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Chapter 525: Cafe and...?
Chapter 525: Cafe and...?
Tala wasn’t really sure how long she’d slept, and she didn’t really care.
Rane had drifted off to sleep at some point while she was curled against him, and she found herself simply regarding him with her threefold sight as he slumbered beside her.
Even in sleep, his neutral expression had a slight curl to the lips, as if he were contemplating something pleasant within his own mind.
His muscles were relaxed, but still showed their strength, and the care he took to be strong enough for what they faced together.
He was her husband.
The thought made a warmth bloom in her chest, and she purposely dampened the aura coming from herself, allowing his to wash over her, finding deeper comfort and contentment within it.
It was odd, in that moment she was under his authority, but she could easily have thrown it off. Even if he’d been awake to contest her, he’d have been hard pressed to keep her from reasserting her own aura.
Though, even the idea made her chuckle slightly. He would never do such a thing. He had no desire to assert his authority over her, nor to hold her down.
Maybe that was why the feeling of being surrounded by his aura, power, and authority was so comforting? She was there completely of her own will, and she trusted him completely.
As she lay there, focusing on the feeling of his authority and aura cradling her, suffusing her, she felt the resonance within her soul, seeming to originate from where they were soulbound.
Her soul was practically drinking in the sensation of being more connected to that with which she was bound.
Her soul was sending power, sending strength through the bond, and some of that was coming back as a deepening—or strengthening—of aura and authority over and around her.
She was influencing his aura.
She frowned at that.
It was his aura, but it was hers in part, too.
She didn’t understand it, but she thought that she might be seeing a hint of what Mistress Cae and Master Kalfeir had been getting at. She had been able to flicker into his aura back in the Lunar Hunt, after all.
With a sigh, she willed herself to be standing beside the bed, and she was, having slipped away from Rane without disturbing him in the least.
He’s as bad as I am. He needs the sleep when he can get it.
-Don’t you think he should be the one to decide that?-
Tala shrugged. It’s not like I can wake him up to ask him.
-...True, I suppose.-
Without delay, Tala cleaned herself up a bit, straightened her hair from the disarray that sleep had wrought, and willed herself to be out of the Sanctum.
She came to the superficial on top of Astraya, though not where she’d been when she moved into the sanctum the day before.
Overhead, the last of the stars were fading—even from her highly enhanced vision—and morning’s light was cresting to the east, even as they headed south.
The gentle sway of the town was somehow reassuring, and she realized with a start that she’d unconsciously accounted for it, and even utilized it in the fight of the day before.
In the stillness—with very few people out and about—she took the time to really look and listen.
The town’s movement caused an almost constant tremor to be moving through the trees, their leaves rustling both in the breeze and because of that shaking.
It was a soothing sound, coating and suppressing any other noises like a warm blanket.
The trees themselves seemed long adapted to the motion, as minimal as it was, and if anything, they seemed healthier than many other trees that she’d seen, stronger in a way that was hard to quantify.
I suppose deadwood simply falls away naturally, and with greater ease? Plus, the constant low level stress likely makes them tougher...
It was an interesting result that she might not have expected if she’d been asked beforehand.
Regardless, she took the time to just be in the nature that surrounded her.
Into the silence, she realized that she wanted Terry with her.
She opened a small portal, to right beside where Terry was currently... what was he doing?
-He is practicing flickering into unnatural positions, such as into a perch upside down on a branch.-
I... see...
“Terry? Want to come out for a bit?”
There was a momentary pause, then Terry flickered into being on the ground before her, laying on his side in an almost human posture.
It was clearly uncomfortable for him, as made even more evident when he flickered into a more standard, perched position on Tala’s shoulder. “What was that?”
Terry gave a long series of chirps and squawks ending in a trill of finality.
“Well, then, I guess that makes sense.”
She sighed, closing her eyes and taking extra enjoyment from Terry’s weight on her shoulder, his own authority radiating in tandem with her own.
As my own... the aura and authority coming off of him is mine.
They contained nothing special. Generally speaking, inside, life was being lived. Craftsmen were crafting, farmers were farming, and families seemed to be going about their days.
It was... idyllic, honestly.
This little town out in the wilds—moving about and providing a genuinely peaceful life for those who wanted it—was a paradise from most points of view.
Moving fast enough not to be a sitting target, but not quickly enough to be seen as something to chase.
