"The Elements welcome you to Primus City! Come pilgrims and the faithful! Come those who are adrift in this life! Come those who know the way! We welcome all with virtue in their core! The Elements welcome you to Primus City! Come..."
There was large gramophones placed all around the dock area, where at least ten other airships were loading or unloading passengers and exchanging cargo loads. The area was a swarming mass of busy bodies, humming like bees, the occasional shout or sharp burst of laughter could be heard. There was so much going on, I felt a little dizzy, but excited none the less.
We were standing in a queue to debark from the ship, a guard and a robed man, most likely a priest, checked papers and had people sign their city registers. I was startled when the man before us was stopped by the guard when the priest held up a hand with the mans papers.
"Please go with the guard, sir. Your energy aura is off, when you've been cleared, you may go on your way or you must return to the ship."
"What! My energy is not off!" The man got angry and started to aggressively move towards the priest to hit or threaten him with his clenched fist, but the guard took him down and another helped drag him off.
Bav gently nudged me forward when the priest turned his head to me. I step forward and hand him my papers. The Priest took them and never looked at them. He just stared at me.
I then realized, there was something off about his eyes. They look at me, but they are not focused on me.
'He's blind!?'
Bav leans forward and hands a thick piece of paper to him, "Priestess Amara, asked me to give this to you, regarding Mrs. Langridge, my wife."
The priest takes the paper, that's blank, and never breaks his gaze from me as he runs his hands over the paper. The priests brows furrow and raise in surprise and then a look of reverence covers his face while he looks at me.
'Why is he looking at me like that from a blank piece of paper? It's making me so uncomfortable!'
I shift my weight from foot to foot as the priest hands me my papers back and the blank paper to Bav.
"Mr. Fairchild, Mrs. Langridge. Welcome to Primus City. Please sign the register and enjoy your time here." The priest stands and bows to us both, making some people stare at us in confusion. It made me feel confused as well, so I could not hold it against them.
Bav ushers me along, taking my hand and thanking the priest. Our bags are given to us by the crew members and informed that we have a buggy waiting for us outside of the landing platforms gates.
Once out of earshot of the crew, I lean closer to Bav, "What was that all about?"
Bav smiles and merely states, "You'll see. I made some inquiries, those who could help, all sent me in the same direction. So here we are."
He says it so cryptically that I am unable to control my rolling eyes, annoyed that I'm still not getting an answer. Catching my gesture, Bav chuckles, but continues dodging and manuevrring the crowd as we make our way to the buggy.
Arriving at the buggy, the driver confirms our identity, takes our luggage and allows us to get comfortable in the seating. As we ride along the busy, bumpy, stone paved streets, I'm looking around in awe at the stone and brick buildings.
They were beautifully organic in design, with vining plants growing along the outer walls and appeared to be formed to flow with the area around it. Even with the exposed portions of brick, stone, and bits of metalwork, they all appeared to belong to the environment.
I peer at the people who seem happy, going about their business, who resemble most of the population on the first level of the works district. They are well fed and clothed, walking about with bags of purchases and no screams of thief or cries of any fall upon my ears.
I am noticing something seems out of place when the buggy slows down in front of a rather large building carved out of a part of high walled cliff that bordered a section of town. I wonder at the balconies that I count going up the cliff wall, shaking my head at fourteen and not bothering to continue. A light blue sign, above the entrance, states in gold letters, that this is the Primus Hotel.
A footman approaches from the doorway, in a blue vested uniform with brass buttons.
"Good day, may I take your bags, sir?" He asks as we step down.
"Yes, thank you." Bav lets the man take our bags and lead us inside of the carved cliff.
I imagined it would be dark inside with earthen floors and walls, but I was ignorant in my assumptions. Upon entering, my eyes widen at the white marble floors and light colored stone walls adorned with brass sconces and several large brass and crystal chandeliers that hung throughout, illuminating the lobby. The entire lobby was aesthetically pleasing to the eye and screamed opulence from every sparkling corner.
