Lunamae (10 page)

“I would love to go with you,” I said with a
coy smile. I figured I could practice my feminine skills on this
one before I would have to start looking for a match myself. I knew
that the pairing of Lunamae would take first priority, but I would
be soon after. I didn’t have to worry about having feeling for a
servant because I knew better—there was no way my family would let
me marry one. Of course, that didn’t stop Lunamae’s senseless
obsession with Marcus.

“I will wait for you at the entrance to the
palace,” Theron said, leaving me to myself. Well, he didn’t talk
much like a servant. I wandered in the room and shut the door
behind me. There was the lovely smell of incense and I could see
some being burned by the bedside. These beds were so very different
from the ones in the keep (and both were more elaborate than my
simple pallet). The bed was sitting on some sort of platform. There
was a traditional Fanarion dress robe on the bed with sandals
nearby, asking to be worn. I took it and wandered through the
apartment, looking for a place to wash myself. I was expecting only
a pitcher of water but I was greeted by a large pit in the floor,
full of hot water. I could see the steam coming off. I touched the
water carefully with my foot. It was just the right temperature. I
quickly took off my clothes which seemed so much heavier than what
the people of Fanarion wore. I assumed this was due also to the
temperature, although Kyrians wore something similar and it was a
colder climate up in northern Orinda.

I noticed some soap near the tub and a
washcloth. I scrubbed all the collected dirt off, a little
embarrassed that I had presented myself to royals in such a state.
They knew we would not be arriving in pristine condition, however.
I found a towel after I was finished bathing and dried myself off.
I put on the dress robe and took the rope-like belt and tied it
around my waist. The whole thing was so open and airy I felt a
little naked, but it was good to be out of hot, dirty clothes. Once
dressed, I walked out to the palace, the sea breeze floated through
the robes and my open-aired feet.

“You are here,” the servant said joyfully. He
ruffled his brown hair and offered me his hand. “Come with me, I
have much to show you.” I took it without thinking that in Feyris,
only those courting did such a thing. Perhaps it was seen
differently in Fanarion. The area surrounding the palace was full
of activity and people so I used that as a mental excuse to justify
my actions. I didn’t want to get lost. He led me a few blocks away
from the palace to view a very large structure with pillars all
around.

“This is the temple of the goddess Athasia,”
he commented, lifting his hand to the direction of the
building.

“Goddess?” I asked curiously. “What is
that?”

“You do not have gods and goddesses where you
hail from?” Theron inquired, surprised.

“We have the Creator and the Destroyer. The
Destroyer was one of the creations gone evil. He wanted power over
the world, to be like the Creator and was exiled, only allowed to
roam the rot of Orinda.”

“I have heard of the Creator from the talk of
some of the mages here. Very few Fanarions have kept to that old
faith,” he explained.

“If it is an old faith, why do you choose to
not follow it?” I asked him.

The man laughed lightly. “
I
do not
follow anything in particular. I do not see the sense in appeasing
a multitude of deities. If I was a god, I would feel offended if I
didn’t have singular worship from a person. I don’t know enough
about the old faith.”

“You’ve heard of the Teacher?” I asked
Theron.

“Only by overhearing,” he admitted. “Come.
Let me take you to the beach. It is to the left of the docks and is
a bit quieter. I have a small boat and I can show you the city from
a different vantage point. Perhaps you can view your cousin and
aunt from there.”

We walked through what seemed like meeleys of
stone roads and finally they led down to a sandy beach. I looked at
the great expanse of water that led all the way to the horizon and
couldn’t believe my eyes. I had never seen so much water and it was
hard to take all in. It was beautiful and yet foreboding. What was
at the other end of the water? I followed Theron onto the beach as
I thought. The sand was so different from the hard earth I was used
to. It gave way a little under my feet.

“Here,” Theron said. “Give me your sandals.
It’s much easier to walk with your feet bare.”

“But it isn’t appropriate for a woman,” I
remarked. He shrugged me off and knelt down to remove them.

