In Defiance Of The Second Sun- Book 1

Chapter Three

 CHAPTER THREE

Noble Friends & Enemies

The morning sun pierced through the crack in the curtains and slashed Yoru directly in the face. He groaned and rolled away, already dreading the day ahead, his nerves had kept him up half the night. The arrival of what looked to be a day filled with sunshine made Yoru moan into his pillow dejectedly.

Unlike full blooded Lunarin's he would not burn in the sun, as far as he knew, but he still felt some discomfort when it was at its peak. His skin would often feel itchy but nothing too drastic thanks to his elven father. The High-Sun season was coming to an end so he hoped the day would bring more clouds and even the odd drizzle of rain. He rolled out of bed and grabbed the brown paper parcel that had to be the robes left for him by Kai the night before. He undid the string and raised an eyebrow.

The robes were black with narrow sleeves, almost identical to his work robes only better quality fabric and darker colours. Yoru narrowed his eyes, everyone knew Lunarin's only wore black to blend into the shadows, he was not sure this outfit would send the right message. It's fabric was soft, silken and yet tailored to fit his body snug. This had to be custom made and not a on the fly pick up as Kai passed a stall.

A knock on the door disturbed this train of thought and a fully dressed and groomed Kai walked in. He was wearing a light blue striped outer robe in a heavy set fabric, held together by a white leather waist belt. He did a little spin for Yoru, his clothes swishing about the wooden floor.

"What do you think? Don't I look every bit the mysterious merchant aha!" He smiled brightly, before Yoru could answer he carried on.

"Right Yoru, the bath house is just out in the kitchen courtyard, hurry now I will meet you for breakfast. What do you think of the robes? Nice eh?" Kai saw him frown and picked up the black robe.

"Lovely deep colour, really brings out your eyes"

"I thought the idea was for me to not stand out?"

"Ehh? You are Lunarin, what's wrong with wearing black? You look nice in blac,k even Loralie said so"

"Master Kai" the elf grimaced at being called by his formal title.

"Is this a ploy to get me to look even more exotic therefore inflating your status and making more of these rich nobles interested in you and your business? After all... you are the only man in Lumera with a Lunarin as a servant"

Kai put his hand to his chest and gasped before becoming straight faced.

"Never would I refer to you as my servant! Not for all the coins in Lumera, but this is theatre Yoru! We must give them what they expect and then some. Me, the larger than life potions master with his adopted Lunarin son dressed all in black, exactly how they imagined us. Just do this for me, I'm not asking you to skulk in the shadows and stare menacingly."

Yoru huffed and snatched the robes back from the man. He went to leave before Kai shouted back.

"It's just a few days I promise"

The bath house was a small building situated in the courtyard at the back of the inn. It was neat with cut back hedges and towels drying just outside. You could pay extra to have a copper bath filled in your room but Yoru knew Kai would never pay extra for anything.

Inside was a small changing room filled with steam from the pool. Yoru pulled off his robe and hung it up by a bench, he wrapped the soft towel around his waist and made his way through to the blue tiled pool. The steam made it hard to see, he fumbled down into the enveloping heat and let out a little squeak, to his horror he heard someone laugh.