FreeHolds Adventure, Cycle 2 Part 8a
Part 8) Mokha
Mokha sat in one of the ornate booths of Hearts Nook’s second room, he pushed the remains of his breakfast around the plate, idly watching the patterns he made in the grease. It was early, the cafe had not even opened to the public yet; he had been up most of the previous night trying to sort out his feelings. Tipper and he had met with Adwin and Calathy the previous evening, after they had eaten, Adwin had told an amazing story.
Truly, a wondrous tale. Adwin had gone to the grove in the centre of the city; met a wild elf, walked in a land of summer and seen an old story teller transformed to youthful vitality. The transformation had been accomplished with the heart-tree nut that the goblins had given Adwin.
Despite his best reasoning, Mokha had felt a stab of betrayal. Part of him knew better. He felt petty for begrudging an old lady a second life with her lover. He knew he was being childish, but that did not change the fact he felt that Adwin had let him down.
Adwin had known that Mokha was on a quest to extend his own life and had even talked with him about the possibility of going to Elquin to help him with that quest. Then, within a few eight-days of that conversation his friend discovers he has a magic artifact that not only extends a life, but rejuvenates a person’s youth. The fact of this had been suspected, Mokha was pretty sure Tipper had mentioned something about that months ago.
He sighed, realizing he had been slouching and sat up straight. The staff were getting ready for the day’s business. From the dim light coming through the front window it was hard to tell what time of day it was, but it had to be near mid-morning. Hearts Nook would be opening soon. Mokha was unsure he wanted to perform today. His mood was melancholy, when he this way he tended towards sad ballads.
He fell back to brooding and resumed tracing patterns on the greasy plate in front of him. How could Adwin have been so thoughtless?
A long while later a silky tenor voice interrupted his sulking, “Excuse me, Mr Nathorah?”
“Yes?” He looked up to see a lithe, nervous looking woman. He noted that she was a beautiful creature, of Tannican decent and likely some Loopee a generation back. Her skin was a bit lighter coloured than his and she had a dash of small freckles across her cheeks, large green eyes and long lashes. Her hair was curly and long, dark with coppery red highlights. Despite his mood she had his full attention.
Nervously she said, “My name is Sefla, I’m part of a trio of performers that Mister Dios hired yesterday. Um, he said you knew some of the Tannican dances and I was wondering… Well, he said you might be able to teach me?”
“Sure, I’d be delighted.” He smiled.
“Oh. Okay, that’s good. So… ah…”
“Did you want to start now?”
“Now? Okay. That would be great.”
“Let’s go up to the gaming room, no one will be using it until later. We can move a couple of the tables aside.”
“Thank you, Mr Nathorah, I mean, I hope it’s not an inconvenience.”
“Not at all. Please, call me Mokha.”
They went upstairs, created some space and did some stretches. Mokha asked about her background and if she had any formal training. To his surprise she was from Rogh Mohk Talh and had come to GreensBridge this past autumn after having spent a couple of years in Swampdon. She had left home just before the Empire had reasserted control over Rogh Mohk Talh, her father had decided to get rid of his half-breed wife and their children and was going to sell them into slavery. Her formal education had ended then and Mokha sensed she had trials and tribulations aplenty before getting to GreensBridge. He deduced that somewhere along the way she had lost the rest of her family. Once in Swampdon she had survived by doing street performances and had made a couple of friends. As the Tannican armies moved closer to Swampdon, she and her companions had decided it best to move on and had eventually made their way to GreensBridge. By the time they had stretched and warmed up the young woman had relaxed considerably.
Mokha then asked her to demonstrate what she knew and kept time for her using one of the table tops as a drum. Once he had determined that she had an understanding of the basics, he began instructing her on transitions and stillness and gave her some pointers on isolation exercises she could practice. Eventually they became aware they had an audience and Mokha was surprised to see Setta. Then he remembered they were meeting for an early lunch.
“Alright, Sefla. I think you have a good understanding of the basics of Tannican dance and I can show you plenty more if you want.”
She glanced over to Setta curiously and said, “Of course Mr. Na-, I mean Mokha. Here, same time tomorrow?”
“Most likely, I’ll check with Dios to make sure he does not mind us using the space.”
“Thank you so much.” She said as she left.
Setta smiled and gave him a hand putting the tables back, “I’ve never seen you dance like that before.”
“Well, freeholders are good at the hop and the stomp but are not very appreciative of anything more complex than a two-step. Unless we’re talking about some of the formal court dancing, but that’s worse in ways. How are you?”
“Good. How was super last night?”
Mokha could not help but frown, being reminded of Adwin’s choice. He huffed, then said, “Well, I’m a bit upset about that, actually.”
“Uh-oh, well, let’s go down and get some food, then you can tell me what’s troubling you.”
They went down to the front room, Mokha ordered coffee, some fish soup and spicy bread. For Setta, a bowl of grains and bitter-berries. Mokha was not a fan of the grains and bitter-berries, even with cream and honey it made his mouth pucker and ruined his palate for the rest of the meal. She, on the other hand, loved the stuff and had a bowl nearly every morning, saying it kept her healthy.
The cafe had opened and there were a few other tables with people waiting for their food, most of them said hello to him or gave a nod. He returned their greetings but made it apparent Setta had his attention. They sat, she took his hands in hers and looked at him expectantly.
He felt a bit foolish for a moment, but went ahead and told her the story, as Adwin had related it to him. In conclusion he said, “The thing of it is, he did not even offer me the nut. Not even a chance to say no.” Part way through his telling their food was served.
Setta kept eye contact throughout the tale, she paused before answering and tilted her head a bit to the side, saying, “Well, I think you are being foolish. You’re upset over the fact that you didn’t get the nut, but the confirmation that the nut would have been something you desired only came in the event that you just described. I also don’t believe that Adwin could have requested time to think about it, nor do I think that would have occurred to him. Master Adwin is a kind young man, emotional and fairly impulsive.”
Mokha was taken aback, but Setta had not finished, she held up a hand and continued, “Also consider that you do not have an elf willing to cast such a powerful spell on you. Though I’m also pretty sure if you had asked Adwin for it, he would have given the nut to you.”
Mokha slurped some soup sullenly, he said, “I had kind of indicated that I might be interested. I also checked in the library, but found nothing about world-tree nuts and only a few references about world-trees, none of them were very informative.”
“No, I don’t imagine they were.”
A moment or two passed in silence, they ate, Mokha thought it through again and decided she was right, especially about not having a wild elf in love with him. “So… How have you been? Anything new?”
She smiled and nodded, “Yes, actually. I’m being encouraged to give up my position at the university.”
“Oh, no. Not because of us?”
“No, not directly. They want me to head up the expedition to Kaymere in the spring.”
“Wow. Is that weird?”
She laughed, “Not at all, many archivists travel a lot further than that to investigate sites of interest.”
“Do you know when you’re going?”
“Likely a late spring departure.”
“I wonder how Tipper will take the news?”
“Well, she’s already planning an early spring departure.”
“Ah, I wasn’t sure she had told you.”
“We see each other fairly regularly.”
“Lucky Tipper.” he said.
Their meal was done and Mokha ordered more coffee. Setta stared at the fire for a while then asked, “I was wondering if their was any chance Adwin was carrying around any other powerful magical artifacts?”
Mokha slopped a bit of coffee, “Ah-”
Dios, from behind the counter called out, “Mokha, I thought you worked here?”
He took a big gulp of coffee and got up, he kissed Setta on the lips, “Duty calls.”
She squeezed his arm, “Alright. I’ll see you on seventh-day.”
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