-Yeah, they are moving even slower than caravans, which is likely one reason they have better results.-
Well, yeah, they get attacked less overall, but from what I gather when they are attacked it’s by more powerful creatures.
-Which is why they have such powerful people in ultimate command.-
Yeah.
-That’s also why caravans move at the pace they do. It’s a balance between drawing attention and staying around long enough to be investigated at the level of attention you do draw.-
Tala finally reached the textured granite floor of the lowest open level and made her way into the cafe.
It was bustling with customers running through to grab a bite to eat or a quick cup of coffee or hot water for tea—either new herb mixtures or reusing what the customer already had—which all lent the space a bit of a frenetic air.
The walls were the standard mix of wood, metal, and stone that she’d come to expect within Astraya proper, and while they were cleaned and seemed well-kept, they were decidedly worn from what was likely centuries of people passing through.
Funnily enough the stone under the feet of all the people was actually worn into discernable grooves at several points—and not just to Tala’s enhanced vision.
The granite floor had an obvious delineation where people stood in line to order, as well as near the door where people came and went.
Behind the counter was all worn down, lower than on Tala’s side of things from centuries of workers running back and forth.
I suppose that a stone Mage or arcane would need to repair and relevel it every so often?
-If so, it’s been a long time since they’ve done it.-
Tala moved her focus back out to the main space, where the stone was level. Huh, they might just not want the expense? It looks like someone with that ability has come through recently enough.
-I suppose so.-
Regardless, they weren’t in the cafe to look at stone wear patterns. Blessedly, there were a lot of people, even if it wasn’t too overcrowded. Perfect. No one should notice then.
-Get ready, I’ll let you know when no one is looking our way.-
Alright.
-Ready and... wait, that guy just turned... and... argh... This might take a minute...-
Here, I’ll walk over toward this corner. I’m short enough that the crowd should hide me if—
-Now!-
Tala didn’t hesitate, flexing her will, aura, and authority, and with her bloodstars and Kit as anchors, she rotated herself stoneward in an odd skewing of dimensionality that practically seemed to pull at her, reminding her of stepping into a new room of Lisa’s house.
That was appropriate, because as she stepped forward—vanishing from the superficial cafe—her foot came down on a thick, elegant rug, the melodic, reverberating cords of a harp suddenly filling her ears.
The room around her was utterly different from the cafe in which she had just stood. It was low for her. Her head nearly touched the beams that crossed the ceiling—even if her threefold sight showed that they were mainly there for aesthetic purposes. It was a dark, cozy space, seemingly meticulously created with care and exceptional craftsmanship.
Old growth, tight-grained hardwoods were sealed and polished until they were practically mirrors from the proper angle, causing it to seem much brighter than it otherwise might have.
The illumination for the whole room came from a series of glowing crystals set into the walls at regular intervals around the large, circular space. There were also a few of the crystals set into elegantly wrought stands.
With her threefold sight, she could see that the light emitting crystals were carved into the shape of dancing fairies, even though the light coming from within them made them appear like nothing so much as little balls of light to mundane sight.
The floor was sunken in several places, creating individual, segregated spaces for groups to be in seeming isolation—the magics woven around them made that more of a reality than Tala guessed would otherwise have been the case.
Those sunken areas contained a mixture of furniture, some holding elegant couches while others had tables with comfortable looking chairs arranged around them, all sized for the occupants only just becoming aware of her presence.
The sound of rustling cloth was the first indication that she’d been noticed, as seven fox-kin turned to look her way—only slightly staggered in the action—eyes widening.
The white-furred one behind the counter arranged off to one side had the most controlled reaction, almost immediately moving around to come toward Tala. Her sleek, well-groomed hands were clasped before her, in a professional manner, but Tala could see the muscles and ligaments straining within the clasped limbs.
The harpist actually gasped, stopping her playing, while the five who seemed to be customers broke off their various conversations—they were in a group of two at a table and one of three arranged on couches—to stare in open astonishment at the human who was so suddenly in their midst.
Tala gave a shallow bow. “I hope that I am not intruding, but could I get a cup of coffee? I feel that it’s going to be a long day.”
-Oh, Lisa just sent us a message.-
What does it say?
-’Have fun with my kin. Try not to offend them. They aren’t as used to humans as I am.’-
...Fair, but how much can he see from his home in Kit?
-Apparently more than we realized...-
Indeed...