Serena who was still in a haze bowed her head slightly in respect to Ileus not fully understanding anything that was said to her. Her mind was completely fixed on the vision she had just seen, it felt so real and she didn't want to forget any important detail especially the face of the creature who spoke to her. "Elder Ileus I wasn't expecting you at the gates my lord" Edmund said bowing his head slightly, his jaw clenched and his eyes fixed on the elder's face. " This is my castle Edmund I'm allowed to roam around wherever and whenever I please" Ileus said with a mischievous smile his hands folded across his chest. His eyes gracefully shifted to Missy who stood behind Edmund " my goodness it's been a while since I have since such an appealing face, you must be Missy I presume" he smiled but his eyes said otherwise. Missy bowed her head lowly in respect and didn't look at the Ileus when she stood up which amused him. Taking one last look at them he turned towards the castle" open the gate Rickon and let our guests in " he said. Serena turned around looking to see if there was any other person around but there was none " who is he speaking to" she whispered to Missy who did not say a word, her face looked grim and her fingers where curled into a tight fist. Suddenly the gate creeked open loudly and standing beside it was a grey little old man with no hair, one of his eyes looked infected and he had on tattered clothes. His face was greatly wrinkled and dusty. That should be Rickon then Serena thought, how could such wealthy people treat there servants this way. " Come now Ms Serena you have already wasted enough time if you want to make it to the campus today" Ileus said as he walked towards the castle, Serena followed right behind him. Missy let out a sigh shrugging her shoulders before following Ileus but Edmund grabbed her hand " Whatever happens Martha I want you to know I won't let anything happen to her ever again, I would not let that night repeat itself you have my word" he said firmly, he didn't care who it was, Michael or the Hybrid he would never let anyone hurt her again. " I know you would Edmund" Missy said pulling away from his grip.
The stepped in the castle which was a magnificent,it was not as gloomy as Serena thought it would be. She could not see any light bulbs or any item of technology around though.
The entire castle was illuminated by candle Chandlers which gave the castle rooms a golden hue. The corridor was long and empty with a large golden staircase leading to the second and third floors of the castle. Serena noticed that none of the rooms on the second floor nor in the third were lit and the stairs looked dusty. " How old is this castle?" She asked before she could stop herself. " Curious huh? That's a good quality for a student" Ileus said nonchalantly looking at her his eyes picking up every emotion on her face. " It's about four hundred years old built by our ancestors" he said chuckling at the ending. "Ancestors I really don't like that word" he said now laughing to himself. " This elder is really strange" she thought but what is not strange about this place. The continued on until the arrived in front of a large double door with gold trimmings running from the head to the foot of the door. The knobs of each door were in the middle of a web like structure in the shape of wings, butterfly wings with the body of the butterfly formed when the doors where closed. Serena unconsciously reached out to her birth mark behind her neck but her hand was quickly grabbed and put away by Missy " Not here please " she said hastily, her face paler than before. Ileus smiled to himself when he heard her, his eyes glowing brighter for a second before he opened the door . Behind the door was a large empty quiet room with dim lightning. In the center of the room was was large round table with five seats, Four of the seats already occupied with the remaining elders.
" Elder Ileus it's always a pleasure having you keep us waiting now" one of the elders said, his face solid and his red pupils fixed angrily on Ileus who smiled sheepishly " oh Reiner you know that when I keep you waiting that's the only way I can get things done" he said shrugging his shoulders before stepping to the side. " This is Ms Serena Johnson the newest candidate of the scholarship program" Ileus said his usual smile on his face as he watched their reaction to seeing Serena. The four elders who were already so pale looked like they had seen a ghost "My my Ileus you have outdone yourself again" Elder Reiner said with a cold smile . Ileus turned to Serena who looked like a lamb before a group of hungry lions " these are the elders of Eldermere including meself, we oversee the affairs of the five founding families of Eldermere" Ileus paused taking a quick look at her " The red haired pale one over there is elder Reiner Emberfalls, high leader of the Emberfalls family" he paused leaning towards her, he whispered" they are all red haired by the way and are very aggressive individuals". It seemed that Reiner heard them because his solid stone face tightened harder, which made Serena not to look directly at him. " This beautiful lady here is elder Elara Slivermist, lady Paramount of the slivermist family". He said pointing at the beautiful blonde woman who sat at the right side of the empty chair, she was so beautiful, her clear white skin looked delicate, her pretty blue eyes fixed on Serena. Her hair beautifully moved behind her like it had a mind of its own. "This is elder Frost, high councilor of the Frostborns family of the Eastern lake, beautiful people I must add, calm people not like the Emberfalls" Ileus said smiling mischievously at Reiner. " The black hair one over there with the weird mask on is Thorne ,Overseer of the ironforges clan" he turned facing Serena which startled her a bit " lastly is I, Elder Ileus Eldridge, high commander of the Eldridge family and leader of Eldermere".