Call of Ring(Compleled)

28 The First Night

There were no doors to the small dormitory houses. Instead, the entrances were covered with a long piece of cloth easily moved for someone entering or exiting. Blake entered first. Sadie followed so closely behind that Blake literally felt her behind him. They entered into a small common area with a rug on the dirt floor. A fire pit was in the center with some undisturbed coals that sat simmering. A small hole in the roof vented the smoke coming from the fire pit. Individual rooms without doors splintered off the different sides of the common area. It looked like there were four or five rooms at first glance.

Blake looked toward the rooms and then back at Sadie, before saying.

“We should choose our rooms and find out if any of them are already occupied.”

Before Sadie could respond to Blake, a tall slender man with a neatly trimmed beard appeared in one of the doorways. By now, Blake was no longer surprised to meet another barefoot man dressed in a brown gown. There was proving to be little, if anything at all that distinguished people in the way they dressed. The only anomaly was King Adelai from the Midori Empire who was dressed elegantly in a black and purple robe. There were also the Dwarfs who were practically naked, with the small patch of fur covering their private parts. Blake’s mind briefly wandered, noting that he had not seen a woman dwarf, and he wondered how they covered themselves. 

“Welcome,” said the stranger from their new dorm house as he bowed slightly.

“Thank you,” Sadie replied.

“So they let a woman in? Or maybe a couple?” questioned the man.

“No! We’re not a couple,” said Blake a bit irritated by the insinuation.

“And yes, they have let me in. I can see that you have noticed that I am indeed a woman,” replied Sadie with a sarcastic tone.

“My name is Natan. I am the only one in this house. I have only been here for a couple of weeks, but the three other rooms are vacant, so feel free to pick one of those.”

“Pleasure to meet you Natan. My name is Blake, and this is Sadie.”

“Well, Sadie and Blake. I will see you both later at the evening meal,” replied Natan. He then slipped back into his room as quickly as he had appeared. Blake was intrigued by their new housemate. He spoke in a distinguished way. There was a touch of arrogance about him, but somehow he also sensed goodness. He had dark brown hair that perfectly matched his thin beard. His eyebrows were oddly a lighter color than the rest of his hair though, with what Blake thought was a tinge of red. His nose was large, and his eyes were a soft brown. He was taller than Blake, but also thinner. He didn’t exactly look weak; in fact, Blake presumed him to be a capable wiry fighter. It was important to size up anyone in this world. Blake then wondered what Sadie’s first impressions were of Natan. A twinge of jealousy suddenly hit him. She would now be meeting other men, and she would be the only woman in this school. Blake tried to fight away what he deemed to be feelings that would merely distract him from his mission of learning.

Blake chose the closest room to the entrance on his left. Natan’s room was in the back of the little house on the right. Instead of choosing the vacant room beside him, Sadie choose the room on the right, also close to the entrance and directly across from Blake’s room.

Retiring to his room, Blake noticed that a new gown was hung in the corner, along with what seemed to be a fresh clean towel. He was thankful for a new gown, as he became aware again that half of his had been burned in the strike from the recently deceased student earlier in the day.

Blake lay down in his bed, testing the straw mattress covered by a piece of cloth. It was comfortable. Certainly comfortable enough for a night’s rest for as long as he would remain here for his studies. Blake looked down at his left foot that was displaying some redness from the fire strike earlier. His eyes quickly left his foot as he noticed something in the distance that decided to overtake his vision. Since there were no coverings on their doors, he could see Sadie exploring her room. He tried not to stare, but there she was standing, her backside in clear view. She still wore her white gown, but then she suddenly turned around as if she sensed she was being watched. In her hands she held her towel. She decided to also test out her mattress. Blake lay there watching her, but her eyes were focused elsewhere, and it appeared that she did not see Blake looking in her direction.

Suddenly, she got up with her towel still in hand and walked right into the entrance way of Blake’s room.

“I’m going to the bathhouse. Are you going to join me?”

Blake thought he had conquered his propensity to blush red in the face at awkward moments with girls, but the sudden invitation to bathe naked with his crush immediately overwhelmed all of his senses. Blake jumped to his feet before responding, hoping to cover whatever physical manifestation of his senses might occur involuntarily before he responded verbally to her invitation.

“It’s very kind of you to invite me.” He paused long enough to gather his thoughts.

“But maybe we shouldn’t be seen together in such a way as a first impression here. I should wait until you return, and then I will take my turn.” Blake felt completely insecure about his answer, and wondered what she would say in response.

“Alright then. If that is your choice, I will respect that. It’s a shame that there could be other students whom I might meet first in such a way. I kind of hoped it would be with you first,” she said with an overtly flirtatious smirk.

Blake fumbled for a response.

“She is clearly wanting me to go with her, and she wants me to go now. But Apollos warned me about distractions. I must heed his advice, especially now…

Sadie lingered awkwardly in Blake’s doorway as if she was eavesdropping in on the arguments he was having with himself silently in his mind. And as she waited, she chose to still wear a seductive smile.

“Am I an i***t for refusing this??? What man in this world would decline such an offer? And if I hold firm to my decision now, will she lose interest in me? Gahhhh!!!!”

