I did not see Kol or his dogs when I awoke. I had slept all evening and night. Now I could see the sun streaming in through a slit in the heavy curtains that covered the large windowed doors that went out onto the balcony. Kol must have drawn them closed while I was sleeping. I had also found my way under the covers. I was still wearing the dress from the day before and it was all tangled around my legs. I was feeling better than I had yesterday and felt fully recovered, but a bit hungry. As if summoned by my thoughts, Kol came through the door with a tray with two plates of food. He was trying to balance the food and not trip over the two big black dogs that were jumping around his legs.

He kicked out lightly at one of them, "Shoo, away with you. This food is not for you."

The dogs did not pay any attention to his orders and continued to jump around him. Somehow he managed to make it to the small table that sat near the couches and laid the tray down. The dogs tried sniffing at it, but Kol just pushed them away. "You had better come and eat now before Caligo and Umbra get to it."

I didn't need any further invitation and went to take one of the plates. I waited until Kol was almost done eating before I spoke. "Kol," I started slowly. He made a noise of acknowledgement but continued to spear his food on his fork. "I was thinking that I should return to the inn today. I have intruded on your hospitality too long and I should really be getting back. Victoria and Giselle must be wondering where I am by now."

Kol's fork clanked against his plate when I mentioned leaving, but he composed himself and laid his empty plate aside. "You aren't intruding at all, Ebb, but do you have to return today? I was thinking perhaps you would like to get out and have some fun before returning to the inn. Argie knows all the best places to go in the city. Surely, your stepsisters could last one more day without you."

I did want to see Argie again. They probably weren't terribly worried that I was gone and I was in no hurry to get back to angry stepsisters. They would probably be mad that I was gone for a few days. I told Kol that I would go with him into the lower city. Now that I knew his history, I felt safer with Kol and the lower city did not scare me so much anymore after meeting Argie. He smiled broadly and stood up. He had left the dresses in his room slung over a chair and I selected one to change into. It was a lacy white sundress. Fortunately, Kol's sister had left behind some of her old shoes and Kol was able to find a pair that fit me well enough.

"I'm so glad you agreed. Bert will be happy to see you again and Addie wants to meet you. I was to meet them at the Scrolldart today anyway." Kol said as we left his room. He had assured me that no one was home to see us. It would be hard to explain why I was there and wearing old clothes of his sister's.

"So your plan was to drag me along with you this entire time?" I teased as we walked past other doors and paintings on the walls.

"I was only going to drag you didn't agree." Kol turned and wrinkled his nose at me to show he was joking.

I did not notice however because we had arrived at the main entry hall and I stopped dead in my tracks. It had a high vaulted ceiling made of glass so the light shone in. We were standing on a balcony at the top of a large marble staircase that curved down to a circular landing that then curved down again towards the front door. The floors and the walls were made of the same swirling dark gray marble. The intricate ironwork that made of the thick railing matched the large black candelabras that sat at the railing's end. Black pillars punctuated the dark gray stone walls. A black crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling overhead. It was an intimidating room with its dark colors and intricately carved stone work along the staircase and edges of the walls.

Kol laughed at my sudden awe of the room. "My father does love to impress. I've always thought that this room looked liked some evil lord's dark castle."

I nodded. I did not speak for I felt that my voice would loudly echo from every wall. It did indeed look like a room out of some dark castle. Slowly I followed Kol down the marble steps and looked at all the hard stone lines and black fixtures. It reminded me of the outside of the house with how mysterious and sinister it looked. I could not imagine living in such a place. I had never been in a house as grand as Kol's was. It made me want to see what other rooms this mansion held, but we had not come to explore though and left through the heavy wood front door.

Kol looked up at the sky. The sun was close to setting and the clouds were aflame with hues of pink and orange. "I hope we aren't too late. Addie hates it when I show up late."

I wondered what sort of person Addison would be. Bert's mother seemed to think that she was a bad influence and completely wild. On the other hand, she seemed to be one of Kol's good friends. I had heard almost nothing about her except that she hung around with Bert a lot. I decided I would not worry too much about it because I would be meeting her soon.

Kol said that the carriage was too cumbersome to take into the lower city so we would be riding Tim's hay cart again. I asked him why he chose to take such transportation when he owned horses and carriages. His response was that he liked Tim and sometimes fancy horses and carriages became tedious. I accepted his answer as we climbed onto the familiar cart covered in stray bits of hay. Kol told me that Tim lived in the lower city and did not mind giving him a lift from time to time.

