I woke up early in the morning. There was some glowing ember in the fireplace, so the room wasn’t completely dark. Otho was still asleep, so I dressed in silence and tip-toed out of the room, carefully closing the door behind me. I descended the pitch-black stairs. Somehow I managed to make it downstairs without tripping. The tavern was empty, but you could still sense the stale smell of beer, wine and smoke. For a short time I was there alone. I pranced around the empty tables, searching for nothing in particular. I became hungry and as I was about to leave, the tall blonde owner with the big chest came out of the back room.

“Oh, you’re an early riser, aren’t ya?” she walked towards me and gave me a swift hug. “I’m afraid I haven’t introduced myself properly. My apologies, it was very busy yesterday! I’m Beta,” she said with a loud voice, with her palms on my shoulders.

“I’m Antonius,” I bowed my head.

“I love that name. A man who called himself Antonius broke my heart once. Lying bastard,” she sighed and released my shoulders from her grip.

“What happened?” I asked with genuine curiosity.

“He promised me he’d become my husband and then I found him in bed with my sister! Imagine that?! And he was Vetulonian!” she hissed the last word.

“Gods, that’s terrible!” I yelled.

“Yes, yes it is! And you know what's worse? I miss the bastard… I still think of him every day. And look, look! You see the grays in my hair? There aren’t many of them, yet, but they’re coming. What I’m trying to say is, it’s been years! And I can’t stop thinking of him. I’m crazy!” she waved her hands through the air.

“Well, I’m here now … A new Antonius, younger, fitter. And I promise you, I won’t be having any intercourses with your sister either.”

“Ha ha ha! Oh, sweet juices of Alena, ha ha ha! Oh, you made my day! Thank you for the offer, but you’re too book-wormish for my tastes. I prefer brutes,” she winked and me and smiled. “You want to eat?”

“Yes, please, I’m starving.”

“I’ll fetch you something. Go ahead and take a seat. Anywhere will do.”

I found a clean table and she soon came out of the kitchen with a tray filled with foods. Boiled eggs, beans, bread, fruits and some vegetables. Without care she dropped the tray in front of me.

I pointed to a yellow, juicy looking fruit: “What is that?”

“I forgot what it’s called. Elvish merchants started bringing them into the city not long ago. The fruit is from Solana, imagine that? Try it, it’s quite tasty.” I did and it was.

Solana was a large, mostly unexplored continent south of Helena. We knew little to nothing about it. Elves did some trading with its most northern kingdom, Kemet, but that's about it. The entire land was a mystery.

“So, any special plans for the day?” she asked while walking around, cleaning the tables.

“Yes, I must mail some letters, then visit the Temple of Alena, then the library.”

“You are a bookworm, aren’t ya? Why not visit some brothels, have some fun?”

“Well, I do intend to get drunk tonight, so… We’ll see where that leads us,” I said seductively and winked at her. Again she laughed, then scolded me for being so blunt.

“But I thought you liked them brutes!” I joked and again she laughed. After I ate I said goodbye to her and walked out to the dark street, illuminated by street torches. It was mostly empty. Beta gave me instructions on how to get to the post office, the temple and the library. While I walked I observed the buildings around me. They were of white bricks and not very tall. Some walls were embellished with obscene graffiti that made me laugh.

There were lots of cats in the city, something I hadn’t noticed at our arrival. Some came near me and I petted them. They purred with joy and then followed me around. It didn’t take me long to find the post office, a three story building with large dark brown wooden door. I entered and was met with a spacious chamber. One side was occupied with statues and small desks with chairs, the other with five tables, behind which sat five officials. Two of them were almost lying on their chairs, their legs stretched on the tables. They were joking about something. When they noticed me they stared at me with curiosity and frowns. They could tell I was a stranger. I walked to one of the tables and said:

“I have to mail a few letters. To Vetulonia.” They stiffened up and the two that had their legs on their desks put them down and became serious. That amused me.

“Oh, yes, Vetulonians, the whole city is talking about you. How was your trip so far?” the official whom I walked to, asked with a high-pitched voice, narrowing his eyes.

“Informative,” I answered and he grinned.

“You see, my dear colleagues? Discretion! Here you go, Vetulonian,” he handed me a few small bags with paper attached to them, a bottle with ink and an eagle’s feather.

“Put the letters into the bag. Write addresses onto the tag. Start with Vetulonia, than state the city, street and finally the name of the receiver. Bring the bag back to me and I’ll seal them.”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

I sat on a small chair at one of the desks that were intended for customers and followed his instructions. When I finished I brought the bags back to him and he tied them with care and then sealed them.

“Done, my dear Vetulonian.”

“How much do I owe you?

“Ten drops of silver.”

“That much? That’s a whole denarii!”

“I’m not trying to trick you. We’re a far way from Vetulonia,” he shrugged with his shoulders.

I sighed and handed him the silver coin, one denarii. He then weighed it and wrote a receipt.

