Harlen and Hyandai walked the narrow lane toward the village. The road was now paved with crushed gravel, rather than the plain dirt ruts that marked the country road. She watched about them with wide eyes, taking in the village as the buildings grew closer together. Human homes were very different from the flets of her people, sitting high in the bowers of the mighty ornthalion trees. They seemed comfortable, though, she thought, and quite practical for the environment they were set in.
Most of the buildings were of a half-timber design, that is, they had frames made up of large wooden timbers that formed interesting 'skeletons' that were then filled in with rocks and a form of plaster to make them into a solid unbroken wall. The timbers were often then painted in brown or black, and the stucco painted a bright pastel color. It made the village at once cohesive and colorful. The roofs were crafted of either tarred thatch, which Hyandai took to be terribly flammable, or of baked ceramic tiles, which overlapped to form a solid roof.
Many of the homes had small gardens near them, full of small crops of vegetables and other small plants, including spices, especially mint, which perfumed the air with a subtle scent. Her brother had warned her that human cities were malodorous places with lots of disease, but she did not perceive this in the least. This place was spacious, with quite a lot of green space, many trees, some very old-looking and tall. They would not have been shamed by any but the very largest growing in any elven community. She did not even detect the slightest taint of toilet stench, either, which she had especially braced for.
As they neared the main center of the village, they came to a gate set in a long wall that seemed to surround this central area. Two men wearing gold and violet livery stood beside the gate on either side. Their chest bore a symbol that looked like a dragon, standing on its hind legs, with flame leaping from its maw. When they saw her, they snapped to attention like they had been prodded with a spear point in the behind. As they approached, they held their long spears at rest, sticking out from them at about a fourty-five degree angle, but when they prepared to pass, the guards brought them straight up, and slapped their heels together. The couple wondered at this sudden display of deference.
"What goes, honorable soldier of the duke?" Harlen said, giving a small bow to the trooper on the left.
The soldier turned to face him, formally. "We simply salute the lady, good sir." He said, smiling toward Hyandai. Then he said very quietly. "We didn't actually believe that there was an elf in the village, Harlen. By the One, you're a lucky bastard!"
Harlen smiled and said. "I agree, Marell, very much." He patted the soldier, an old friend, on the arm. "Carry on then, trooper." He said. Marell snapped back to attention.
Hyandai looked at him as they crossed into the village. "They were acting thus at my behest?" She asked quietly, leaning toward him.
"So it would seem." Harlen said, grinning. "I told you the people would like you."
As they entered the core of the village, people started to be about, almost everyone comes into the center of town during the market, and today was no exception. She gasped as she beheld her first knot of a couple of dozen people, standing around haggling over a newly-arrived load of cloth. As the two approached, almost half of them turned to watch, and most of them had mouths agape in astonishment. Words emerged from the crowd, like 'Elven lady', 'So pretty', and 'So small.' Hyandai nodded toward the crowd as they passed near, and several of the people gave small waves or nodded in return.
The eyes of the crowd followed them around the corner, and she said. "My word, they are shocked, are they not?"
Harlen chuckled. "Now you know why I gaped at you when we first met." He stroked the hand that was thrust through his arm. "You are incredibly lovely, and also an elf. Both things warrant you being stared at."
She smiled at him. "You are very sweet, Harlen." She said, and kissed his cheek. "Your flattery makes me feel special." They began to walk again. As they rounded the corner into another open area, she gasped in delight. "Oh, Harlen, look at the children!" She nearly squealed. Her face was full of joy and eagerness. A group of village children, almost twenty strong was playing a game involving a beanbag and running and screaming, and quite a lot of laughing. "So many children." She murmured. "Humans are blessed, Harlen, no matter what my folk say."
Harlen said. "Watch yourself, Hyandai." He warned with a smile on his face. Suddenly, the children saw her and with a surge, and they surrounded the two. All of them were touching her arms and hair, and ears. She grinned widely, unable to contain her happiness at all these charming children, grubby with play, wishing to touch her hands and hair. Cries of 'pretty elf' and 'noble lady.' moved through the little crowd of kids. The two were obliged to stop walking while Hyandai tried to greet each of them in elven, causing a wave of giggles and laughter to move through the crowd. Finally, he managed to shoo them away, and she watched them longingly as they took off to begin their game again.
A tear rolled down each cheek and she was laughing. "Hyandai, are you okay?" Harlen asked.
"I am well." She said. "Children are so dear, and you have so many here." She said, wiping under her eyes. Then she cast a rather odd look at Harlen. "Do you humans spend so much time in your beds, or how do you explain the number of children about?"
Onward they went, and came to the edge of the market. It was a large open square, and there were dozens of colorful tents and wagons about it. Hyandai flinched back from the burst of ambient noise that came from the crowd of many hundreds of people. "Harlen, I think I cannot go there. I have never seen so many folk in one place in my days." She said, her eyes nervous. "I must grow used to it first." She concluded.
Harlen nodded, and they turned to the right, skirting the edge of the crowd, and Harlen helped her up a small set of stairs into a building where a wooden boar's head with a arrow through it hung over the door. They went in and instantly the pungent scent of beer hit her nose, causing it to wrinkle. "An ale house?" She asked.
"Yes." Harlen said. "My favorite place to drink, and dine, when I have the money and don't feel like cooking."
A very old man came from beyond a door and walked behind the counter. "Well, Harlen, I see you made it..."He had finally taken a good look at the newcomers in his tavern. "By the One." He said, walking out from behind the counter. "Loskenaur." He said, and knelt before Hyandai, bowing low and staying that way.
Hyandai looked confused for a moment. "You know my sister?" She asked.
The man looked up. "Sister?" He rose from the floor. "Loskenaur is you sister? You look just like her."
She giggled. "I have been told that is so." She said, trying to straighten her face. "But I am Hyandai, her younger sister."
Harlen said. "This is Tammer. He was my mentor in learning the arts of the wood." He pointed to the old man.
