"Ah, yes, this place," she said when they came down the stairs.
"They explained how it works?"
"Yes," she said. "I find nothing wrong with it. A similar custom exists among my people, but we use a sweat tent. Such an amount of water would never be used for bathing among me people. It is too precious." She looked at the water longingly a moment. "If only we had such riches at home."
"If water was this abundant there, it really wouldn't be a desert anymore," Tarrin noted.
She gave him a sidelong look, and then she laughed. It sounded like a cascade of silver bells. "I guess it would not," she agreed, smiling in spite of herself. "I would like to go outside," she said. "I came here in the night, so I did not get the chance to see much of the outside. But I saw much grass and other plants."
"Yes, most of the compoud is grass. I wonder how they keep it so short," Tarrin mused aloud. "There's a really big garden behind the tower proper," he told her. "It's very lovely."
She was awed more at the sight of the grass than she was with the massive size of the central Tower and the six smaller towers surrounding it. The sweeping, elegant bridges that connected the upper levels of the towers to the tower proper were nothing to her, for she was staring out at the expanse of the lawn. She even reached down and touched it. "It is so green," she said in a wondrous voice. "I have seen grass and forests ever since I left my home, but I was so spiteful at being sent here that I did not look at it. It is a beautiful sight."
"It's all I've ever known," Tarrin told her. "Maybe someday I'll see your desert, and then I'll be able to compare them."
"The Motherland is not without its own beauty," she told him. "The Painted Lands have such color that it would take your breath, and the mesas and ravines of the Broken Lands cast shadows across the land that merge with the color of the rock and the sheen of the heat that make the colors dance like rock snakes. We have green, but it is so small compared to the rest of the land that it is easy to miss. Here, everything but what the humans build is green, or brown."
"Let's go look at the garden," he offered. "And there's something else there that I think you may want to see," he added.
She was impressed with the gardens, spending a great deal of time going from flower to flower and plant to plant, looking at them, touching them, and smelling them. Tarrin didn't have to get that close to smell them, he could do it from where he stood. But it did make him appreciate the beauty of the gardens just a little bit more, watching her take in the sights of the living beauty of the gardens. After they'd worked their way through most of it, he got her attention with a paw. "Come on, there's something else I want to show you," he said. "It's kind of a secret, though, so don't tell anyone about it."
She raised an elegant white eyebrow. "Then lead on," she said.
It took him a while to find it again. The scent trail he'd made before was about two days old. Since he and Dar had crisscrossed the whole hedge maze more than once, that put their scents all over the place, and after that much time it was hard to tell the trail that led true to the ones that went to dead ends. He relied on his memory for most of it, and had led them almost right to the center. It was finding that elusive choked-off passage that was challenging. The Selani was starting to get a bit restless as they reached another dead end. "What are we looking for?" she asked.
"It's a very small passage that's so overgrown it's almost invisible," he told her, frowning. "It's very hard to find."
"I saw such a thing not long ago," she told him.
"You must have sharp eyes," he said.
"Yes," she told him. She led them back to the place unerringly, and it was indeed the opening to the maze's heart. "This is it," he told her. "Thanks."
"You are welcome," she said as she followed him into the living tunnel.
The serenity and beauty of the maze's heart had just as much effect on her as it had had on Tarrin. He still felt the same wonder and peace he'd felt the day before as he looked on the lovely statue in the center of the fountain. They stood at the entryway for several moments, as the Selani stared at the statue in mute awe. "My roommate and I found this place a couple of days ago," he said in a hushed voice. "We don't think anyone else comes here anymore."
"It is a wondrous place," she told him. "The statue looks almost alive."
"I know," he said, motioning her to follow him. They sat down on the stone bench in front of the fountain. "Well, I hope you found the time we spent together tolerable," he told her.
"I think you can stop with the subtle games, Tarrin," she said with a little smile. "If you are trying to connive yourself into my good graces, you may stop."
He flushed slightly. "I didn't mean it like that," he said. "I just didn't want to offend you."
"You have put quite an effort into trying to talk to me, and befriend me. Why?"
He looked at those intense blue eyes, and decided that blunt honesty was the only recourse. "When I saw you, you looked very lonely," he told her. "I didn't want you to be here and be unhappy. And aside from Dar, my roommate, and the two Novices that travelled here with me, none of the other Novices will so much as talk to me. I thought that since you're not human either, we could talk to each other on the same ground. If you understand me, that is."
She gave him a long, penetrating look, and then put a hand up against his cheek. "You are very perceptive, Tarrin," she told him honestly. "I do not want to be here, and I do feel a bit lonely and homesick. I am touched that you would put yourself out so much for my benefit when you do not know me. You have much honor, Tarrin. I would be honored to call you friend."
"I would accept it gladly," he replied.
She smiled. "My name is Allia. Allia Do'Shi'Faeden, of the clan Faedellin."
"That's a pretty name," he said.
"Thank you."
"How did you come to be here?" he asked.
She sighed. "It was not by choice," she said. "My father, the clan-chief, decided that a better understanding of the humans would be a wise thing. The lands of our clan rest by the mountains that separate the desert from the place you call Arkis, and over the recent years more and more of them have appeared in our lands. Some seek trade, but most come seeking to take from the land that which is for the Holy Mother Goddess. Our lands are rich in the metal gold, and many come to steal it from our lands. Gold is sacred to our Holy Mother Goddess, and we do not take it from the ground, but the Arkisians take without regard to the wishes of us or our Goddess. My father decided to send one clansman here, to this place, to undergo the learning that is offered so that we may better understand the humans, and to find ways to stop this thieving without having to wipe Arkis from the world. My father chose someone else for this task, not I. Not long before he was to make the journey, a katzh-dashi appeared at our camp. He took my father aside for some time and spoke with him. After they were finished the katzh-dashi left, and my father told me that I would go in the stead of he who was chosen. I was not happy about the choice," she said sourly. "I do not like humans. I think that the thieving swine Arkisians should be driven from our lands and made to come no more. After I made my feelings known, my father demanded twice over that I be made to do it. He told me that a wise chief always considers all options before making such decisions. He even made me swear a Blood Oath on it," she said with a sour grunt. "That was not nice. I am honor bound to treat those I hold in contempt with a respect I do not believe they have earned."