Strongjaw & The Dish

9

They rode on. Within the hour a low roll of thunder echoed, black clouds rolled in swiftly from the east, and what had been, thus far, an unseasonable warm spell began to shift into biting cold.

"Well." Lord De Rolo dismounted, his hands clapped and rubbed together briskly as he scanned the woods that still enveloped them. "Since our new friends have abandoned us..." His gaze lifted to the ribbon of dark sky visible through the canopy of leaves. "As has our luck in regard to the weather it seems, I would suggest, Scanlan, that the mansion ..."

The colorful gnome was already moving into the wood at the edge of the road. A smooth piece of polished grey marble set on the leafy floor, a tiny ivory carving that looked, from her perspective, like an ajar door in a frame of stonework. As the others began to collect themselves, Scanlan, who had been murmuring something to himself and waving a tiny silver spoon in an arc, suddenly was in front of a nearly imperceptible shimmering portal ten feet tall and half as wide.

"I don't know about you, but I am starving." He said with a teasing sort of grin toward Grog who was leading both his horse and the one the gnomes had shared away from the road.

The goliath frowned and muttered something about where Kaylie, who Trisha recalled from past conversations was Scanlan's daughter, could go before looking toward Lord De Rolo. "So, Percy, what'chu wanna do about the horses?"

"Oh, hadn't thought of that." He scratched at the bit of pale scruff that had overtaken his jawline. "I don't suppose they can come with us."

Scanlan huffed and gestured toward the door. "Can't leave them here to be eaten by were-whatevers. I'll just have the servants put them in the third pantry."

Still confused, Trisha watched as Grog and Lord De Rolo lead their respective horses into the glimmering rectangle of almost-door and vanished as they breached the barrier.

"It's perfectly safe," Pike spoke up from beside her, making her jump fractionally. "It's the mansion." As if that explained anything. Still, a curt nod and a tight grip on the grey and tugged it to follow as she walked forward as if this were the usual thing one did at the end of a bad day.

Whatever she expected, this surpassed it. She found herself instantly in a large, elegant foyer with a high ceiling and a pair of expensive-looking staircases arching up to a second floor.

"You there!" Scanlan called out as he entered behind her and gave a wave toward a pair of drifting shapes, the translucent figures turning to reveal what seemed finely liveried servants.

"Yes, Master?" They intoned simultaneously which was, if possible, more off-putting than their ghostly appearance.

"Take these horses down to the third pantry and give them some hay and oats and water and... what, carrots?" He looked to Pike as if unsure just what to give a horse. When she shrugged back, he nodded to himself. "Yeah, that'll work."

"Of course, Master." They drifted forward and though seemingly non-corporeal, their hands were cool but solid as they gently took hold of the horse's reins and waited for her to relent her own grip before taking them down through a side door.

"Probably the same menu we'll have." Grog grumbled as he stalked off toward another doorway. "Fuckin' salads all the time. Stupid Kaylie." His voice fading as he moved out of earshot.

"I, for one, will be availing myself of a very hot bath and some wine before I retire to my workshop. Good evening." Lord De Rolo said with a little polite nod before mounting the left-side staircase two steps at a time, his jacket half off before he reached the landing.

"Oh!" Scanlan looked around for a moment. "Welcome, I guess. Just realized you've never been a guest here. Would you like a tour or would you rather I have one of the servants show you to Grog's room?"