20 Lux 778 P.S.

The port city of Vaimea

Taika gently directed the cart to join the throng of people moving towards the gate. As they drew closer, they saw two guards that were inspecting every cart, wagon, and pack before it entered the city. Finally, it was their turn.

One of the guards gestured for them to stop just before the gate. Both he and his partner were also wearing half-plate armor with the blue-green sash over their left shoulders. He wore a sword on his hip and had stored his round shield on his back. He stepped up to Taika, marking something on a piece of parchment.

“State your name,” he said in a stilted voice.

“Taika Kinnunen Essos,” she replied.

“What’s your business?” the guard asked, not bothering to look up from his parchment.

“We’re looking to charter an airship,” Xan interjected.

At this, the guard finally looked up. His eyes narrowed as he looked Xan over. Xan just smiled back. Then the guard looked around the side of the cart to where his partner was finishing his inspection.

“All good, Gerome?” he called.

The other soldier was circling the cart, tapping on boards and looking underneath it. Then he opened the back flap and looked inside. “Oi, who’s this?” he asked loudly.

Taika quickly opened the flap behind her seat. “He’s my father,” she told the guard.

The soldier pulled himself up to get a better look at Katar. Then he grimaced, closed the flap, and walked back around to his partner.

“The guy doesn’t look good,” he muttered to the soldier with the parchment. The first soldier nodded, then gestured for the cart to move aside.

“I’m afraid we can’t let you inside, miss—” he began to say.

“But we just—” Taika began to protest, when Xan cut her off.

“But surely, two fine soldiers such as yourselves can find it in your hearts to let us through. We are, after all, just looking to charter an airship. We’ll be in and out in no time.” He coyly rolled two silver coins over his knuckles, then slyly set them down on the edge of the cart’s seat.

The soldiers stared at the coins. Then the soldier with the parchment gestured to his partner. “You’d better check their cart again,” he said.

Taking the hint, the second soldier once again circled the cart. As he passed by the coins, he put a hand up to steady himself and bent down to look underneath the cart. When he removed his hand, the coins were gone. A moment later he finished his inspection.

“Looks, good, sir!” he reported to the first soldier.

The first soldier marked something on the parchment, then waved their cart forward.

“Very well. Welcome to Vaimea,” he said.

Taika nudged the cart forward through the gate. As they went, Xan thanked the guards, giving them a subtle wink. The next moment they emerged from the gate onto the city’s main thoroughfare. Even though it was still fairly early in the morning, the streets were already churning with people going about their business. After they were clear of the gate, Taika gave Xan a hard glare.

“What was that?” she demanded.

“What was what?” Xan replied.

“You shouldn’t have bribed those guards,” Taika said angrily.

“Why not? It got us into the city, didn’t it?”

“It was dishonest. And it could cause problems for us down the line. And where did you get that money anyway? I know you didn’t have it when we found you.”

“Well, you see…” Xan hesitated, suddenly feeling the weight of her scrutiny, “last night I went to warm up by the Ember Sang in the camp, and Dogan invited me to play cards--”

“And you just left us, in the cart alone?” Taika said incredulously. “What if something had happened? What if my father had suddenly taken a turn for the worse? You wouldn’t have had any idea, would you! How long were you gone for, anyway? You know what, it doesn’t matter, don’t bother telling me.”

Taika turned away huffily, focusing on the road in front of her. Xan, who had been trying and failing to get a word in edgewise, deflated a little at her dismissal. He squeezed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger and took a deep breath.

“I was trying to get money for passage,” he finally ventured. That wasn’t entirely true – Xan hadn’t even conceived of the plan to charter an airship when he went to play cards last night – but it was the only way he could think to mollify her.

Taika, without even looking at him, asked, “Oh, were you now?”

“I was, if you must know. How else were you planning on getting on board an airship?”

“We would have figured something out,” Taika said.

Xan looked at her for a moment. “You don’t have any money, do you?”

“That’s none of your concern,” Taika said. “Besides, Verdans don’t place much stock in money. We survive on the good graces of those we help. In exchange for our gifts, they give us supplies. It’s how we’ve always lived.”

