Laughter rang out all around. Vrell’s pounding heart slowed, and when she no longer felt the slobbering mouth on her hair, she peeked out. The dog had found its master and was jumping up against Lord Dromos’s legs.
Lord Dromos gave a hearty chuckle. “Missed me did you, Cheyva?”
Vrell loved animals, but this one was no pet. If saddled, it could be ridden by a grown man. A man who didn’t mind drool. She caught Khai’s smirking stare. “What?”
“Scared you, did he? He’s just a little doggie.”
“Little?”
The giant lord walked across the stone bridge and entered the manor. Vrell paused on the bridge and stared into the water, where thousands of smooth pebbles sparkled in the sun.
She caught her disheveled reflection in the glassy surface and cringed. How horrible she looked! If Mother could see her now, she would faint from shock. It had not helped that the beast-dog had drooled all over her head. His stench added to her own, and she longed to be clean. But she doubted a stray would be offered the hospitality of a bath.
“Boy!” Khai snapped.
She stepped though the massive doors and the temperature dropped. She followed Khai through a spacious greystone foyer and stopped at a half wall that wrapped around the perimeter of a vast atrium. The sun lit up a colorful courtyard below. From Vrell’s viewpoint, she could see all five levels of the manor and each staircase that connected them. She stood three levels up from the garden, but the levels were much taller than those from any manor house Vrell had seen. Lord Dromos, Jax, and Khai had already descended to the second floor. Vrell ran to catch up.
Lord Dromos led them down a cool stone hallway and turned into a warm sitting room. A fireplace crackled on the outer wall. A kinsman woman and two girls sat on a stone bench by an arched window. The human females looked terribly small in Vrell’s eyes. She had heard that giants did not keep slaves. Perhaps they were servants.
“Papa!” A girl, smaller than Vrell, with black ringlet curls, jumped up from the bench and ran toward Lord Dromos. He scooped her into his arms, twirled her once, and kissed her cheek. “Are you staying for dinner?” the girl asked.
“Yes. And I’ve brought guests. Xylene, this is Jax mi Katt and Khai Mageia of the New Kingsguard, escorting young Vrell to Mahaniam to apprentice.”
Xylene beamed, her sweet round face filled with joy. “Welcome, welcome to you all!”
The woman and an older girl made their way across the room. The girl’s thick brows furrowed at Vrell, whose cheeks burned knowing how wretched she looked, even for a boy.
Yet the girl thought, He’s filthy, but it’s cute how he blushes.
Vrell fought back a smile.
The woman, big boned and tall for a human, looked down on Vrell. “Oh, you poor thing! Did Cheyva get you? If you see him coming again, say atsar.”
“Atsar?”
“He’ll stop, won’t he?” The woman looked to Lord Dromos.
Lord Dromos nodded. “Yes, of course. This is Lady Kiska, my wife. And my daughters, Zoea and Xylene.
Vrell studied the women again. It had never occurred to her that kinsmen could marry giants. Lady Kiska was tall and big boned. She had light brown hair that hung in four long braids to her thighs. She wore a gown of green wool embroidered with leaves.
Her girls wore their dark hair in the same manner, but neither seemed to have inherited their mother’s height. Both were shorter than Vrell. Little Xylene had rosy round cheeks and a dimpled smile. Zoea was as slender as a blade of grass and could not yet fill out the womanly gown she was wearing. It was way too long for her. It crumpled around her feet as if it belonged to her mother and she were playing dress-up.
“I’m sure you would all like to wash before dinner,” Lady Kiska said. “Ez will take you to the steams, won’t you, Ez?”
A wispy poplar of a man appeared from the shadowed corner of the room. “This way.”
Vrell followed the Kingsguard knights, who followed Ez. She had never heard of steams. Most gatehouses had a bathhouse for the guards. Were steams like a bathhouse? Either way, she could not risk being ushered in with the men. Not knowing what to do or say, Vrell followed the men to the lowest underground level. Ez drifted down another cool stone hallway until he came to a thick green tapestry hanging across an entrance. He held it aside, and a cloud of steam puffed out.
“I thank you,” Jax said, ducking to go inside. Khai entered without a word.
Vrell stopped and asked, “Might you have a privy?”
Ez nodded and trailed further down the hall. He held aside another green tapestry. “In the far corner.”
“Thank you.” Vrell slipped under the stiff curtain and tied it closed. She stood in a small, stone antechamber. A deep wash basin sat empty on one wall. Pegs protruded from the opposite wall in a straight line. Another green curtain separated the privy from the antechamber. She slipped inside, blinking at the extra large privy hole, and surveyed her only option — a small basin of water meant to rinse one’s hands after using the privy. It would have to do.
Ez led the knights and Vrell to the great hall for dinner. The ceiling was at least four kinsmen levels high. Fat candles burned in brass fixtures that hung from the ceiling, casting shadowed light over the room. Wall sconces held more thick candles. A long stone table stretched across the far end of the room. Lord Dromos and Lady Kiska sat at the center of it. Three tables lined each of the side walls, but they were mostly empty. A few giants sat at the lowest tables, those farthest from the high table.
Ez seated Jax and Khai to Lord Dromos’s right. He seated Vrell to Lady Kiska’s left — a shocking, and completely unheard of, honor for a stray. Zoea sat on the other side of Vrell, batting her eyes. Xylene sat next to Zoea.
Zoea had changed into a dress that fit her slim body. Maybe she truly had been playing dress-up earlier. She touched Vrell’s shoulder and gazed into her eyes. “In what will you apprentice at Mahanaim?”
Vrell knew she at least looked clean now, but the idea of looking handsome to this kinsman-giant girl turned her stomach. Plus she had a headache. She worded her answer carefully. “I do not know the specifics yet.”
A line of serving giant girls entered the room carrying various things. One set a stone platter before Lord Dromos. Another servant set one before Zoea. It was covered in a pile of dark meat that smelled like venison. Another tray was heaped with steamed vegetables. Zoea waited for a servant to set down a stack of flat stone disks. She lifted one and began to pile food on it as if it were a trencher.
A stone trencher. How interesting.
Vrell filled a round trencher with food and thanked Arman for her meal. She took a bite of the venison, which was salty and very rich. Zoea watched her every move. Vrell had learned from Ez that Zoea was thirteen and Xylene, seven. That fact brought little comfort when Zoea scooted down the stone bench, inch by inch, until her arm brushed against Vrell’s. Vrell did not even want to try and read the girl’s thoughts.
Lady Kiska turned to Vrell. “Yulessa, my eldest, is married now. She just birthed darling twins, she did. They weren’t too big, so they’re likely not true giants. One of each, named Dunfast and Paisley. Aren’t those nice names? Yulessa’s husband is human. Royalty, he is. Not in line for the throne, but kingly blood is in his veins as much as Prince Gidon himself.”
“What is his name?” Vrell asked.
“Donediff Hadar. He’s Prince Oren’s son.”