Page 18 of Of Withering Dreams
“Dinner will be served in this hall in a couple of hours. Although your astral forms don’t require it, you may eat and drink if you so wish. If you have questions, please direct them to the Draumrs. Dismissed!” Melina clapped her hands together once and spun, her gown twirling around her legs. The other Elders departed abruptly behind her, disappearing through a door at the back of the platform.
The crowd stood together in a stupor before a wave of bewildered murmurs spilled across the hall.
“Fecking raven shite on a twig,” Breena rasped.
“So many words. So little information,” Kaden groused.
“What? Are your ears stuffed with wool? She just told us we’re spirits stumbling around willy-nilly.” My voice squeaked as I poked him in the arm, his biceps a stone wall.
“This doesn’t make any sense. I don't feel any different,” Letti grumbled, running her hands over her arms, her eyes dazed.
“I mean, ember and Elders … We’re not meant to understand how it all works. Keep the masses ignorant. Wiggle your fingers over here. Shoot off some ember over there—we’ll stay in line. Am I right?” Kaden’s wry chuckle slipped off his last word.
Gavrel made his way through the dispersing crowd, ushering us out. His harsh whisper was low. “Not here. Be careful what you say and who you say it around.”
Kaden rolled his eyes and breathed in. He swallowed his retort, noticing the interested glare of a male Akridai shuffling closer to us, pewter cape slithering along the dark floor behind him, his neck glowing. The Akridai toyed with a long strand of his dark hair, licking his lips as he slunk closer. Kaden snapped his mouth shut, retreating down the hall with the rest of us.
10
PINCH ME
That night, we shared a meal and honey wine with anyone who braved returning. Wooden tables and benches stretched across the Great Hall. Lively stories were shared, both strangers and acquaintances conversing about their lives. It was odd to think we didn’t need to eat or drink. Still, my stomach was grumbling angrily by the time we dove into massive piles of savory meats and colorful vegetables scattered across the tables.
“Is that you growling …andhumming?” Breena smiled, looking at my belly and stuffing a piece of flaky bread between her teeth.
I laughed. “Yes, my astral body didn’t get the notice. I’m starving.” I savored a tender bite of meat, the flavors bursting on my tongue. This was the most delicious food I’d ever tasted. The overabundance of it all weighed on me, a heavy guilt bending my shoulders inward.
“She always hums when she eats.” Kaden’s lopsided smile found mine.
“That’s what they tell me.” I chewed happily, my shoulders bouncing. “I rarely notice I’m doing it. What can I say? I love eating.”
Breena said, “I can’t fault you for that. I don’t mind a ‘lil entertainment when I’m stuffing my face. That tune, it’s a bit gloomy, innit?”
I shrugged, swallowing a lump of bread. “It’s a song Mama sang to us as children.”
“Huh,” Letti uttered distractedly, shrugging her shoulders and nibbling a carrot. “I don’t feel hungry or thirsty, but I guess it’s something to do.”
An amused smile spread across my mouth. Letti was not usually inattentive, but she wasn’t currently engaged in the group’s conversation. Her focus drifted off as the vegetable between her teeth snapped. She peeked at the guards eating at the end of our table. Xeni was among them, her golden-brown eyes finding Letti occasionally, one side of her mouth tipping up.
“It is peculiar, isn’t it?” a brawny man sitting next to Breena added. A thoughtful expression lined his bold, rectangular face; his skin was a rich umber. His hand boasted a silver rune tattoo like Gavrel’s—in the shape of several decagons layered within each other, shrinking smaller and smaller until there was a single dot in the center. Each one was rotated a bit, so the points did not align. This gave the illusion they were spinning on his skin, leading into a craggy tunnel.
His Draumr uniform hugged his burly chest, which shook slightly when he chuckled. Breena had introduced him earlier as Rhaegar Hale, a friend of hers from home. Coincidentally, he was also Gavrel’s second-in-command. He tipped his head in humble confirmation when she boasted this. And then promptly rolled his eyes when she imitated his formal, Eastern Pneumalian way of speaking.
He was friendly enough—quick to smile, with a playful glint in his eyes. His accent melodically stretched his vowels, at odds with the gravelly baritone of his voice. “I, for one, find it entirely vulgar. One of the greatest pleasures in this life is sharing a meal with kin.” He raised his cup, acknowledged everyone at the table, and took a sip.
“Agreed. I’m not hungry either, but I won’t pass up food and libations. Let’s not forget the libations!” Kaden exclaimed as he set his empty goblet on the table.
Chatter and boisterous laughter filled the hall, which felt out of place somehow. Had everyone forgotten we were wandering around our scripture’s most sacred realm … in ethereal forms?
We were feasting on food we didn’t need, laughing in what had once been the dwelling of an Ancient—Morpheus’ home. He was one of the most celebrated and feared Ancients. Any divine being who could infiltrate the strange and clandestine corners of one’s mind was to be revered.
My mouth twisted in curiosity. “Where do you think Morpheus went?”
“Who knows? Wherever the other Ancients ran off to,” Kaden mumbled, slurping from his replenished goblet.
I rolled my eyes.
I planned on exploring the palace in the coming months. Perhaps there was a written archive that could shed light on our history or that of the Ancients.