Xan considered this for a moment. It was true that in exchange for Katar and Taika’s help, the caravan had been willing to share their food and the security of their camp for a night. But to go their entire lives living like that? He hardly thought it was fair.

“Even so,” he said, “you’ll be hard pressed to find an airship willing to take you without a little coin to sweeten the deal. If there’s one thing I remember about my last couple visits to Vaimea, it’s that everything here runs on coin. If you want something, you’ve got to pay for it.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Hmph… I guess the concept of responsibility isn’t entirely lost on you,” Taika eventually muttered.

Xan sighed, then turned his attention to the city around them. They had made it a fair ways down the main road, and the streets were getting busier. Thankfully, they were still moving at a decent pace. But as he took a moment to get his bearings he quickly realized he had no idea where they were. The last couple of times he had been to Vaimea, he had mostly stayed down by the harbor. Here on the main road, streets branched off at intervals between the various buildings, leading further into the city. There were no signs to indicate which direction to go. Taika must have also realized this, because she soon brought the cart to a halt.

“Alright, where do we go from here?” she muttered to herself.

She stood up, craning her neck to see over the sea of people. A voice from behind impatiently called for them to keep moving. Taika glared over her shoulder, then ignored it.

“You look like you’re a little lost,” a small voice called up to them.

Xan and Taika looked down to see a small Simian boy. Like others of this race of beast-men, he bore the features of a monkey. Blond fur framed his wide face. His ears poked out from underneath a knitted woolen cap, making them look slightly too large for his head. His woolen jerkin and trousers were patched and faded, and his small leather boots were heavily worn. His prehensile tail curled and uncurled behind him in an attitude of anticipation.

“Lucky for you, I just happen to be the best tour guide in the city. Care to hire me for my services?” He raised his eyebrows repeatedly, giving them his best charismatic grin.Taken aback by the sudden appearance of this boy, Taika couldn’t help but return the smile.

“I suppose we could use some directions-” she began to say.

“Great!” the boy said. He deftly hopped up onto the wagon and sat down between Xan and Taika. “Just tell me where you want to go, and I’ll take you there!”

Xan looked at the boy with a suspicious frown, but Taika didn’t seem bothered. She sat back down on the seat and said, “Well, we’re trying to get on an airship.”

“Then you’ll want to head to The Landing. It’s on the other side of the city. Just follow the main road past Founder’s Square, I’ll show you where the turn-off is,” the small Simian boy said.

Taika set the cart moving forward once more. Xan heard a loud trill, and he looked up to see that Shadow had blinked herself on top of the cart’s covering. Now she was peeking down at the three of them, her head and front paws just barely showing. The young Simian also heard the sound and looked up.

“Woah, what is that?” he gasped in surprise.

“That’s my pet Nightmare Weasel,” Xan said. He put an elbow on his knee, leaned forward, and lowered his voice mysteriously, “She does everything I say. And she loves to eat children with sticky fingers.”

As if on cue, Shadow growled menacingly. The young Simian chuckled nervously, waved once to Shadow, then turned forward and sat up as straight as possible. Taika glared over the young Simian’s head at Xan, but he just shrugged in response.

“Well, Sir Tour Guide,” Taika said, trying to bring back some levity, “you must know all about Vaimea. Why don’t you tell us more on the way to The Landing?”

The young Simian relaxed a little. “Of course! Let’s see, right now you’re on Ribbon Road. It’s the main road that goes through Vaimea and connects the Highlands and the Lowlands. It has lots of shops where you can buy stuff, and inns where you can stay. That way’s the Crafting District, where you can find anyone who can make anything; that way’s the Residential District, where everyone lives.”

Xan looked to the left. Several columns of smoke were climbing up from what he assumed were forges. Then he looked right and saw that beyond the inns and shops were all manner of houses, becoming larger and statelier the further north the city went. On a small hill he saw that a part of the Residential District was surrounded by another wall.

“What’s that, then?” he asked, pointing to it.

“Oh, that’s the Rose Park District,” the young Simian said. “Only the super-rich are allowed to go there.”

A minute later they emerged onto a large, open square in the middle of the city. People were still going about their business, but after the confines of the Ribbon Road it didn’t feel crowded at all.

