Quests Volume Two

by Barbara G. Tarn

  The public baths were in a street that went by the western wall and the inn they were looking for was near a temple they could see beyond the smaller houses.

  "Should we stop here and head for the inn later?" Babita suggested, pointing at the sign for the public baths.

  "I'd love that!" Rohan said immediately. "This salty air is... sticky!"

  It was a different kind of dirt from the dust gathered on the roads, but Keshav was grateful to wash it off too. Sweat from rowing, splashes of saltwater... it was good to get rid of them and there was even a pool of thermal warm water!

  "Oh, this is bliss!" Rohan said, relaxing in the warm embrace of the water. "I could sleep here!"

  "No, you couldn't." Keshav smiled. "But let's hope they have decent beds at the inn..."

  "Mm, I didn't mind using you as a pillow," Rohan said, leaning towards him and shooting him an adoring stare.

  Keshav cleared his throat and scowled at him, which only made the prince chuckle.

  "So, did you enjoy our sea trip?" he asked, scrubbing himself.

  "It was good." Rohan smelled the perfumed soap, then put it under Keshav's nose. "What do you think this is?"

  Keshav inhaled the scent. "Goat milk soap."

  "Oh." Rohan smelled it again. "Weird."

  "You only had milk and honey soaps at the palace?" Keshav asked, amused.

  "And orange and clove."

  "Mine is sea and foam." Keshav gave him his soap.

  "Do you think they have perfumed shaving creams as well?"

  "I think they don't shave much up north. At least the Gallians didn't. To them one isn't a real warrior if one doesn't sport a manly beard..."

  Rohan stared awed at him, then snapped back to reality.

  "Wow." He shook his head. "I guess I have a lot to learn."

  "So will you stop shaving?" Keshav asked him.

  "No. I don't like to cover my face with facial hair. Not even mustaches, so fashionable in other kingdoms of the south."

  Keshav nodded. He didn't like facial hair either. He didn't have much because of his father's blood, but he did have some.

  The pool was comfortable, but both were hungry, so they washed, shaved, wore their last clean clothes and headed back for the baths' entrance where Babita was waiting for them. She had changed her gown for something plain – a long tunic to her ankles with a leather belt where she had hung her purse. Her hair was braided and she wore a veil over it, again of a different shape than the southern ones, held by a brass circlet.

  She gave them the once over, looking critical.

  "Gentlemen, it's time to buy you new clothes," she said. "You'd look less conspicuous and we probably won't be attacked if we look like locals. Can you handle a last meal of street food? I promise tonight you'll eat your fill."

  Rohan sighed but nodded. Keshav shrugged.

  "Whatever you say is better for us. Do we need to change our coins for the local ones?"

  "That too. Come, we'll go to a merchant-banker and then to the dressmaker. But first we'll stop in the marketplace, I want Rohan to taste what they call sausage..."

  ***

  Babita thought she should have brought Advik's northern clothes, they would have fit Keshav if not Prince Rohan. But then, her mother-in-law would have balked. And giving a dead man's clothes to another man didn't sound proper.

  Besides, her traveling companions had money, so they might as well use it. The merchant-banker gave them a fair exchange for their southern coins and even bought one of Rohan's rings for more northern money. The Moren Empire had fallen, but its coins were still the preferred paying method north of the Central Massif, at least until kingdoms and city-states like Hurlevent reorganized themselves and started minting their own coins.

  Then they stopped at a street vendor that had both crab skewers, chicken skewers and sausages made on the spot. The mixed smell made Keshav wrinkle his nose, but Rohan's eyes widened in pleasure as he sniffed the sausages roasting on the fire.

  "They're so small, I'll need at least five," he complained.

  "Try one first, the smell and the taste might not be the same," Babita suggested, amused. She told Keshav what the different sauces for the crab skewers were as Rohan tried the new food, trying not to burn his mouth in the process.

  "What mix of meat is this?" he asked, gulping down the last bit. "It's... weird."

  "Mostly pork meat," she answered. "Would you prefer the chicken skewers?"

