Chapter 15

We arrived in the village, There were houses built in the trees and on the branches. The trees supporting these houses were similar if not larger than the tree that I had tried to climb. It seems that they built platforms attacked to the branches in the tree with ropes so that people could pull themselves up or let themselves down using the ropes. Simple yet effective. There were also some red-brick houses built on the ground and Mathijs told me as he saw how I was looking around with wonder;

'There are more houses below ground, the ones here aren't that impressive though; the ones in the capital are much bigger and more impressive. I'll show them to you when we get there.'

I had read about the Tamarin cities but seeing it is a whole different thing entirely. Thus I didn't need to act surprised while I was genuinely surprised at how different everything was. It wasn't what I had expected to see of the people of the forest. We then stopped at what seemed to be an Inn where the two overseers ordered some food.

As the waiter came to take our order as we sat down at a table in the corner of the Inn. We were the only customers while it was still early in the morning I figured.

'I would like to order a sloan please.' said overseer A

'Ah, I would like the same' said overseer B. The waiter then looked to me.

'Uhm... what is a sloan?' I asked.

'Its a specialty around these parts; you don't seem to be from around here so you should try it. Its really good.' She said.

'Okay, I guess I'll be having a sloan then.'

'Well if all three of you are getting one I might as well get the same too.' said Mathijs with a grin on his face.

'4 Sloans!' the waiter yelled to the kitchen then with a friendly voice and smile 'anything to drink?'

'No thanks; we'll be heading to the capital so that won't be needed.' said overseer B.

The waiter then went to the kitchen.

'How far is the capital?' I asked.

'Its about 4 hour run from here.' said Mathijs. He grinned.

'I don't think I'll be able to run that far. I said.' worriedly.

'Who said we're going to run? We'll be taking the zip-line of course.' said overseer A; 'oh so you've never been to this jungle before?' asked overseer B as I looked at Mathijs grudgingly for scaring me like that. Then I answered the overseers:

'Nope, first time. I grew up amongst the dragoon riders as I'm sure you can tell by my armor. But because they have joined Jin in their effort to take over the world I fled. I did not want to take part in any war. So I came here but didn't know where to go and then I was ambushed by those thornwolverines.' I explained, the waiter had returned with our Sloans and gave each of us one. I stopped talking and was completely distracted by what was presented on my plate.

'Uhm... What is this exactly?' What I saw on my plate was a hot steaming sludge with what looked like frog-legs drifting in it. As royalty I was not too keen on eating frog-legs...

'That is Sloan' Mathijs said, he again showed off a stupid smile as he without a doubt had realized that I wasn't used to this... food? Not sure if I can even call it that. I kept staring at it as the others dug in making all sorts of gross noises.

Then with his mouth half full and a frog leg hanging half out of his mouth one of the overseers said: 'We were following Mathijs to make sure that he completed the trial of defeating a thornwolverine. Its been 2 months since he's started.' I couldn't help but look away and I did my best to keep my breakfast of before inside. The smell had also now reached my nostrils and it was horrid.

'I am sorry but I need to step outside for a bit.' I said as I stood up and walked away hunched over with a hand in front of my mouth.

The waiter came to me; 'are you alright? You look sick.' With a worried look she continued; 'Maybe eating some Sloan will help.'

I threw up; it seems I have a weak stomach for these things. The waiter kindly escorted me outside by the arm yelling to the kitchen to help clean up. After I was outside I sat down with my head between my knees. The waiter stuck around for a bit and signaled to Mathijs en the overseers that I was alright.

'Who are you?' the waiter asked;

'I'm Frank, you?'

'I'm Angela and why did the golden tower send you?'

'huh!' I looked up all surprised; 'how do you?'

'I am just good at noticing things, those metal devices in your coat; I saw them when you were all hunched over. It is also common knowledge now that Mys Tara and Boren who were the last traveling merchants were actually Ancients so another Ancient revealing itself wouldn't be very farfetched now would it.'

'ha.' I smiled; 'so that's how it is. Well I hope you can you keep it a secret.' I asked.

'Why?' she asked pulling a questioning facial expression; 'We like the Ancients, if those two would have come back we would have welcomed them immediately purely based on the fact that they are Ancients like you.'

'I am not an ancient; I'm a human.' I answered as I looked at her face which went from a happy questioning face to a distressed questioning face. I don't blame her. The humankind had wrought a lot of destruction and even after 20 years of peace in these borders the grudges from that time had not disappeared.

'Ah...' was all she could say then as she was thinking; 'Why should I keep your secret?'

'I was asked to come here by Boren and Mys Tara as per request of the Ancients. Now that the war is about to reignite on this front and I have come to prevent that from happening. To prevent war from reaching your people; So what you should be asking is: why should you not keep my secret.' I replied, I then breathed a bit heavier than usual. Did not know that I had that in me. I was very surprised by my own powers of persuasion.