Blake’s inner monologue of confusion was interrupted by Sadie’s voice,

“Okay. I will return, and I’ll tell you all about it. I promise to leave you enough time for you to bathe as well before the evening meal.” And with these words, she departed.

Blake returned to his bed and laid down.

Instant regret filled his mind, but the questions of his late mentor returned to the forefront of his mind. Blake closed his eyes in an attempt to regain his composure.

“What do you hear?”

At first, Blake heard water running. He heard the sound of steam. But he was quickly able to discern these sounds as scenes of distraction for where Sadie was at this moment.

I hear voices. Multiple voices interacting with one another. Some are close by, and some are further in the distance. I now hear a conversation more clearly. The other voices are fading but remain a steady buzz in the background.

“We must find the ring! Multiple people have said that it will be sold here today. QUICK! Spread out and find the ring. It needs to be found at any cost!”

“What do you feel?”

I feel that the conversation was is from enemies that will be visiting the new market. Tomorrow is Saturday, and I will be visiting this market with other fellow students. I must pay attention to what I heard.

“What do you sense?”

I sense danger lurking in the market. But I will overcome. I also sense that there is a bigger story to Natan than simply another student trying to learn the art of magic. I sense he has goodness in him.

“Blake!?!” came a familiar voice.

Blake opened his eyes, wondering how long he had been other conscious in his meditative state. He saw Sadie again standing in his doorway with a freshly clean white gown covering her body. It had some obvious wet marks in some oddly revealing places, but Blake tried to move his eyes to hers.

“Your eyes closed again!?” she said teasing him with a smile.

“I guess I’ll have to come closer,” she stated as she approached the bed he lay on. She sat next to him just as she had done so many days before in the castle of King Adelai.

“Well, before I remind you that it’s now your turn, I should tell you what happened.”

As she talked, she dried her hair with her towel. Blake wondered how it could still be brown even after a wash.

“I got to meet about ten other students in the bath house. Obviously, it was quite the scene with ten men and I, the only woman. Lots of conversations took place, and they all happened while we were all naked!” Sadie paused, waiting for a reaction.

“Oh wow. How did that feel?” Blake said, with only half-baked emotion.

“You must have been really focused on whatever you were mediating on,” she responded with a look of disappointment.

“I was hoping for some fit of jealous rage. And also, I’m completely joking. There was no one there. I was completely alone.”

Sadie kissed him on the cheek, and said, “Go quickly! I’ll wait for your return. Also, it’s too bad…we could have been there alone together.” These words she spoke while forming a baby pout with her lips.

Blake tried not to respond to the bait. He got up, grabbed his towel and tried to leave quickly before his body could process the awkward conversation that had just taken place between he and his crush.

The bath house was beautiful. Blake also enjoyed it alone. There were three pools. But before the three pools, there was a spring where it was clear he needed to use to clean himself of any dirt first. He did so, removing blood, sand, and remnants of other things that he didn’t recognize, presumably from the recent battles that had taken place.

Blake then immersed himself in the first pool which was had a roof-like covering over it. The effect of the roof made him feel like was still inside a room and protected from the elements of weather. After many minutes of relaxation, he then moved on to the second pool that was exposed to the natural outdoors. It was a surrounded by a garden of vegetation, plants of every variety imaginable. At the far end of this pool, was a small spring. He guessed it was the source of the hot spring itself, indeed the spring of hot water heating the whole experience. He let himself linger under the spray of its shower for many minutes. Back in the room, he had quieted his mind and responded to the questions of his late mentor. It was now the time for physical refreshment. He delayed for as long as it took for his body to feel healing. Because the pool was outdoors, he noticed the sun was beginning to set in the West. Blake saw the third pool, and briefly dipped a foot into it. The water was freezing cold.

“Nope, not for me!” he declared to himself silently while wondering the about the purpose of that pool. Blake dressed himself quickly in his clean brown gown. Somehow, it fit quite well. He then hurried back to his dorm house.

As he entered his room, he was surprised to see Sadie lying on his bed.

“Did you miss me?” she said with her irresistible smile. 

“What are you doing in here?” asked Blake nervously looking over his back.

“Don’t worry! Natan left for the evening meal. He invited me to go with him, but I said I was waiting for you.” 

Blake allowed himself a deep sigh of relief.

“Well, you still didn’t answer my question! Did you miss me?” Sadie repeated herself, but this time she looked annoyed.

“Yes, of course I did.” Blake responded allowing himself a smile.

Sadie pat the bed next to her inviting him to sit.

Blake obliged and sat next to her feeling the reversal of roles. Sadie sat up, kissed him on the cheek again and exclaimed,

“Quick! What are you waiting for!? We have to go!”

Sadie slipped over him slowly, practically sitting on his lap, and then grabbed his hand to lead him out of the room. Blake was fully aware of her interest in him now, so he responded by squeezing her hand back.

“Ouch!” she yelled at him sarcastically.

He let go of her hand when they exited the little dorm house, and she didn’t protest, but she insisted on walking close to him feeling protected by the cover of darkness that had just descended. Sadie wondered about the food, while Blake wondered about who they would meet next. He also wished he could sense more about their new housemate Natan.