Yes the name was a joke on Sex and the City, why I did it I don't know because it's not even that funny.
Enjoy the chapter, it's slightly smaller than the last few chapters and the next chapter will a perspective switch. Feel free to listen to this video when we get to the inn scene, gives it some extra ambiance. Also I just learned how to add a horizontal rule so that's nice. If you read this on your mobile device no longer do you see long lines of dashes!
Next chapter will be Monday, sorry I didn't add one yesterday but I made a cake, attached here. It's nothing fancy but I made it >:D
The chapter has been edited (before posting for once!), Thanks sis!
Please enjoy and give any criticism or any spelling/grammatical errors in the comments!
Also if you'd like I'd appreciate any ratings, good or bad but I promise to take any criticism should you rate it negatively, but if you do rate negatively please tell me how I can improve. A 3 stars doesn't tell me what I need to do in order to satisfy you to make the story good for you, the reader.
----------------------------------------
Lightcross was build at the base of a rugged mountain. Its elegance was matched by the backdrop of rich, luscious fields which helped the pristine image which the city had put forth.
There were two large buildings which towered over the walls of the city and represented the two powers which controlled the kingdom. The first was the castle which was where the king met and presided over any problems of the country. It was much a capitol building as it was his home.
The castle had nineteen massive, angular towers which were seemingly random unless seen from above where you would see a shape of a star. They were built with the idea of defense in mind and were connected by high, solid walls made of white stone.
Tall windows were scattered here and there and around the walls in fairly symmetrical patterns, along with arrow slits for archers.
Three gates were on different sides of the castle to ensure a proper flow of traffic through the castle to reduce congestion but still too few to allow a siege on the castle without taking severe casualties.
There were remnants of the previous keep’s destruction by the frost dragon, called Frostbite by the survivors and descendants. Massive gray slabs of stone littered the field around the castle, creating a near artistic look of rocks instead of trees. These fragments of the castle, from before the Goldwater reign, lay as a testimony to the fragility of humanity. The new castle was built by the first king of the Goldwater reign with the idea of defense of the kingdom.
From a distance when one looked at the city just outside of the walls of the castle, the buildings were gothic in nature, with wattle and daub as the foundation with limewash to colour them the same as the white walls of the city with slate roofing.
The second major building of the city was the church. It was dedicated towards the God of light and charity Cylios. The church was open to all who would attend and it was based in the poorer parts of the city in order to make it easier for them to reach out towards those in need. From a distance it was resplendent, the domed roof of the church shining, reflecting the sun’s light off it’s polished gold surface.
The group rode towards the capitol, Death rode one of the packhorses into the capitol, the rations in the saddlebags long depleted from the burden of an extra person with them on their travels.
She had laughed when she saw the one given to her. It was tall and a light gray in colour. She couldn’t help but think she was Death arriving on a pale horse.
It was two hours after dawn and the city was in a bustle. Passing the main gate Death entered the city for the first time. There was a constant movement of people, large groups of people entering and leaving the city to get on with their day's work.
“How many people live here?” She asked Jourdain, who had kept her company for the duration of their travels. She found Jourdain was a well learned man who had knowledge of many things. He was always reading in his books. Had he not joined the military he would have been part of the magic school as a teacher.
“I’m not sure on the exact number but there’s upwards of three hundred thousand people in the direct vicinity, there are a few smaller villages just outside of the city which increases the population to just over four hundred thousand.” He said taking a moment to think about it.
She simply nodded looking around at the crowd. The majority of buildings were beautiful she thought but there were also shacks and burnt down buildings which looked like a pockmark against the beauty of the rest of the city. There was the stench of the city, a near rank smell of excrement and decay. It wasn’t directly visible in the main streets but seemed to be from the alleyways which managed to stay dark because of fabrics which hung from building to building above.
They passed the markets where the merchants were shouting out their wares. They moved slowly through the crowd on the main street that led straight to the castle and Ser Dannet fell back from the front of their party next to her.
“We’ll be leaving you here at the market. Here’s some coin to help you through but that’s all I can give you. It’s payment for directing us to the egg.” He said handing her a cloth bag that clinked with a few coins.
Death just nodded “Thank you.”
“I don’t want you leaving the city just yet, there are still a lot of questions that haven’t been answered and while I believe that you’re not a spy I still have to report finding you to my superior and king about my findings, they might want to question you.” He said.
He then gave her a larger bag of coin which started to clink when he held it out. “Here’s the payment for you sticking around. There’s a decent inn named the ‘Wyrm’s Fall’ three blocks from here which I want you to stay at so I can find you. It will pay for room, food, and keeping the horse at the stable for a day. I’ll send one of my men to pick it up from you tomorrow.
Remember, I want you to stay in the city. You can do whatever you want here but I want to be able to find you easily should my king command it.” He said forcefully.
Death just smiled and nodded, not really paying attention to him but instead started going through the pouches of coin, examining them closely to see the strange patterns that adorned them.
“Alright, alright three blocks from here.” Was all she said in reply waving him off.
Dannet was slightly speechless and thought she was slightly ungrateful and completely aloof. He rode back up to the front of the company and led them back to their barracks where they would clean themselves and take a rest while he would report his findings to General Tebald.
Death simply followed his directions looking around as she rode her horse down the busy cobblestone streets. She had a new perspective to look at people from. Before she was always around and able to see, nothing escaped her. She was able to see through a crowd of people and notice everything, but here there was only so much her eyes could take in.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
She took her time on the horse. The streets were wide and there was plenty of room for several wagons to go side by side. The bustle of the city continued all the way to the inn she was supposed to stay at.
