Wayfarer (Wanderlust 2)

Chapter Fifteen

When their new clothes arrived, they were relaxing on the couches with towels wrapped around their waists. Tanden was rubbing some of the lovely scented oil into Soren's shoulders and back, as Soren had just done for him. The servant who came in was a younger woman, not the seamstress. Her cheeked reddened when she saw what was going on, and she tried to stammer out an apology.

Tanden waved it away. "No need to apologize," he told her, getting to his feet. He wiped his hands on his towel, and walked over to look at the clothing she was holding. She still seemed embarrassed, as she lay the clothing out on the little table. After a moment Soren joined them. The pants and tunic looked nice, but Tanden was more interested in the scarf, with its tree branch design. He picked his up. "These are perfect," he told the young woman.

"I'll pass your compliments on, sir. Do you need assistance dressing?"

"No, we can manage. Thank you."

She nodded. "I'll wait outside, to show you the way to the dining hall." She nodded again, more of bow that time, and ducked out of the room.

Soren immediately began to change, but Tanden hesitated. He wasn't sure what to do with his hair. In the tub, he had undone the many Morcean braids he usually wore his hair in, and now it hung loose around his shoulders. He ran a hand through it thoughtfully.

"I can do it."

Soren had just pulled his new tunic over his head. It looked nice, Tanden thought, before really thinking about what Soren had said. "Do what?"

"Your hair. You want it braided again, don't you?"

"Oh. I don't know," Tanden admitted. "It's Morcean. Maybe I should try to look more Teltan, if we're acting as pseudo-ambassadors."

"Then just tie it back the way it is," Soren suggested, with a shrug, as he picked up the woven belt that had been made for him. "You'll still look good, even with a change."

"Appealing to my vanity?"

"It works," Soren pointed out, with a smile.

Tanden couldn't argue with that. He went to the tub to get one of his discarded hair ties, and pulled his hair back into a simply ponytail. It was boring, but it was a very proper Teltish way to wear long hair. Soren was already completely dressed by the time Tanden tossed his towel away and stepped into his new pants. As he was changing, Soren investigated the little pouch that had arrived with their clothes.

He pulled out four wooden loops, that Tanden quickly recognized. "Oh, bracelets." He finished adjusting his scarf, and took two of the loops from Soren. They were a tight fit, but he managed to slide them over his left hand, so they dangled around his wrist.

Soren struggled to do the same. "Are they supposed to be this tight?"

"I think we just have big hands, mate," Tanden chuckled. "But now we look the part, don't we? Let's go to dinner."

The dining hall, as Tanden had expected, was round. Long curved tables ran around the outside of the room, leaving a large space in the middle for entertainment. The floor was made of hard, shiny wood, except for a circle in the middle made of stone. The table across the circle from the doors was elevated.

The room was already fairly busy, except for the empty elevated table. The servant led them around the outside of the ring of tables. It seemed like walking through the middle was frowned upon, because no one was doing it. Tanden was expecting to sit near the Governor, but it was a surprise when the servant led them up the stairs, and gestured at the three seats at the end of the elevated table.

"We're supposed to sit up here?" he clarified.

She nodded. "You're honored guests." As she spoke, another servant arrived, leading a woman.