The vibrant smell and noise of life outside was now a familiar contrast with the muted aromas and silence of the palace. This time she had to dodge people even more as the bulk of her package got in her way. She missed not having a servant. Once she was out in the street, and had quickly moved behind a tree, she again removed the ring and headed off to the inn. Even though she passed many other professionals and merchants with servants to carry their goods, Theodora was the only person of substance actually carrying anything. As it was, she was just a wealthy woman carrying a large and decidedly odd-looking package, not even worth a second look except in humour.
However, if someone else carried it, the contents would have been all too obvious to them and they could talk. In Darkreach, if someone talked, someone else was listening. Everyone knew that the Granther’s secret police, the Antikataskopeía, were very good at their jobs. The power of his magic was only one reason that he had ruled for so long.
Having reached The Grey Doe she went up to her room, unpacking the package and folding the calico before putting it on a shelf to take back to the palace for later use.
She looked around her room. All of the things she had bought were still sitting on the bed. She got to work and put the shopping and her weapons out of the way on shelves, in drawers or on pegs. When finished she stood back proudly and surveyed her work, before looking at her hands. Perhaps for the first time in her life she needed to wash them because of work; and still with faint ink stains on them as well. There was a jug and bowl in her room. She washed them and went to the common room. It being still very early in the afternoon, there were not many women present, but she greeted and was greeted by those she knew before leaving to look for Saidah.
“Now,” she said to Saidah, “I need a horse.” The search for a horse continued into most of the next day. It was late in the afternoon that she rode back to the inn, Saidah seated behind her, full of excitement and nervousness on a large, and fairly ugly, black warhorse with feathers around her feet called Esther. According to the trader, the horse’s last owner had died. Theodora knew that very few people were willing to try and win the loyalty of an older animal, but she was a very expert rider and thought it worth the risk.
Esther had seemed to accept her, and through this to tolerate Saidah. Being an older horse did not mean that Esther was a cheap purchase. The dealer asked a lot more, but she ended up costing fifty-four thousand nummus. Theodora removed a stack of thirty gold imperials from her pouch and counted them out in front of the dealer. She was aware that they were all shiny and new, but there was nothing she could do about it. This display of wealth left Saidah gasping at the transaction. Theodora realised such an amount was more than twice what most well-to-do families earned in a year.
Theodora now had to work out whether to armour Esther or not. A battle steed without at least some protection could not take its place in a charge. Like all of the members of the Imperial House, she was trained as one of the Kataphractoi, the heavy cavalry. Although, being a little lazy she was not as strong as she could be, she could at least use a lance more than competently. This might be of more use to her in combat than her magic. After all, she was a mage of madness and illusion, not of battle. She could throw air bolts and even make wands to throw them, but she lacked the array of destruction that a battle mage usually employed. Even the most potent magics that she knew only hid things away and this was rarely needed in the heat of a battle.
Theodora realised that she was not the mightiest person, being only of average strength, but she could at least competently use the weapons she had, if not as well as many. She decided that she would buy some light armour for Esther, and this meant that she would need a set for herself as well. It followed then that if she were getting armour, she may as well get a lance. She would look odd without one. It would try her skill at concealment to hide herself fully as she left, but if she rode out openly like this, people would see a cavalry rider rather than a runaway mage from the Imperial House.
~~~
The next day Theodora soon realised that Saidah was not much use at shopping for armour beyond pointing out the right part of Ardlark to head towards. Theodora was used to having her company while she shopped and the girl’s reactions to Theodora’s purchases and spending were valuable to the princess as part of her learning how to bargain better.
They took Esther with them and it was just as well they did as the horse had been hard to fit, being both tall and broad. In the end they found an armourer who had a complete set that fitted her well. It was intended for a horse in the front rank of a heavy unit and consisted of a padded drape for both front and rear with a bronze chain covering for the rear and tempered bronze alloy lamellar for the front, including the neck, with a single plate for the face. It was all good quality work and brand new.
