The sun was set high up in the sky. It's rays felt like whips crashing against tender skin as it bleed through the afternoon's wispy white heap of clouds. Throughout the town of Triet, villagers meandered around without aim. They stayed close to keep warm from the harsh, blowing winds. This small oasis village use to be a desert, but it could never pass as one now. Not after the Regeneration.
As I passed through this town, I could hardly feel the breeze. I could feel Rhyme shivering beside me, squeezing my hand as if he would lose me if he ever let go. But still, something about this place made me feel at home. It was accepting me with open arms, or maybe running to me for help. I remembered the village in a different sort of way. It was dusty and dangerous in these memories. Except, I had never left Iselia once before now. How could I have memories of a place I'd never been to?
Snapping me back to reality was a relentless tugging of my overcoat. I blinked a few times and then looked down at Rhyme. His nose was pink as were his cheeks. I strained myself in trying to feel the obvious cold of Triet, but it was still embracing me with the warmness of a place I'd once known.
I knelt down to Rhyme's height, placing my hands on his shoulders. "What's the matter?" I asked him in a kind voice. We recently left our home and I knew that he was unstable. Anything could set him off into a crying fit.
"I'm cold," he replied, wiping at his nose with his sleeve.
I smiled at him, trying my hardest to keep it authentic, "Let's get a room at the inn, then." That was my solution. I wasn't enough for this boy. Especially now that I'd left the comfort zone. I found myself thinking that he would've been better off at the orphanage. I tried to shake that idea out of my mind as a led Rhyme into the inn. He wouldn't let go of my hand and I nearly dragged him down the entrance steps into the doorway. I was beginning to wonder if it wasn't just my imagination. If I actually was just really, really warm and that warmth was radiating all around me. Perfect, I was my own space heater.
"Hi, welcome to the Sand's Breeze inn. We've recently remodeled the inn, so please tell us what you think of it," a perky young girl at the counter chirped. "One room is 500 gald, will you be staying?"
My jaw dropped, literally dropped. My eyes scanned the room, searching for any unfamiliar square inch. They fixed the damage dealt to the place and changed the name, that was the only difference I could tell. I didn't understand why they would raise the price so high. But, my eyes soon made their way back to Rhyme. He stared hopelessly at the wood of the counter. I couldn't tell if he was occupied, but he obviously hadn't been paying attention to the chipper female at the counter. Still, as I peeked down at him, I could see the bit of red at the tip of his nose. He chilled very easily. It was sweltering in here, after all.
"Ma'am?"
"Miss," I corrected. I was younger than this woman. I did not feel the need for her to respect me one bit. "I guess I could fork up the money for one room.." My statement trailed off at the end as my focus was split in two. Where did I put that gald? I doubted that I'd left it anywhere. Once my fingers traced over the familiar indents of a gald coin, I knew I had found what I was looking for.
"This should be enough." I slid the coins across the counter and stalked off before her high-pitched babble could change my mind.
When we entered the room, I was surprised to hear Rhyme's voice.
"Lavern, why did you pay so much gald for this? I don't need it, you know." The sides of his lips tilted upward into a grin. "You're pretty warm, I could just use you." Rhyme had been paying attention to the female at the counter.
Finally, I returned his grin. "Yes, I would make a good space heater for the town, I'm sure they could use one. But, Rhyme.. You're worth the extra cents. You know that." I ruffled his hair the way I would always do before I walked over to my bed. Now that I sat down, I realized that I was too hot. I'd removed my overcoat and clipped my hair back, but sweat still beaded all over my body. I pondered a fever but tossed the idea aside quickly. You would normally feel cold when you have a fever. I felt no where near cold.
I turned my head to the side so I could see what Rhyme was up to. I frowned. He must've been tired all of this time, but I never noticed. He was hidden by a heavy blanket—which wasn't new—but I could still hear his soft snore. It calmed me some but not nearly enough. Just what was happening to me? I wiped the sweat off my forehead with my arm and stretched out on the soft, familiar comforter. Although I was very uncomfortable, I somehow found myself asleep in less than three minutes.