Temple of the Winds

Nathan cupped her cheek. "Get used to them. Take the bed. It would be uncomfortable for me, knowing such a lovely lady was sleeping on a couch. I'm a man of the world, and such things don't faze me." He bowed grandly from the doorway. "Sleep well, my dear." He paused with the door half closed. "Clarissa. I apologize for the looks you had to endure, and for what people might have thought of you, because of my story." He truly was a gentleman.

"No apology is necessary. It was rather fun pretending, as if I were in a play on a stage."

He laughed with that sparkle in his blue eyes as he flung his cape around himself. "It was fun, wasn't it, having those people think we were other than we were?" "Thank you for everything, Nathan. You made me feel pretty, today." "You are pretty." She smiled. "That was just the clothes."

"Beauty comes from within." He winked. "Sleep well, Clarissa. I've left a protective shield on the door so no one can enter. Be at ease here; you will be safe." He closed the door gently.

Feeling a warm glow from the wine, Clarissa ambled about the room, inspecting all the fine things. She ran her fingers over the inlaid silver on the small tables beside the bed. She touched the cut glass on the lamps. She ran her hand over the finely woven bed covers when she turned them down.

Standing in front of the dressing table, she looked at herself in the mirror as she unlaced the bodice of her dress. She almost hated to take off the dress and be just herself again, although she wouldn't be unhappy about being free of the bone stays that confined her.

With the laces loose, she was at last able to take a full breath. She slipped the top of the dress off her shoulders. The things still pressing from underneath held the dress up over her bosom. She sat on the edge of the bed as she tried to reach the buttons up the back. Some of them were too high. Sagging in frustration, she settled on removing her new shoes, made of supple, napped leather. She rolled off her stockings and wiggled her toes, glad to have them free.

Clarissa thought about home. She remembered her cozy bed, little as it was. She missed home, not because she was so happy there, but simply because it was home, and all she knew. As fancy as this place was, it felt cold to her. Cold and frightening. She was someplace she didn't know, and she could never go home again.

Suddenly Clarissa was very lonely. With Nathan, she felt the comfort of his confidence. He always knew where he was going, what to do, and what to say. He never seemed to have any doubts. Clarissa was full of them, now that she was alone in the bedroom.

It was odd, but she missed Nathan more than home, and he was right in the next room. Nathan was almost her home, now.

The carpet felt good under her bare feet as she went to the door. Gently, she rapped against the white panel in the center of the gold molding. She waited a moment, and then knocked again. "Nathan?" she called softly.

She knocked and called his name once more. When still no answer came, she cracked the door open and peeked in. Only a single candle cut the still gloom.

Nathan was in one of his trances again. He was sitting in a chair, staring blankly at nothing. Clarissa stood at the door for a time, watching his steady breathing.

She had been frightened the first time she found him stiff and unblinking, but he had assured her that it was something he had done nearly his whole life. He hadn't gotten angry, that first time, when she shook him, thinking there was something wrong.

Nathan never got angry with her. He always treated her with respect and kindness-two things she had always longed for, but had never gotten from her own people, and here was a stranger who gave them without effort.

Clarissa called his name again. Nathan blinked and looked up at her. "Is everything all right?" he asked. "Yes. I hope I'm not disturbing you in your reflection?" Nathan waved away her concern. "No. no."

"Well, I was wondering, could you help me. . undo my dress? I can't reach the buttons in the back and I seem to be stuck in it. I didn't want to lie down in it and ruin it."

Nathan followed her back into the bedroom. She had blown out the lamp on the dressing table so that she wouldn't be embarrassed. Only the one beside the bed allowed him to see what he was doing.

With both hands, Clarissa held her hair up out of the way as his strong fingers worked their way down the buttons. It felt good to have him near. "Nathan?" she whispered when he had reached the last of them at her waist. He made a questioning sound in response. She feared he would ask what the thumping sound was. and she would have to tell him that it was her heart. Clarissa turned, having to hold the dress over her breasts, now that it was undone. "Nathan," she said, as she gathered her courage and looked up into his beautiful eyes, "Nathan, I'm lonely."

His brow drew together as he gently laid one of his big hands on her bare shoulder. "No need, my dear. I'm right in the next room."