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.Look at how wide it is at the base.It was meant to hold weight."Blind Seer scratched vigorously behind one ear."If you say so, dear heart," he replied."Humans pile rock on rock to make their lairs as no othercreatures do.However, I have not made a study of how they manage to keep them from tumbling over.""I have, a little," Firekeeper admitted."When last spring brought us to New Bardenville there was much talk of thebest ways to build both in rock and in wood.I listened because I thought such lore might someday be useful formaking some small lair of my own.""Females and nest-building," Blind Seer laughed."Why not just dig into the earth as our mothers do?""Perhaps because I lack strong front claws," Firekeeper retorted, feeling very strange at the turn the talk was taking."In any case, my fires cannot breathe well beneath the earth.I thought more to build a house for them than for myself."Blind Seer rose and shook, scattering bits of leaf and dirt to all sides."Clever," he acknowledged."Come, let me show you some of the places where these humans built lairs to housetheir fires.The weather has done much to wear them away, but interesting scraps remain.""Lead," Firekeeper replied."This has been a good hunt so far."She followed the tip of Blind Seer's tail as he moved with silent sinuosity over the broken ground, slipping betweenheaps of rock that were now clearly identifiable as broken building material.Most was the local rock, broken to sizeand often showing remnants of the mortar that had held it in place.Occasionally, however, there were scraps ofenameled brick such as that which was common on the mainland.There were also remnants of stone carved intoelaborate borders, often found with polished if mostly broken tiles.Firekeeper wanted to stop and look more closely at these things, perhaps collect a few more shining scraps as bribesfor the ravens, but Blind Seer urged her on."Come.This is nothing to what lies ahead.This is mouthing at a hank of rabbit's fur hanging on a bit of bramblewhen you might have its hot meat."Firekeeper laughed at the image, quickening her pace to match Blind Seer's, nor was she disappointed when he ledher through a tangle of honeysuckle and wild rose into the remnants of what must have once been a beautiful room.The roof was entirely gone, but the angle of the two walls that still stood had protected the interior from all but themost direct precipitation.Honeysuckle and rose made such a solid barrier on the sides where the walls had almostcompletely collapsed that for a moment Firekeeper entertained the idea that the wild flowers were somehow protectingthe shell of the room.Then she saw without fancy.Far from protecting the remaining room, the honeysuckle and wild rose had contributed to the collapse of thestonework walls.Perhaps some day long, long ago the humans who had built this place had planted the floweringvines along the outside of the wall.Firekeeper had seen this done in many places, the flowering vines treasured fortheir scent, for the shade they cast, and even for the birds they attracted near.Had this room then been a lady's bower? The quiet retreat wherein the lady of the house came when the summerheat grew too intense? Had it been a study or an eating room? Firekeeper felt fairly certain it had not been a kitchen orlaundry room, for the two walls that remained were designed for beauty, not mere practicality.Grease stains were surely never meant to accumulate here, nor steam and soap scum to dim the elaborate borders.Firekeeper raised the lower edge of her shirt and used the fabric to rub away the dirt that clung to the walls.BlindSeer watched with curiosity."What do you see there, Firekeeper?"Firekeeper continued her cleaning, wishing for a bigger piece of cloth and a bucket of warm water."The wall is decorated with pictures made from small bits of stone or glass or tile," she said."We saw the like inNew Kelvin.Such work is very time-consuming to do, or so I understand, and not so common in buildings unless theowner is very rich.""What is pictured?" Blind Seer asked."I can't quite tell," Firekeeper admitted."Here are flowers, certainly, though as with many of the things humansdraw, I cannot tell for certain what type of flower.Birds, too, though I am not sure about the type of bird a robin,maybe, though the red may simply be mold."The wolf came closer so that he might look, and bumped his head against her arm."Do you like it?" he asked, and Firekeeper thought he sounded a bit tentative, even shy."This place is very interesting," she assured him, reaching so she might embrace him."I am learning slowly tounderstand the fashions in which humans do their decorations, and I think you are right.There is something here thatdoes not seem like what we have seen in New Kelvin
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