Death didn't care for the king nor Dannets commands. She didn't feel like she was to be held to the laws of mortal men, though mortal she might be now.
She was curious about her coming here. She was consumed by the void then trapped in an egg for over three hundred million years. But suddenly she was freed and had the body of a human. It was too strange.
While taking in all of the sights of the city, she noticed there were few other races in the crowds. She had seen several dwarf merchants and their guards. Tthey were burly and were fully armed and armoured. They weren’t kidding around when it came to the firepower they carried, large halberds which towered to the height of Ansger who was the largest man she had seen, a good seven feet.
The dwarf merchants themselves were decent men themselves from what she’d seen, trying to entice the customers to look at and buy their wares just like any other merchant. They wore plenty of jewelry and sold a large variety of things from gems to silks. The merchants in the streets didn’t sell completed wares for the most part but instead materials and foods for other people to finish the product that they needed. There were stores which housed various blacksmiths and tailors.
Death went inside of one of the tailor shops in order to get some clothes. She only had the robe, a shirt and pants. The shirt, oversized for Death had come from one of Dannet’s soldiers. At Dannet’s orders, Elyse had surrendered a pair of pants, the two women being closest in size, much to Elyse’s dismay though she didn’t show it to Dannet.
The short time she had spent watching the people of Lightcross had given her an idea of what would fit her best and ensure she was treated with respect, if not awe. She had decided she would make some designs for the tailor to follow in order to get the clothes she wanted. The tailor measured her but promised to follow her specifications to how the clothes looked. It didn’t cost her any extra coin to get him to follow the design but she had the tailor make a contract which would let the tailor have the designs to the clothes at the promise that she would get one bronze coin per design that he made. It was a steal for the tailor, he saw the value of the clothes, they were less in materials but the beauty of their looks was apparent when he saw it.
Most clothes were cotton or linen. The shirts that men wore were long sleeved and generally drab in colour, white or stained from the sweat, dirt, and blood of their hard labour. In the city there were more colours, blues, greens, and reds were more prevalent with more colour in the clothing of those who were obviously richer.
The tailor promised to send her clothes to the inn when they were complete, and that was her next stop.
She arrived at the inn, it was a tall building three storeys tall and followed the design of the rest of the houses with lime mortar. There were stainglass windows and music and enthusiastic noses could be heard from outside.
The inn had a old oak door and a large sign above which gave it’s name ‘The Wyrm’s Fall’. Death saw that it was a warm place, a large fire was running with a pot over it for cooking food. There were three floors and the first and second floor were taken up mostly by the dining hall and food tables with a large bar at the back.
The tavern was nearly packed. Common folk seemed to be the primary clientele and probably the best clientele for the owner. Able to spend money but wouldn’t get in a fight for fear of the guards coming.
Several long tables were occupied by what seems to be entire families, all enjoying the food, drinks, and the company of each other. The other, smaller tables, were also occupied by people who seemed to be enjoying themselves a lot, perhaps too much, the men fondling women who sat on them as the women lavished them with kisses and sweet whispers. Even most of the stools at the bar are occupied, though nobody seemed to mind the company of a stranger.
Death sat down at an empty chair at the bar and a swarthy, portly man saw her. He finished pouring drink for another customer before approaching her.
“What can I get you, ma’am? I’ve not seen you around before. I got several rooms and for food and drink we’ve got mead, qeri mutton, and meat stew.” He said with a gruff voice, which seemed to have too many years of smoking.
“I’d like a room. What animal’s in the meat stew?” She asked.
He nodded and leaned in close “It’s pigeon but don’t be tellin nobody.” He whispered with a small smile.
“Well, I’ll choose the mutton and mead then please.”
Rumbling as cheerful of a yes he could muster, he walked away to get her drink, food, and room.
He spoke to an equally plump woman behind the bar in what Death assumed was the kitchen and she got a key out from her dress and walked over. “Here’s the key for the room, you have the coin for it I presume?” She asked.
After the price was negotiated and paid she was handed the key to the room. The room was small, hardly better than a bed, chest, and four walls, but it was completely safe with a door with a lock and an extra bolt for added security. She put her clothes in the chest which happened to be her only belongings other than the money paid to her by Dannet before returning to the dining hall.
She went back down to the dining hall and was served her food and drink. The mead was bitter but more pleasant than expected. She had never tasted food as Death so all food since her birth from the egg was a new experience.
A few hours passed, as well as a few glasses of mead. The tailoring wouldn’t be done until the next day so there was nothing much else for her to do except explore the city which she had planned on doing later with her new clothes. There were plenty of men who had attempted to win her affection, either with sweet words or drunken rambling but she declined them all and simply enjoyed the atmosphere.
The hall was getting slowly fuller and fuller with the dinner crowd coming in for an easy meal and even easier drink. She listened to the tales that the men spoke of their heroic deeds which were obviously done by somebody else when the door was crashed in.
“What do ye think you’re doing?” Asked Tamas the barkeep, whom she learned like to nurse a few cups of mead of his own when working.
Several men walked through the room while fully armoured. The matching armour they wore had a pointed helm with only a rounded nose guard as protection for the face. Attached to the top were rows upon rows of feathers, curving backwards from the tip of the helm. She thought they looked quite hilarious but noticed that they were leading an older nobleman with a red tunic and plenty of jewelry to go with it.
He looked around the room, stopped at her and simply pointed and said “Her”.