Dragon (S)Layers Ch. 32

Volume 4: Dereliction of Duty

Chapter VIII: What Can't be Seen

Tessarie and Keiter followed behind the blind woman closer than strictly necessary as she lead them through the tight coils of the village, worming their way out through a path only visible behind Leslie's closed eyes. Her stick tapped left and right rhythmically and once when she nearly tripped over a rock, Keiter was there to help by placing himself in the arc of one of her swings to ensure she stepped over the obstacle.

Somehow that little gesture made him all the more endearing. Tess recognized what he was doing even if their companion didn't; he was intentionally keeping her from feeling helpless within her capacity and like a good friend, he was stepping in the way. Tess had been wrong about him many times over, but this just put a fine point to it all.

By the time they got to a small one single level house, Keiter had stopped rubbing his side where the stick had hit him and Leslie's stride had changed a little bit- more comfortable in familiar surroundings, she strolled kind of like Sarah did. When she opened the door into the dark home, she looked back, probably expecting Tess to say something. Instead she smiled. It took her a moment to remember Leslie's condition.

"Um, sorry. What can I do for you?"

Leslie shook her head, "just making sure you're still there Copper Tongue."

Keiter clucked his tongue a couple of times. It was something between a chuckle and a sigh on his lips. "She is a beautiful person, just a little awkward! Not her fault, she's been through much. . . .but maybe she finds similar company?"

"Very clever, but I'm not taking the bait." Leslie said lightly as she wandered deeper into the gloom, tapping her stick against odd bits of furniture and pieces of broken pottery- a vase of some kind- with a pile of fine ash splayed out around it. In the middle of the room was a large carpet and a couch that looked as though itd been worn through with age, but a pile of scrap cloth sitting beside it was woven into fine multicolored thatch in the shape of a large sack. It wasn't finished, but it was apparent that it was meant to be a slip for the couch.

"Huh," Tess touched the fabric with a little smile. "This is really nice, your couch is so colorful!" The moment those words left her mouth she felt ashamed. How could she have been so stupid! The woman wouldn't even be able to see the fruits of her labor!

"Thanks." Leslie said absently as she started an oil lamp burning, her movements deft and practiced. In the warm glow of the wick the rest of the room took on a slightly festive glow- rows of preserved flowers lined tiny shelves on the walls and dozens of outfits in various stages of completion occupied long stretches of the front wall. They were practical but very eye catching, experiments in color and understatement seemed to reflect the person who'd made them. One in particular caught Tess's attention.

It was about her size with an embroidered blouse made of deceptively heavy material that opened up the further it went down, slit right down the center at waist level, it held braided strands of something she could have sworn was cotton tied around the waist to keep the whole thing together. Tiny draw strings on the sides would have allowed the rest of it to be rolled up to the side to keep it short, but it was obviously meant to be worn long. Tess found herself staring. Who'd have thunk of such a thing? Why a human at that? Hadn't the council always said they were inefficient and rather dim?

"That enough light?"

"More than enough," Keiter said lightly. He touched Tess's knee and jerked his head to the side to indicate where their host had gone to sit. "Thank you."

"Oh, yes!" Tess blushed. "Sorry, thank you for that. Um, may I say you have beautiful taste in dresses?"

Leslie chuckled wryly as she sunk into the couch a bit and set her stick to the side. Her gaze briefly lingered in the direction of the broken vase but after a moment she looked back to the two and smiled. "I used to be a seamstress, figured once upon a time that I'd make it selling cloth to the caravan monkeys. Have you seen- you've seen the stuff they wear, right?"

"Uh- Yes!"

"Come on, Copper Tongue, I invite you into my home for your own good and you're gonna lie to me?" She tisked. There was no anger in her voice, but Tess still felt vaguely ashamed, she had that quality in her voice that made her seem like a mother figure. It was rather comforting, actually. "You two aren't exactly locals, now are you?"

"No," Tess admitted with downcast eyes.

"So? Go on!" The woman patted the cushion next to her. "We've got time to kill- your friend will wait for you at the Inn, why not give me a story." Even as Keiter crawled up on the couch, she continued on, "Consider it the price for my hospitality."

