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Chapter 33 Katrina lounged around her new room until her stomach began complaining of hunger, loudly. Curious about the rooms on her wing, she threw doors open and glanced inside. Four doors led to rooms that were smaller versions of her own. A fifth door, the last on the hall, led into a grassy meadow visited by a gentle breeze. Katrina wandered through the hall and into the circular entrance to the common area. She strolled through one of the gray doorways closest to her red. It opened almost immediately into a large room filled almost entirely by a triangular table and ten high backed chairs. The next doorway over was a hall leading to what appeared to be a kitchen. The walls were lined with cabinets, counters, and windows looking onto the same meadow she had seen minutes earlier. Cha-Lee and a female Caminee, just inches shorter than the tall, dark-skinned and light-haired Cha-Lee, stood behind a butcher-block center island. They both turned as Katrina entered. “Finally decided to show your face, did you? Or should I say, your mask?” The woman’s words were deliberately cutting and hurtful. Cha-Lee gave her a warning look but nothing more. Katrina’s fingers moved to the thick leather of the mask Madame Zinkrey had forced on her within hours of Katrina’s arrival at the boarding school. She had actually forgotten about it. It had become as much a part of her as an arm or her hair. She felt safe behind it, as though it toughened her skin or shielded her from the hardships life would undoubtedly throw at her. “We expected to see you at dinner,” Cha-lee said casually, “over an hour ago.” “I didn’t know,” Katrina looked at each in turn. “No one told me.” “You need to make an effort to learn these things. This Tri does not work by sitting everyone down and explaining every little detail to them. You are now a part of something larger than you have ever known before. If you are to be an equal part you must act as such, rather than expecting all to be brought to you.” Katrina’s mouth dropped open as she stared at the two Caminees. Both just stared back at her. Katrina, at a loss for wards, turned and left the room. Behind her the female Caminee shouted an order for Katrina to arrive on time for meals and without her mask. Katrina just kept walking. She ignored the other gray doorways and passed through the green in search for Xenritha. The green wing was nearly identical, in layout, to the red wing. The only difference was that the door leading out of the Tri stood on the opposite wall. Katrina tapped softly at the green double doors and Xentritha answered nearly instantly, calling for her to enter. The green chamber was split vertically rather than horizontally. The wall separating the bedroom and sitting room, immediately to the left of the double doors, was closed. The sitting room walls were decorated with long panels of rich, green and silver fabric that hung from the ceiling and pooled on the floor. The stone floor was nearly entirely covered with a thick, gray and green rug that felt warm and soft under Katrina’s bare feet. A simple white ceramic bathtub sat empty in one corner of the room while a large, foam-filled fabric cushion rested in the center of the room, directly below the room’s only light source. “Learning your way around?” Xenritha asked from his seat of the cushion, not bothering to open his eyes. “Some,” Katrina conceded. “Do you have any food?” “Want to talk about it?” Xenritha produced a bag of dried meat and berries and tossed it to her. “Cha-Lee and his woman aren’t happy with me,” Katrina said as she opened the bag and popped a few pieces into her mouth. “I guess I broke some rule or something.” “Don’t take too much offense. Cha-Lee wants to toughen you up some. He worries you’re not up to the challenges of our lives. Siri is intensely possessive and jealous, believing any female that comes in contact with Cha-Lee is trying to steal him from her. It is nothing personal but don’t expect to befriend her, ever.” “Great.” “Cha-Lee will calm down before too long. He was extremely fond of you predecessor. He was a harder, stricter teacher than I am. The two of them were so alike of mind and temperament that I saw no reason to interfere with young Cha-Lee’s training. Having to live with the man he grew into, I wish I had. He took his death hard, but he sees a way to resurrect him, in you.” “Lucky me,” Katrina groaned. “How long will it take for him to realize his mistake?” Xenritha opened his eyes and chuckled. “Keep being yourself and it won’t be too much longer. He’s already beginning to see it, he’s just hoping to change that.” “So I have one Caminee trying to change me to fit his memories of a dead man and another believing I’m chasing after the first.” “Come on, I’ll walk you through the rest of the Tri, excluding the blue wing, of course. You’ll need an invitation for that, not that there’s much to see. You’re always welcome in the green wing, though, it’s just me here. I can always use a visitor.” “Thanks, Xenritha.” Xenritha led Katrina back to the common area of the Tri as he gave her a brief overview on the history of the Tri. It was the only original Tri still standing and predated any other settlement on the planet. The building originally consisted of what was now the green wing. A few hundred years later it was expanded to include the common area then the other two wings. The Zanespots of the Tri had included beings from all over the galaxy, including two different aquatic species. More than one translator droid had been necessary because it was physically impossible for one or more Zanespot to be understood. More than two hundred offspring had been born or raised at the Tri and never had outside help ever been hired. Three quarters of the Zanespots of the Tri had died there and one quarter of others living there had also. The Tri had housed more than three-dozen species of pets and up to fifty at any one time. “This is the training area,” Xenritha said as they stepped into a vast chamber where their voices and steps echoed. “Every weapon known to Force wielders of any sect hang on these walls. You will master each and practice daily. Though Zanespots carry no weapons we use them when we have to. You will also be responsible for the cleaning, repair, and regular maintenance for each, as we all are.” Katrina nodded her understanding as she took note of the various heavy, light, shiny, and dull objects scattered around the room. Xenritha nodded his satisfaction with her response and showed her into the next room over. It was a decently decorated and furnished office and the only room in the common area with a door. “Finally, but not least,” Xenritha said proudly as he led her into a circular room where tall portraits hung alternately with long, thin windows, “the elders room. Here hang the images of every Zanespot this Tri has ever known.” Katrina looked at each in turn, stepping slowly from one to the next. Her mind recognized none of the faces but part of her found each familiar. Only when she came to the last one did she stop and stare. A woman with pale skin and wrinkles at the corners of her eyes looked down at her. She wore the Zanespot’s traditional gray robe with the red beads of the Zanespot of the past, but the red and black striped hair and gold-ringed gray eyes held Katrina’s attention. “I have never understood the technology,” Xenritha said from behind her. “Everyone sees something different. Only death sets the image and makes it permanent, so all see the exact same image for all time.” |