  "White meat isn't as good as red meat." Rohan shook his head. "I'll have four more of those sausages."

  He showed four fingers and pointed at the sausages. The vendor gave him his order and a couple of chicken skewers for Keshav and Babita who had eaten the crab skewers. Rohan was the only one still eating as they left the food stand and headed for the dressmaker.

  "Do you want to drop your bags?" Babita asked, pointing to the inn where they'd be staying. "The Laughing Lion is often all booked up, so we'd better ask for the rooms now and come back later."

  "You're the expert," Keshav said. "Is this a good inn?"

  "It's fit for a Lord," she answered with a wink, entering the large two-story building. "The food is vastly overpriced, but their roasted boar is worth the price. You might want to eat meat too, Keshav."

  "Roasted boar..." Rohan seemed to savor the word. "Do they cook it differently from us?"

  "You'll see tonight," Babita answered, heading for the innkeeper.

  As expected almost all the rooms were occupied, but there were still three small rooms available. They could each have their privacy for a night. The innkeeper gave them the keys and they dropped their bags upstairs, keeping their money on themselves.

  They headed out again for the dressmaker, Serina, who took the necessary measurements, let them choose the fabrics – Babita suggested they took plain cotton, since the summer would soon hit the north – and promised to deliver "two pairs of breeches and two tunics the day after tomorrow."

  Babita thanked her as Rohan and Keshav counted coins to give the dressmaker half the money for her work.

  "You're here out of season," Serina said. She had piercing blue eyes and copper hair. She was annoyed by expensive but unnecessary things and excessive alcohol, probably because her own husband was a drunkard. "Where's Advik?"

  "He... fell from a ladder while taking goods from a high shelf and broke his neck," Babita answered, looking away. Talk about a stupid death leaving her in an awkward situation.

  "I'm sorry to hear this," Serina said, shocked. "I didn't know..."

  "It's been almost a year..." Babita shrugged. "We had just come back from the Konigtown Fair."

  "So who are your traveling companions?"

  "A scholar and a warrior for our protection. We're looking for new trade routes."

  "I remember you didn't get along with Advik's mother." Serina nodded. "I so understand you! Luckily mine lives on the other side of town, but she can't stop herself from putting her nose in this household, as if she still owned her son."

  Both rolled their eyes at the thought. Mothers-in-law could be very possessive of their "baby boys" – refusing to acknowledge they were now grown up men and treating their daughters-in-law as rivals. That seemed to be the same in the north and in the south!

  "Can you check we counted right?" Keshav offered her the coins and she quickly checked before nodding. He offered them to Serina who accepted them with a smile.

  "See you the day after tomorrow," she said. "You have two handsome traveling companions, Babita, I'm sure you're not missing Advik right now!"

  "No, not really," Babita chuckled. "Although both of them seem to be quite oblivious of the luck they have to be with me..."

  Serina laughed and waved them out of her shop. Thank Chanda, her traveling companions didn't speak the northern language. Hopefully her interest for them was not so obvious.

  "You do know people here," Keshav said as they headed back to the Laughing Lion.

  "I did come here for ten years in a row w
ith Advik," she replied. "They all knew my husband, so of course I need to give them the news."

  "I thought I'd heard a familiar word in your talk," Rohan said. "So Advik was your husband? When did he pass away?"

  "Last fall, when we came back from the Konigtown Fair. I thought I wouldn't go this year, but then you came along..." She smiled at them. "Thank you for providing me with an excuse to get away from my mother-in-law's clutches."

  "Ah, yes, my sister-in-law hates my mother!" Rohan chuckled. "I guess it's the same everywhere!"

  "My mother didn't have a mother-in-law to deal with, since my paternal grandparents never left the Islands Empire," Keshav said. "But my sisters do get along with their husbands' mothers..."

  "I guess Amrendra is an exception, then," Babita said, amused. "Or maybe your family is lucky."

  "Or maybe your sisters are as meek as you and don't mind a bossy mother-in-law," Rohan added with a chuckle.

