Chapter 45 - Dulsalies
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The trip didn't end up being too bad in the end, a bit boring because the guards assigned to me never seemed to like talking much, but all in all it could have been worse. By the second day I had recovered enough to be able to move around and use magic normally, which allowed me to contact Raziel. She was definitely not happy when she heard what happened the previous days, especially the way Zeina greeted me. Most of all, though, she was happy to finally hear from me and know that I was fine.
As for my companions, when I went to talk with Holiés he started rambling about how the valkyries treated him, to which I simply answered that not every slave owner is as awesome and understanding as me. The horses on the other hand had no complaints, on the contrary they seemed quite happy to be free from any load, for once.
In the end, the whole trip to Dulsalies ended up taking five days, which was more than I expected considered the fast response of the valkyries after I contacted Raziel. Then again, there was no hero to save this time around.
The Valkyries themselves didn’t take us all the way to the city, but stopped at a monastery on a hill just over it. The monastery was impressive because of its size but pretty unimpressive in its architecture, probably deliberately. It mainly consisted of a grey wall about four meters tall, with a heavy steel gate. Behind the open gate, a building in the shape of a squared “U” could be seen facing the internal yard. The building was made of grey stone too and had slits for windows and a flat roof.
In the yard various groups of women were busy either training in various ways, from running and muscle training, to sparring and magic practice; or going about their daily activities. A group of women not wearing armor, when we finally got near enough, came towards us to help unload the carts.
As her women did the heavy work, Zenia came to me and said, “I think this is where our ways part, hero Fortuna,” giving me her hand.
“Yes, we each have our duties, after all,” I said, shaking her hand.
“It is as you say. I hope your stay with us wasn’t too unpleasant.”
“Oh, please, not at all,” I said, smiling, “just… I’d avoid going to the capital for a while if I were you.”
“Why is that?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Just a hunch,” I said, before mounting on my horse to leave.
“Oh and… just another hunch,” I said, still smiling, “but I think you should be careful for what you wish for in the near future.” Having finished our farewells I spurred the horse forward, not before leaving the yellow-eyed girl a small gift.
When I and Holiés finally passed the monastery, we were able to take in the full sight of the city. A large agglomeration of tightly packed, white and grey houses with flat roofs enclosed inside a stone wall was on the right side of the river that ran all the way from the capital to the sea. Squares and buildings bigger than the rest broked the otherwise monotonous sight here and there, while a port with hundreds of ships coming and going sat by the sea near the river.
On the other side of the river from the city, instead, there was a military fort with wide earth walls covered in bricks that reminded of the star forts on Earth. It too sat next to the sea and had a harbour well protected from both the elements and possible attacked, and inside said harbour, dozens of warships were stationed and ready to depart.
The most impressive feature of the city, though, was a massive chain that ran just over the surface of the river from two towers, each about fifty meters from the banks of the river. Small vessels could be seen travelling from the two ports to the inner part of the river passing in the small corridor between the towers and the banks and going from one side to the other of the river.
“That’s… a big chain,” Holiés said next to me.
“That it is.”
“You don’t seem too impressed by it,” he said with an inquisitorial tone.
“I’ve seen my fair share of chains like that. Though that’s thicker than what I’m used to.”
“Way to ruin a moment,” he grumbled.
“Oh, come on, I’ll buy you a painting of it from a street artist to bring to your sister.”
“Really?!”
“Yes, of course…” I grinned, “but only if you’re good and do what mommy tells you.”
I spurred the horse forward while laughing, as Holiés ran after me cursing at me.
Stolen story; please report.
We reached the front of the gates of the city after only twenty minutes with the horse running as they were. In front of the gates a long queue of people were waiting for checks by the guards, but we just passed by them and went straight for the gates.
When we were close enough, two guards came our way. When they saw me, the two appeared visibly nervous, but they tried their best to keep their professionalism and one of them asked, “halt, who are you and what matters do you have in Dulsalies?”
“Baroness Fortuna Tullius and her possessions. I’m here for touring and as part as my training as hero of the Holy Kingdom.”
I saw one of the other guard gulp while the first said, “we’ll need proof of your identity.”
“Sure,” I said, producing my badge from my storage.
I showed the guard the red badge and he immediately bowed. “I am sorry for the impertinence, Lady Fortuna. Please, come this way.”
