The door to Jaidylen (Eng. Version)

chapter 27.

Trickery, despair and threats - a normal day in Gronko!

Amari's view

An Aliandra couple looked at us in bewilderment as they opened the doors. The three of us stood dripping on their doorstep and certainly looked funny, but Sully was the worst off.

He's picked up a nasty infection and really needs immediate treatment, but whether that will happen in Gronko is anyone's guess. The likelihood of there being someone who can help us, or rather him, and who also has the medical supplies is small, but not impossible.

Well, back to the present.

Two Aliandras stood in front of us with a surprised look on their faces, judging by their clothes I would say they are farmers who live poorly.

The man was wearing a worn-out jumper that hung limply downwards, wide brown trousers and an orange scarf with Gronkonian signs and shapes on the lower part of his body, draped around his shoulders in such a way that you would have thought he was a real Gronkonian.

His shoes were broken and slightly holey, just like his wife's. She was dressed similarly, except that her clothes were more light, her shawl was like a kind of jacket, and a brown belt with small pockets held her tightly together. Her hair was very blonde and combed back, her husband's was rather long and tied up in a braid.

The two were definitely not born here, as they tended to have lighter blue skin. When you spend some time in sunny places, your skin darkens, and Aliandras were no exception. They both looked tired, the woman had more of a shy pose than the man who stood in front of us with his arms folded, both of them were in their twenties.

"Ehm... hello? What do you want?" the woman asked, looking at us suspiciously, this was the time to do my job!

"Good evening!

We are hikers who were travelling in the mountains and were caught out by the storm, can we stay with you for the night?" I asked and stood up as presentably as possible, the other two just looked around shivering and clutching their clothes. The couple looked intently at each other before the husband made a happy face.

"Of course! You're welcome here, we still have a guest room with a few beds. Come in, it's cold!" He pushed each of us in one by one, he hesitated for a while with Sully but put his hand on his shoulder, he looked at him with interest and smirked slightly.

It's fascinating, no matter where Sully goes, he always gets a different welcome. But they look nice, it kind of makes me feel at home. The last time I spoke to Aliandras was a while ago.

Their wooden hut was decorated in the classic Aeros style, but I could also recognise many Gronko elements. The walls were dark with lots of plants for botanical spells, and crystals in different colours hung from the ceiling as decorations or on shelves. It was also very crowded, the small size of the house and the clutter with all the decorative stuff made it somehow homely and cosy.

It reminds me of the Sórens manor house, well not the whole house. It's big but the library and grandma's office are decorated the same way, with a lot of love for your own space. It shows the personality of the person and that makes my heart beat faster... metaphorically only, of course.

The woman led us to a wooden table with lots of nicks, it was half-sanded and looked very old, we sat down on the chairs the man brought and took the spoons the woman handed us. They even gave us food...

Even though it was a simple, hearty soup with vegetables, I was beaming slightly. This was the first meal that someone with a real understanding of cooking had made...