The Luminous Citadel: Snippet

A Taco Tuesday story

This is the fourth part of this sword-and-planet story. I’m having fun with an homage to a hollow world tale, very much science fantasy! Taco Tuesday is a little challenge a friend and I are doing, to write and post a romance every Tuesday. It’s more of a challenge for me, who doesn’t really write romances!

You might like to start with last week’s installment if you missed it.

She reached out and gently put a hand over his heart. “Wilt.” She spoke clearly. 

Wilt smiled at her, then reached for the rope ladder. She held the end of it for him, reducing the motion. Wilt thought, as he scrambled awkwardly onto the floor of the house, which was covered in a braided rug, that after all, it was easier than climbing just a rope, even a knotted rope, which he’d had to do in school. He got to his feet, and looked around. 

The house didn’t have glassed-in windows. Wilt decided this could mean the weather here was very regular, in which case he really wanted to know what served in the stead of rain to nurture the vegetation, or perhaps (and why not and?) they didn’t have glass. The resources of this place were likely very limited. Nyssa was not in the room, which was part of a torus, the trunk of the tree making up the center. There were curtains made of some kind of bead on a string in both doorways, one at each end of the room. There were no chairs, just two corners piled with cushions, and a low table with more cushions line up nearly around it to serve as seats, he guessed. 

Dione came up behind him, and was already standing by the time he’d turned to greet her. She reached out and took his hand, tugging him towards one of the doors. They passed through the bead curtain, which seemed to Wilt to be made up of strings of a polished nut, and into another smaller room. 

There, piled in the corners furthest from the tree, were folded mats. There were no windows in this room, but another door led, he presumed, to another part of the tree. Dione let his hand drop, and pulled a mat from the stack, unfolding it and pantomiming sleep. 

“Bed.” Wilt pointed at it. Then he imitated her sleeping gesture. “Sleep.” 

She nodded. “Bed. Sleep.” Then, with a little giggle, she pretended to snore, her eyes closed and head tipped back. 

“Yes, sleep.” Wilt shook his head, smiling. 

Dione snapped back to her usual posture, and beckoned for him to follow her. The next room had a partition, and an actual door. She opened this, and pointed at the cabinet within. She pantomimed holding her nose, and Wilt guessed what she must mean, although he couldn’t smell anything. 

“Oh! Bathroom.” He didn’t feel like trying to repeat her pantomime. 

She didn’t seem to expect more, just repeated the word slowly and thoughtfully. Then, they continued. The next room was another bedroom, he guessed, as it had mats as well. She didn’t stop in this one, but continued into the room after it, which turned out to be a kitchen, and where Nyssa was. 

She turned from what she was doing, smiling and nodding at him. There was a long counter, and she was chopping up something, nuts, Wilt thought. He didn’t see a stove, but wasn’t sure how you’d manage a fire up here, anyway. Not safely. There was a sink, which he wondered about. There had been no visible plumbing, at least not that he had seen. Where did the water go?  Perhaps this served to water the tree. 

Nyssa had turned back to her work, and Dione tugged him onward. He was surprised, and then felt silly, when the door took them back to the room where they had come in. Nyssa tossed a few cushions on the floor and threw herself on one of them. Wilt lowered himself into a folded-leg posture on one, feeling very off-balance and out of place. 

Nyssa pointed at the floor and made an inquiring sound. 

“Er.” Wilt pointed at it, “floor.” 

She repeated the word, and that set her off into a flurry of questions, which Wilt answered as best he could. She didn’t seem interested in teaching him the musical language she spoke, and he wasn’t sure he could have managed it, anyway. So he contented himself with watching her pleasure in learning. 

Nyssa interrupted this pastime by carrying a tray through the beaded door from the kitchen. Dione flew up from where she was sitting, smiling widely. 

“Table!” she pointed. “Sit!” 

Wilt followed directions, and as he was figuring out how to sit at a table on a cushion, Helikon ascended the rope ladder and entered the room. 

“Hello,” Wilt greeted him, as the two women also said something that sounded like a greeting. 

Dione repeated the word, “hello!” 

Helikon looked between her and Wilt. “She is learning your language?” 

“A little,” Wilt ducked his head. “Dione is very smart.” 

“She is.” Helikon sat gracefully where Nyssa gestured for him to take a seat. “Are you learning ours?” 

“She hadn’t offered to teach me that.” Wilt met the other man’s eyes. “Should I try? I’m not good with tonal languages.” 

Helikon tilted his head. “My understanding is not complete. Perhaps learning to speak your language is enough.” 

“It seemed that it was something you wanted, for me to teach...?” Wilt was not certain, and Nyssa slid plates from the tray onto to the table. They were piled with fruits and what looked like cheese, cured meats, and vegetables. 

“We do not cook in home.” Helikon pointed at each item and named it. “Our midday meal is cold, but tonight the community fire will burn and food will be prepared.” 

“It smells good.” 

Wilt waited until the others were serving themselves to take just a little from each plate. He wasn’t sure whether it would agree with him, but Dr. Sooma had left him with no warnings, so Wilt decided to take a chance. 

“After the meal,” Helikon spoke casually, without looking up at the young man. “I shall test your fighting ability.” 

“What?” Wilt blushed as he heard his voice squeak. “My wha...why?” 

“You must be able to use a sword, here.” Helikon looked at him, his eyes narrowed. “How much do you know of this place?”

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