She loved how the butter melted in her mouth, its taste and texture unlike anything she’d ever had before. This breakfast was a completely new experience, and she’d heard that people in Cascade often enjoyed meals like this.
It wasn’t fair that they were so lucky.
Seda took another bite of her food, and Lucja smiled brightly at her. Her peachy cheeks lit up her happy face.
Now that Seda could see the room fully illuminated by the filtered daylight, she examined the space more closely. Her eyes fixed on a painting of what seemed to be young twin boys hanging crookedly on the wall.
Lucja saw her staring at it and said solemnly, “That’s father and his brother.”
Seda studied the painting. Something so oddly familiar about the young boys stood out to her, but she couldn’t place it.
“Is his brother here?” Seda asked her.
“No. My uncle left our world a long time ago. My dad doesn’t mention him anymore,” Lucja replied. “Oh! I almost forgot, we might have some clothes that would fit you, but they might not be the right size. I noticed you didn’t bring any other clothes when you arrived, and you’re wearing that worn-out dress.” Lucja looked at her dirty garment. “Sorry if that was too blunt, but a lady should have clothing without holes. We once had a Vatte who was five feet two inches tall. How tall are you?”
“Five-six,” she answered as she looked down at her gross gown.
“Well, we can try. If not, I can magically adjust it to fit depending on the material. No harm in trying. Let me find those, and then you can try them on. Please find me when you come out of here. I’ll likely be near the coffee pot, recovering from the mead myself.”
Lucja left the room and closed the door behind her.
Slowly, Seda finished her plate of food, scraping up every last bit of blackberry jam with her fingers and licking them clean.
She stood up, set the plate aside, and reached into her other pocket, the one without the cloth, for the chewable datun to clean her teeth. She picked up her plate again and walked out of the house to find where to place her dirty dish, locate her friends, change the cloth in her underwear, and find Lucja for the clothing.
She spat out the datun as she approached a small woman washing dishes in the stream with her magic. The woman graciously accepted the plate and placed it into the cool, flowing water. She gave Seda a slight nod and asked how she slept. They exchanged polite small talk, and when Seda asked, the woman offered her a bar of soap for her hands.
Seda left the area feeling welcomed and accepted by the community.She strolled along the stream until it hit the edge of town, thenslipped behind a tree to switch out the cloth in her underwear. Afterward, she washed the dirty ones in the water, pocketed them again, and washed her hands.
She looked around and saw Elco asleep with Orion leaning up against a small home. She walked over to him, and he lifted his head at her.
“There you are, my moon-flutter.” His eyes sparkled at her sleepily.
“I see you’ve made another friend.” She nodded toward Orion, who was using Elco’s long, silky mane as a blanket.
“I really like this one. Orion reminds me of the innocence of my kin’s younglings.” Elco looked down at Orion, and a quiet purr came from his throat. “I saw you went to bed last night with Kalon following. How was that?”
Seda’s cheeks turned red at the insinuation. “Nothing big happened, Elco,” she lied. “He’sjustmy friend.”
“Just your friend, the same as Cahir is?” he asked.
Seda looked down at her hands and nervously shifted her feet. She felt foolish. Cahir, or rather, Ael, would have been upset with Seda for allowing or even seeing another man enter her sleeping area and for kissing him. She also thought about how she had fallen asleep wishing it were him there last night, not Kalon.
“No, not like Cahir,” she admitted.
“What is Cahir to you?” he pushed.
“Honestly, I’m not sure. Cahir was my best friend for years, and he was the only one I had for a long time. He was also my very first friend. He always treated me with kindness and respect. But now I’m confused, Elco. He betrayed my trust by lying to me, but I still miss him so much.” Her voice hitched. “And I don’t know what to do.”
She rubbed her eyes, attempting to prevent the tears from falling.
Elco hummed thoughtfully. “We must get you to Umbrea so you two can communicate. And in the worst-case scenario, at least youcould have closure. I would suggest not rushing into anything else until you know how your heart feels after.”
He looked at her with gentleness in his red-glowing eyes. She sat beside him and Orion and snuggled into his mane as well. His purr vibrated against her body.
“I’m really fond of it here. I’ll stick with you through this, Seda. I’m yours, and I’ll do my best to make sure you have everything you need. But I do wish we could stay,” he said to her as he looked down at Orion.
She turned and hugged him, saying into his silky fur, “You deserve all the happiness.”
