She turned away and walked toward the tent as I fairly staggered to my horse. Now my hurry to return would be even greater.
As I’d assured her it would be, the trip up the mountain was much faster with Cimmerian than it had been on foot. When we rounded the last bend, the mountain village came into full view, and my mouth literally dropped open.
Not only was it larger than I’d realized, it was stunning.
Like a jewel tucked into a hidden safe, the remote community was a secret paradise. It had been built next to a beautiful waterfall, the source of the stream we’d been depending on for water down in the valley.
Up here, it crashed down into a river, clear and sparkling in the morning sun. The spray from the waterfall was like a million tiny crystals suspended mid-air, and tucked in one corner was the hint of a rainbow.
Suddenly I wished Raewyn was here to see it. She would love this place.
The build of the homes and shops was clearly human, but unlike most other human villages I’d seen, these structures looked perfectly maintained.
Their gardens were lush. The single road through the center of the small town was paved with colorful cobblestones.
As Cimmerian and I rode down the middle of it, villagers on the street stopped and stared. Doors opened, and people stepped out, wearing curious expressions and in some cases, smiles.
Not the usual reaction of human villagers to the arrival of an Elf.
One of the men approached me.
“Welcome to Havendor, friend,” he said. “I’m Bryon. Where do you hail from? We don’t get many visitors—almost none, in fact. And you’re our first Elven guest ever.”
He displayed no fear, no animosity. Perhaps that went along with the not getting many visitors thing.
This place seemed like a world apart, untouched by the ugliness of the Kingdom at large. Were these people even aware there had been a Rebellion?
“Just passing through,” I said noncommittally. “I’m in need of a healer, Bryon. Does your village have an Earthwife?”
Several of the townspeople looked at each other, clearly confused. Had they never heard of Earthwives either?
I had the impression that most, if not all, of the people I saw had been born up here in the mountains and had possibly never left. They were in their own, self-sufficient little bubble.
“I’ve heard of them,” the man who was acting like the community leader told me. “But we have no one here who answers to that title.”
My hopes sank instantly, but then I thought about thewayhe’d said it. It had been almost evasive.
Not wanting to waste any time, I utilized my Sway for the next question. “Do you have a healer of any sort? Some kind of medicine woman or man?”
Without any choice, he answered me honestly. “We do.”
Pointing toward a location farther up the mountain past the village, he said, “Solfrid lives in a cottage just up there. She helps us with all our bumps and bruises and the occasional sniffle.”
Not encouraging. We were dealing with more than a sniffle. But I still held out a bit of hope. Solfrid was a traditional Elven name.
And then Bryon confirmed it. “Solfrid is Elven, like you. Come, I’ll take you to her. You can leave your horse here to be watered if you like. The children will be thrilled to take care of him.”
Already a group of children crowded around Cimmerian, reaching out to pet him, which surprisingly he didn't seem to mind.
Horses did have a good sense of people.
My own senses told me these people had nothing but good intentions. As far as their Elven healer, it remained to be seen.
It was highly unusual for an Elf to be living in a human village, using her glamour to heal them instead of healing other Elves.
And the town leader was secretive about her presence here—when he wasn’t being swayed.
Dismounting, I followed him up the winding road which ended in front of a neat little cottage surrounded by hydrangeas and copious daisies and rose bushes. Its door, which was painted bright blue, opened as we approached it.
