Esra (23 page)

       Good afternoon Esra!

       I slept late myself.  I’m meeting with some of the other Keepers for a quick discussion about our journey and what Maeve has told us.  If ye go around to the front of the main hall where ye saw Cane, there is another large dwelling to the left of it.  In there is the Dining Hall.  Come get something to eat when ye feel ready.

       Nadia

       Her growling stomach guided her towards the door without any further thought.  Jogging down the porch stairs and over the lush Grass, she was once again taken aback by how vivid The Gardens were.  She noticed the tangles of ivy whose vines enveloped a good portion of the dwellings, easing their shape into the green backdrop of Plants.  Sprinkled between the dwellings were beautiful stone fountains that towered over Esra’s head, displaying Skycatchers, Birds, and many other Animals perched in threatening or regal positions.  To her left was a towering carving of what she guessed was a Shendari, a subdued smile resting beneath the three small slits resembling a nose on their strange, flat face.  Everything seemed to take on a renewed beauty in the bright light of day.

       Esra thought then about her meeting with her mother and tried to determine her feelings about the situation.  She always needed to make a concerted effort to sort through her emotions, as they were often confusing and convoluted.  She could grasp intellectual concepts with ease, but judging her true mood was more difficult.  Feeling the looseness in her shoulders and the absence of a knot in the back of her stomach was encouraging.  Sorting through her mind was more difficult than reading the signs of stress in her body, but she knew the two were inextricably connected, so it was a good sign that she felt a release of physical stress.  Esra tried to look into the depths of her being, organizing her feelings like she would a drawer full of mismatched goods.  There didn’t appear to be any lingering deep resentment, but there was still a loose fog of apprehension hanging over her thoughts.  She decided that it was a good first meeting overall, but that only time would tell if they would be able to have a true relationship.  Her adaptability to change would help alleviate the transition but there was no guarantee.  She would just have to wait and see.

In her musings, Esra barely noticed when she passed the place where Nadia said the Dining Hall was and had to double back to the large curved entryway.  Passing through two grand double doors, she entered into a tall, luxurious foyer.  To the right was a room that appeared to be a library, and on the left the foyer opened up into the Dining Hall.  All the woodwork and various stone statues had elaborate carvings of every imaginable picture and symbol.  Everywhere she looked, it was like an artist had imbued their craft over every inch of the room.  The beautifully polished marble floors had varying colors of green, white, and grey, and shone like the surface of Water.  Centered between the two rooms was a large stone fireplace in a deep green shade with curling grey accents.  Looking up, she noticed that the underside of the Shendari scales which made up the roof looked just like the inside of an Oyster shell.  The colors reflected in the Sun made the ceiling look as if there was a sky full of shimmering gemstones.  The amount of time and skill it must have taken to make such things made her head spin. 

        Esra turned towards the now empty Dining Room, which contained five rows, each of which was five tables long. 
They weren’t kidding about liking the number five,
she thought.  The tables and chairs were made out of a wood so dark it was almost black.  Esra had never seen such craftsmanship.  No two chairs carried the same design, but yet they all seemed to complement each other.  It was as if they were telling a story, from the beginning of time, for all of the races.  Through their struggles and triumphs, until the creation of the Stronghold and the unity of the Kingdom.  She noticed that the floors in here were almost exclusively light grey and purple, which brought out the color of the tables expertly.  Once again, the light that reflected off of the high ceiling cast a mesmerizing glow over everything. 

       “Don’t worry, Es, I saved ye some.” A head popped out of one of the doors at the far back of the hall.

       “Fynn!” She walked over to greet her friend, who was setting out a small feast for her at the end of one of the tables.  “Thank goodness, I’m starved.”

       “I thought ye might be,” he said, handing her a spoon.  “Unfortunately we were all out of Brengard stew so I had te use Meshok.  Gives new meaning te ‘Wolfing’ something down, doesn’t it?”

       Fynn sat down in a chair across from her as Meshok ironically trotted in from the foyer.