Slowly Tess worked up the courage to take a spot next to her, easing back into the heavy cushion. The seat cushions had a strange feeling about them- a body impression, probably Leslie's. Tess looked around for a bed but realized there wasn't one- the entire home consisted of the main room and simple fireplace and kitchen. How did people live like this? At least the floor was wooden.

Tess fidgeted a bit.

Leslie turned to face the young elf, brows raised and expectant.

It was Keiter who rescued them all from her awkwardness: "My friend's story would take many years to tell, I think. She has seen many things and even among her own kind, she can be expressive when the spirit moves her to do so! Perhaps something more short?"

The woman chuckled, "All right, hit me."

Keiter looked at her oddly.

"Well?"

"I. . . .no? I am awed by your beauty and poise, how could I possibly hit-"

"Oh, come on, boy-o. You know that's not what I meant-" She paused, looking between her guests. "Unless you did?"

"Did it make you smile?"

"Does it look like I'm smiling?" She lofted a brow.

"Better question: does it feel like you are? Very important, even if they're usually the same."

Leslie turned her attention to Tess, smirking. "How do you put up with him?"

"In doses."

That earned a hearty laugh. "I bet! Okay, so humor me; lay it on me; tell me a tale, minstrel."

The little kobold paused for a moment to gather himself before he tucked his feet up under him as if to sit cross legged. When he spoke, his voice was calm and flowing but carried a slight hint of loss to it. It was rather jarring how deep his inflections could reach, a soulful tone tumbled from his lips even though he still looked alien to Tess. "I believe you would call my friend something of a curse disguised as a blessing. Hiding behind kind eyes and flowered words, very intelligent, but also vindictive and angry with the world."

"Not sure I like this, but go on." Leslie frowned as she listened, shifting her weight to regard him.

"She loved- still does, I think. She had a family once and lost them to a great injustice. One she won't speak of even to me, but she still carries the scars. Like a blanket, yes?"

"Why-"

"I think you and she are alike. If not in blood, in soul."

The blind woman let the silence linger. "That's a hell of an opener, boy-o. . . .what do you do next, pull an elf out of your hat?"

"No! I keep her in a trunk!" He winked at Tess.

Tess picked up on the humor and his intent pretty quickly. "Hey!" She rolled with it. "That was one time, and you promised never again!"

Leslie chuckled warily. "Lot of people suffer, what makes her special?"

"What makes any of us special? The soul, I think. She could give up on the world, she could be angry and hateful with everything, but instead she spreads smiles when she can. She doesn't let people suffer if it can be helped, you see?" He paused a beat. "Sounds familiar, doesn't it?"

"Cute, but you forgot the part where she was angry with the world. Vindictive, right? She has an axe to grind with the world?"

"Maybe just one creature in it." He cast a glance at the ashes "But she also knows that life goes on and it must be lived- enjoyed! No matter how hard it is and how hard it might be to continue. She took me in when she could have killed me and been justified. Not even I would fault her for that. . ."

"So, a little charity to hide a multitude of sins."

Tess furrowed her brow, frowning slightly. "No, see- We're talking about Sarah, right?" Keiter nodded. "She's crazy, but she's also full of heart. She rescued me from-. . . well, from slavery, I guess. She's probably working for my brother, but she's a very good person. Like you, I think. Someone who invites strangers into their home."

"It's true!" Keiter piped up. "In a world where there are more reasons to fear others than unite with them, the two of you break that circle. Maybe because you feel. . . .left out of it. You change lives without realizing it."

Leslie went quiet, staring at her two guests with closed eyes. The flickering light danced over her pleasantly rounded features highlighting suspicion and doubt, aging her just slightly in that instant. Keiter leaned forward, easing his way into her spacial awareness by way of Tess's lap, when it was clear she wasn't going to say anything, he continued.

"It is the suffering we don't address in our own lives that poisons us from within. We don't see the good we do, we don't celebrate the wonders we create, we stop looking for reasons to smile, only to cry when we think no one is looking."

"That's a lot of 'we' you've got going on there."

"Thinking minds are only separated by the flesh they wear-"

"Or scales," Tess said.

"My point is that she continues to suffer because she refuses to accept it, pretending it doesn't exist. She runs even when the end of the road has been worn under her boots, like ashes not cleaned up. . . .yes?"

