Moonshadow (Book 1 of the Torrent Skies Saga)

Chapter Seventeen: Exception to the Rule, Pt 2

Soon after Ra'liel's call a man was filling the archway before them. He was tall and thin, dressed in green and brown linen clothing with his shirt open and loose. He had a curly mop of dark hair that partially framed his thin angled face and sharply pointed chin.

"Ah! We do have guests!" he said, smiling broadly and clapping his hands together. He gestured them forward, "Come in, come in!"

As they entered the large room, Katerin let herself smile. There was a large desk of living tree with polished bark, and behind it was a table with many chairs around it. Two stairways curved up and down on the sides of this tree, one going up, one leading further down.

"Tea?" he asked, as they followed him into the large sitting room. His voice was lively and smooth. Dozens of things filled the room. Books, bolts of cloth. Anything and everything a house could need, and in great supply. He pulled seats out from the smooth wooden table and poured each seat a cup of tea. Charm oozed from him as sap did from a tree. And he took special care to hold Arjiah's chair for her as she sat, wonderment in his eyes.

As they sat he took a chair himself. "So what brings you to Ky'lei'mei, Hmm?" He winked at Ra'liel. "I hear you saved two of our finest."

"I'm trying to find someone," Katerin said, trying not to laugh. This man's cheer was infectious.

"Ah, lover ran away on you?" He packed a wooden pipe and passed it to Fykes, who reclined in his chair to accept it.

With that she did laugh, while sipping her tea. "No," she said. "My mother. She left when I was little."

"Well, best of luck to you!" he said, his face serious for but a moment. "There are beds, and of course, food. We all eat together and you are welcome to join us." He paused at their weary looks. "Or I can bring it to you."

"Will it bother anyone if we eat with you?"

"No, not at all!" Do'vak gestured toward the stairs. "You are our guests, and you are welcome. If you were not welcome you would not be guests... though you may want to clean up first." Fykes frowned, and Do'vak saw it instantly. "I can provide you with new clothes, and there are, of course, the baths."

"Baths?" Arjiah and Katerin spoke at the same time, their eyes widening.

"Of course!" Do'vak winked. "We aren't savages." His tone was full of humor. "This way," he told them. "I will have clean clothes brought to you."

Ra'liel sat, still slowly sipping her tea, her daughter pulling on her hair. "Do'vak will take care of whatever you may need."

"Thank you," Katerin said bowing her head. SHe was acutely aware that she was in the presence of royalty, no matter how grounded these people seemed.

Ra'liel took her to leave and they followed Do'vak up the stairway, passing through several more rooms. There was a room full of simple cots, with a single blanket and pillow to each, a room with shelves and scrolls and a number of chairs, and many more that were hidden behind branches over their openings like living curtains. After his pleasant tour, his smile widened as they reached the top of the stairway.

Do'vak gestured extravagantly out over the treetops. This area was enclosed by swaying tree branches and several wooden tubs that seemed to have grown up and out of the canopy. The setting sun cast a soft orange and purple light over everything. There were three tubs, big enough to hold half a dozen people, each with two large levers on one side. Do'vak grabbed one of the levers. "This one brings hot water, from the boughs above us," he said, and he grasped the other. "And this one, cold. From the ground beneath us."

"How?" Katerin asked, astonished. She loved baths, but even in the city, bathhouses took a lot to maintain.

"Magic," Do'vak said winking once more, as he pulled on one lever. As the warm water filled the pool, Arjiah dragged her fingertips across its surface, scrunching up her nose. Katerin looked at her curiously.