       “Oh no! My secret ingredient has escaped!” Fynn feigned distress as the Wolf yawned at him, circling the floor.  Esra shook her head and laughed as she started in on the first dish, which seemed to be some type of broiled Fish.  It tasted strange and light, almost as if the texture was but a figment of the imagination that dissolved upon hitting your tongue.  It seemed to Esra that all her meals with her Assembly thus far had tasted as such.  The Vegetables were hearty and full, but the meat was always lighter, almost like a dream.  The flavor was real enough and fulfilling, but the weight of it was evasive.

       “This is the false meat Nadia was talking about.  She said that Keepers did not eat Animals, but rather were able to replicate meat by magick.”

       “Aye, it is a strange thing, I know.  But once ye become more familiar with our Laws, ye will understand why we do so.  It’s a difficult piece of magick, one that took a Keeper decades to figure out.  So how are ye finding yer new quarters?”

       “They’re great,” Esra admitted sincerely.  “Everything here is so unimaginably beautiful.  And I’m glad to be rooming with Nadia, even though I’m sure everyone here is very nice.”

       “Then I must say I’m quite jealous,” Fynn sighed, “because
I
have been attempting te be Nadia’s roommate fer more than a few Moons.  She keeps refusing me, the stubborn beauty.  Good thing I like te spy on people.  And now that yer there, there’s twice the loveliness te violate with mine eyes.  Ye don’t mind, do ye? ”

       Esra laughed, choking on the piece of bread she had just bitten off.  “Oh, Fynn.  So what are the plans fer the day?  I hear there is going to be a celebration feast tonight.”

       “Did yer mother come te visit ye, then?  I’ve never seen the woman so untied.  She’s normally the most practical, graceful woman ye’ll ever lay eyes on.  Besides my Nadia, of course.  Now ye can see the similarities tween yer mum and yer grandparents, so orderly and composed.  But Talitha was very nervous te meet ye, she was.”

       “Yes, she came briefly.  And I think it went fairly well.  Or as well as it can go fer meeting someone ye thought was dead fer a couple of decades.”

“True,” Fynn conceded. 

“What are yer parents like?  Do ye have a family?”

“Aye, four sisters,” he smiled.  “And I daresay my father was not a happy man when I left him alone with all them women.”

“Did some Keepers come to get ye?”

“Baelin, actually.  He said that there were three already in his Assembly, including twin Elves, and that the Great Keeper of Destiny had a dream that I was te be the fourth.”

 “What did ye say?  I mean, did ye know that ye were going to be a Keeper?”

“Not in the least.  My family and I lived in the far northeast Kingdom, in a small town near Bynthia.  We were fairly poor, having five grown children and none of us yet married.  The town we lived in was a poor one, so it was not something I was embarrassed about.  My sisters were so scrawny that they were not much good fer working the fields, and my mother was sickly so she needed looking after.  So it was up te my father and me te take care of most of the planting and harvesting.  I have te admit, though, te say that I had an unusually strong affinity fer the fields would be a drastic understatement.  Everything I touched seemed te grow twice its normal size and our crops were never less than overflowing despite long droughts or drowning rain.  Many times it was the only way my family and the other townsfolk survived.  It was normal fer our neighbors te come harvest portions of our crops fer storage.  We didn’t mind, as it was just my father and I and otherwise the food would go te waste if there was no one te gather it.  I had also become the official Herbalist of the town, giving cures fer sickness and relief from pains.

“As I was a Human and did not know much about the Keepers, the appearance of the Tur rash did not disturb me.  It irritated me that I couldn’t cure the itchy mess, but I liked the challenge.  When I began te hear the voices of the plow Horses I was brushing or the neighbor’s dog that I was petting, that was a different story.  I went te the town elder te see if I was indeed going mad, but she could offer me no explanation except te wait and ‘see if I was summoned’.  Of course, that cryptic answer did not sit well with me, especially when a few days later a seven foot tall Baelin appeared at my door.  I remember sitting at my kitchen table, offering him a cup of my delicious brewed tea as he told me about the Stronghold and the Jade Gardens.  I was fascinated, especially at his description of the Plants and Animals that I had never even heard of, let alone had the opportunity te see.  But I knew that I could not leave my family or my town, that if I were gone the crops may not be enough te feed them.  In fact, knowing that I had this skill with the Earth only proved te me how much I was needed there.  So I thanked Baelin and told him that although I would love nothing more than te come with him, I could not. 

