Page 41 of Ryld's Shadows
It had been quite a while since Hank had been near an adult goblin. He was immediately struck by a stab of homesickness.
Ryld held on to his arm even after they got into the car, and Hank had to wonder if it was for comfort or possessiveness. If it was the latter, he didn’t exhibit any further hostility, engrossed with looking out the window at the scenery. They hadn’t gotten far when Ryld said, “It’s very,verygreen here.”
“It is.” Kai took his sunglasses from his shirt pocket and put them on as they drove under the leaf cover, the sun spearing through in fits and starts. “Elvenhomes were set up mostly as homes for the aelfe, since there are far more of them here. This is their sort of domain. Little brother, would you allow me to redo your braid?”
Ryld touched his hair, probably noticing for the first time it was in disarray. “Yes.”
“Turn for me, please.” Kai undid the tie, and his elegant, dexterous fingers soon had the braid out. From his messenger bag, he produced a fancy-looking, two-sided brush and began smoothing Ryld’s hair with practiced ease. “The kolle have a village up in the hills nearby and the vasse a small settlement beside the river within shouting distance of the aelfe tree homes. The drow, I’m given to understand, have claimed a farther corner of the preserve where they could expand an existing cave system.” His fingers flew as he redid the braid, something he’d obviously done thousands of times with his own hair. “It appears to function in a more amicable way than the first Elvenhome, where everyone was simply crammed together in the same village.”
“What if a drow wanted to live with the kolle, or the aelfe? Would they be allowed?”
“I’m not at all certain it’s come up.” Kai tied the end of the braid off in a neat bow. “Crossovers tend to want familiar things. Their own people, even if other crossovers aren’t truly their own. It would be up to the matriarchs to decide whether it would be allowed.” Kai put his brush away and turned forward again. “I think in your case, since the Lady of the aelfe understands your circumstances, that she would allow you to live with the aelfe if you ever wished to. The kolle tend to be more wary and probably would not accept someone unlike themselves, though the kolle in my world lived closely with the drow. And the vasse are strange. I don’t know them well enough to guess.”
“The goblinkind can live where they want?”
“They seem to live mainly with the drow and the aelfe, but I’m sure they are permitted to make their homes as they wish.”
Hank filed Ryld’s questions away for later. Maybe they were just curiosity or maybe Ryld was thinking about…options. Maybe it would be less stressful out here for him, in all the green, but it seemed to Hank that Ryld had adapted amazingly well to city life. It would be sort of a shame to take him away from what he’d built.
The crunch of gravel replaced the sound of asphalt beneath their tires as the road ended in a curved drive of hard-packed white stone. The drive turned in a semi-circle around a clearing with a garage on one side. Hank counted seven doors, so there were several of these fancy cars or perhaps other vehicles.
“This is as far as I can take you, Mr. Hiltas.” The driver turned in his seat as he parked beside a path that led into the trees. “No motorized vehicles are actually allowed inside Elvenhome.”
“Ah.” By the lift of his eyebrows, this was news to Kai. “How…selective. Computers, but no cars.”
“Her ladyship is picky, yeah. Cars are loud, and they smell bad. I’ve tried to suggest electric cars, but she says they still stink.” He opened their doors, talking as he got the luggage out. “You take that path there, Mr. Hiltas. About three hundred yards on, you’ll come to another clearing. There’ll be a light carriage waiting for you to take you the rest of the way. Her ladyship didn’t think you’d be dressed for riding. Her residence is about four miles in.”
Kai thanked him, and as the driver hurried off to put his car in the garage, Hank realized he’d never given his name.Odd thing for a goblin to do. The walk through the trees put it out of his mind, though. Birds called and rustled above them. A little snake wove through the grass at one side. A curious squirrel came down the trunk of one of the huge evergreens to scold them for interrupting her day.
Truly idyllic. Peaceful. Not quite like home, where the trees would’ve been smaller and the undergrowth mostly blackberries and rambling wild roses, but enough to let him draw a deep breath, something loosening inside that he hadn’t realized was tense.
True to the driver’s word, a pretty carriage waited for them, all carved wood, even the leaf springs underneath, decorated in leaves and bursts of flowery fancy. The aelfe in the driver’s seat gave them a nod but didn’t speak as Hank heaved the luggage up for his smaller companions and made sure they were able to clamber up before he took a seat as well.
The horses were snow white, a matched pair, stamping and impatient to be off. They surged forward at a trot down a wide path of mixed mulch and wood chips, sending up the scent of pine with each step.
Kai didn’t react to the aelfe’s silence, so Hank guessed that this was either normal or it would be rude to question. He sat back with an arm around Ryld and enjoyed the scenery. The woods became dense, nearly evening dark, before the trees thinned again a few miles farther on. The horses whickered and quickened their pace, probably anticipating being home soon with harnesses off.
Sure enough, the forest opened up into a clearing far larger than the one where the cars were kept. An entire village could’ve gathered here for a bonfire and not endangered the forest. At the far end, platforms were just visible in the trees, some covered, some open to the sky, and beneath these, a house sat on an elevated wood foundation. Maybe house wasn’t the right word. Though it appeared to be wood as well, the building looked more like a fairytale palace with towers and rounded domes and elevated walkways.
Residence? Someone thinks she’s a princess.More like a mansion.
Ryld was the first of them to speak. “This took a lot of resources to build.”
“I bet it did.” Hank leaned around him to address Kai. “Any idea how long it took?”
“I could only venture a guess.” Kai gestured toward the residence. “Something like this would most likely have required artisan mages. Lady Jessamine is lucky to have them.”
The carriage came to a stop some distance from the main structure, just far enough to have them walk through a short natural corridor made by the overhead canopy of trees. Ryld took hold of his bag when Hank got it down for him, and Kai took his. Out of habit, Hank took in his surroundings, both above and around them. Although they were well hidden by aelfe standards, Hank picked out at least two archers up in the trees. They weren’t pointing arrows at them, thankfully, but they were watching closely. For all the beauty around them, it struck Hank as awfully quiet.
There were no curious kids gawking, or even any adults sitting outside enjoying the day as they started the walk up to thepalace. Yeah, mansion wasn’t fancy enough.
They got no more than a few steps when Ryld said, “The trees have many eyes.”
“They do,” Kai murmured. “Aelfe do like their sentries. Try not to mention that you’ve seen them, though. They believe themselves hidden.”
Ryld nodded. “If goblins live among them, I wonder why they haven’t taught them how to hide better? None are better at staying unseen if they don’t want your eyes on them.”
“Hush now. Aelfe are proud and would not take well to others teaching them. It’s amazing we get any through the police academy at all.”
