Ezo had spent the afternoon cleaning up for the appearance before the eques. After he received the summons, the tavern keeper offered the use of a bathing room for him.
“For both of us, I think,” Kammon said, tossing coin to the man for the use of the bathing room.
“You seem to have a lot of money to spend these days,” Ezo mentioned. Kammon had complained before about people not paying elementalists for their work, but he’d paid for Ezo’s room and food before Ezo could bring out his own coin purse.
“There was a reward for the bandits when I brought them to the jailor. I’ll give you your share once I’ve had a chance to count it out. Until then, enjoy the bath. The eques is rather prickly and will be offended if we don’t show up properly polished.”
Ezo rolled his eyes. “I might not have met a nobleman before, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to behave.”
Kammon laughed as he stood from the table. “Tonight will be entertaining, I think. I’ll have the tavern keeper prepare a carriage for us to the castle.”
He left the table and Ezo decided it was best to take advantage of the bath. He was led to a small room that held two large wooden bathtubs. They had been recently drawn and were still warm and he quickly undressed and settled into one. The warm water was a luxury he didn’t normally afford himself. He was used to bathing in streams and lakes as he traveled. The chance to soak tired muscles in the warmth was welcome and he relaxed in the heat and the soft scent of the lightly oiled waters.
When he was done, he went to his room and pulled the water from his hair. He used a wooden comb and worked through the knots, leaving it loose down his back, instead of pulling it into a leather tie as he usually did. He took his finest clothes out of his pack and set them out, brushing them as clean as he could. Thankfully they had been cleaned just before he left the players. He wasn’t sure it was grand enough for the eques but it was the best he had. Kammon would probably show up in his dusty jacket anyway, just to be disagreeable. If he didn’t drive Ezo crazy half the time, he might admire that quality about the man.
When the afternoon began to fall, he dressed and ran his fingers through his hair one more time. His boots were freshly cleaned and he wore his brown vest with his best green over-vest. He had a jacket but it wasn’t the sort of thing to wear to an appearance with a noble. Jaroh had warned him that some day they’d come face to face with a noble and he’d wish he’d bought a jacket for the occasion. He’d have to tell Jaroh, when he finally found him.
A sharp knock at the door told him it was time to go. He took a deep breath and looked himself over one more time before he opened the door.
“Damn,” he mumbled as he stepped out and saw Kammon waiting for him. The man was dressed in a dark gray jacket like usual, but this was a nicer jacket with black piping around the neck and edges. A brown leather utility belt encircled his waist. The other elementalist had a clean-shaven face and he looked well rested for once. He was breathtaking and Ezo found his mouth suddenly dry.
Kammon turned to look at him and his eyes widened. “Your hair!”
“What? Is something wrong with it?” True, not many people wore their hair as long as he did. In truth few women wore their hair as long as he did, let alone men. He liked it though and he wasn’t going to cut it to make some noble happy.
“Uh … no.” Kammon stammered the words out and Ezo might have worried except Kammon grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him along the hallway. “Eques Lestan tried to procure my services more than once and he isn’t fond of me. It's well known in his court. If someone says something, ignore it.”
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“Why are we going if you hate him so much?”
Kammon stopped walking and looked at Ezo. “You don’t refuse invitations from the nobility if you ever want to set foot in their lands again. Pramas might not be Dezra, but there is work for an elementalist here, and the best trade for weeks. It won’t hurt your reputation either. People will be speaking of you after this.”
“Eques Lestan doesn’t know anything about me and neither does his court. Why would they be talking about me?”
“They know you were with me when we delivered the raiders. That’s enough.”
“How is that enough?”
“Because I don’t suffer fools well.”
When Kammon grabbed his elbow again and began walking it dismissed any further questioning. They arrived at the front where a carriage waited for them. It was small and Ezo was reminded of why he hated carriages. Unlike Alvrey’s wagon, there was no space and his knees knocked into Kammon’s at every bump and dip in the road.
“Please tell me it isn’t far.”
He wished he’d paid better attention to the route when they came into the city. He looked at Kammon and squinted slightly. “Do you know the layout of all the cities you’ve been too?”
“Of course,” Kammon said as he looked out the window.
Ezo followed his gaze and saw a winding road that lead to the hilltop where the castle of Pramas sat. “Is that a soldier thing, or is that just you?”
Kammon looked over at him. “A bit of both, I think. Why do you ask?”
Ezo shrugged. “I was just thinking it’s smart to know the city before you go in. I tend to jump in without thinking. You seem like the kind of guy that plans everything out.”
“With backups, should I need them,” Kammon agreed.
It wasn’t long before they arrived at the castle and their carriage pulled to a stop. A servant opened the door and let them out into the fresh night air. On the hilltop, it was a bit chilly with the winds whipping around him. For a moment he envied Kammon the thick fabric of his jacket, but once they sat for dinner he’d be glad he didn’t have one.
Another servant came forward and led them through the courtyard and into the castle proper. Kammon walked with a stiff back and his hands held tightly behind his back. His eyes scanned the area constantly though. Even when they were going after the raiders, Ezo hadn’t seen such a level of hyper-vigilance in the former soldier. Ezo bit his tongue to stop the many questions he had from erupting. Instead, he took stock of their surroundings.
The castle was old and had obviously been around longer than the wall that surrounded it. The hallway was wide and decorated with expensive tapestries with small built in shelves to display vases and sculptures of different sorts. Ezo wasn’t an artist but he could see the quality in each piece as he passed them by. What he also noticed were that the servants that he passed by were in course cloth, many that had been mended multiple times. Whoever the eques was he cared more about his treasures than his people.
He wished it were an uncommon story, but it seemed to be the rule rather than the exception.
When they arrived at the great hall, they were announced, but there was no one at the table on the dias at the end of the room to notice them. Kammon looked at him and rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything.
They were shown to their seats and a glass of wine was poured for them as they waited for their host. More people were announced and Ezo watched as they were escorted to their tables. There were four tables in the hall, as well as the table for the eques.
“At least the wine is good,” Kammon said as he took a long drink.
Ezo picked up his own and took a sip, grateful for the chilled wine. He turned to look at Kammon, unable to hold back his questions any longer, but then something caught his eye.
“What are they doing here?”
Kammon caught his arm before he could rise out of his seat and Ezo leaned closer. “Mathis and Tamis are here! You said the players weren’t here.”
“That’s what I was told,” Kammon turned to look at the boys Ezo was staring at. Mathis was talking to a young boy close to his age and Tamis was sitting on the floor next to him, playing with a small dog that had followed the boy into the hall.
“We really do meet in the strangest places,” a voice said behind him.
Ezo turned and nearly knocked his chair over as he reached up and pulled the woman into a tight embrace.
“Alvrey! We’ve been looking for you,” he said as he stepped back. “Where is everyone?”
“Looking for you,” she said. She looked beside him and Ezo realized that Kammon had stood with him. “But you seem to have found some company of your own.”