Leslie drew in a breath. "You ever think to turn that observation on yourself? Because while I can't see you, I'm vaguely sure I know you're no better than I am. For one thing, you smell like blood and I'm pretty sure that's mold on your robes."

"You'd be right."

Tess stiffened a bit.

"So what makes you think I want to hear your judgment on how I live?"

"Nothing! Which is why it's not a judgment. An observation, Sarah is fond of those and allegories- I'm not so good with those, maybe? Like watching a one legged man dancing in a three legged ball."

"W- What?" Tess blinked.

"Okay, point made. What do you know about three legged balls, anyway?" Leslie chuckled. "See, here's the thing- those ashes belonged to someone who became something he wasn't. . . .I didn't break it, but I'm not cleaning it up because I can't let go. Be easier to have gotten rid of the damn thing in the first place."

Keiter casually laid himself out across Tess's lap, his little elbows on the cushion as he propped his head up in his hands. At first she was going to toss him off her but then she caught his appreciative smile and noticed Leslie seemed a little more interested in the exchange. She slumped back, resigning herself to her fate in some small way.

"I can't decide," Their host added. "If I should be charmed or creeped out by this."

"I'm leaning towards creeped out." Tess said quickly.

Keiter clucked his tongue. "I'm not saying these things to upset you, I know you deserve better. At the temple, I have seen many people suffer for all things- disease, poison, sickness. But the ones that break the heart the most are those who's pains aren't visible. Those who hide from their lives or think they deserve-"

"Do you think for a second I think I deserve this? I was making good money, I enjoyed what I did-" She stopped when he touched her knee. "Level with me, what're you getting at?"

"I think there is a song in your heart waiting to get out. It wants to, even if you don't hear it yet."

The woman scoffed.

"You hold on to your anger, you've nothing to do here but sit and it drives you further down into anger. Why should that be the case when you have such gifts as a smile to give and be given to you? Why should it not be that your clothing is worn by people who would bow to spend a moment in your presence?"

Leslie pinched the bridge of her nose, leaning back into the cushions all the more. It dawned on Tess as the woman started to open her mouth that this was probably the most engagement Leslie had had in a long time and the first thing that they'd done was question her way of living. That wasn't even remotely fair or right. The poor woman!

Still, for her quiet anger, Leslie was evidently made of sterner stuff than Tess gave her credit for. She looked to Keiter and gave him an empty smile, her voice more irritated than angry. "It's been a long time since someone was on their knees for me, and even then it wasn't terribly interesting. As for why they should? I never said they should! I don't need fame, I don't care about making people happy. And I don't need some. . ."

"Kobold." Keiter supplied. "Telling you what you already know."

"Hmph."

"But it feels good, doesn't it?"

"You're high," she shot back. "Ever think that some people don't want to be helped?"

Tess gnawed her lower lip, wondering if she should say something. The woman had already suffered so much, how come she needed to be put through this crap by strangers in her own home? "Maybe we should leave-"

"No, I want to hear this. Come on, boy-o. Sell me on it. What makes you think-"

"Money can't buy happiness-" Keiter piped up. "But wouldn't you like to find out for yourself?"

Another scoff. "So what, you think my happiness is tied to how many coin are in my purse?"

To Tess's surprise, he poked her side. "I told you I am terrible at analogies. Isira tells me to bring joy where I can, She consoles me when I question myself and hate the thought of going on. A human might not have these doubts and fears, but I think they do. No one believes in you, no one hears your quiet crying.

"Or maybe you stand at a cross road wondering which way is right or wrong. You need a compass, a map, and the stomach to make a decision. It's hard! It hurts! It's not pleasant! But no journey worth taking is made alone, yes?"

Leslie went quiet. For so long that Tess started to feign interest in the dress designs to avoid the awkwardness. She wasn't going to be able to help anything with this, no matter how much she might've wanted to, humans were such strange creatures- even more so than she was.

"So," the woman said quietly, "You think I need to do what, pray for a-"

"You know what I mean."

"Mmm. . ."

"Life is a choice, it takes a decision to live it and one to avoid it. But the world is made poorer for missing your smile, I think."

"And what about you two, then?"

"What about us?" They both said at once.