  Keshav smiled. "That's also a possibility. Strong-headed women probably have more problems than meek ones."

  "It's getting late," Babita said, looking at the sun. "Shall we go back to the inn and relax?"

  ***

  The Laughing Lion Tavern was very crowded by the time they got back for dinner. The noise was loud and cheerful and the innkeeper ignored them, too busy to take their order. They sat at a table near the stairs that went to the upper floor and waited for someone to show up with the menu.

  Keshav noticed there were a few shady characters and almost all patrons were already drunk, which didn't make him want to try the local ale. He hoped Rohan wouldn't drink either, although they had a full day to rest tomorrow if the prince got drunk.

  At a nearby table a harried-looking hunter was losing at cards. A little further, men were playing dice with loud screams of excitement.

  "Are you a gambler?" Babita asked, almost shouting to be heard.

  "No, but I like watching men losing their belongings in those games," Keshav answered. "Are you?" he asked Rohan.

  "No, I wasn't allowed to squander my father's money." Rohan averted his eyes with a rueful smile. He waved with both hands at a serving maid, catching her eye.

  She put down the food from her tray in front of other customers who ignored her, then came to their table and pulled a menu from the pocket of her apron. Babita thanked her as she rushed back to the kitchen.

  "Look, there's even sketches of the items," Babita said, turning the wrinkled paper towards the two men. "You can tell they're used to foreigners here, can't you?"

  "And what is that supposed to be?" Rohan asked, pointing at a drawing of what looked like a dead hairy pig.

  "That's the roasted boar I mentioned," she answered. "Or you can try the stuffed pheasant – it's a bird, but it doesn't taste like chicken. Or you can have more sausages, or simple steak."

  Rohan licked his lips in anticipation, but didn't seem to be able to make up his mind.

  "Let's take the boar like you suggested," Keshav said. "We can all have some."

  "It goes well with a local red wine," she warned. "Would you like to indulge yourselves for a night?"

  Rohan and Keshav exchanged a glance and smiled.

  "Why not?" Keshav answered while Rohan nodded eagerly. "If we're sick afterward we won't throw up on each other!"

  He chuckled as Rohan rolled his eyes.

  The servant girl came back and Babita gave her the order, handing back the menu.

  "Can you teach us some basic words?" Keshav asked her. "I am grateful that you're my interpreter, but I'd love to be able to ask questions myself."

  "Sure, but maybe tomorrow, in a quieter place," Babita answered loudly. It was hard to make conversation in the inn's main room, so Keshav nodded.

  "Is there a library or university in this city?"

  "I don't think so. They might have some books at the temple, but they're probably in the local language."

  "Or the Old Tongue of the Magical Races..." Keshav mused.

  Maybe he should have asked Aagney to go with them, but remembering the storyteller's appetite, he thought they were good. Prince Rohan paid for his own food and even if he ate more than each of them, he didn't eat as much as Aagney.

  Soon the maid came back with a tray with two big legs of wild boar. Rohan took his knife and started cutting off pieces and putting them on the round wooden plates while Babita poured the wine into their wooden goblets.

  "It smells good," Rohan said of the food, then Keshav put the goblet under his nose. "That too!"

  Keshav helped him to cut the meat in smaller bits, leaving one full leg to him. Potatoes and cabbage surrounded the meat, and more went to Keshav and Babita and less to Rohan.

  Before starting, they raised their glasses.

  "To the success of our journey," Keshav said.

  "That we may find what we're looking for," Babita added.

  They toasted and sipped the rich red wine. It immediately went to Keshav's head.

  "Eat, and it will pass," Babita suggested, noticing his face. Rohan licked his lips and didn't seem upset.

  Keshav plunged his knife in the meat and tasted it. The sauce had red currant and the meat was so well done, it melted on his tongue. It had been marinated in red wine, fresh thyme, cloves, carrot, onion and vinegar, much like they did in Amrendra.

  "Can you ask how they do it?" Rohan asked, obviously enjoying the meal as much as Keshav was. Babita pointed at the busy servers with a shrug, so Keshav told him what he thought the ingredients were.

