At last they arrived at Fusdown. It had taken nearly four months and it seemed longer to Nedric. The capital of Nothering had been his destination for so long that arriving seemed almost an anti-climax. Of course there was the minor matter of rescuing Elsebeth but after the journey this was going to be easy.

The city was nothing like what Nedric had been expecting. He had expected it to be dirty and smaller than Setherland with buildings in disrepair. His first sight of the city took his breath away.

The buildings were almost entirely made from a white marble that glinted with reflected sunlight and immediately made the place feel warm and open. They ranged in shape from large towers with points, copulas and crenulations to small neat buildings with two storeys, often with shops on the lower floor. There were large buildings with imposing statuary outside, mainly showing the gods or wild creatures. Fountains were common and ranged from the small and ornate to the large and gaudy.

As well as the cleanliness, Nedric was struck by the size of the city. For the previous few days they had been travelling through vast acres of farmland and he had been wondering how there could be a food problem in the country. Seeing how huge the city was, he began to imagine the problems in feeding such a large populace.

After gazing at the buildings it took him a while to realise the numbers of people inhabiting the place. It wasn’t that they were meeting huge crowds. Although he would later visit places where the numbers of people were tremendous. It was that wherever they went the numbers were close to clogging up the streets.

They arrived late in the afternoon and had been passing large quantities of farm wagons heading homeward for several hours. It meant that the majority of pedestrians were walking on the same side of the street as themselves and the two wagons made slow progress as they tried to proceed along the vast thoroughfares that made up the main arteries of the city.

Rialto had been to the city to do business a couple of times and the two rangers also had a passing knowledge of the city, so they had decided on a venue to stay and perhaps obtain work. One of the larger inns anywhere in the known world owned by a man named Packam.

There were so many people staying in his vast residence each night that nobody would note their passage, apart from when they were performing. Packam operated a similar system to the Black Lion, in that he encouraged entertainers to work at his venue, paying well and providing free food and lodging. They were hoping for at least a weeks’ worth of work before they had to find another venue.

Nedric had no doubt, that in a city this size, they could keep working all year round without ever needing to leave. The sheer scale of the buildings spoke of wealth and they were now used to performing at the private functions of very wealthy individuals. If the way the city outshined the rest of the country was a guide they could expect to earn a vast amount without ever resorting to busking.

They eventually reached their destination as the day was turning to dusk, which was not the best time to arrive. The staff seemed extremely busy and it took a while to find the correct person to deal with them. This wasn’t Packam, who very rarely dealt with his clientele unless they were particularly rich, famous or important; instead they dealt with the man who hired entertainers who was called Culdit.

“You can work tonight in the west wing and if I like what I see then you will be taken on for at least a week. After that we shall see what the clientele think.” He paused for breath. “A good response and you get to stay another week. We have some people who have been here several months.”

Rialto asked the question closest to his heart, “when do we eat?”

“You get fed after your show and stay in the entertainer’s wing, which this porter will lead you to.” He pointed to a young slave standing nearby.

They followed the porter and Nedric asked what the clientele were like.

“Tonight you’ll probably only get local businessmen. It’s fairly quiet on a Peetsday, so the guards will probably be in the north wing. If any priests or the richer clients come here they tend to use the west wing.

They boy brought them to their quarters, which were larger than they had met elsewhere and fairly luxurious. The other rooms in the wing had their doors shut, so they were unable to tell if any other entertainers were present.

The slave was hanging around and so Nedric directed him to have some of their belongings transferred to their quarters and also have their performance equipment taken to the appropriate room. He asked Rialto to supervise this, so that the others could talk.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

As soon as Rialto and the slave left Daiga and Scabad started to search the place. They did this methodically but in a way that would not cause suspicion if anyone were to enter the common room. They unpacked items as they moved and generally made the place seem more theirs.

Scabad started talking loudly to Bethan. This was so out of character that Nedric knew before Daiga came over to talk to him that something was amiss.

“Don’t say anything that you don’t want to be overheard in this place. There are at least two places where it might be possible to hide someone. That’s not counting the windows, which are too high. Anyone could be outside and we’d never know.”

Nedric just nodded and went to join Bethan and relieve the burden of Scabad speaking.

The assumption the group held was that all foreigners were thought to be a problem of some sort. Every merchant needed an invitation from a Nothering counterpart before they could enter. Each entertainer was checked for suitability and probably watched by someone in each town, at least for a while. Other people found it even harder to gain entry into the country and so different ideas and attitudes were kept to a minimum.

The group, being aware that much of their progress might have been studied by the shadow guild, had been at pains to cause as little offence as they could to the citizens of Nothering. Generally they used the citizens of Setherland as the butt of any jokes. Emphasising the accents and character traits of the nation often to hilarious effect. They were of the opinion that if anyone had been concerned about them they would have never had made it to the capital. It would be easy to dispose of them and no country would protest their loss.

