"Thank you for your hospitality, Inquisitor Morgan," Alexander said with a nod.
"I am always happy to do my duty, Inquisitor Alexander." the other man replied. Morgan was a harsh-looking man, his face was thin and pointed, hair cut so short as to almost appear bald.
"Slave, fetch some food from the kitchen for the Inquisitor's journey, meet us with it by the stable." Morgan said while snapping his fingers. A boy about thirteen years old wearing a leather collar nodded and hurried off.
The two men walked through the house and out into the yard. Half a dozen Inquisitors were stationed in this town, the greater population requiring additional men to oversee. The Inquisition outpost in this area was a large, two and a half story building surrounded by a high wall, located in the center of town near the market square. Another young man wearing a leather collar appeared, leading an aging brown horse from the stables adjacent to the house. Without a word he knelt down in the dirt and held out his hands to help boost Alexander into the saddle.
The boy from earlier appeared, carrying food wrapped in cloth. He hurried to the Inquisitors and held it up.
"Thank you," Alexander said as he took the bundle. The boy's eyes widened in surprise, Morgan raised an eyebrow.
"I have done only what was expected of me," the boy said quickly with a glance at Morgan before taking a few steps backwards and looking at the ground.
"There is no need to thank slaves for performing their duties here, Inquisitor Alexander," Morgan said coolly. "I know the people up north are wild and unpredictable, having only known civilization a short time, but down here we do not need to placate those under our watch with pleasantries. Slaves in the heartlands know their place."
"Apologies, Inquisitor Morgan, I will try to keep that in mind going forward."
Morgan nodded. The stable hand led Alexander to the gate, opened it, and then handed the reins to the Inquisitor. Alexander stopped himself from thanking the young man just as the words were about to leave his mouth.
Alexander rode away from the Inquisition outpost, hearing the sound of the gate being closed and barred behind him. The town of Borecester was larger and more populous than Croton but Alexander had no difficulty riding through its relatively crowded streets. People who saw him in his Inquisitorial armor and cloak quickly moved aside to let him pass. It did not take Alexander long to pass through the south gate of the town with its high stone walls. The Inquisitor took one last look at the Borecester, then set off on the dirt path beside the cobblestone road towards his next destination, the city of Orenmoth.
The six days Alexander had been riding so far had been uneventful. Four days he had stayed at inns, the proprietors obligated to provide food and lodging for the Inquisitor and his horse. Two nights he lodged in an Inquisition outpost. The first was a small villa outside a town similar in size to Croton, home to three Inquisitors and their servants, and reminded Alexander of his own home. The sixth night he arrived in Borecester and lodged with the Inquisition outpost for the area where Inquisitor Morgan, assisted by half a dozen subordinates and numerous slaves, kept a watchful eye on the people of the surrounding area. The building was formerly the governor's home when the area was the northernmost province of what would later become the Tarid Empire. When Emperor Tario the First conquered his rivals in the north and the south, administrative centers were moved to better serve the population of the unified island and the building and its lands were granted to the Inquisition.
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Around mid-morning Alexander passed a group of soldiers patrolling the roads between Borecester and Orenmoth, then a second group an hour or two after noon. Each time the men saluted the mounted Inquisitor and continued their march. Each patrol consisted of eight men, all wearing the standard helmets and mail armor of the legions. Six of the men carried spears and rectangular shields, the other two held long-barreled guns and wore leather backpacks containing additional ammunition, air cannisters, and the pump needed to fill them. During the six days he had been travelling north of Borecester Alexander had only encountered three such patrols, now he had seen two in a single day. The roads were never completely safe but they were certainly better patrolled closer to the heartland.
The road eventually came to run parallel with the river that flowed through the center of Orenmoth and out to the sea. The city was one of the largest in the northern provinces. For centuries ships would sail to Orenmoth from other ports on the island, from the Kingdom of Wollema across the eastern sea, even longboats from Starklund would make the long, dangerous journey to trade goods and, in years past, slaves. No other port of significant size was to be found further north, the waters becoming too treacherous for larger ships to risk the journey.
Alexander passed through the western outskirts of the city in mid afternoon, crude houses and shops lining dirt paths that connected with the paved road leading to the city proper. Alexander rode past the line of merchants and travelers waiting to have their goods inspected and evaluated for tariffs. The soldiers manning the gate saluted the Inquisitor and stepped aside to allow him to pass.
Inside the walls of Orenmoth the city buzzed with activity. Everywhere he looked, Alexander saw endless people walking, talking, carrying goods, pushing carts, leading horses. The sound of hundreds of voices filled his ears in a dizzying cacophony. Alexander was no stranger to the smell of many people living together in one place but Orenmoth dwarfed Croton and the stench assaulted his nose. Three days into his journey, Alexander had begun to feel lonely despite his initial enjoyment of the solitude. Now, after only an hour inside the walls of Orenmoth, he found himself longing for the isolation of the road with its silence and clean air.
Alexander's horse stopped and snorted, raising and turning her head, startling him from his thoughts. On the ground a child, perhaps four or five years old, was laying a couple of feet in front of him. The boy turned over on his back and looked up at the mare looming over him, his eyes full of fear. Alexander was grateful his mount was calm and well-trained, knowing that a kick from a startled horse could easily kill a grown man, let alone a child.
"Careful, boy!" Alexander called out. The child burst into tears and remained on the ground, propped up on his elbows. A young woman in a plain linen dress with her brown hair in a tight bun appeared and knelt down to drag the crying child away from Alexander's horse.
"My apologies, Inquisitor, my son is prone to running off without looking where he's going," the woman blurted out as she pulled the boy to his feet by one arm. "How many times must you be told to pay attention!" she hissed as she slapped the boy on the cheek with an audible smack. Alexander, too surprised to react, simply looked down at the pair from his horse.
"I will be sure his grandfather has him punished for you." the woman said as she put her hands on the boy's shoulders.
"There's no need for that." Alexander said, finding his voice. "I don't want him to be punished, I just don't want him to get hurt. A horse that's more easily spooked than mine could kill him. Just see that he watches where he's going from now on."
"Yes, Inquisitor," the woman replied before hurrying her still-crying child away. Alexander urged his horse onwards and resumed his journey through the city, turning south at one of the city's large markets, eventually passing through the old gates into the new industrial district. Walls constructed only decades before enclosed an area half the size of the old city. Warehouses and factories and tenements, some five stories high, lined broad streets paved with bricks. Alexander rode past all of these buildings and the numerous workers and carts on the streets until he arrived at the southern gate of the new district where Alexander found his goal: The great train station that connected Orenmoth to the south. The steam-powered locomotive here would allow him to make the rest of the journey to the capital in a day as opposed to the multiple weeks it had taken for centuries before.
Alexander asked a passing worker for directions to whichever inn was nearest to the station. First, he would arrange lodging for the night and care for his horse while he was in the capital. Then he would head into the station to arrange his place on the next train south.