Neither Kentor nor Ral had ventured much outside of Alkkes. South of them, of course, was the Ivassk desert famously infested with the barbaric Yscians that would kidnap Gaians on a whim. The west held the yawning mouth of the Alkkes mines - beyond that were rocky mountains that served as a barrier between the north and south of the continent. North was more rocky landscape for days on end.
When Ral exited out the north gates of the city-state the next day, he wondered why Alkkes had to be so cooped up on itself when it could technically expand northwards in the nothingness. But then he saw the rows upon rows of shoddy wooden houses and the swarm of people: there were nearly just as many people as the streets of Alkkes itself. It was as if the city had spilled out of the gates already and the walls were just for show.
Except there was a marked difference. While the inside of Alkkes held the same chaotic, crowded, almost claustrophobic energy of too many people in one space, It still held a certain standard of cleanliness and order. Guards dutifully patrolled the streets and there was an obvious divide between right and wrong. But here just outside the gates, it felt like a layer of grime descended on Ral’s skin. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
Within the walls, it was illegal to put up food stalls out in the open. Kentor had once explained that there were simply too many people, too many carts and too little space: dust and grime would easily get into any food left in the open. However, out beyond the walls of Alkke, food stalls seemed to be at every corner of the busy makeshift streets. The scent of roasted meats, baked vegetables and even open pots of bubbling stew wafted towards him at every corner. Cooked food piled on a platter on the table were circled by numerous hungry flies, enough for Ral to lose whatever appetite he gained from smelling spiced cooked food.
More than one food stall had the giant haunch of something caramelized and roasted on full display. These were the most popular, each stall with long lines of people waiting for a cut off the haunch. When Ral got close enough, the hawker there advertised it as ‘delicious Yscian Cattle meat’.
The only Yscians in the area were the Somas and they emphatically did not keep cattle. But he wasn’t there to answer culinary mysteries.
The shops just outside of Alkke only grew more esoteric and interesting. One of them solely sold pornographic books of the Kuvan variety. Another sold bright potions in glass vials; upon inspecting the shelves, Ral discovered there were runes discreetly etched into the wood to give the vials of potion a slightly ‘sparkling’ effect. All the potions had outrageous claims like ‘death reanimation’ or ‘reverse aging’ and had equally outrageous prices.
He was really quite distracted (everything there was much more interesting than missing or sick horses) until, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a man leading a horse around the corner of a wooden shack. The horse was limping severely and Ral could just see at the distance that one of the hooves looked severely swollen and injured. Ral immediately went after them, his belly clenching in anticipation. This was it. He could feel it.
Ral didn’t recognize the man as someone who worked with Ivron - he looked much older than most of the staff Ivron employed at this stables. They turned a bend and Ral lost track of them. He pushed past the crowds through the clouds of scents - cooking meats, rotting food, the sour notes of garbage and sweaty humans. A few people cursed at him when he rudely brushed past them.
He saw a flick of a horse tail and he surged towards that. He ended up standing in front of wooden gates and a closed off section surrounded by squat wooden structures. He could force his way through. Then he stilled: above the sounds of people and life, he could hear the unmistakable huffs and stomps of hooves on the ground. Ral wandered the closed off area around, inspecting each wooden structure that encompassed it. They were poorly made and at several spots the wooden walls were barely holding together. Eventually Ral found a wall torn up enough that he could look inside. A long horse ear flickered against flies.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
Judging from the amount of small wooden ‘houses’ here, there could be more than thirty horses placed here. The conditions were definitely a step down from Ivron’s immaculately kept stables. When Ral reached a point where it was downwind from this strange gated off area, he could smell the stench of manure and something worse.
Was poor Affie being kept here? Ral rounded the corner and saw that there were a few buildings attached to this enclosed area. His stomach dropped in dread seeing that the attached building was a store with no sign front.
It meant what they had to offer wasn’t exactly something they could advertise.
Ral kept his expression stoic as he entered the unmarked store. He was immediately met with an overwhelming scent of perfumed incense, sharply contrasting the bare shelves inside. A merchant sat nonchalantly at a desk surrounded by two shelves that were barely filled with books. On the desk was a pathetic display of fake bouquets made of cloth and a sign saying they sold for three gold coins apiece.
“Can I help this good sir find anything in particular?” the man at the desk asked politely. He was around Kentor’s age, but wiry and skinny with large intelligent eyes that looked a little watery.
Ral cast a glance over the sparse offerings in the small store. The lack of merchandise made the small space look larger than it was. “It doesn’t look like I can find anything in here,” he joked.
The merchant gave Ral a thin smile. Maybe he’s heard of that joke before. “You’d be surprised,” the merchant said. “Sometimes the thing we’re looking for is there when we ask for it.”
Ral approached the desk and suddenly the cloud of perfume scents dissipated and the awful scent of manure hit him. But even worse was the irony scent of blood. It didn’t take a scholar to figure out what happens just behind the store or why those horses are all there.
“May I suggest a batch of our very special ink?” the merchant said. “That is always a crowd favorite. For many purposes.”
Ral had a working knowledge of runeology - back when he was a child in Caelis, he had often zoned out during rune lessons. Aris was always the clever one when it came to runes anyway. Rask tried to teach him runes on the road, but he never went beyond fire making or light emitting runes. The Somas didn’t typically teach runes to their youths except for the select few trying to become healers. But as ignorant as he was about runes, he knew a powerful way to inscribe runes was with blood.
Blood enchantment, due to their volatile nature, was banned by the empire and only a select few in the Emperor’s court or the Academy are allowed to use it. That never really stopped anyone. The smell, the secrecy, the tell tale sounds of stomping all pointed to one thing: they were selling horse blood and parts for enchanting circles.
“Actually I am hoping to sell some… pigment,” Ral said. He knew as much about ink making as he did about runes involving blood, but this wasn’t time to hesitate. “The, ah, pigment is taking up space and money. I heard from somebody that this was a place to take care of something like this.”
“This isn’t our usual method of obtaining pigment,” the wiry man said. He hesitated. “Not that it matters much.”
“We don’t deal with the likes of Ivro - with the… usual way of selling pigment.” Ral managed to muster up some fake outrage. The experience of playing ‘angry bodyguard’ to Kentor really helped. He drew up a thunderous expression and pretended that he had run out of patience for this farce. “I’m not about to play games over a sick horse. Are you interested or not?”
“Of course, sir,” the man behind the desk smiled a little more genuinely now. “I will send a man over at your convenience.”
Ral quickly decided a time and place, then left before he lost his nerve. Of course, he didn’t have a horse but that didn’t matter. After making sure he wasn’t followed, he returned back to the room at the inn and waited for Kentor to come back to tell him he may have found what they were looking for.