'So despite all that why should I keep your purpose here a secret?' Angela replied unfazed by my powers of persuasion; the force is strong in this one. 'Well my purpose here ought not be a secret since it fits perfectly with my alibi of having escaped from the Dragoon Riders. Though I would prefer to reveal it myself.' I replied as I looked up to the trees above further contemplating on how I was going to go around doing that.

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Angela then said: 'Well as you know soon there will be another council meeting and all who have past the trial and have something to contribute to the council is permitted to attend. So I'll be heading off to the capital soon as well so if you need any help just let me know.'

My eyes widened as she spoke, it seems I've gained an important ally. From what I have heard there aren't a lot of Tamarin that have passed the trial so each and every ally that I could gain in the council would be a huge help towards furthering my message of non-aggression.

'Thank you!' I said with a big smile as Angela turned away due to the bad smell from my mouth.

'You'll have to wash out that mouth, let me get you something to drink.'

'But I don't have any money' I replied.

'No this one is on the house; don't want you to scare off any customers with that smell.' She replied with a smile as she stood up and went back into the restaurant.

I felt a lot better now. It was a welcome distraction from the nauseous feeling plus I was able to gather some valuable information. I had no idea that the Tamarin looked up to the Ancients like that. The humans in general are just too busy waging war and making weapons to really care about the other races, including the Ancients... That is until now. It seems like Jin has chosen to disregard the treaty of diplomacy isle where every nation was forced to sign a treaty to not involve other races into their war. I thought about it some more and I think I figured out what loophole they are using. As long as they don't fight in the war as an army its alright but ambushes and assassinations can't be called a war. The Dragoon Riders have proven themselves to be masters of ambushes and I am sure that these people of the forest are masters of assassination and information gathering with their stealthing capabilities. So even if this quest ends up going wrong and the Tamarin assist Jin, they will still not be accused of war-crimes.

I sighed and closed my eyes for a bit enjoying the morning sunlight that shone through an opening in the canopy on my face. The jungle turned out to be quite cold in the early mornings so it was nice to warm up a bit.

Then Angela came back out with a drink in a ceramic cup. It was red-brownish of color but it smelled nice. I had once heard that 70% of the taste is actually smell but then I did hear that from a perfume salesman who specialized in perfumes for food.

I had grown quite thirsty, besides the sausage I had nothing for breakfast since I left the golden tower and that little bit that I had eaten I had thrown up. The aftertaste of puke is also quite bad and it dries up the mouth and throat so hydrating is very important. It was a warm drink so I sipped it ever so slightly. Angela was still watching close by making sure that I liked it and I sure did like it. It gave a slight burning sensation in my mouth and throat and then filled it with warmth and comfort finished by an aftertaste of sweetness. It was kind of like honey but it didn't taste like honey and it didn't look like honey.

'What kind of drink is this Angela?' I asked as I looked up.

'Its a sugary substance that we harvest from the trees; do you not like it?' she asked as she slightly nudged her head to the side.

'No I love it, its great. If I had money I'd buy as much as I could.' I replied quickly and enthusiastically.

'That's good.' Angela said; 'Just don't over-drink or you'll get drunk.' she said as she turned around and went back into the store.

I was shocked, I had never drank alcohol before. I was still too young is what my father said. He also said that leaders ought not could their minds with alcohol telling us a story of a foolish king who did and thus led his kingdom to ruin. Later I found out that that foolish king was his own father. But I guess nobody here will notice that I am too young to drink due to this adult-like body. I thought as I looked down at my body. Plus alcohol affects ones bodies more if the body is small and my body is much bigger now so I think it'll be fine; I took another sip; and another. Then the Overseers came back out with Mathijs. Mathijs was still chewing on a frog-leg.

Overseer A:'We will be heading to the stables now, can you walk?'

I gulped down the remainder of the cup and said; 'sure I can walk' and I stood up. Shortly after I started flailing. It seems that drinking that much so fast had an unexpected effect on my body and mind. The world was turning and words seemed to weave together into one long humming sound. The colors became more lively and I felt as if there were no boundaries.

'I guess that is a no.' said overseer A.

Mathijs was grinning again and overseer B went back into the Inn and reserved a room for me to stay in.

He came back out with Angela.

'Please take care of him, we will come back to get him for the council so that he may complete the final part of the trial.' said overseer A to Angela.

'That won't be necessary, I am planning to attend the council too so I can take him there with me.' Angela replied.

I didn't catch any of that I just went along with whomever was pulling my arm. I felt tired and my eyelids felt like they were heavy like stones and thus I fell asleep. not the hunger.

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