Most of these characters do not belong to me as they belong to the wonderful Tamora Pierce. Please don't sue me.
They just barely made it to the inn before the storm broke. The sky, which had be sunny and clear most of the morning, had turned black with thick storm clouds.
"How did you know it was going to rain?" Laylari inquired of the wildcat.
"Haven't you ever heard the expression that a warrior's scars can tell changes in the weather? No, I suppose you wouldn't have," the wildcat answered. Laylari had told the shang her story as they made the journey to the inn. The woman had listened without comment, and for this Laylari was grateful. Pity would have brought back the endless tears she had shed for her family.
The inn was warm and, most importantly, dry. A maid led the women and girl to two adjoining rooms on the second floor. Laylari entered the left room, while the wildcat entered the right. Gazing around the room Laylari felt a surge of excitement. The room itself wasn't special but this was the first time she had been in a building for a decade. A bed! She hadn't had a bed in that long either. A knock on her inside door drew Laylari back to the real world.
The wildcat looked in and asked, "You hungry?"
Laylari realized she was, the excitement at the sight of the room had drowned out any other feelings in her.
"You'll like the food here, it'll be paradise compared to what you're used to," the wildcat stated.
"You're probably right, the food I stole from travelers couldn't be enough that they would miss or they would know I had been there and berries and roots get a little tiresome," was the reply.
The wildcat led her down the stairs into the common room. Laylari stopped in the doorway. After living in the quiet woodlands the noise in the room was deafening. How could people hear themselves think in this, she wondered. The wildcat went to talk to the innkeeper and left Laylari standing in the doorway. She realized she probably shouldn't stand there mouth agape, and slid into a seat at an empty table. A serving woman came over to take Laylari's dinner order. Hoping fervently that the wildcat wouldn't mind the cost, she ordered a little of everything. She decided the noise was overwhelming and put her fingers in her ears to get a little bit of peace. It wasn't long before she felt a tap on her shoulder.
"You won't get used to it with your fingers in your ears you know, besides I want you to meet someone" said the wildcat as she slid into the seat across from Laylari. Laylari looked up and was shocked to see man of around 30 looking at her. He was tall, and handsome, with delicate features and a dark complexion.
"This is Joesh, the shang falcon," said the wildcat looking from Laylari to Joesh. The two were staring at each other.
"Are you going to sit down or do Laylari and I have to break our necks to look at you?" demanded the wildcat. Joesh smiled and sat down next to the wildcat.
"Laylari wants to train with the shangs you know," said the wildcat, taking a sip from a cup of juice she had brought with her to the table.
"But you know she's too old!" argued Joesh. "We never take anyone over 6! The council won't be pleased."
"Ordinarily I would agree that she's too old. You have to start young to learn the reflexes and balance of our line of work," she said to Laylari. "But her reflexes are amazing. I tried to leg sweep her."
Joesh turned to smile pityingly at Laylari. "You've more guts than I do, sitting down after taking a fall like that off the wildcat. Your backside must sting something—wait, what do you mean you tried?" Joesh asked incredulously.
"I mean I missed, I would have thought that would be obvious," said the wildcat.
"But you never miss! Even when you spar the council members!" interjected Joesh.
"Well I missed this time because Laylari did a back-handspring and landed perfectly balanced on her feet."
"You may have a better chance then I thought, girl," said Joesh staring at Laylari in awe.
The serving woman came back with food and they all enjoyed the meal. The wildcat and Joesh spoke about their friends and gave Laylari information on the Shang order. They told her that the council was made up of the best shangs from all over the world who were named after immortals due to their skills. There were the shang unicorn, the shang griffin, and others.
"Ordinarily the council would have been ruled by the highest shang of them all, the dragon," the wildcat explained, a little sadly. "The last shang dragon was killed about 9 years ago in the fight to protect the king from assasins. He was a good friend of mine." She sighed, "Oh well, enough stories, it's late and I need my beauty sleep. You had better go to Laylari, we're riding to Corus with Joesh in the morning." Laylari was glad to abandon the noisy common room for her bedroom. She got into the feather soft bed and was immediately asleep.