It was also getting quite a bit colder as they rose. She was sure Gastropé was glad to be wearing his jacket, but his silk pants could not have provided much warmth for his legs. She shook her head at the young man; he put his fashion sense ahead of common sense clothing. Worrying about clothes and one’s appearance was not something she normally associated with men, but doing stupid, impractical things was, so she figured it balanced out.
The lift suddenly lurched to a stop, sending Jenn slamming into the metal caging. “Ouch!” Jenn muttered to herself as her nose got squashed on the metal wiring exactly at the wrong spot. There were a bunch of shuffling noises, and Trevin was talking to someone outside the lift.
“We are here!” Trevin called out more loudly, apparently having turned to face into the lift. “Hethfar will place a ramp with railings between the lift and the deck for us to safely get out; however, I suggest you take his or one of his men’s hands to help you out rather than using the railing. “They are very strong,” she added, suddenly much closer to Jenn. She then bent her head to Jenn’s ear, eyes closed, and advised her softly, “And really gorgeous, my dear. I recommend fainting and letting one of them catch you in his brawny arms so you can get up close to his chiseled bare chest. Their scent is intoxicating.” Trevin opened her eyes again. “They use scent to attract their partners, but it works on other races as well.”
Jenn simply nodded in agreement; she really had no desire to engage in girl talk with someone old enough to be her grandmother’s grandmother. However, she felt she should be polite. Trevin turned and began ushering the others out. Elrose went first, followed by Maelen, who was peering over the edge of the small bridge and clutching his staff a bit tighter than usual.
Gastropé went next, looking especially pale, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his neck. As he reached the midpoint he somehow managed to trip — on what, Jenn couldn’t imagine — but he managed to fall into one of the guard’s arms. Jenn could not see the guards that well in the dark. The torches were all behind them. About all she could see was that they were indeed bare chested, but wearing what appeared to be very large capes.
Trevin turned to Jenn with an arched eyebrow. “Interesting! I did not even suggest that to him, I thought it would make him too uncomfortable. However, it turns out I was wrong. Your young friend is far more adventurous than I thought. This is quite the pleasant surprise.”
Jenn blinked, trying to understand what Trevin meant. Was that a purring noise that the enchantress was making? She shook her head, suddenly realizing what Trevin meant. “No, no, it’s nothing like that, he’s just being Gastropé. I’m sure that was an honest trip, not a ruse to get closer.”
Trevin smiled and patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry, dear. If he does prefer the same, or even both sexes, no one in the Grove will care. Quite the opposite, in fact! If he does like both men and women, he can have twice or even thrice the fun!”
Jenn had no idea what she meant by thrice the fun, and she was also certain she did not want to know.
Trevin continued, “A very large percentage of our patron deities are extremely interested in fertility, virility, lust, free love, you name it. Every form of mating, productive or not, is celebrated in the Grove!” She raised both eyebrows at Jenn, as if letting her in on a delightful secret.
Jenn grinned a bit stiffly, trying to be polite and mask her own reaction. Trevin had said there were a lot of satyrs and nymphs in the Grove, and Trevin’s words just now brought back childhood warnings about satyrs and nymphs.
“Your turn, dear!” Trevin told her, waking her from her thoughts. Trevin grinned as if they shared a secret and leaned in conspiratorially. “I can see I’ve caught your imagination. You are going to really love the Grove!” She patted Jenn on her shoulder and practically shoved her towards the bridge. Jenn was so caught off guard that she stumbled onto the bridge a bit off balance, and before she knew it, she was tripping on whatever had tripped Gastropé, landing in the arms of the guard at the other end of the bridge.
The guard’s strong arms caught her and pulled her up close, and immediately Jenn noticed the scent. Trevin had not been lying; the man’s scent was intoxicating. She could not describe it. She was lost for a few seconds and suddenly realized that her right hand was resting on — no, cupping the man’s extremely large, bare pectoral muscle. Jenn pulled back slightly in shock, still held tightly by the guard’s right arm. She stared up into the guard’s face.
The man’s large golden eyes suddenly caught her. So entranced was she that she barely noticed the mischievous grin on his face. She only noticed the extremely chiseled jaw with perhaps a day’s worth of stubble. The stubble extended to most of his head, and Jenn blinked to realize that the man’s head had been shaven on both sides, leaving a single stripe of long hair running down the center, almost like a horse’s mane. The hair was black at the base, tapering up to a brilliant gold at the tips. It was breathtaking, Jenn realized.
If she thought his face took her breath, that was before her eyes drifted beyond his face. What she had thought was a dark cloak was not a cloak at all, but large, black, feathered wings rising up from his back. They were slightly unfurled to assist in his balance. The wings were lined with a gorgeous shiny black down on top, along with deep black coverts, while the lower primary and secondary pinions changed to the same gold as his hair.
The guard was an aetós or aetón or... she really did not know the word. “aetós...” Jenn managed to whisper in surprise. She had heard of the legendary beings, but had never seen one, nor expected to.
The guard smiled broadly and then chuckled, apparently familiar with the reaction he was having on her. “Aetóên,” he corrected gently. “I am an Aetóên in the common tongue. aetós is equivalent to humans; Aetóên corresponds to the singular human. But in particular, I am named Danfaêr.” He effortlessly lifted her and her heavy pack and spun them around from the ledge and onto the large landing pad at the top of the mountain. He released her gently, ensuring she was stable, and then turned back to where Trevin had apparently fainted into Hethfar’s arms, as planned.
“Whoo.” Gastropé let his breath out, shaking his head. “I guess that bridge really is treacherous if three of us tripped and fell.”
“You tripped, I was shoved, and she planned her faint so she could cuddle,” Jenn said while internally scolding herself over her reaction to Danfaêr.
“What are you talking about?” Gastropé asked, looking at her as if she were crazy.
“Never mind; it’s just ridiculous.” Jenn shook her head.
Gastropé frowned for a minute and then his eyes widened. “Oh, I see why she would do that.” He stopped and thought for a moment. “I have to admit, Treyfoêr smelled really good. If I was into guys...”
“Please!” Jenn said, wanting him to shut up.
“We’re ready to load up!” Maelen called over to them. He gestured for them to join him, so Jenn and Gastropé headed over to where the seer was standing near a wagon. Actually, Jenn realized, it was a rather odd wagon; it had large iron wheels that were sitting on parallel iron rails. The wagon had sides about four feet high.
Maelen pointed at his own pack in the wagon. “We put our gear here and then ride in the next cart.” He gestured to a platform on wheels closer to the mountain. The platform had several wooden bench seats with backs and end panels, sort of like Jenn had seen in churches. There were metal bars running along the backs of the benches so that people in the following bench could hold on.