Chapter 21: Navigating the deadly waters of the Sisters

I reluctantly let go of her hand as she glanced at the door to see who interrupted us. I figured that it was the kids and turned to meet them, Gail was there with the two of them in tow.

"Meri, would you take my bags to my room, it is the one on the second level in the northeast corner. Then attend Miss Lori and go where she sends you. You too, Orlanth. After you get settled, I want you to do your exercises, and then you both have the rest of the evening to yourselves. Get some rest and I shall see you in the morning."

Miss Lori had Gail take the kids and get them settled, while she showed me my room and the washroom, which was at the end of the hall. She showed me where the attached commode was, and let me know that dinner would be ready in a quarter candle.

Shit, how long was a candle again? Oh yeah, ten candles per day, so a quarter candle is a little over a half an hour.

She left me to clean up for dinner. I stripped, washed, shaved, and changed into my last set of clean clothes that Kassandra gifted me when I accepted her. I was down to my last razor, and worried that I would have to learn to shave with a straight razor. I also dreaded using the straight lye soap that the locals used instead of the sliver of travel-sized soap that I had in my overnight bag. I certainly was not going to stop shaving; maybe I could hire a body servant or something.

That didn't feel right. No, no body servant for me.

As for my clothes, I knew that I was going to stand out like a sore thumb. But there was no way in hell that I was not going to wear her gift. This was what Kassandra wanted me to wear, so I would do so until she let me know otherwise. I would have to find someone to make me a couple of more outfits though, three was just not enough.

Dinner was a quiet affair, it was just Lady Megan and myself, and she did not invite conversation, she sat across and over from me. I tried to not overtly examine the silver two tined fork with matching knife. Since the food was already cut into bite sized morsels I really did not see a purpose for the knife. Lady Megan did use hers to cut the fruit into even smaller sections. She ate precisely, with a practiced elegance. I could not help but think that everything that she did was beautiful. Even her surreptitious glances at me were graceful. I had to admit to myself that I was smitten before I even knew her.

I did catch her looking puzzled in my direction when she thought that I wasn't looking in her direction. After the fresh peaches in cream dessert I stood, thanked Miss Lori, and took my leave. Just as I reached the threshold to the sitting room, I repeated my request to use the yard for my exercises. I was looking at Lady Megan when I said this, which she noted with a slight nod. Miss Lori promised that I would be undisturbed.

I walked around the place just enjoying the relaxing evening. I entered the stable and checked on the horses. They all looked shiny and calm, they seemed to be well fed and were resting. I did check on Juniper before I left them for the evening. I was startled to see Gail sitting in the corner reading a small book. She was staring at me so I nodded and left.

Behind the inn was a garden with a circular path in the center.

Perfect.

I kneeled, then worked on focusing myself and waited until I found my center. When I achieved peace, I offered thanks for our safe arrival to Kassandra. When she gave me her warm embrace, I sighed and started my forms. Knowing that I would have an audience tonight, I tried be as fluid as I could. I was trying to get her attention, and figured that this was a good way to start.

I started on the harder forms, one in particular that was meant to counter a stream of opponents. I haven't been doing these as much as I should have, since I was more worried about making a mistake one-on-one. I felt a presence observing me and let it go, knowing that it was a non-combatant. I felt a mistake in the second set, so after I finished it, I repeated it five more times correctly before I moved on. I worked for hours just flowing from form to form. Because of Kassandra's gift of enhanced strength, stamina and grace, my skill had improved dramatically.

Goddess this feels wonderful. Thank you, Bright Lady.

I could feel her joy at my dedication of the dance to her. It was two and a half hours, or a candle, before I took a break. I took deep breaths and worked my stressed muscles down to just a dull ache. By then I had forgotten that anyone was watching, and was startled that Lady Megan was still sitting on a rocker reading her book by the light of a lantern that was hanging from a pole behind her.

Meri must have been there earlier, for she left me a mug of water and two towels, one damp and one dry. I drank sparingly and used the towels to wipe off the sweat. I gathered the towels to put on a bench for someone to clean up later.

It was another beautiful evening, the temperature was around 65F with a slight southerly breeze.

"It's a beautiful night, wouldn't you agree?"

I got the feeling that she missed little. I couldn't see more than an outline of her face since the light was behind her, but I just knew that she wasn't pleased about something. I hoped that she couldn't read me as well as I seemed to be able to read her.

Ha, I bet that she can read me like a book.

"You are very skilled, my Lord."

"Thank you, Lady Megan. It has been a long few days, so I shall take my leave. Good night and sleep well." I gave her a formal bow and left. She just watched me go without a word.

I wish I knew what she is thinking!

I wasn't all that tired, but I wanted to give her something to ponder, and my staying to talk didn't feel right. I refilled my water on the way to bed; hopefully it wouldn't be a long night of me thinking about her.

It was.

When I awoke to a stupid cardinal greeting the false dawn loudly; I had only had a few hours of sleep.

Bah.

I got up anyway, and went out for my morning exercises before anyone else in the household started moving, or so I thought. This morning was dedicated to just stretches and a light workout. My sword was resting on the bench to the side of the circle.

I was trying to figure out what to do with Orlanth; I would have to talk to the guild on his behalf. That could be dangerous and costly. I needed more information. Then there were the various temples; eventually I was going to cause an uproar among them. No one seemed to know how they were going to react when they found out about me. Surprisingly, I wasn't that worried about the followers of Kassandra; they would be the easiest to earn a stay of execution from. I was also going to have to quietly find a way to contact Seneschal Oberon and get an audience with the king. My best bet was still to go to Kassandra's Temple in the city, and work my way through them.

Thinking of temples, there were also the various Gods and Goddesses. I needed to learn about them and soon. I'm seriously considering dropping Meri off at the temple and having them see to her training, but I do need another set of hands, and Orlanth doesn't seem to be collected enough. I haven't talked to him to get enough information from him to trust him. So I need to add him to my list.

It looked like Miss Lori was about to summon me for the morning meal. I had been exercising in just my pants, so I wasn't ready for the slight blush that I caused. It did feel good though. I told her that I would be along shortly and went to wash up. On the way in I passed Gail, and asked her to let Meri know that she was going with me after I ate, we would need the horses. Orlanth was to stay here.

Miss Lori was wearing what I now considered her uniform, and Lady Megan was wearing another impeccable dress. Breakfast was a heavier meal, even though neither of the ladies ate much. I took my time and tried to watch my manners, but still ate more than my share. I asked for directions to the Temple of Kassandra, which Miss Lori cheerfully provided. She followed up with a question of her own. She wanted to know if I was a soldier, which piqued Lady Megan's interest enough for her to look in my direction with curiosity.

"No ma'am. I'm not. I'm just a poor traveler that has benefited from Kassandra's blessings."

Lady Megan barely restrained a snort of disbelief, while Miss Lori merely nodded with a polite acceptance.