We followed the two guards and soon we were on the other side of the gates, having skipped all the long queue.
“I wish you a good time inside Dulsalies, Lady Fortuna,” the guard said, bowing once again.
“Thank you,” I answered with a smile.
Having finished with the short border control, we set off to explore the city.
The buildings right after the gate already presented the white and light grey colors I saw from far away. From close up I could finally see that the buildings were made of stones cut like bricks and put together with mortar. Every single building seemed to be built off of the same stone, probably abundant near the city. The scenery created by that was somewhat confusing and almost surreal. Despite that, the light colors, coupled with the bustling of the city and the small breeze that brought the smell of the sea all the way to the outskirts of the city, made the scenery give some sort of relaxing feeling, probably aided by the perfectly blue sky over our heads.
Hearing more people coming behind us from the gates, I commanded my horse forward and started going down the large road, with Holiés behind me.
Only a few minutes had passed when my nose was filled with the smell of fried fish, and I spotted a street seller dipping large amount of fish in a pot full of hot oil. Needless to say, I immediately went towards him.
“What are you doing?” Holiés asked me.
“Getting some fish,” I answered as a matter of fact.
“It’s not been a while since we ate though.”
“Who cares? It’s fried fish. I haven’t gotten some decent fish since I came to this world.”
“Why does it sound so dirty?”
“I don't know, maybe you should wash yourself a bit more down there,” I said with a small giggle.
“Hey! I…” he sighed, “you know what? Nevermind, let's go get this damn fried fish.”
“That's my boy.”
I heard another sigh from him as I got closer to the street vendor but just ignored it.
“How much for two portions?” I asked the man who was concentrating on his task.
He looked up to me and, when he saw me, jumped back a bit. “Ehm… Twenty coppers.”
I tossed him two coins and he nodded, before taking a slotted ladle to take some of the frying seafood and put it in two small bags of rough hemp. Holiés then came forward to take the two bags, to the relief of the vendor who obviously preferred not having to deal with me. Holiés gave me one of the bags and we resumed our tour.
Following the large road we soon arrived to a large market square bustling with activity. Two large buildings, which seemed to be the adventurers guild and the merchants guild, faced each other on opposite sides of the square. From the square itself six roads departed, three going back towards the walls, and three going further in in the direction of the sea. Deciding to keep a tour of the market for later, I kept going south towards the sea.
It didn’t take us long on horseback to finally reach the shore. Ships and boats of any kind and size were maneuvering to either leave or enter the port east of us from any direction. Right in front of us was a promenade that seemed to go from the port all the way to the limits of the city. People of any kind were walking here and there, either for leisure or for work. I spotted a bench and decided to just relax a bit in front of the sea.
I tied the horse and went to sit on the bench, with Holiés following me, quiet as he too took in the view around us. I sat on the bench and bit into a fish that resembled a goatfish for size and shape.
Taking in the gentle breeze of the sea, I said, “it sure is nice here.”
“Indeed. Maybe we could finally relax a bit, for once,” Holiés, who had sat next to me, said.
“Oh come on, you say it as if there is always something happening around me.”
“Yeah, you’re right, it’s not like since I met you I found myself facing more deadly monsters than in all the rest of my life, ended up in a city under siege by an army of treants, or spent three days in front of a vampire hideout while those same vampires wanted us all dead.”
“Oh yeah, it must have been really hard for you to spend the day in that brothel or giving me food and water while I kept the barrier up,” I said after swallowing a piece of fried squid.
“Ok, ok, I get it, I have no right to complain about that,” he said, waving around what looked like a fried anchovy.
“It’s good that you understand.”
“I’m still going to complain about that time with the vines though.”
“Oh, come on, it wasn’t that bad.”
“I couldn’t sit for a full day after that! How is that not bad?” he shouted.
I just giggled a bit as I bit into another fish.
“Anyway,” he continued, “my point still stands. You’re like a magnet for weird shit.”
“No, I’m not. Those were just coincidences,” I said, waving the matter away.
“Sure…” he said, going back at his portion of fried seafood.
That’s when I felt it. Just like the seafood had grabbed the attention of my nose before, making me crave for it, something was grabbing the attention of my very soul, making me crave for it as if it was a rare delicacy.