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Chap: conversations

Cinnamon splashed her face with the cool water from the bowl by her door. She assumed that Lime or Mint had brought some for her use earlier that morning, and made a mental note to thank them when she saw them. She had changed her clothes and started slowly walking down the hall. The lady took her time to try and find certain markings to help her memorize her way.

She found the top of the stairs again and listened from the corner of them to see if anyone was coming. The girl wasn't trying to sneak around, she was just hoping to avoid anyone so early in the morning. The way the men had acted last night suggested that she might want to let them get used to the idea of a woman being around before seeing her. Two voices let her know of her company. Lime and Mint were talking down at the base of the stairs. Mint was asking Lime, the older, and supposedly wiser of the two, "Do you think she'll be mad if she finds out?"

"I don't know for sure, but I'd be madder than hell if someone bugged me during prayers," the tiger man replied.

"So we shouldn't say anything?"

"Nah."

"I'll bet Master Herb won't say anything either." "Don't be too sure about that," lime said thoughtfully. "She impressed the hell out of him with that 'yo-da' stuff of hers. He's always's wanting to learn more martial arts, so I'll bet that he has her teach him some of those moves. If he was flexible like that, no one'd ever catch him."

"So you think Prince Herb would like to learn yoga?" she said softly behind Lime. He jumped three feet in the air, along with Mint.

"M-My lady! You startled me!"

"Don't do that!"

She smiled, "Sorry about that I interrupted your conversation. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but," she frowned, "do you really think he'd.."

"Sure," Lime replied, trying to hide his trepidation. Did she know about them looking in on her? "He's always looking for new techniques to learn."

Cinnamon smiled at the news. "I'm glad we'll have something in common. Since I've traveled all over the empire, I've seen dozens of schools of mimicry. I've tried to learn something from them all, but I'm always searching for new ones."

Mint smiled. He was going to like this girl. That thought surprised him. He'd just thought of women as a thing, not like a group of people. Hmm. This would take some thinking. Clearing his thoughts, he spoke, "Would you like some breakfast, my lady?"

"Yes! I'm absolutely starving."

Mint nodded with a light snort, "With that workout before, I'll bet you- ow!"

Lime elbowed him barely, "Shut up runt!"

Cinnamon started before she realized their concern. "I think you said something about seeing my morning routine? Sorry, I heard that part too." Both boys flushed guiltily. "Oh, don't worry about it!" Violet eyes lit in amusement, "I don't mind that you saw. I didn't even notice you."

"But you were at prayers-" Mint started when she looked surprised. "Oh, no, Mint, I'm not a Hindu practitioner. Actually, I'm Buddhist. Its not part of my worship, just for a good workout."

"Oh," Lime said. "We thought you'd be mad."

"Nah. But I am mad at my door! I tried to use the handle and it fell out in my hand!" The girl laughed to herself as the boys guiltily flushed. "I guess I just don't know my own strength. You guys said something about breakfast?"

"Oh yeah! We'll take you down to the kitchens."

##$$%%

An hour later, Cinnamon had met the kitchen staff and had become friends with them all. And if they stared, she ignored it until they would get the courage to approach her. The lady would be polite to them all, Mint and Lime brushing off the more eager of the men and boys. They all marveled over her soft hand, despite her protests of calluses.

Crisp was among them, and after grabbing some food for himself, went to report to Master Herb. As he left, Lady Cinnamon had just picked up a young hawk boy, new to the training grounds, who said she reminded him of his mother. The image brought back something to Crisp, faint but still there. Soft black hair framing a beautiful face...he couldn't tell what color her eyes were, or the shape of her nose, but he remembered that she was pretty. His own mom..he shook the thoughts off and went to go find Prince Herb. She sure did seem like a nice girl-

"Sun-he? Crisp?"

The boy turned. His friend Savory, (Ling-mu), a young dog boy with deep red hair and a green tunic waved him back. "C'mere, the woman wants to talk to you."

Crisp stared, then came running. "Yes, my lady Cinnamon?"

"Huh? Why'd you call her that?" Savory asked. Other men and boys looked curious too.

"That's what you're supposed to call them, Savvy," he answered. "She's a lady like Master Celery's a lord. Same rank, just with breasts."

"And they're not chickens," Mint called out. "My mistake!"

Cinnamon laughed with a blush. "Please, don't talk about breasts in front of me," she stammered out. "Its impolite to talk about that in public, in front of a woman."

"Oh! S-sorry, Lady Cinnamon," Mint flushed along with Crisp.

"You didn't know, its no big deal. Better to do it here with me than with your own future bride," she quipped. Turning back to Sun-he, she asked, "please go tell your master that I would like to meet with him in the courtyard by the inner garden as soon as he can. I'll be waiting to start his first lesson." She waved goodbye to him as he left the room and the disappointed men asked if she really had to go.

Crisp grinned. She was going to be fun, he could tell.

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