“Those letters better come to their destination or I’ll be back for my money!” I joked and they all laughed. I left the post office and stepped back onto the street. The rising sun made the white buildings appear to be of orange color. I could see the Temple of Alena from where I was standing. It was located on a hill that overlooked the city. I walked towards it, got lost a few times, but in the end managed to get to the wide white stairs that led to the complex. The temple itself was surrounded by other smaller buildings. On the southern part of the hill, outside the walled complex, stood a large theater. It could accommodate ten thousand people, one fifth of the whole city population.

I climbed the stairs which led to the entrance. There were no guards. I glanced at the smaller buildings around the plateau. I wondered what their function was. I walked towards the biggest and most impressive building. A white square shaped thing of colossal size. It was surrounded with beautiful pillars that supported a part of its roof. There was a small group of children in front of the building. About twenty of them, accompanied by a beautiful woman of my age. She had dark brown curly hair and green eyes. She looked towards me and I approached.

“Greetings. Is the Temple open?” I asked.

She got confused for a bit and frowned. Then it came to her.

“You’re Vetulonian!” she smiled. The children stopped talking and started staring at me.

“I am,” I nodded.

“Oh… Yes, the temple will open soon, but you can’t just barge in. You have to be accompanied by a priest. You can join our group though, the tour will start soon… The priest should be out any moment now.”

“The tour?”

“Yes,” she answered, confused that I don’t know any of this, “He’ll show us the artwork, the statues and THE statue of Alena herself. It’s the most beautiful piece of artwork in whole of Helena!”

“Oh… Thank you.” I then stepped aside while she scolded one of the children who made faces at me. The priest soon came out of the temple. He was an older man, with a long white beard, dressed in a long, washed up brown robe. He had a sharp, unpleasant stare.

“Here you are! Ready for the tour?” he asked the group and then glanced at me.

“He’s a Vetulonian,” the teacher mumbled, rather awkwardly. I remained standing there in silence.

“Oh, yes yes, we’re happy to have you. Now, please, come all in and orderly! No loud talking!” He glanced once again towards me and then headed inside and we followed. The Temple was beautiful, a true work of art! The way the light entered through the upper windows and illuminated the interior was magical. The statues were the best I’d ever seen, very detailed and life-like. The paintings on the wall depicted important moments of their people’s history. They were enormous and beautiful. There were seven of them. The foundation of the alliance of the five cities by the founding father. The tyrant king. The invasion of Vetulonians. The falling star. The long winter. The civil war. And the reign of Alena, who defeated the old war monger kings and installed the rule of women.

“Children, you love your mothers, don’t you?” the priest asked the kids.

“Yes! Yes, we do!” they answered over each other.

“Everyone loves their mothers. That’s why it’s only natural for women to lead. Men’s temperament is too volatile, although like in every matter, there are exceptions.”

We then went to the next chamber that contained the statue of Alena. She was depicted sitting on a throne. The statue was enormous, almost thirty steps high. It was made of white marble stone but colored and decorated with gold, gems, silver and mammoth’s ivory. Her expression was serene and in one hand she was holding a spear made of gold and in the other a book. I stared at the statue for some time.

“A splendid sight, you must agree, Vetulonian,” the priest crept up on me, whispering to my ear. I found his ambush quite unpleasant.

“It is, it’s marvelous.”

“They do sell pictures of it in the gift shop, right at the entrance,” he started hustling.

“Oh, that’s nice.”

“How was your journey so far?” he inquired with a curious expression.

“Informative.”

“Will it come to war? The League aren’t the friendliest of the lot. They don’t like the fact women rule in Alena.”

“I truly can’t say. Let’s hope it won’t,” I tried to cheer him. He sighed, tapped my shoulder with his ancient palm and walked away. I soon left without saying goodbye to the teacher who was busy with the kids. I descended the white stairs back to the city.

My next stop was the library, which was in the heart of the city, very close to a large fountain. The building itself was very plain-looking, both outside as well as inside. Long shelves with books and scrolls. I went to the section where they sold history books. There I browsed around and finally decided on the biography of Alena. The book was thick, with beautiful leather covers with an image of Alena. It cost me five silver drops, half of denarii. Quite pricey.

By then I was starving and decided I’d head back to the tavern and eat something, which I did. The tavern was more or less empty and Beta swiftly put together a warm lunch for me. A stew, with some baked potatoes with chicken meat and some lettuce. For dessert she offered me a cake made of berries.

“Where are my friends? They can’t still be sleeping?” I asked Beta as I was finishing the cake. She was sweeping the floor, yawning as she moved around.

“Oh, the girls got up not long after you. I fed them and they left for somewhere. They didn’t talk much. The boy got up after them and left without eating. He seems so moody! And the third girl ate and went back to her room. Why don’t you spent some time with her, show her around the city! She seemed quite sad. Who is she?”

“She’s the niece of the Vetulonian ambassador to the League.”

“Where are her parents?” she demanded to know.

“How should I know?!” I defended my ignorance.

“Well, go on then! Show her a good time. That girl is sad.”

“I have to empty my bowels first!” I protested, half-joking.

“Alena’s cunt, go and empty your bowels, then show her a good time!”

I laughed and left, while she jokingly threw a dirty rag in my direction. I climbed the stairs, went to the hygiene chamber and did my business. After that I decided I should take a downpour. Afterwards I knocked on Atia’s door.