The Spell of Rosette - Kim Falconer [41]
Rosette felt butterflies in her belly. ‘It’s the equestrian training ground. Look at all those stables behind it.’
‘Massive,’ Clay said, following the direction of her still-outstretched hand.
He gave Dozer’s shoulder a playful slap as he urged him down the descent that zigzagged its way to the valley floor.
‘Now, Rosette, what did I say?’
She smiled. ‘You said Clay Cassarillo would get me here on time.’
‘And I did!’
‘Thanks, Clay. You’re wonderful.’ She leaned forward, kissing his cheek. His face lifted into a wide grin as he turned around and caught her lips with a kiss of his own.
‘My pleasure, I assure you,’ he said in a soft voice.
There’s another temple cat here! Drayco dashed ahead, down the slope, and out of sight.
‘Wait up, Dray. You can’t just burst in unannounced!’
Did you hear me, Maudi? It’s another feline!
‘He’s not listening,’ she said into Clay’s ear. That’s terrific news, Dray. But can you talk to him first so you don’t take everyone by surprise?
It’s a ‘her’.
Right. Can you talk to her? Rosette squeezed Clay’s leg and whispered, ‘It’s a “her”.’
‘Who’s a “her”? What are you two talking about?’
She won’t link. I know she’s here. I can smell her, but she hides. Drayco had stopped his descent and was pacing back and forth across the road halfway down the grade.
‘Why does she hide?’
No idea.
‘Maybe you’re scaring her.’
Me?
‘Yes, Dray-Dray. You. How about we all enter together? There’s plenty of time to meet her. We’re going to be here for years.’
Hurry up then.
‘What’s he saying?’ Clay asked.
‘There’s another temple cat about, it seems.’
‘Didn’t you know? The Sword Master has a familiar. She’s not Dumarkian, though. She’s from the southern cliffs of Tuscaro.’
‘Where’s that?’
‘A month’s sail and another on foot to the east.’
‘It sounds like the far end of the world.’
‘It is…’
She tapped him on his shoulder. ‘You’ve been there!’
‘No!’ Clay grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. ‘I haven’t been anywhere yet. I just look at…’
‘I know. Maps.’
They fell silent as Dozer’s iron-shod hooves clicked over the cobbled road. He seemed more animated now, clearly picking up on their excitement. His neck arched and Clay had to shorten his reins to keep him to a walk.
‘Someone’s waking up,’ Rosette observed.
Clay didn’t answer.
The long descent gave Rosette time to survey the temple valley. It had an ancient feel, its architecture and design preserved for hundreds of years. She’d read about the living history of Treeon but had had no idea how tangible it was, until now.
The trees alone took her breath away. There were massive willows and dark green oaks, wind-contoured cypress along the cliff face, and tall, white-barked eucalypts below, all shimmering and swaying with contrasting shades and hues. Spotting row upon row of jacarandas made her laugh out loud. Her favourite tree in all of Gaela lived here.
‘I can’t wait for spring,’ she said, waving towards a lengthy row. A combination of acacias and jacarandas lined most of the thoroughfares to the furthest ends of the valley. ‘Can you just imagine the colours when they bloom?’
‘I can, and look there.’ Clay nodded towards a grove of evergreens near the central plaza. ‘The size of them!’
She’d never seen redwoods so big. ‘They must be hundreds of years old.’
‘Thousands, I’ll wager.’
It would take a chain of twenty people to surround some of the larger trunks standing sentinel in front of the main gates. Their pointed tops, like arrows, thrust skyward, challenging the distant mountains.
The buildings around the central plaza were of a sophisticated design, more ornate than anything she had seen in Dumarka or Lividica. They were mostly two storey, and many had rounded turrets or domed roofs. They sported long, brightly decorated flags of many colours, flying like kites over the temple square.
Wide stairs flowed