Even there her muscles were hard, rippling, strong.Even there her muscles were hard, rippling, strong. She was clearly a powerful woman in her own right and I envied her. I wanted to be like her. We rode on through the day. I felt strangely at peace, Aimee'. The blindfold kept me from questioning my surroundings in any great detail and the best feelings I got at all came from Cyl'Dia, who gave me warmth and comfort and spoke to me along the way. She asked me for details of my life before the Centaurs and I gave that inforamation freely. I enjoyed my talks with her; they meant much to me. After so many months of nothing but drudgery in the day and cruelty at night, a voice of kindness was something to hold onto. We mostly spoke of my life. Not as if hers didn't have as much for discussing, but as if she held back on discussing it at all until we reached her city. A hollow sound surrounded her voice and the sounds of horses. The dry, winter smell was replaced with a slight staleness and I recognized that we entered a tunnel. No-one spoke a word until the air returned to the bright coldness of winter. "Cyl'Dia, you are excused from your duties to take Beth'Sany to the chirugeon. See to it that she is looked after and then, I will find you this evening at your home." "Thank you, my lady," Cyl'Dia replied. "Beth, you may remove your blindfold now." I did, getting my first glimpse of the city of Darachmod. It was a large, walled square with houses scattered according to a pattern. On each wall was a large, rectangular building built up against the wall, and the houses and other buildings seemed clustered around those. The center of the town was very open. Each building was carefully regimental in construction, pleasing to the eye, ordered. |