Displaced

Chapter 119

Aysen and Temel's house turned out to be an unexpectedly nice cottage in the more well-to-do—for a random mid-sized Gustilian town, anyway—side of Kagos. At least four rooms, sturdy wooden walls, what appeared to be some sort of clay tile roofing, and even a nice stone walkway leading to the front door. As she approached, Gabby could see smoke billowing out of a chimney on the right side, and she caught the sight through a nearby window of a shadow flitting about inside.

"You came!" Aysen greeted her with a gigantic smile and ushered her into the home. "Please, sit. I'm almost done."

The inside was just as nice as the outside. She sat down on a strong, well-crafted wooden chair placed beside a thick and sturdy table. This seemed to be a combination kitchen, dining room, and living room. Solid stone tile covered the floor from wall to wall, a vast improvement over the dirt and straw most commoner houses seemed to have. Several large candles added light to the room, their light illuminating the many carved ornaments that hung from the walls. Somebody was—or had been—a very accomplished whittler, it seemed.

The wooden ornaments hung on every wall except near the stone hearth in the kitchen where a healthy fire crackled under a sizzling... something roasting on a spit. Some kind of large, skinned lizard? Whatever it was, it smelled rather good, almost like roasted chicken.

There was more to the meal than just that. What went for a Scyrian salad sat in a large wooden bowl in the center of the table, its leaves a kaleidoscope of color. To its side sat a large loaf of bread and some butter, and even what looked like a small jar of jam. For the circumstances, it seemed like quite a lavish meal.

Gabriela immediately became guilt-ridden at the sight, and that guilt only intensified as she watched Aysen climb up a stool to get high enough to turn the spit. Though supposedly nearly an adult, her body was still that of a prepubescent girl who, in Gabby's judgment at least, was far too small to be taking care of herself and her even smaller brother all on her own.

"Let me help you with that," she said, getting out of her seat.

"No, no, it's alright!" the elf vehemently insisted. "It's done, anyway." She paused for a moment of consideration, looking at the tall spit and the just-as-tall table, which went up to her eyes. "I guess you can help me get it off."

Gabby did just that, picking up the spit, bringing it over to a large cutting board on the kitchen counter, and smoothly sliding the lizard off the rod. She turned to look for a knife, but Aysen shooed her away.

"I don't need your help with this. I can do it myself," she said, dragging the stool over. "I cook a lot now that—now that it's just the two of us."

Gabby noticed the way her voice hitched when the topic of her parents came up, and it took everything Gabby had to not wrap the child in her arms, but she didn't. She didn't feel like Aysen wanted that right now, and also, the girl was holding a rather large knife and Gabby didn't want her to cut herself. So, instead, she stepped back and made small talk while the child deftly cut into the meat.

"So, is it just you and Temel here? The town is alright with that?"

"Mostly. Some of the neighbors help us with washing the clothes and they give us food a lot, which is nice."

"They wanted to make us live with another family, but sister refused."

Gabby jumped so high that she nearly hit her head on the ceiling. She looked across the room to where the voice had come from and found Temel hidden in the gloom of the far corner, his small form curled up on a heap of clothes as he worked on sewing something that she couldn't quite make out in the dim light.