60 Indecen

Despite what it might feel like, I was not actually salivating at the presence of plant energy. It is not like I eat plants, but the reaction was that instinctual. So I had to do my best to keep my excitement hidden when the carriage stopped in front of the house. The carriage shook a little as the footman jumped down to open the door for us. After we had alighted from the carriage, the footman ran into the house. If I remember right he was supposed to tell Jennifer, whoever that was, to prepare the guest rooms. Just as the footman made it to the doors of the house, the doors opened and an older lady stepped out. Though she was grayed and wrinkled she still stood straight and had an air of dignity about her.

The footman stopped in front of her and, after a brief exchange of words, the footman nodded and ran off into the house. The lady continued down the steps and stopped in front of us. "Did you have any better luck than I did with the apothecaries, My Lady?" She said with a small bow.

"The apothecaries in town were completely no help. It is just as you said Jennifer," Lillian said with frustration evident in her voice. "However, I did secure us the service of an herbalist that happened to be passing through town." Jennifer's face seemed to be frozen. I could see that she did not want to trust people that her Lady just picked up off the street.

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I thought now would be a good time to introduce myself. "I am Laurel and this is my student Leafia. My other student Emily is over there." As I finished talking I slightly bowed to her as she inspected my party. However once she got a good look at Leafia she froze.

"You secured the assistance of an elf?" There was some amazement in her voice.

"Technically she secured the assistance of my teacher," Leafia said. "I still have a long way to go until I reach her level."

Jennifer looked like she had a hard time believing it, but before she could say anything Lillian spoke up. "Let's continue this conversation in the parlor."

"I think that is a good idea, but first we need to figure out where to stable our horses," I said, trying my best to make sure we did not leave anyone behind. There were so many people in the place it was a little hard to keep track of them all.

"We can just have Edward take care of them." She gestured to the coach man. "Our stable has been mostly empty since my husband passed away. There should be plenty of room for five more horses. Lady Laurel, let the men deal with all your belongings. Let's hurry to the parlor so you can rest. We need to get you feeling better." I had started to grab what small baggage I had, but was quickly stopped. I guess I was still supposed to be sick, after all. I wish animals could heal faster. How long would I have to pretend to be sick?

I had not yet had a chance to regrow my clothes because doing so often caused a small shimmer of light to appear. Most people would not notice it in the day time, but in the fading evening light it would stand out. It was a little awkward when I had to refuse Jennifer's offer for them to take my cloak. But this time playing sick gave me a good excuse to keep it on. However, since I was still sick I was caused lay down on the couch in the parlor to 'rest'.

Since Istan was taller than me, the cloak I had borrowed from him usually reached all the way down to my feet. Few people had noticed my bare feet and most who did would not think much of it. But as I was laying on the couch my feet were exposed, which caused a gasp from Lillian and Jennifer.

"Why are you not wearing shoes and stockings? I would faint if I allowed a man to see me dressed as such!" Lillian exclaimed.

What was wrong with walking barefoot? I could not imagine a Dryad wearing shoes. Clothing was bad enough as it was. Cutting off my connection to the soil was something I would never dream of doing. But I could tell that I needed to smooth this over before it became a big deal. "I am sorry in my appearance has offended you. I have spent most of my life living in solitude in the forest. I am not used to formalities and the ways to properly present myself. I know I may be uncouth, but please forgive me, I mean no harm," I said smiling. "I am not in the habit of wearing shoes around my home and have not been able to get used to them since I left." That was not quite true since I did not ever think about shoes until I laid on this couch, but it would have to do.

My statement seemed to placate the two of them to the point that they were not affronted, but Lillian did say, "Jennifer, quickly grab a blanket for the lady. We can not leave her exposed like this in mixed company."

I smiled a little wryly as just when Jennifer was going to leave the room, Emily and the men were led into the parlor by a maid. Lillian started to get worked up trying to have the men leave the room before I was covered, but I quickly halted that. "Lady Lillian, it is alright, they have seen me like this many times as we camped on our travels."

Lillian stopped trying to force the men out of the room at my words, but stammered and seemed to be quite embarrassed on my behalf. However, Jennifer was not going to let the issue completely rest as she sent the maid out to fetch a blanket after she took the cloaks from the three that just entered. If this was the reaction I got for just showing my feet I do not want to think about what would happen if I did not manage to convince them that I needed to keep my cloak. Does this mean that I am not a 'decent' dryad since I apparently have never dressed properly in all my years?

I tried to keep my self moderately focused as there was another gasp as they noticed that Istan was also an elf. The shock was lessened since they already knew of Leafia's presence, but this did not stop them from being surprised. The three that had just come were invited to sit and offered gracious thank yous to Lillian for being willing to host us.