Stopping in a daze, Jamal had not been expecting such a fervent refusal from Marcus. It was clear he had no intention of backing down.
He tried turning his attention to Mrazivy, to see if she would reign Marcus in and do the sensible thing from his point of view by letting Amira go. But she only took a step closer to Amira and affirmed that she was the only one they wanted to act as their guide.
Jamal was at a loss seeing this. It was a practically heavy insult to his pride to be so completely refused.
It took him a great deal of willpower to now flair up, but his great grandfather, the grand elder, had told him not to do anything that might upset Marcus and Mrazivy.
"Very well, if you wish to continue having my inexperienced cousin continue guide you, I will back down." Jamal said, a forced smile on his face.
He then turned around and began leading the way to where the grand elder was waiting. Intentionally walking much faster than normal in an attempt to make it difficult for Amira to keep up.
Naturally Marcus and Mrazivy noticed this and made sure to match their pace to Amira. If Jamal wanted to leave them behind that was fine by them. It would just show that he was an incompetent host.
In the end, Jamal had to give up on his last ditch plan to spite Amira and slowed his walking pace< he would only get chastised if he left Marcus and Mrazivy who were his clan's esteemed guests behind.
For the next several minutes they walked down winding corridors, passing by several rooms and servants.
Each time the servants would kneel when Jamal passed by and his bad mood would dissipate slightly seeing these acts of subservience.
Eventually they stopped in front of a set of ornate doors that were mostly made out a translucent red crystal.
Yet despite the fact that it should have been possible to see what was beyond the doors through the crystal, some sort of enchantment blocked everyone's sight.
'Not only is the door itself heavily enchanted, but so is the room itself. It would not be beyond me to disable everything, but it would take a great deal of time.' Marcus thought, examining the doors and walls.
Clearly this room that belong to the head of the estate was well protected and reminded Marcus of how heavily enchanted some parts of the castle in Borealia's Royal Castle were.
Pulling out a celestial platinum key, Jamal inserted it into the door's lock and the defensive enchantments began to shut down and allow people to enter.
Now that that its defensive had temporarily been disabled, the two crystal doors began to open up and revealed a large office.
Along the walls were all manner of tapestries and exquisite painting, and the floors were covered with rugs made from the fur of epic grade beasts.
At the back of the room was a desk that sat on a raised platform with three steps leading up to it. Sitting behind the desk was a man that looked to be in his late fifties. He had been in the middle of doing paperwork, but had looked up when he saw his guests arrive.
'So that is the grand elder of the Eazim Clan. He has a decently strong aura, probably somewhere in the upper forties level wise. His true age is also likely a lot older than his appearance.' Marcus thought, evaluating the grand elder.
Of course, the grand elder was not the only one in the room. Two guards that were both over level sixty were standing in front of him, and sitting behind him was a man who was clearly much stronger. Likely in the upper seventies or low eighties in terms of level.
Along with the visible guards, Marcus could sense that there were two dozen additional guards hidden within secret areas around the room. All of them being at least level forty.
The entire room screamed that the person who owned it and sat at the head of the platform was important and would not allow anyone to look down on him. This was certainly the type of place that would be owned by one of the most powerful people in a large nation such as Aezam.
"Ah, Jamal, I see you brought our guest with you. Please bring them here. I wish to have a quick chat." The grand elder said, beckoning their group forward.
He did for a moment look at Amira curiously, having been told beforehand that Jamal planned to dismiss her, but quickly figured out that Marcus and Mrazivy must have protested.
Swiftly Jamal lead Marcus and Mrazivy with Amira trailing behind them up to the Grand Elder and bowed his head.
Marcus and Mrazivy were about to follow suit, but the grand elder held out his hand to stop them.
"No need for that. We are not in a formal setting, and you are my guests. You may rise as well Amira."
The grand elder then gave a quick glance to one of his two standing guards and the tall armored man pulled out chairs for Marcus, Mrazivy, Jamal, and Amira to sit at across from his desk.
"Now, I suppose that we should start with introductions. My name is Akeem, and I am the grand elder of the Eazim Clan. It is a pleasure for me to welcome you both into my home."
"I am Marcus. It is an honor to be received by you."
"I am Mrazivy. Thank you for going out of the way to greet us."
Having finished their introduction Akeem looked ready to get down to business, but his head guard who had been sitting behind him the entire time got up and moved right next to his master.
This shocked everyone present from Eazim clan, including Akeem.
Bashir, Akeem's head guard and the Eazim clan's strongest warrior, normally would not move from his position behind the grand elder.
This was a show of confidence that he could protect his charge even from a relaxed position, and he rarely ever stood right beside Akeem, since his presence was too intimidating for most to handle.
pǎпdǎ Й?νê1,сòМ Yet, the second Marcus and Mrazivy entered he could feel their strength and knew that if he was not right beside his master, he would be unable to defend against an attack if they launched one.
"You two must really be something to have Bashir on edge. I feel more comfortable offering you some of our spots in the Muharib Festival now." Akeem said with a wide grin on his face.
Though while the grand elder of the Eazim clan seemed to be completely relaxed still, the tension in the room was palpable.
Jamal had only ever seen Bashir stand beside his great grandfather when meeting with other grand elders and their guards, and it put into perspective for him just how powerful Marcus and Mrazivy were.
"I am glad to hear that we have your confidence." Marcus said, ignoring all of the eyes that were on him.
"Oh, yes, I am getting excited for it now, but we can discuss it in more detail later. For now I want to talk about the Chelmer resort. It has been a long time since I was there last and want to know how things are going. If you would not mind indulging this old man." Akeem said with a light chuckle.
Unlike Jamal who acted extremely uptight and self-important, the grand elder of the Eazim clan was able to give off a more relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. Though the shrewdness behind his eyes showed that he was a skilled politician not to be trifled with.
To start, he asked mundane questions about the Chelmer Resort, and Marcus and Mrazivy answered him.
He wanted to know thing about the old attractions he remembered and if there was anything new in areas that had not been developed before.
"Ah, just hearing about it makes me want to go back. It is one of the most relaxing places I have ever been. Unfortunately, my work keeps me busy here and I certainly will not have any opportunities any time soon." Akeem said with a sigh.
"Well, whenever you are free, the resort would be more than willing to welcome you, I am sure." Mrazivy said, making sure to play the part of a representative of the resort as was their cover.
At this the grand elder coked an eyebrow and said, "Oh, really. And here I thought our relationship was getting a bit strained."
Having finished with the pleasantries Akeem decided now was the time to fish for information.
All of a sudden, the Chelmer resort had put pressure on their trade agreements in order to force them to hep Marcus and Mrazivy, and he wanted to get whatever information he could out of them.
"No, I do not think that there is any tension forming between the Chelmer resort and the Eazim clan. My, you have been so helpful to us already. I believe that once we finish our quest in your lovely nation that there are plans to expand trade." Mrazivy said.
She was using her own skills at dealing with situations like this to inform the grand elder with veiled langue that so long as they got what they wanted, there would be no problems and a substantial benefit for the Eazim Clan.
But on the other hand, if Marcus and Mrazivy did not receive the support that they needed she was insinuating that trade might slow down.
"That is good to here. Our clan wishes for our mutual and prosperous relationship to continue long into the future. And of course, we are more than happy to help you in any way we can."
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