"May I escort you to your room, Mr. and Mrs. Fairchild?" Another uniformed attendant asked after Bav checked in with the hotel concierge.
"Yes, lead the way good sir." Bav says taking my arm in his as another attendant takes our bags to follow behind.
He leads us into a gilded filigree brass cage, pressing the button marked eighteen and turning the crank to close the door of the cage. A bell rang once the door was closed and we began our ascent.
"There are five lifts in this establishment for your use. This is the only one we ask our guests not to use, as it's the largest for peoples luggage. There are two on either ends of the main hallways, one is directly across from us on the other side of the staircase and two more located on the rear area of the establishment. We serve breakfast, lunch and dinner on the second floor in the dining hall, but you may use the talking tube and have it brought up to you at anytime." The attendants informational speech is interrupted by the ding of a bell that makes the attendant smile.
"Eighteenth floor, we're here!" he exclaims, cranking the wheel to open the door and allow us to exit first, to lead us down the right hall towards our room. He unlocks it and hands over the key to Bav, letting the baggage be dropped off in the room.
"If there is anything we can help you with, Mr. Fairchild, please let us know." He bows and leaves, leaving us in a elegant but simple room. It had a large bed set in between the two gauzy curtained doorways that led to the balcony, the bathroom could be seen to the right and a small sitting area with a table was right before us.
"So what are we doing here, dear?" I walk over to the bed and doors of the balcony, removing my gloves as glance out the windows at the view.
"We may rest for a short time, get changed, and go visit the people that are the reason behind this trip." Bav's arms encircle my waist, his lips moving against my ear as he speaks. "We will be spending the rest of the day with these people and heading back tomorrow morning to Lagford."
"How many days do we have left together?" I ask, trying to count how many days we've already used up. My heart clenches, beginning to ache at the thought of the loss of his presence soon.
" We have five before I must leave. Let us not think about that for now, my love. I want to enjoy every second we have until then." Bav squeezes me against him, breathing in deeply my scent through his nose.
Both of us are silent as we take in each others presence, the sensation of holding each other close. I turn in his arms and squeeze him tight against me, attempting to pull him into my body so he could not go. Unfortunately, the experiment was unsuccessful.
I sighed and stepped back, excusing myself to the bathroom where I could have a moment to myself. I took some calming breaths and gave the room a closer inspection. Looking at the large shower head that hung over the tub, I decided I would have to try it out.
I undress and turn the water on watching it fall from the ceiling and see other spouts start filling the tub. Taking the three steps into the tub, I'm enjoying the feeling of the warm water falling on my skin when the door opens and Bav walks in.
His eyes eat me up, like a ravenous beast, his chest begins to move rapidly, watching me as water falls over my body.
"I could not contain my curiosity at how this worked, I had to experience it myself. I will finish up and come out, I'm sure we need to hurry and get ready to go." I was curt with him, annoyed that the little time we have left together would be shared with others. It made the days go by quickly, making my emotions become torn inside of me. I had no desire to get angry and upset with Bav over these packed days, but I was feeling rather selfish.
I turn and grab the bar of soap that was on the side of the tub and began to lather myself up, facing away from Bav. I hated acting like this, but I did not wish for him to see the raw emotions that were building up in my eyes.
I lather my face and step under the water to begin to rinse off. My eyes flutter open and I nearly scream as Bav's face is right there next to me in the shower.
"BAV! You startled the life out of me!" I smack his arm as I clutch my chest, my heart beating rapidly under my hand.
"I could not control myself a second longer, you are the epitome of a vision of Venus right now." He purrs, still drinking me in with his eyes.
"Venus? Who's that?" I scowl at him.
"In some cultures, she's the goddess of love, she is incomparably beautiful, seductive, and you my dear, fit that description perfectly." His eyes snap up to mine and I feel my body growing hotter.
I step closer to him, placing my hand on his chest as I hum and ask him warmly, "If that is how you surmise me..... Should not I be receiving your worship?"