Loyie was busily unwrapping her bundles, not paying any
mind to Cece's gasps of pain, then sighs of relief from the salve. Cece could
clearly tell that she had only been asleep for a few hours, for there was more
light entering into the little hut than she remembered.
Once finished, Cece stood from the strange rug Loyie made
her stand on once again, and set the small jar down on the floor. She tried
straightening the dress, once again uncomfortable with how strange the fit was.
She tried tugging the top of the dress up for more coverage, but then it
shifted off her hips, causing it to then bubble out and make Cece feel even
more ridiculous.
Sighing in frustration, Cece tugged the dress back down,
trying not to wince at the amount of cleavage she was showing. Patrick would certainly be laughing at me
right now and also be trying to find a way to cover me at the same time!
Finally, Loyie seemed to notice Cece again. She was
holding a long stem of a flower, the head nearly flat, but every petal a
different color. Cece had never seen anything like it before. My imagination really is very interesting in
this dream…
Loyie eyed Cece critically before allowing a small smile
to appear on her thin lips. Now that there was more light in the hut, Cece felt
that Loyie's hair was nearly too bright to look at. It still had the illusion
of glowing like the sun.
"I think we should visit Gheai so she can fit you
with a better dress. She can make one very quickly, but I'm afraid we don't
have much material left. Trading has not been easy, as of late."
Cece shook her head. The thought of having to trade for
anything, rather than just driving to the nearest store and trading money for
things, made Cece wonder at the detail she had come up with in this dream. It
was more in depth than she thought she was capable of.
"I would be happy for anything that fits better than
this dress, at this point!" Cece didn't mean to sound ungrateful- after
all, she had come to the little hut completely naked- but she would still be
glad to have something that fit a little better.
However, Loyie seemed to not notice Cece's clipped tone
as she set the strange flower carefully on its proper shelf. She whispered a
few words and patted the flower's stem as if the flower were a small child
Loyie was trying to reassure.
"I would direct you to the hut yourself, but I'm sure the prince has already spread the fact that there is a stranger in their midst, and one that came from the cursed sea, at that." Loyie spoke levelly, as if it made no difference if the whole camp hated Cece or not. "But I will assure Gheai, at the very least, that you are of no threat that we can forsee for now."
"For now?"
Loyie nodded absently. She looked as if she were a
thousand miles away at that moment. Her eyes then suddenly focused, growing
wider before relaxing again. It all happened so quickly that Cece doubted she
ever really saw a different expression in the first place. "We cannot
always tell what someone is going to do, nor do we as people know what paths we
will choose even a few moments from now. But that is for another time. For now,
we will visit Gheai."
Cece felt a shiver run down her spine. This dream certainly isn't making me feel
very comfortable. What in the world is my mind trying to tell me?
Cece followed Loyie out of the hut. The small woman moved
with the grace of someone used to walking in the woods. Cece, still with her
bare feet, felt every twig and crunch of leaves beneath her. She felt as if she
were waking the dead compared to Loyie's quiet, delicate steps.
Finally they made their way back to the main part of the
camp with their hastily made mud huts. There were more people milling about
now, more men with a multitude of weapons Cece couldn't even begin to put names
to. They each wore dark leather armor with green insignias on their right arms
of a sun with an eagle in flight at the very center of that sun. Cece had no
idea what it meant, but was becoming more and more impressed with the
creativeness of her dream.
There were also some children, Cece noticed, along with
women holding baskets filled with clothing or shriveled vegetables, never
paying any mind to the men with weapons in their hands. Even the children never
glanced twice at the large shining blades that looked too heavy for a man to
hold with one hand. Cece tried hard not to let her jaw drop at the strange
sight.
Slowly the men started noticing Loyie, and each paused to
place their left hand on the signet on their armor and bowed their heads in what seemed
like deep respect. She smiled and nodded at each in turn, sometimes murmuring a
"May the Eagle fly with you in battle", which seemed like words of
encouragement. Each man returned the saying with a simple, "Thank you,
Watcher" before straightening and watching her pass. They treated Loyie as
if she were the most respected Lady or Queen they could ever be near. Their
eyes followed Cece as well, some of them frowning after her, making her feel
extremely uncomfortable. Even their gaze held the danger that seemed to go
along with the weapons they were holding.
Hurrying closer to Loyie, Cece did her best to shrink
herself and go unnoticed. However, with the ill-fitting dress, still red skin
despite the minimal pain she now felt, and bare feet, she knew that she was far
from being successful as even the women paused to stare after the stranger in
their midst.
Finally Loyie slowed in front of a hut that had a large
birch tree, or what Cece thought was birch, as one of its supporting walls. It
looked more hastily put together than some of the other huts, but she supposed
that this strange camp may not always have the most time to put shelters
together.
Without knocking, Loyie entered the hut, Cece right on
her heels. It was smaller than Loyie's simple quarters, with the floor being
tramped down grass rather than the smooth mud floor of Loyie's. It held little
furniture, with only three small wooden stools and a wide table against the far
wall. The room held no cooking stove as Loyie's had, making Cece believe that
only Loyie drank hot tea and ate on her own time. Everyone else probably had to
eat together as a community. How do these
people even live like this?
Loyie glanced back at Cece for the first time and
motioned her to sit on one of the stools. There was a tall, spindly woman
standing at the table with her back to the door, grumbling under her breath.
She was holding a long length of fabric that looked like a wide pair of pants
in her hands.
"Gheai," Loyie said softly, making the brown
haired woman turn quickly, and nearly dropped the pants from surprise, "I
need you to make this young lady a dress that fits her properly."
Gheai's eyes flicked over to Cece with a disapproving
frown. "Loyie, Prince Brama-"
"Is a fool if he thinks we are not going to help
this poor girl," Loyie said sharply, interrupting Gheai.
Gheai pressed her lips together as if holding back a flow
of words. Instead, she merely curtsied and muttered a, "Yes, Watcher. But
I have little fabric or thread left, and this cursed wooden needle keeps
breaking, so it may take me longer to do than usual."
"Make the dress short, if you must, "Loyie said casually. "I believe Cece is used to the style."
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