“This is Founder’s Square. All the city’s most important buildings are here. That’s the council building, those are the guild buildings, that’s the garrison – oh! And that’s the Amber Archives.” The boy pointed slightly behind and to the right of them.

Xan looked back. The building the young Simian was referring to sat on the north-east side of the square. It was about two stories tall and, in line with its name, the outside had been painted a dark amber color. Tall windows adorned all four sides of both the upper and lower levels to allow as much light into the building as possible. A stained-glass window of a stylized sun had been set into the highest part of the building’s front – the symbol of Lussios, the god of knowledge. People filtered into and out of this building as well, the majority of whom were acolytes dressed in robes of amber-yellow with red accents.

Seeing the acolytes in their amber-yellow robes reminded Xan of Seeker Torban, which immediately brought all of his memories of the island back to the forefront of his mind. A sudden wave of guilt mixed with fear washed over him, and he quickly looked away.

He tugged down on his cap in an effort to cover his face. The pendant, which was still tucked into his sleeve, suddenly felt cold against his wrist. Or was he just imagining that? He folded his arms and tried to look casual as thoughts raced through his mind:

Did they know what happened to Seeker Torban? No, they couldn’t possibly, it had only been a couple of days… but what if they did? Would they come after him? Would they demand that he explain what had happened? How could he even attempt to explain what had happened?

He was so deep in thought that he didn’t even hear Taika and the young Simian as they continued to converse.

“But what about that building?” Taika asked, pointing to a building across the square from the Amber Archives. Unlike the other structures around it, this building was dome-shaped. The walls seemed to be made of smooth obsidian. There were no windows, and the doors were shut tight.

“That’s the Night Mistress’s temple. My mum tells me not to go there,” the young Simian said, looking fearful for a moment. Then his face brightened as they passed by a large bronze statue that was the centerpiece of the square.

“And these are the founders: Iouri, Kurt, and Captain Davis,” he said, pointing to each in turn.

Taika took a moment to admire the statue. Three men faced each other as they joined hands in a three-way handshake. The first, Iouri, was a towering Ursan. His bear-like features would have been intimidating were it not for the warm smile on his face. The second, Kurt, was a Canidan of wolf descent, his teeth also bared in a smile. The third man was a human dressed in the garb of a ship’s captain. While he shook hands with one hand, his other hand was holding his tri-cornered hat aloft like he was cheering joyfully.

“They look happy,” Taika commented.

“Well, yeah,” the young Simian said, “they’ve just decided to build the city together. And since they were friends, it was easy.”

“I’ll have to take your word for it,” Taika said with a grin. “So, how much further until we reach The Landing?”

“Not much longer. Keep going down Ribbon Road, the turn-off is a few blocks away.” He gestured to the other side of the square where the main road continued through the city.

A few minutes later the young Simian asked them to stop. He pointed to a road that branched off to their left.

“Just follow this road, it goes straight to The Landing,” he said.

“Well, thank you, Sir Tour Guide,” Taika said.

The young Simian cleared his throat. Then he held out his hand expectantly. Taika looked at his hand, confused.

“My dad says never give anything away for free. So…” he waved his hand in an expectant gesture.

“Oh,” Taika said. Then she looked up at Xan, noticing for the first time the distant look in his eyes. She called his name, and he jumped slightly.

“Huh?” he said.

“Our young friend here needs compensation,” Taika said, gesturing to the young Simian. The boy turned in his seat and extended his open hand to Xan.

“Oh, right, yeah. Here.” He pulled out a few copper and placed them into the boy’s open hand. The boy made a quick count, then gestured in an imitation of tipping a hat.

“Pleasure doing business with you!” he said as he hopped down from the cart. A moment later he disappeared into the crowd. After he left, Taika leaned in towards Xan.

“Hey, is something wrong?” she asked.

“What? No, no! Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s fine,” Xan said, folding his arms again.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m fine, honest. Let’s go, we’ve got an airship to catch,” he said, gesturing down the road.

Taika eyed him sideways, but decided not to push it. With a gentle snap and a click of her tongue, she set the cart heading down the road towards The Landing.