Chapter 14: Gossip beats Jern.

“Hey, Rin!” says Jern shaking my shoulder.

“AaHah?” I groan.

“We fell asleep,” Jern laughs.

“No way!” I say with sarcasm while rubbing my eyes.

“We’re going to miss dinner if we don’t hurry!” Jern urges. “Rulm and the girls are amazing cooks! Mark my words. You’re gonna love it!”

My growling stomach agrees with Jern, so we get out of the spring pool as a pair of raisins and go to the dressing room.

“Where are my clothes?!” I exclaim.

“Rulm must have taken them to clean,” Jern says. “Don’t worry they must be already in your room along with your other things.”

“My room?” I ask. “Are we spending the night here?”

“Yup! I paid for the full service, which includes a place to sleep,” Jern brags. “Did you think we were going to sleep in the cold mountains or something?”

“I didn’t plan on sleeping the whole afternoon! I thought we could make it to the second seal before the day ended,” I say.

Jern laughs out loud.

“What?” I ask.

Jern makes an effort to stop laughing and takes a deep breath.

“You really thought you could break two powerful magical seals on the same day?! Bro! You need to rest your body.” Jern says, then he touches his chest. “And here. and there’s no better place to restore your energy than this place.”

“I can’t deny that the bath was magical,” I say, realizing how relaxed I feel.

I look at where my clothes were supposed to be. There's a pair of white sheets on top of the bench.

“And what are we supposed to wear to dinner then?” I ask.

Jern laughs again.

“You’ve never worn one of these?” Jern says, taking one of the bedsheets and unfolding it.

I’m clueless. Jern notices my expression and sighs in resignation.

“Come on! I’ll show you how,” he says.

Jern starts wrapping the sheet around my body with the skill of someone that has done it a million times. The result ends up looking pretty much like the everyday outfit of the ancient Greeks, at least the version of the movies.

I look back at Jern, and his ready to go.

"Okay, let's go," I say.

"No, no, no," Jern says as he grabs me by the shoulder and drags me to a seat in front of a mirror.

Jern takes a comb and starts doing my hair into a side part. Then he casts a little flame on his finger and carefully burns all the little hairs sprouting in my beard.

"Better, ain't it?" Jern says.

"Why is this necessary?" I say, looking in the mirror, too shy to admit that Jern is right.

Jern starts combing his hair while he blinks at himself in the mirror.

"Girls like these kinds of details," Jern says with a naughty smile as I blush and look down. "Now, let's go! We are already late for dinner!"

We run back to the big house in the middle mountain.

We enter a big room. A big rectangular table awaits, filled with numerous food dishes that make my mouth water. The whole place is decorated with flowers and lit by some kind of orange glowing rocks.

A door on the right opens. Ellie, Rulm, and the girls walk out with a few more dishes.

“Oh! You’re finally here,” a girl says.

The group places the last dishes on the table. Jern sits in the middle chair expecting the girls to fight over who will be next to him. But they all group with Ellie in a corner of the table, too invested in gossip to notice Jern.

“Bah!” Jern exclaims, disappointed.

“I can sit next to you if you want to,” I mock at Jern.

“Me too,” says Rulm as he laughs and slaps an angry Jern in the butt.

Once we’re all seated, Rulm stands and raises a glass. All the girls stop gossiping and listen.

“Tonight, we’re overjoyed by the return of our friend and protector, Jern. Thank you for your bravery. Rin. Ellie. You’ll always find a home in Skarphet. And may your journey continue to be successful,” Rulm says with a hand on the heart. I smile at the encouraging message.

“Changos!” everyone screams, raising their glasses and emptying them out.

“Changos!” I repeat a bit too late and drink the sweet beverage.

“Let the feast begin,” Rulm says, sitting down and taking a piece of bread.

“Try this! It’s my favorite,” Jern stammers with his mouth full of food and gives me a plate with tiny blue yams covered with some dressing.

I take a bite. The yams are soft and sweet in the inside, salty and crunchy on the outside, and the citric dressing compliments it all. “This is delicious.”

“I know, right!” Jern says.

I keep eating Jern and Rulm’s recommendations, from tasty meats to refreshing salads. Jern and Rulm tell me funny stories about problematic guests and how they dealt with them. Everything is great.

As the night goes on, the girls eventually run out of gossip and start flirting again with Jern, who happily seconds them.

I finish a delicious fruity mousse when I see Ellie walking to the balcony. There’s no way I can eat another dessert, so I stand up and go after her.

I walk out to the cool night. Ellie is leaning on the railing, looking at the stars. She’s wearing a long white dress of the same style as my robe, her hair is braided with some tiny flowers, and her skin glows under the night sky. She’s always been pretty, but tonight she looks stunning.

“Hey,” Ellie says.

“Hey,” I say as i stand beside her, contemplating the view.

“It was quite a great day at the spa, wasn't it?” Ellie asks.

“Five out of five stars. I even fell asleep in the hot springs,” I say, showing Ellie my still wrinkled hands. She giggles.

“Did Jern do your hair?” Ellie asks.

“Yes! How did you know?”

“Well. It looks exactly like his,” Ellie says, and we laugh. Then she ruffles my hair a little with her hand. “Ready! Now it looks more Rin.”

Ellie’s hand brushes my shoulder as she lowers it down. I look at her eyes, reflecting the starry sky. She looks at me. For a second, our eyes don’t move from each other.

“Hey, Kids!” Jern shouts from the dining room. We both jump back in surprise, looking away.

“We have to go to sleep. Tomorrow we’ll have to wake at dawn, and we better be well rested.” Jern says.

“Coming,” Ellie says as she swiftly walks and disappears through a door with the rest of the girls.

I walk with Jern to our room. I think about what just happened, but the soft bed hugs me into sleep.

At dawn, Jern wakes me up. We quickly pack our things and have a delicious breakfast. Ellie says good morning to me as if nothing happened the night before. Maybe it was me overreacting.

We thank the people of Skarphet. Jern transforms into his dragon form, and we get on.

“Peak of Fellenfehr. Here we go!” Jerns says, flying in the dawn sky.