Kelven's Riddle Book Two by Hylton Daniel & Daniel Hylton

Author:Hylton, Daniel & Daniel Hylton [Hylton, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2011-09-22T16:00:00+00:00

Eighteen

They spent the next day wandering the streets, fulfilling Aram’s promise to show her his city. Aram was as astonished as Ka’en at the unearthly beauty of some of the mansions that lined the avenues. He’d never really viewed the city as a place to live, but rather as a fortress to defend; consequently, he had never taken the time to admire its many lovely interior structures, concentrating instead on its exterior defenses.

Many of the buildings were, in fact, damaged, apparently during the course of the ancient struggle between Manon and Aram’s ancestors. But all in all, the damage was fairly slight, due both to the fact that the city was carved from the sturdy rock of the mountain, and also because the city was abandoned early on, for strategic reasons. Once the humans had gone, lashers and gray men had no further interest.

There was one mansion in particular on the second level, situated in a broad space on the right side of the avenue with an overgrown garden in an interior courtyard, and an unobstructed view from its veranda and many windows of the city below and the valley beyond. The walls of this mansion were carved with ornate patterns in the stonework that lined its many arches, doorways and columns. The columns that held up the arches and ceilings were carved with a motif of an encircling leafy vine, laden with bunches of small, round fruits, with which Aram was unfamiliar.

Ka’en, however, recognized them at once. “Grapes.”

“Grapes?” He frowned at her and she laughed, glad to be his teacher.

“Wine is made from them.” She said. She wandered out into the overgrown garden and went to the wall, where she looked out over the valley. Turning around, she studied the house and its weedy courtyard with a critical but approving eye. Then she met his gaze with a smile.

“This is my house.” She said.

He looked slowly around and nodded. Though he’d never noticed it before, it was one of the finest dwellings in the city. “I’ll get to work as soon as possible – make it livable.”

“No.” She came over to him and laid her cool fingers upon his arm. “It can wait for now. But when – when we can live here in peace, this will be our house.”

“You have a good eye, my love.” He answered. “This is a fine house. I had never really looked at it before.”

She laughed, and it was a delightful sound to his ears, full of joy, free of anxiety, happy. “I can believe it, my darling. Findaen is right – you are a splendid barbarian, but a barbarian nonetheless.”

He watched her laugh at him and smiled at the sight of it. “Well, I’m sure you will remedy that soon enough.”

Her laughter trailed off, though her smile remained, and she shook her head. “Oh, no, my love; I will never seek to change anything about you. I love you as you are.” She looked around, her eyes shining. “And I love this place.

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