Chapter 10

Darius seemed happy.

Though he walked with a slight stoop, there was a bounce in his step; upon his face was a broad smile that competed with the arch of his silvery mustache.

All around him, people were teeming, the mixture of scents overwhelming Riley as the cage rocked and bobbed with movement.

The streets here were narrower than what she could remember from her past lives. No vehicles lined the streets, nor had she seen many carriages pulled by those strange cockatrice creatures; instead, there were rivers of people, many shabbily dressed, some roaming barefoot.

The smells in some places were choking as the phrase "unwashed masses" rolled through her mind. This world seemed medieval in development, yet somehow not.

Though many of the people seemed dirty or malnourished, and the technology iron age, the streets were clean. There were drains every few feet punctuating and breaking up the cobblestone paths. At the end of every block, there was a row of what smelled to her like outhouses, though those smells were fainter than they should have been.

Signs of inequality were everywhere; she had seen children dwelling on the edges of alleyways, half naked and starving, their haunted hollow eyes peering out, begging for rescue in the form of a crust of bread, all the while the few carriages she had seen, moving slowly through the packed in crowds defined an opulence that showed a chasm in this culture between affluent and poor that was cosmic in scale.

The one thing she didn't see were many animals, and the few that had passed by were riding on the carriages, always with a human in flowing robes. Those had to be magical companions, she reasoned, but what did that mean for her escape?

She did not want to be bound to anyone; the fact that Riley had seemingly no rights in this society was bad enough. The idea that someone might be able to control her with a force she didn't even understand horrified her further.

Escape wasn't the only goal; it was also about living beyond the escape that she had to worry about. It would mean nothing if she emancipated only to end up in a worse situation or dead.

She'd been there and done that twice, after a fashion.

What else was there to do then but let it ride, waiting for the right time, which may not come anytime soon?

"I hope I can at least get out of my cage," she said to herself. Days without movement kindled a rising desperation within her chest.

Devil's luck, indeed.

"Good morrow, Darius," A young man greeted as Darius dipped his head in greeting, only to turn.

The man was wearing chainmail armor, with a black silk like surcoat overlayed. Two cockatrice, woven in artful embroidery, reared back on their hind legs, positioned back to back, their tails pointing up.

A black dog that seemed to Riley like a great dane stood quietly beside him, watching, causing her fur to stand on end. Something deep pushed her back further against the wall of her cage.

"Phineas, how's the patrol today?" He asked, stopping for a moment to clasp arms.

"Magical Medieval Texas," Riley laughed to herself. Beyond the smell of the crowd, she could smell food as they stopped, fresh fruits and vegetables.

Cocking her head in a scan, she could barely make out booths ahead that had to be vendor stalls.

"Huh... Do I not see as well as I used to?" So many things were slippery. Memories competed with sensations and experiences that felt completely natural. Scent and sound were, of course, the center of her world, like they had always been.

"Except that wasn't true for all of me..." Another cold shiver tremored through her soul as the revelation that she was indeed a new creature rolled through her like an earthquake.

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"Busy, as you can see, but the cutpurses have been behaving today. That or they're getting smarter while I'm standing still," Phineas laughed heartily as Darius joined in.

"Well, I'll leave you to it; no need to let an old man distract you from your duties," He bowed his head again respectfully.

"I'm grateful, really, so take a minute, if you'd be so kind, and let me in on the mystery," He insisted, gesturing towards Riley.

"A gift for my grandson. He graduates next week!" Darius beamed.

"Oh, has he been assigned yet? Any chance he'll be joining me out here?" Phineas wondered.

"Who knows, the First Tier has their ways...Still, no matter the position, the honor of it all! Think of it, one of our family, not a cobbler, not of the peasants, but a real, second tier sorcerer! This creature cost me my savings, but I'm hoping this creature here will give him a leg up, so it's coin well spent. A good sorcerer needs a good companion, after all. Especially if he lands somewhere dangerous," Darius' voice grew haunted as Riley felt a new pang of guilt for wanting to escape.

"Buck up, that was smart thinking, and I'm sure he'll end up somewhere safe. If he lands here, I'll keep an eye out for him and put in a good word with the captain," The guardsmen assured.

"You've always been good to us, thank you, lad. Do drop by the house next week after the ceremony. We're having a proper celebration," Darius insisted.

"I might just do that; what do you think, Dulchas?" Phineas looked down towards his canine companion, who barked animatedly, sending Riley's heart towards the stratosphere as she involuntarily startled within the cage.

"Oh, I think we've upset my wee charge here. It's ok, wee lass; we'll have you out of that cage soon," Darius said.

Riley couldn't help but like him. She'd seen the gambit of types since arriving here, from jerk to kind, and Darius reminded her much of any proud grandparent. Warm, doting, and softened by the wisdom of many years, both good and bad, behind him.

"I've got a patrol to do anyway, so I'm going to go check up on your neighbors. Good Morrow, friend, and give my best to your grandson," Phineas bowed his head and turned as Darius moved down the street.

The smell of fresh fruit was overwhelming, competing with vegetables and hay, causing her stomach to growl.

"Now he told me you were a herbivore, and I've seen you've been feasting on straw," Darius set her cage down briefly upon the cobblestone road, only to remove his weathered coin purse, cupping its bottom as if assessing its weight before emptying out the contents in his hand.

"I have a few coppers, and I want ya to feel welcome, not that you can understand me, but still, an old codger has his ways, he does," He laughed to himself as more guilt twisted Riley's heart like a pretzel.

"You'd be surprised," she remarked to herself as Darius burned through his meager stockpile, visiting one stall and buying strange fruits and another, a bundle of fresh grasses that smelled both sweet and savory to her nose, causing it to twitch.

Taking the bundles and a bit of twine one of the vendors provided him, he bound the grasses to the top of the cage, leaving bits of it to stick out while carrying the fruits in a burlap bag the fruit vendor offered him.

Riley, none too proud, nibbled some of the bits that jutted through her cage, savoring the taste.

It was far better than the straw that had been provided, and even that was pretty good.

Without fail, every shopping trip turned into a news report about his grandson.

"Tight-knit little place for all the people," She was becoming known by association as Darius told the tale over and over again until finally, trip done, they moved down the lane.