“Nonsense! It might not be appropriate in
Feyris, but it is in Fanarion. You are dressed like a Fanarion
woman, no one will notice you. You even have the hair color to
disguise yourself.”

“Very well Theron,” I said, allowing him to
remove them from my feet. He also offered to carry them which I
obliged.

“It is nice to hear my name,” he said, his
face brightening. “I am only called that when needed.” We walked
down to the boat he had spoken of earlier. It was not as small as
he made it seem. Small to me is a canoe, able to channel through
the Shibher. This boat had a sail and even some room below decks
for storage. He caught my confused eye and clarified, “It’s just a
fishing boat. I acquired it from one of the courtiers. They had
challenged me to a game of pairs and I won.”

“Game of pairs?” I said, not sure of what he
meant. I had never heard of the term cards before. We didn’t have
such games in Feyris.

“It is a card game. Cards are individual
pieces of a paper coated in a film. The game is called matchmaker.
The cards come in a deck which is a set of fifty-two. You have
cards of four elements—earth, fire, water, and air. They are
numbered two through ten. Then there is the courtier, queen, king,
and deity for each element and then two bard cards which count for
anything. The idea is to get enough matches that you don’t have any
cards left in your hand. If you have some more spare time here I
should like to show it to you,” Theron explained. He showed me into
the boat, holding my hand again so I wouldn’t slip.

“It sounds interesting,” I declared. “I don’t
know what my aunt or the royal family has planned for my cousin yet
but I’d imagine there would be some free time available. Speaking
of which—how do
you
have free time available?”

“In all reality, the king and queen asked me
to be an escort for you. I suppose they had sympathy towards the
fact that you weren’t married yet and neither am I and it is
something in common. I could keep you preoccupied from thinking
about it.”

“Well, it’s working,” I admitted. I sat down
on the deck of the boat and he loosed the sail. He pushed off the
boat and we were off into the Sea of Ayreni. The sails enabled us
to move faster than any row boat and soon we were at a distance
from the city. I looked back at Midonia and held my breath. It was
so massive compared to my little village of Feyris or even Moir
Awin. I could have never imagined a place so large and with so many
people before, but here it was in all reality. I could compare the
city buildings to the ones in Feyris from this vantage point and I
realized the architecture of the houses weren’t so very different
from our house. They were painted starch white and their roofs were
unique. There was no thatch in sight, only red scale-like things.
To ease my curiosity, I asked Theron what they were called.

“Clay tiles,” he answered. “We found that
thatch is more easily combustible with our heat and dry spells and
clay isn’t. It is much safer this way.”

“I see,” I murmured. I decided to change the
subject. “So what do you do for fun here?”

“Fun?” The Fanarion laughed and cocked his
head. “You were wondering how I had available free time.”

“I’m sorry. I forgot you were a servant —” I
started but Theron interrupted.

“It’s fine. The king and queen allow us
available time when we can do as we please. They figured that it is
better for the staff to be happy. A happy worker is a better
worker.”

“I can agree with that,” I said with a smile.
The king and queen seemed like decent people. They cared about
their visitors and the people in the kingdom. I think Lunamae could
be happy married into such a life. If, of course, she didn’t take
up the throne in Feyris.

“So … your cousin,” he started, “What is she
like? She seemed quite solemn.”

“That’s because she’s infatuated with one of
our prisoners,” I inquired. “Angharad had taken some Kyrians
prisoner years ago and she has visited them every single day since
then and has been secretly caring for them.” I stopped myself. Had
I said too much? I don’t think anyone else should know that.
Perhaps this Theron was a Kyrian spy. He didn’t look like much of a
spy though.

“Don’t worry, your secret is safe,” Theron
said calmly. I looked at him with a puzzled expression. “Your face
turned pale. I could tell you weren’t supposed to say anything. So
you mean that Lunamae is in love with someone else? I didn’t think
it would be fair to Alexo if she married him and loved
another.”

“Fairness is irrelevant,” I stated and then
explained myself. “It’s for the good of Frys, to keep the peace.
Our clan needs allies, especially since some of the clans have been
violent.”

“Does the girl understand all this?” he asked
me with genuine concern in his voice.