"Oh, come on, you two're secret lovers aren't-"

Tess blanched. "No!"

Keiter was much more calm. "She is, like you, maybe a bit far above me, I think? I have yet to earn her trust, and my friend has taken favor to her. I think she might be happier that way."

"So, in other words, you're too shy to try and seduce her."

"He's a kobold." Tess said flatly. "Uh, no- no offense. Besides, Isira 'favored' him enough I think!"

"You know about that?" Keiter turned to look up at the elf, a look of genuine surprise on his reptilian features.

"Sarah told me."

"She did. . ."

"Well, it's surprising?"

"Someone mind letting me in on the joke? Feeling kind of left out here." Leslie adjusted her dress so she could sit with her feet under her.

"I was blessed by a visit from Isira, I learned many things-" he glanced at Tess, trying to convey some impossible to comprehend meaning. "A great many things not even Sarah taught me about. Her visit was special, something I never expected."

"Well, she took you as one of her faithful, didn't she? Why-"

"Because she 'blessed' him, like two people in a bedroom do." Tess interjected. "Or three. . . .um, he's being silly."

"I. . . .wait. Really? You slept with-"

Keiter rolled off the couch with his shoulders hunched inward, he paced a few steps one way and the other, tail swishing behind him with every step. Finally he turned to look at the two women with his muzzle turned slightly downward so he was looking up at them. Was he embarrassed? "She accepts me for who and what I am, She is choosy with those who represent Her, like you! Very proud and beautiful, making decisions every moment!"

"One of them just happened to be knocking boots with-"

"You speak of pleasure as something lost in your life. Simple joys lost like ash in the wind, perhaps we were meant to meet to help one another." Keiter plodded up to her and laid his hands down on the couch so she was aware of his presence. Strange how quick he'd adapted to it. "Has She shown you, too? You have seen something in your life that made you smile, yes?"

"Right now all I see it someone sitting on my floor making not a damn lick of sense. Slow it down, boy-o; what're you trying to say?"

Keiter turned his muzzle down and to the side as if in thought. "Maybe not seen, but felt. You have lost so much in your life, but deep inside your spirit wants to be free. It knows you deserve more, so it pushes you to keep reaching out! For help, to connect! To remember what it was like-"

"All right, I've heard enough."

"He- He's not wrong." Tess leaned towards the woman, swallowing hard. "You're worth everything you want in life, but maybe you feel like you aren't? That's frustrating, I. . . I know it is. I hate it when I look at myself in a mirror- I miss who I was and I live in a scary place. I can't go back home, I can't ask for help from any of them." Tess licked her lips. "Sarah helped me."

"She helped me, too." Keiter reached for Leslie's hand. The woman didn't pull away. "You are stronger than you realize, or you would not be upset. This isn't a life you want or deserve, but it doesn't mean you can't live it." He glanced up at Tess, she imagined to ask for support.

"Yeah." Tess smiled absently. "You have friends."

Leslie fixed her attention to a point between her guests, somehow regarding both of them. She took a deep breath and sighed it through her nose. "Friends that'll be gone when morning comes."

"We're only gone when you stop thinking of us," Tess said lightly. "Friends are forever."

The older woman chuckled. "That's the cheesiest thing I've heard all night." Even as she said it her cheeks warmed a few degrees, a blush that quickly spread over her features. She glanced away, dampened her lips. "So, uh 'friends', what would you suggest then?"

The two looked at one another and for a brief instant Tess caught a flicker of something curious in Keiter's eyes; a challenge, maybe? Before she could puzzle it out, he exposed his teeth in an awkward smile and said, "I would suggest consider opening your heart to Isira. To dig out your passions, to see the world through new eyes.

"Given what you know, who you are, what you want and what you hold in your heart. You know you can have anything you wished! For tonight, let's laugh at our pain. . . .accept it and sing in joy. The future awaits us, moment by moment. We can have better, we deserve better-" he clasped his little hands around hers. "Just for tonight, let's remember what it was like to be happy."

The room went quiet but for the clopping of hooves outside, an all encompassing sound that was deafening to Tess's oversensitive ears. Leslie's expression had gone a little slack and, for the first time since meeting her, she saw something different in the older human. A tear rolled down the woman's cheek as she looked away.