Ancient Thought by Viola Grace (books for 6 year olds to read themselves .txt) 📕

greet her when she arrived, and that makes me her host. She is hungry.” He chuckled and ate a piece of fruit. “Very hungry.”

Libby spluttered the sip of wine she had just taken, looking at him with narrowed eyes.

He smiled innocently and fed her an apple slice dipped in honey.

Mathla frowned. “You have not allowed a visit.”

Libby chewed and swallowed then held up the crystal. “He offered a memory.”

Mathla stared at them and narrowed her eyes. “What is it?”

Libby held her hand out. “It was his first remembered storm. It is quite something.”

Mathla took the crystal and pressed it to her forehead. Her eyes widened while she watched, and she moved the crystal away from her forehead when the viewing was done. “That is... wonderful. Thank you, Yelfon.”

Libby was snacking with a vengeance.

Yelfon looked from her to Mathla, and he spoke in a deadpan voice. “This one is never satisfied.”

Mathla walked up to them and extended the crystal. “Please, give this to Kiol in the morning.”

Libby smiled. “Yes, Your Eminence.” She took the crystal with sticky fingers and tucked it away.

She licked at her fingers, and she could see that Yelfon wanted to do it for her.

Aloth was sobbing softly and curled up.

Mathla asked, “Will he be all right?”

Libby shrugged. “It depends. If he was convinced that his attentions were welcomed, he will be furious. But, if he knew that he was caught doing something wrong and accepts that portion of it, there is hope for him. I am just hoping that no other visitor is treated that way. I have nothing against a good seduction, and I might have found him intriguing if not for... reasons.” She flicked a look at her host.

Yelfon grinned and tossed a date into his mouth. She sighed and shifted in place. She should have been exhausted, but her body was rallying again.

She took a handful of snacks and looked to Mathla, “So, aside from the Hirn blundering in, did I miss anything?”

Mathla was eating, and she grinned. “No. You only missed a Simurgh streaking through the sky for the first time in centuries.”

Yelfon murmured, “I was in a hurry.”

“Yes, that is what we surmised.” She chuckled. “Luon explained your communication. So, how did you know that she was in danger?”

Yelfon continued to eat his favourite bits. “Instinct, and I bonded to her when I acted as her host on her arrival. It lets me know if she is agitated or unwell.”

She looked at Mathla. “I was agitated. I had been warned about Aloth by a few of the ancients. Two were guys, so they weren’t his type, but they knew about it. This is a pattern of behaviour, and it is unfair to send prey to him in such a manner.”

Mathla nodded. “His access to women will be curtailed.”

Libby frowned. “That might not be the best way to continue. He needs to apologize to the women he took advantage of, and he has to be sincere when he does it. If he does not want to ask for their forgiveness, he should be banished and brought out when all of the women he targeted have passed on. One or two hundred years, and he should be ready to rejoin society.”

“What if he chooses to apologize?”

“If they accept it, they become his tutors and share their version of the incident so that he understands what they felt while he rolled over their free will. He donates his memories as atonement. If they don’t accept his apology, they will simply be assigned duties so that they do not see him again. There will usually be a split.”

Mathla frowned. “I can also remove the incident from their minds.”

“If you do, you have to remove it from Aloth as well. Seeing yourself in someone else’s mind is disturbing, to say the least.” She shivered.

Yelfon looked at her. “I can kill him if you like.”

She shook her head. “No. He’s a living treasure, so to speak. As are you, Ancient Yelfon.” She bit her lip as his eyes darkened with displeasure at the title.

Mathla looked at the two of them. “Has something occurred between you.”

Libby glanced at Yelfon and shrugged. “To be frank, Mathla-Luon, I have simply taken advantage of his hospitality. He helped me relax after the incident, kept me safe, and then returned me to the monastery.”

Yelfon coughed at her summation. “She was very tense.”

Mathla frowned, and then, her eyes widen. “Oh. Luon explained that. So, you two...”

Libby continued eating. “Spent a very educational afternoon together. I am now satisfied, and he has satisfied the requirements of hospitality.”

Yelfon smiled. “For now. Should her need arise again, I am happy to offer my body to her service.”

Libby’s cheeks caught fire. She nibbled at some roast fowl and looked at him. “Um. Thank you?”

He inclined his head, and she finally was able to take him in. He favoured leather trousers and boots, an open vest in lieu of a shirt, and there were tattoos moving under the skin of his chest. As she stared, the Simurgh appeared and made a slow circuit on his chest before it vanished in smoke. His hair was surprisingly dark and bound in thick silver clips down his back. It was either red or purple, depending on where the light struck it. He was just missing shades of green to become a type of bipedal and muscular peacock.

He looked at her, and his eyes narrowed. “What is that smile on your lips?”

“I was analyzing the colour palette that you are made of. You remind me of a colourful bird from Terra, in your shades only.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Which one?”

She cleared her throat and murmured. “A peacock?”

He looked at her and snorted. “What does that make you?”

She looked at her skin and shrugged. “A pigeon?”

He smiled. “Surely, a peahen.”

“Ah, that would imply that we are a matched pair, and peahens are a very charming and tepid brown.” She smiled. “The only white bird that I am used to is the pigeon, perhaps a