Rialto returned followed by a group of slaves with their possessions. He was exhorting loudly about the quality of the stage and the clarity of the acoustics. “This could be the finest place I’ve ever performed.” He declared.

“They’ll be able to hear all your bad notes with great ease then.” Nedric responded.

“Be fair, they won’t hear the music over the off-key singing.” Bethan added.

Rialto was lost for a retort and muttered darkly about so-called friends.

They unpacked and the rangers went off to see if they could find something for a light snack. The others spent the time practicing or lazing. After so many days of travel, the luxury of being able to do nothing was quite seductive.

Maybe four hours later they were asked to perform. The show, which by now was extremely polished, went without a hitch. During the show the rangers challenged a member of the public to wrestle. This was often the point where the loud mouths of the audience decided to keep quiet. For a change, a large and well-built merchant decided to take up the gauntlet.

Daiga had been doing the talking, so it was Scabad who would wrestle. He appeared from one side of the stage, stripped to the waist but wearing a full facemask. His body was oiled, which emphasised his strongly developed muscles and the large scar that ran from his left shoulder to below his ribs. Nedric thought he looked fearsome, even though he knew the man had a much gentler nature than his appearance suggested.

To give the merchant credit, he didn’t back down. However he began to look a little less sure of himself on Scabad’s appearance. A ring of rope was draped on the floor and the two started.

For a short while it looked like there might be a fairly even contest. The two stood, holding each other around the head with one hand whilst the other sought a suitable grip elsewhere. The tableau held for perhaps thirty seconds and then the ranger got a firm grip on his opponent’s belt. He lifted the merchant off his feet so that he was dangling horizontally. Then with a loud grunt he heaved the man above his head.

As Scabad held his opponent aloft, the crowd expected him to drop the man on the floor. Instead the pose was held for long, scarcely believable, seconds. Eventually, when the cries of the crowd were as loud as they were likely to get, Scabad brought the man gently to the ground and held him to it for a count of three. The applause that greeted this show of strength was extremely loud and long lasting.

Nedric knew that Daiga was just as powerful and would be the man behind the mask for the following performance. He suspected that few men outside of the rangers of Esteril could match his friends. Then again, few had been through the training regime that brought people to such an extreme of fitness.

The rest of the show went without a hitch. There was laughter at the appropriate places, strong applause whenever it was required and a clear appreciation of the five men. The small crowd appreciated everything and would speak about it to others. When they finished, they knew this would not be the last performance at the inn.

Culdit came up to them whilst they were enjoying a meal that would cost a small fortune if they were paying for it.

“That was a good show and the combination of skills is unusual. I’ll book you for a week but I expect that will be extended and if you prove as popular as I expect, you will get a bonus fee for the second week.”

The five men drank to this small success, knowing that the real work must begin in earnest.

* * *

With a base from which to work, the five were able to explore the city. After their first exploratory trip it became clear that it was far too large a task without some local knowledge.

Whilst the shops displayed their wares and the inns were clearly marked, nothing else was identified in any way. There was no way of knowing whether a particular building was administrative, a place of worship or possibly just a residence of someone wealthy.

It was possible to stand and watch those who entered and left the building and make an educated guess but there were many of these buildings and it would take years to find the place they wanted by observation alone.

Fortunately there were a number of children who waited around the inn and were prepared to act as guides. They needed to make a map of the city and so took a number of walks in different directions asking questions whenever they saw a new building. Initially they walked the closer parts but as the time progressed their sightseeing covered more of the city.

The rangers were extremely distinctive, with their dark clothing and bald heads and tended to attract attention wherever they travelled. After a while they decided that it made their mapping trips too noticeable and left the task to the younger and smaller men.

The group had several goals. They needed to locate the headquarters of the shadow guild. They also needed to locate the makings of appropriate disguises. Furthermore, they needed to find a second base in case they were no longer welcome at Packam’s. The need for a quieter base grew as days went past and they still had no idea where Elsebeth might be held.

They were able to start on one part of their task when they found the theatre district. All their needs for costume, make-up and wigs could be purchased in various shops around that locale and nobody would suspect them of anything unusual. Even their guide was unsurprised that they might visit the area.

They were suspicious of the guides. Despite their appearance they were extremely well informed and were clearly healthier than many of the street urchins they passed. It was possible that they informed the shadow guild of their movements and reported anything that was unusual.

To avoid this they made sure they marked the routes to all the places they needed, so that they could reach them without assistance. The guides had suggested that they visit the theatre and so they decided to do this and make useful purchases at the same time.