Chapter 863 863

Soon the initial meeting with the Eazim Clan's grand elder began to wrap up.

"I have certainly enjoyed our conversation together, but it is getting fairly late. After your long journey I imagine you, all must be tired. We can continue speaking tomorrow at breakfast." Akeem said, bring their discussion to a close.

After that Marcus and Mrazivý left the room with Amira, and a pair of servants that had been waiting outside led them to their rooms.

Now alone with his great grand father and his many guards, Jamal turned and asked the question that had been on his mind.

"Why are you allowing them to act as if they are your equal grand elder? Clearly, they are just hired mercenaries of some kind."

Jamal had been surprised when his great grand father had waved his hand and disregarded formalities for Marcus and Mrazivý. Sure, they were apparently here as representatives of the Chelmer Resort, but he did not believe that they should be treating them as equals. When he had arrived to pick them up, they had kneeled before him like everyone else, but now that Akeem had allowed them to act without adhering to formalities, they had no reason to respect Jamal's' status anymore.

"I see that you still have much to learn in the art of reading people." Akeem said with a disappointed sigh. "Those two clearly do not truly respect our authority. They know how to act in front of those that hold status, but that is all it is, an act. If they actually cared about our authority, they would have backed down when you tried to relive Amira of her duties as their guide. Clearly, the moment we become more of an inconvenience to them than an asset, they will simply cut us off. I could tell that with one look. That is why I figured it better to not engage in any pomp and circumstances. We both want something from each other, so it is easier if neither side tries to push the other."

Unfortunately, while Akeem tried to explain his wisdom to Jamal, his great grand son could not help but feel that his status was being looked down on. He was too proud of his title as the third highest ranking member of his clan and enjoyed having others act subservient to him too much.

"Now, I do not have all day to lecture you. I imagine that the next few days are going to be tiring so I am going to get some rest, and you should do the same." Akeem said, motioning for Jamal to leave.

'As if we can allow them walk all over us like this.' Jamal thought as he left. Thinking of ways to try and get back at Marcus and Mrazivý despite his great grandfather's warnings.

...

'These halls really do feel endless.' Marcus thought as they were led to where the guest chambers were.

It was a fairly long walk from where the gran elder's office was, but that was to be expected.

"Here is the room that has been prepared for you Lady Mraz." One of the servants said, opening up the doors to reveal a large room with a king-sized bed in it and a large bathroom that could have easily been considered the master bedroom for even a large house back on Earth.

However, what the servant had said gave Marcus and Mrazivý pause.

"What do you mean my room? Does that mean that Marcus had his own room as well?" Mrazivý asked, her head tilted slightly in confusion.

"Yes, Sir Marcus has a room for himself in the male wing of the guest quarters. It would be improper for a young lady and man to share a room together." The servant responded.

"Um, you do know that we are married, right? We have already shared a bed together several times." Mrazivý said bluntly.

This caused the young servant woman to go ghastly pale and she bowed her head deeply.

"Please forgive me for my ignorance. I should have been more though in my preparation and found out that you two are married."

Of course it was not actually her fault that separate chambers had been prepared for them, but simply that she had not been informed and done as instructed.

"Allow me to apologize for this mistake. As your guide, I should have made sure that the servants here had been informed." Amira said, a slight blush visible on her cheeks from hearing Mrazivý candidly acknowledge having slept with Marcus.

"It is fine. We can simply share this room. It is more than large enough for the both of us." Mrazivý said, not concerned, or believing that it was actually Amira's fault.

Marcus chimed in with his agreement, but Amira and the young servant frowned.

"Unfortunately, men are not allowed to stay in the women's guest wing or vise versa. We will need to have a couple's room prepared for you." Amira said, an embarrassed expression on her face.

"We are more than willing to wait. Neither of us is all that tired." Mrazivý said not willing to budge.

Normally she would not want to be this pushy and just accepted that she and Marcus would be in different rooms for the night, but she had the nagging feeling that this had been done on purpose to separate them.

"Of course, we will have a new room prepared for you immediately. We can wait in one of the estates parlors until then." Amira said, masking her own exhaustion and taking charge as was her duty.

For the next hour she entertaining Marcus and Mrazivý, until their new room was ready.

"Again, I must say I am sorry for the inconvenience that my negligence has caused you both." Amira said, lowering her head to Marcus and Mrazivý who were standing in the doorway of their new room.

"It is fine Amira; you were just as surprised by all this as we were. It is not like we were originally meant to stay here in the first place. There is no way you could have made sure that it was known that we are married and checked on our accommodations." Mrazivý said, offering a friendly smile to Amira.

"You have been doing your best and neither of us is dissatisfied. Now go and get some rest yourself, I am sure you must be tired." Marcus said.

Nodding her head, Amira left Marcus and Mrazivý on their own and headed to her own room.

"I can already tell that Jamal is going to be annoying to deal with." Mrazivý said, slumping down onto one of the chairs in the room.

"Yeah, I get that feeling as well." Marcus said, agreeing with Mrazivý.

He really did not like the way that Jamal had been looking over Mrazivý when they met and while he seemed to be able to restrain himself in the moment, Marcus figured he was the type of person to hold a grudge.

Regrettably, there was little that they could do to be proactive and could likely only respond to whatever Jamal might be planning to do.

"The grand elder seems to have a good head on his shoulders though, hopefully he will keep Jamal reigned in." Mrazivý said.

"I suppose it is possible. The grand elder seems to highly value the relationship between his clan and the Chelmer Resort." Marcus responded.

"It only makes sense that he does. Daniel showed us the rough figures on how much wealth the trade between the two of them generates for the Eazim Clan. There is no way they would want to jeopardize losing out on that much profit. Even if the Chelmer resort stopped doing business with the Eazim Clan, they could move over to one of the other great clans and get what they want even if it is a bit less convenient."

For the rest of the night Marcus and Mrazivý continued to discuss how they were going to handle unexpectedly being called to the grand elder's estate and what to do in case Jamal tried anything.

In fact, they lost track of time and did not realize that they had talked through the entire night until they heard a knock at their door and were informed that breakfast would begin in an hour.

"I suppose that we should get ready. It would not do for us to show up in the same clothes we wore yesterday." Marcus said.

Swiftly the two of them cleaned themselves and put on some of the clothing traditional to Aezam that they had bought in Tijara.

As they opened the door, they found a male and female servant waiting to take them to dining room where breakfast was being held.

When they arrived at the dining room, both of them were hit with the strong smells of the traditional food eaten in Aezam that utilized many fragrant spices.

Yet, after a quick glance around, they found that the annoyance known as Jamal who they had expected to be present, was missing. Sitting at the table was only Akeem and a very tense looking Amira.