DreamStoryVerse Story Arc Book 2

Rose Chérie

"Rose Ku-arz?" The girl guessed in a thick Clout accent, rolling the "R".

"Matera Shariee?" Rose guessed.

Matera Shariee's face widened into a big smile, her crooked teeth on full display. It caught Rose off guard, but she hid her surprise well. She didn't want to be rude or embarrass her. Matera Shariee ran over to her visitors and pulled Rose into a big hug. Rose flinched uncontrollably when she felt something soft on Matera's back. She quickly deduced that those were Matera's wings. She hadn't seen them at first because they were so small unlike the large wings that most of the citizens had. Rose was glad that Matera hadn't seemed to notice her reaction.

"I can't believe you're finally here! We're going to have so much fun together!" She exclaimed before giving Rose quick kisses on both her cheeks. This startled Rose, for she expected her cousin to smell horrible. From what she'd heard, these people hardly ever bathed. But her cousin smelt...normal, like marjoram even. Rose suddenly felt very upset and ashamed for assuming such things. She was a guest, and Matera seemed like a very nice girl.

Matera Shariee then turned to Brigitta and repeated the gesture.

"You guys are just in time for the δείπνον! Come in, come in, make yourselves comfortable!" Matera Shariee urged, heading back through the entrance from which she came.

Rose followed her excitedly, she'd never been in a home that wasn't her own. They walked under the awning, up the flat steps, and into the open doorway. They entered the inner courtyard of the house, held up by four columns. There was also a rectangular hole in the ceiling that let the light of the moon illuminate the room. There were a few flower petals and leaves directly under the hole, and a weird rectangular box (?), which the trio walked around. The walls of the room were decorated with drawings of well....many different things. There were two doors on the walls, but Matera Shariee continued on her straight path out of the open doorway directly across from the first one.

The doorway led outside to Matera Shariee's spacious backyard. There was a shaded area filled with a large blanket and lots of pillows for lounging. Off to the side of the lounge area, there was a lit man-made fire pit. As Rose looked around, she could tell that there were more things in the backyard, like a statue, some sort of shed, etc.

"You guys sit down and make yourself comfortable while I start getting the δείπνον ready."

"I thought you said we were just in time for 'the δείπνον'?"

"Εεε, you are, I just have to make it first. It will only take a few minutes, don't worry!"

"Rose, you should help Matera in the kitchen." Brigitta suggested, feeling a little bad for Matera.

"But Brigitta, I can't cook! I--"

"Baby, it's never too late to learn."

Rose Quartz followed Matera Shariee back into the house as Brigitta sat down by the fire pit. They went back into the inner courtyard and went through a door on the left side of the room. The kitchen had windows that let in some natural moon light, but Matera also lit a lantern for extra visibility. There was a table, jars of different shapes and sizes, and other various cooking utensils.

"Um...I've never cooked before but I'm happy to help anyway I can!" Rose exclaimed as she walked over to the table in the center of the kitchen. There was a shallow bowl on the table with small circular, speckled balls in it.

"What are these?" Rose asked, gingerly picking up the cold ball in her hand.

"It's an egg, from a quail. I look after my own quail, so I have eggs and meat for cooking. We're going to cook a few for dinner so I went out and got them from the snow cellar earlier, that's why they're cold. Εεε..I assume you don't know how to whisk eggs, no?"