations in Valencia. Yet the eagerness to tell information about Loraine and her whereabouts got lost. Many did not know if they should tell the knights where she was. If they did tell, that meant that the event that the store organized would not happen.

One person stepped forward in the crowed, "Sir Knight. I know where that woman i... Ouch!"

Before the man could finish his sentence, he was punched on his stomach, "Are you crazy Henry. You know exactly what would happen to her. Look at them."

Hearing that, the man regained his composure and continued his speech, "I am sorry Sir Knight. I am mistaken, I thought of someone else."

Hearing this sudden change, the knights all realized that something was wrong. They were surprised that something like that would happen. They even started to question themselves if that really was Loraine.

…

With a rush the door opened. "Loraine! You have to hide. People are looking for you." Alice was out of breath as she entered the store that Loraine was in. The look on her face was rather dark as she was nervous about the situation.

Taken aback about what happened, Loraine looked over to Alice and asked in a calm manner, "What happened? Why do I have to hide?" As she was asking that question, her mind started to wonder if it was her family that was looking for her. Maybe Abby sent a message to the king's city about her whereabouts. Yet, the next thing that Alice said confirmed her worries.

"They said that they were from the Bloom family. They were looking for you. You have to hide. I am not sure how long it will take them to find this place." Alice's voice carried a strong sense of worry.

Hearing this, Loraine turned to look at both Aiza and Mira and said, "I leave the store in your care. Take good care of it in my absence." With that she took out a cloak and rushed out of the store, followed by Alice.

…