"Is he one of your men too?" I asked. I wondered how many people Kol had as part of his organization.

Kol leaned back and laid his head on his hands. He answered, "Nah, not Tim. He's too old and gentle for the kind of work we do. He just offers me the occasional ride around the city and I help him drum up some business."

He had closed his eyes and appeared to be sleeping where he lay in the bouncing cart. I took a deep breath before asking my next question. I was afraid of what the answer might be. "And what sort of work do you do in the lower city? What of the man that was caught the other day?"

One black eye opened and looked down at where I sat on the side of the cart. Before answering, Kol closed his eyes and settled back into his relaxed pose. "We bring justice to those who would have otherwise escaped it. The man that was caught was a murderer. Would you have rather let him go free?"

I shook my head even though Kol could not see. "But what did you do to him?"

This time Kol did not answer. Instead he just lay back languidly on the hay until we arrived at the Scrolldart. I did not repeat the question. If he did not want to answer, I was sure that I did not want to know. Whatever he did, it was keeping the city safe from hooligans and thieves. I did not want to repay his kindness by prying into his life. I could not see him torturing someone; it just did not make sense for him to do so. He could not be so different in demeanor that he could wear a small sparkly ring from the mouth of a wooden fish as well as being so cold and cruel. I was sure that whatever Kol did to punish the wrongdoers of the lower city that it was justified and the person he was immediately after his friend was killed was nothing but a memory.

The Scrolldart was just as crowded and noisy as it had been the first time that I had been. There were new faces and some I recognized from my previous visit. Many still saluted when Kol entered and Argie was still bustling about behind her counter. In the midst of the crowd at the bar, I could see Bert and a dark skinned beauty whispering together. They were leaned close to each other and laughing at something. Argie was at the opposite side of the bar talking to another group of patrons.

As soon as Bert and Addison saw Kol, they both bounced up and simultaneously kissed him on either cheek in greeting. He jokingly pushed them away while muttering about being embarrassing. Bert then took my arm and introduced me to Addison.

"Addie, this is Ebb. She's the poor girl who got caught up in Kol's wild schemes. We need to make sure that he takes good care of her. She even stood up to Poison Ivy and lived to tell the tale. I know because I saw it." Bert brought me over to where Addison had seated herself back at the bar.

She inspected me before giving her conclusion. "Then she seems good enough to keep up with our lot. I approve."

"Ebb is not here for your approval, Addison. That's not why I brought her."

Addison leaned on the counter and stared intently at Kol with a knowing smile playing on her lips. "Then why did you bring her here, Nikolaus?"

Beside me, Bert whispered in my ear. "That's my girl. She always gets right down to the heart of the matter." She moved from my side to put and arm around Addison. "You don't need to make the boy explain himself, love. I'm sure he has his reasons and you can ask him all about them later, but for now we have a party to get to. Ebb wasn't brought all this way to sit in some dingy old bar all night."

Addison leaned into Bert and away from Kol who looked relieved. "So, Ebb, have you ever been to a lower city bash?"

I shook my head. "Is it much different than the ones in the upper city?"

Instead of answering, Bert called to Argie. "Hey, Arg, where are the people all going tonight?"

"I heard the Hanging Square is quite popular. Last week they even had that dance group there and the Stinking Hare rolled out a few barrels of ale for the people to drink. The square got quite obnoxious that night." Addison said before Argie stomped over.

She waved her wash rag at Bert and Addison. "You two need to learn to wait for me to be done talking before you just butt in."

"Sorry, Argie," The pair sang sweetly.

Argie waved her hand before leaning on the counter in front of us. "Now, the place I've heard about the most is that street over by the laundress Molly's place – you know that really wide one? Tonight they are said to be seeing if they can fill that whole street with dancers."

Bert and Addison looked at each other and smiled. It seemed they made their decision about where we would be going.

"Don't I get some say in this?" Kol asked. He had found a red glass bottle under the bar and had been drinking it. The label said it was apple crisp punch. "I promised Ebb that she would have fun tonight. Isn't that right, Ebb?"

I nodded solemnly. "I don't want to be disappointed." I joked.

Addison rolled her eyes and grabbed my hand. Bert grabbed Kol's and we were both pulled out of the Scrolldart. "Don't worry, Ebb, I never disappoint."

Ahaha, writer's block, you are no match for me! Not only did I finish the impossible chapter, but I also got halfway through the next because it was less impossible. I knew that if I whined about it a bit I would be able to power through quickly. Now I am on a writing high with another whole day off of work to write.