“My parents, who had been not-so-secretly listening in the next room, burst in and said that it was nonsense, that they would find a way te make everything work, that I could be of more use elsewhere.  That is one of the things I am always grateful fer, that my family taught me that no matter how little we had, there was love and happiness and we always had what was needed.  We stood there arguing fer a few minutes until Baelin politely interrupted.  He said that there were some spells he could cast te improve their crops and increase the yield of the harvests.  Then he offered them livestock, enough fer three of our towns.  He also said that the Stronghold would be happy te assist in any other way fer my services, and all they need do is ask and it would be taken care of.  ”

“Bumbling Huckfly.  It sounds like he came prepared.”

“Aye,” Fynn laughed.  “When the Great Keeper of Destiny dreams of someone joining their most important Assembly in generations, they want te make sure it really happens.  So we sat and talked a bit more before I accepted his offer, satisfied that my family and townspeople would be taken care of.  Five years later, here I sit with the fifth and final member of our group.”

“Does it always take so long before ye get an Assembly?”

“Sometimes, aye.  An Assembly is not some mismatched group of people thrown together out of chance.  It is an organized, powerful force of the Keepers, made up of sorcerers whose skills best compliment and aide each other in their tasks.  Because it does take so long te find that special group of five, it is common te be assigned te a temporary Assembly fer training and basic tasks.  Ye’ll not need te worry about that, as yer the final piece te our group.  What ye will need te worry about, however, is how te get around here fer yer training.  If yer up fer it, I’d be happy te give ye a show of the place before dinner tonight.”

       “That would be great.”

       “Alright then.  I’ll let ye finish eating, then ye can make yer way back te yer house…do ye remember which one it is?”

       “I think so.”

       “Good.  I’m not sure if Nadia told ye, but each dwelling has its own Plant or Animal marking on the front te help ye find them.  Yers is an Ostrich, which I believe is a very large, fluffy Bird from the northeast with gangly legs and a long neck.  Although I’m not sure why it’s feathered like a Bird when it can’t even fly.  Seems more like an ugly Horse.  Anyway, each dwelling has a carving next te the front door.  Arland and I live in the Elephant house.  So get changed into some pants and meet me on the porch.”

       “Pants?”

       “Well, ye didn’t think the ladies spend their time fightin’ in big bushy skirts, did ye?  Not very practical.  Then again, there may be a strategy in big skirts.  A man could get lost in there, suffocated maybe.  If it was Nadia’s skirt, I’d be one very happy dead man.”

       She reached over and punched him hard on the shoulder.

       “Ow!  Alright, I’m sorry!” He cried, getting up from his seat.  “I’d be happy if it was yer skirt too, Es.”

       She made a fist at him as he took off down the Dining Hall, his maniacal laughter echoing in the empty hall.  She grabbed the last bowl, a mixture of chopped fruits, and shoveled it into her mouth.  Table manners were never her strong point, especially when she hadn’t eaten all day.  Gathering all the dishes, she made a neat pile before leaving the Dining Hall, a feeling of contentedness settling in her stomach.  She was finally going to see the Stronghold.  Get to know the place that held her long lost parents, her recently made friends, and hopefully her new home.

XX

By the time Esra had made it back to her assigned Ostrich house she realized that she didn’t actually own any pants.  Taking a chance, she entered her room and pulled open the heavy wooden dresser.  Sure enough, the drawers where she had not placed anything last night were already filled with varying articles of clothing, including four new pairs of pants.  A lightweight, dark blue cloak with gold vine trim identical to what the other Keepers wore was folded neatly on the chair of her desk.  Underneath it was a similar, heavier cloak, for colder weather.  She quickly threw on the trousers, which fit perfectly, and fastened the lighter cloak around her neck.  Meshok appeared in the doorway, panting heavily.