Wraith Walker

Chapter 5

     She had seen centaurs before. They came to the Council on the Continent every year and while they kept mostly to themselves, Tamsin liked the few she'd met. They were kind and quick with their wit, if not a little stuck up a times. But she had never seen one or even heard of one making their home in Tyanth. They stuck to their own kind and own territory in the lower part of Ophnaed, a territory they shared with humans after being grandfathered into the Continent's protection.

     He was tall, she guessed he was nearly seven feet, and suddenly the front of the shop made sense. She nearly laughed. A centaur couldn't use a ladder. He could only clean and paint that which he could reach and with the general prejudice against them, it was unlikely he'd found anyone to hire to do it for him. 

     "Good afternoon," His voice was low and booming, but extremely friendly. He laid warm brown eyes on Tamsin in his direct line of sight, then saw Sasha and Kethan. He beamed. 

      "Ahh, your Highness. How good to see you again." He approached the counter, hooves clicking on the wooden flooring and dropped to his front legs in a bow. Sasha returned his smile.
"Hello, Sotaros. The shop is looking great, much better than last time." 

Last time. Sasha must have found this place while on one of his walks. How odd it must have been to come across a centaur settling in Tyanth, much less a centaur who didn't have their nose in a book, but in a sewing kit.

     "Thank you, your Grace. I've put some work into it and it's coming along quite nicely, if I do say so." Sotaros looked around the shop. Tamsin had to agree. She didn't know what it looked like before, but it was nearly impeccable now. The type of shop that would be bustling with customers if it were ran by anything other than a centaur. Centaurs weren't popular in Tyanth, or many other places in the world for that matter. They kept to themselves and took their scholarly work very seriously, caring about books and intelligence far more than other people. They were self-important, self-aggrandizing, and weren't much interested in the way of any other territories. In fact, they were a bit like the Elves in that regard.

     Sasha gestured to Kethan. "Please, meet Kethan, my Hand." 

     Sotaros inclined his head to Kethan, who returned the gesture. Sasha strode to Tamsin, taking her by the hand and leading her toward the counter. 

     "And Tamsin." 

      Sotaros smiled and looked at Tamsin for a long moment. "Tamsin Caraxis, yes? The Godslayer?"

     She nodded and smiled back. An easily recognized name and title was a blessing for her, but the true blessing here was that everyone knew the story so she wasn't often asked to tell it. Most people had enough sense not to ask prying questions about it, but she wasn't sure centaurs shared that type of common manners. All she could do was hope. 

     "Yes...My name is Sotaros and I am very pleased to meet you." Sotaros stood up looking her up and down. "We Centaurs know your story, if only having transcribed it. Though I won't ask you to repeat it, I wouldn't say no to a friendly retelling sometime." He winked at her.

     She gave a small laugh, as did Sasha. She couldn't tell if he was joking or not, but something about him put her at immediate ease. He didn't seem particularly haughty, maybe there was hope for the centaur race yet.

     "The pleasure would be mine." She said. He lifted a section of the counter and gestured to the back of the shop. 

     "Please," Sotaros gestured for them to come through. "Let's get you fitted."

      "A fitting?" Tamsin asked, looking to Sasha.

     "A fitting." Sasha echoed, putting a hand on the small of her back and pushing her through the counter walkway to the pedestal. "I told you, I bought you a gift."