The evening meal was very sedate compared to meals at the Hall. After at least a few people finished at the Hall, someone would pick up a gitar or a flute and someone else would start singing and pretty soon people would join in. Eventually, the entire hall would be singing.
The meal at Relan couldn't have been further from that. Adults talked politely as they ate and when the finished they got up and left. Izulen noticed that as much as they talked, nothing seemed to get said. The entire hold seemed as though they were trying to hold in a terrible secret. And everyone, he noticed, avoided Lord Shanol.
When Tiron and his group finished, they headed for the lake. Izulen followed them, borrowing a bathing cloth from Tiron. Nita and the other for girls were also there and, after a bit of prodding from Jheron, Tiron went up to the black haired one.
"Hey Ranna," he said to his shoes as he reached her, bronzed cheeks flushed with emberassment.
"Hey Tiron," Ranna replied and then turned away, cheeks flushed just as brightly as Tiron's. The other three girls made dissaproving noises.
"Oh hush up Aizra," Nita scolded the red-head. "You haven't said one word to Jheron and don't even waste your time trying to deny that you like him."
"I... I'm waiting for him to come to me," Aizra protested.
"Oh please," the blonde scoffed. "If you don't take him, someone else will. He's too thick to know you like him if you don't even give him a sign."
"And you've had such sucess with guys lately, Halani?" Aizra shot back.
"Mrow!" Serro hissed, clawing at the air like a feline. Jheron, Balir and Izulen chuckled until Nita shot them a deadly look.
"Nita! Would you lay off that boy?" Ranna chided her friend, smiling slyly at Izulen.
"She wants you," Halani informed him with a giggle.
"I uh.." Izulen stammered and then smiled at Nita. Nita glared and then turned away.
"She's just playing hard to get," Aizra assured him. "She's had her eye on you since you drove in this morning."
"And what she puts her eye on, she usually puts her hands on later," Halani purred.
"You two are going to scare him away!" Ranna scolded them. "And then Nita'll never have a chance at him."
"You three are just...just..." Nita struggled to find a word and then, making a sound of mingled annoyance and disdain, strode off. Aizra, Ranna, and Halani followed, calling after her.
Tiron clapped his shoulder. "Watch out Izulen, she does want you, but she's a dangerous one. Don't get too attached to her."
The boys lingered at the lake a while longer, skipping rocks and swapping stories about their work in the field that day. Their stories were as boring as the rest of the hold and Izulen left before he could fall asleep on the beach.
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