  "Mm, I wish I could have traveled to the Amrendran court like my cousin Prem," Rohan said, happily attacking the rest of his boar leg.

  After the good food and the wine, Keshav was glad to retire in his little room. There was just a cot, a basin and a piss-pot, but at least it was quiet compared to the main room. He closed the shutters of the single window that opened on an alley that was clearly used as a sewer and sat on the cot to fill his journal.

  He might have not found traces of the Genn yet, but he was in a foreign town that spoke another language and he needed to gather his ideas to ask more questions of Babita tomorrow. His full belly and the wine soon made him drowsy, though, so he blew out the candle and settled to sleep.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The next morning they met late in the main room, ready to explore the town. They tried the local pastries and teas, then headed out. Babita tried to teach them some of the language, but she was as bad as Keshav at teaching, which made them burst out laughing quite often.

  Keshav asked her about the temple. It was built in gray stone, with a front porch and a dome over it. It looked square and had big rectangular windows of stained glass all around it. There wasn't much for decoration outside, but inside there was a long tapestry that covered each wall with stories of what Keshav supposed must be the local religion.

  "This is the temple of the moon goddess," Babita said. "They call her Clair de Lune, not Chanda, and they have a different origin story for her."

  She pointed at the scenes and translated the inscriptions starting on the left side. They stopped to admire the marble statue of the goddess in the middle of the back wall, surrounded by windows with star designs, then continued to the right side with some other adventure of the moon in the northern kingdoms.

  "As if it were so different up here," Keshav muttered.

  At both sides of the altar there were two small back doors that led to the priests' chamber and a small library. The local priest was dressed in white with a shaved head and glared at the visitors. Not even Keshav's long tunic convinced him to open the library to foreigners.

  "I'm sorry," Babita apologized. "Priests are known for guarding their knowledge from the rest of the world everywhere, I guess."

  "But not all scholars are monks or priests, are they?" Rohan asked as they emerged into the sun again and headed for the beach.

  "No, I wasn't ordained to any god," Keshav answered. "Besides, in the south most libraries either belong to royal families or to universities
founded by royal families, therefore they're not controlled by priests, although many copyists are monks, usually worshiping the God Vedas."

  "I hear in Agharek there's the library of Zindagi," Rohan said.

  "Yes, Agharek has two libraries, the Fighting Monks' and the Royal Library. That's why I spent most of a year there. But what you have in Godwalkar is... amazing. And you put it all in one place, which is even better."

  Rohan grinned proudly.

  "I guess we're not too fond of those books after all... Although I do miss some of the illustrated texts for children I used to read at my cousins' gatherings..."

  Keshav smiled. "I had one from the Islands Empire that my father brought with him."

  "Do you read their impossible alphabet?" Babita asked, impressed.

  "Yes, I speak their impossible language too, of course," he replied. "But I'm at loss with the language they speak here."

  "Mm, sorry I'm so bad at transmitting what I know," Babita said, averting her eyes.

  "It's fine, with full immersion like this one and your help, by the end of the summer I can probably understand most of it," he replied.

  Rohan looked impressed and Keshav avoided looking at him.

  They lingered on the beach until lunch time, had street food for lunch, then headed for the governor's palace. It had occurred to Babita that they might have some books there, and that they'd probably be less protective of them.

  Keshav liked watching people and Hurlevent seemed as busy as any other town. He liked trying to imagine the life of those people, like that cute, obnoxious young woman who has a black eye and a split lip. Did she have a violent husband? A violent father? Did she just fall?

  The very short, out-of-breath old woman pushing a small cart – did she have children or grandchildren? Why weren't they helping her? And the expensively dressed, sly girl who kept bumping into people looked like a pickpocket to him.

  The half-naked, sleepy young woman walking unsteadily could be anything, from a whore to a washerwoman. The redheaded, determined young man who just emerged from an alley, where was he going? And the oddly dressed, frightened man wandering aimlessly, what was he looking for?