I shook my head, uncertain. I replied to him,
“She knows it for I have told her several times. I think her mind
is all in fantasy-land. Deep down she thinks she can marry whoever
she wants. My father did not but he is happy. My mother is good to
him and I believe they love each other.” Theron decided to let me
ponder for a bit while he navigated the boat around the coast. I
could faintly make out my cousin and aunt with the king and queen
near one of the giant ships.

“That is the Aelos. She is the fastest ship
in the fleet. While we haven’t had any need for battle, we do not
know what lies beyond the great blue expanse. The king and queen
think it is always best to be well prepared for anything so they
had a fleet made,” Theron explained proudly.

“What
is
beyond the great expanse?” I
wondered. Truly, someone must have ventured forth at some point in
time.

“No one knows. Some have tried but they got
lost because they have never returned. Perhaps they did find
something—something better on the other side. It’s hard to plan
rations and such when you don’t know how long you will be at sea,”
Theron said as I listened with interest. I had always considered
Orinda to be our world, never thinking there might be something
more out there waiting to be explored.

“What about the Chalosians? They border the
sea as well,” I asked.

Theron huffed. “They are too big-headed to
share anything with us. We trade merchandise but that is all. That
is why we keep the thermapota to ourselves.”

“Thermapota?” I queried. “What is that?”

“The hot baths in the apartments are heated
by a means we call thermapota. The area underneath the bath is
heated and that heats the water. It’s a truly ingenious design,”
Theron explained. So
that’s
why the water was all nice and
toasty. I assumed it would be a lot faster than carrying in buckets
of hot water as we do in Feyris and a lot less tiresome. Speaking
of hot, I was feeling warm. I hadn’t really noticed it before. I
touched my skin and it was hot.

“I feel hot,” I said simply. Theron looked
sick to his stomach.

“I forgot,” he told me.

“Forgot what?” I inquired, wanting to lay
down on a stone floor in the middle of a cold Feyrisian night.

Theron gulped slowly. “I was supposed to give
you a salve to protect you from our solis. It is more powerful than
you are used to and I think you are now burnt,” he clarified.

“My skin is burnt? How bad? Will I be okay?”
I hammered. I did not like this feeling. It felt uncomfortable.

“It’s only your exposed skin, which is I am
afraid, a bit more than you would be used to since you are wearing
Fanarion robes. We have a plant called grevaro that will help.”

“Lovely,” I said sarcastically.

“Let me take you back. While we head back to
the city, go down below decks so the solis doesn’t touch you. You
will start to notice it more I’m afraid,” the servant Theron said.
I couldn’t be too mad at him because the look on his face was both
of sorrow and horror. I couldn’t imagine what would happen to him
when he returned to the palace taking me with him in my state. I
sat quietly in the depths of the boat as Theron maneuvered it back.
When I felt the boat stop I got up. My skin hurt from the
solislight hitting it.

“Won’t my aunt and Lunamae have solis issues
with their skin?” I wondered.

“No. The servants brought the salve as well
as an instrument we call a thurasol or ‘shield for the solis’ which
is effective as well. Luckily the sail was shading you a little so
it’s not quite as bad as it could have been,” Theron said. I
realized how strong his arms were as he helped me out of the boat,
tan muscles rippling and glistening under the warmth of the solis.
After we got back on firm soil, he gave me back the sandals.
Unfortunately they rubbed against my feet which were burnt as
well.

“I’m so terribly sorry,” he said earnestly.
“I wanted to be with you so much that I forgot.”

“What makes me so special?” I inquired. “I’m
old. I’m practically a spinster. Why would anyone want to be with
me?”

“You are beautiful. You look intelligent. You
are nice. You aren’t even mad at me. Some women would be yelling at
the top of their lungs,” Theron said. I had never considered myself
to be beautiful. We don’t have mirrors in our house but there is
one in the keep that I look into periodically. My nose was too
round on the edges, my face too wide and my skin was blotchy. I
didn’t like the way my hair parted and my lips were thin. I didn’t
see anything that could be considered beautiful other than my
eyes.