Villa Cadentia

[Nat Candle]

It was an exaggeration to say it was a mere stone’s throw away from the dusty little bordertown of Cadentia, but legends both old and newly made were built on such things. Tucked away in the sands between Cadentia proper and the great desert, there wasn’t a memory long enough that recalled the structure ever being there before the first week of June but the more days that passed, the more time seemed to invoke a natural sense of belonging.

Weathered sandstone featured prominent in the property’s construction, from the modest heights of the walls to the squared and turreted surfaces of the building itself. Time and the elements had taken their toll but they did little to diminish the beauty of the desert villa or deny the notion that significant care still went into its upkeep, from the sand-scrubbed wooden walls to the verdant green bushes and palm trees. A water garden within the walls boasted various vegetation and a ready supply of Nile tilapia swimming within.

The villa’s interior possessed nothing in the way of modern amenities. No electricity. No gas. The various bedrooms, sitting room, kitchen, and bathhouse were all lit by glowing blue flames within glass globes set in sconces along the walls or suspended from ceilings. In contrast to the earthen tone of the sandstone walls, the villa’s interior was splashed with color. Rugs, tapestries, and divans were crafted with a diverse palette that made wide open spaces seem even larger, with patterns that seemed to be less artistic and more mathematical like archaic runes or, more specifically, wards. Periodically the patterns changed, a subtle shift only detectable from a wanderer’s peripheral vision. During those times, the only noticeable change in the villa is a freshening of the air, messes immaculately cleaned, and an unexplained restocking of the kitchen’s pantry.