Theodora thought about the purchase and decided in favour. Esther would not be moving fast in a charge, or at any other time, but she would be nearly unstoppable. Once again Saidah got to see the depth of Theodora’s purse as she counted out six platinum crowns—nearly three times the cost of Esther herself. Theodora saw how large her eyes were and bade her keep strict silence before relenting and making Saidah promise to be silent for at least three weeks after Theodora left. Then she could tell everything and not feel guilty about telling. From the slightly guilty expression on her face, Saidah would soon have not been able to contain herself. Her face changed to relief.
Theodora next sought armour for herself. The horse armourer quickly indicated a cousin who might be suitable and had his apprentice run ahead to direct their way. Theodora steered Esther after him and soon noticed that people giving them far more space on the street now than they had when the two had just walked. Esther showed her teeth at anyone who came too close and snorted.
It turned out that the cousin specialised in armour for mages. Theodora had not realised before, but that part of her secret seemed obvious to the people that she was dealing with. She looked at a set made of magnesium alloy (her metal) but declined to buy the beautiful armour, as a fire mage’s spells would have a dreadful effect on it. She finally obtained good quality padding and a full set of bronze alloy lamellar, inlaid with magnesium stars, for a further four crowns. There was also a matching helm for a further crown and, unconscious of what she was doing Theodora whipped off her veil to try it on. She realised her error as Saidah’s eyes grew as round as kaf cups. She quickly turned her back on the dealer, who appeared not to have noticed anything. Saidah had distracted him with a question. She would get a much better tip today for that.
The helm was a smoothly rounded cone with a solid neckpiece and a mail drape hanging around it and coming down over the face and all around extending down to the chest and part way down the back. The drape was heavy as the cold metal slid over her, but it was designed for safety and could be held up at the front by a sliding nasal. It was her last crown, but she managed to get the merchant to add a small metal shield, really a buckler that could hang off her belt, for no extra charge while she changed again. She was glad she had no more major purchases. Even though she thought it wouldn’t be noticed, she didn’t want to draw the attention of the Logothetēs tou trapeza basilikē, the accountant of the Imperial money, to herself if she could avoid it. These ones she had obtained some time before to go towards the purchase of a chariot and team, a purchase which had luckily never eventuated.
The workmanship on the armour was superb, but it had obviously been designed with Insackharl tastes in mind and Theodora was amused to see that some of the engraving on it was writing in Insackharl praising Hrothnog. Having made the purchase she asked for it to be delivered to the inn under her assumed name, the same as she had done for the dealer in horse barding. They headed off leading Esther to seek a lance and saddlebags and the other necessities. Along the way Theodora saw a kaf shop and she looped Esther’s reins over a nearby hitching post, telling the horse to wait and without even thinking about anyone stealing her, taking Saidah aside and h
eading towards a corner filled with plump cushions while ordering some kaf and a plate of sweet sticky pastries.
“You now know why I hide my face,” said Theodora quietly, when they were seated and after checking that no one was near, “my eyes tell everyone which family I am from.”
“They really are gold,” said Saidah eagerly. “I thought it was just a story, but they really are gold. You are so beautiful without the veil hiding your face. And your hair changed as well. Are all of the other stories true?” she went on to ask with all the lack of tact that the young can muster.
“It depends which stories you listen to.” Theodora let Saidah see and feel her arm. “I have no hair anywhere on my body except that you can see on my head. That much is true. I am already one hundred and twenty years old and, barring accidents of battle will live another six hundred at least, even many more, which also is true. However, when I attack young girls it is only to tickle them,” she suited action to words, provoking a fit of giggles, “and not to drink their blood.”
They continued with their shopping on a new and lighter note. Now that she had such a big secret Saidah started to act as if Theodora were her big sister, one who did not know her way in the world and Theodora reciprocated. Not since Miriam had left had Theodora had so much fun, and never in her life had she had so much enjoyment from such innocent pursuits.
~~~
That night at the inn, while still wearing her veil, Theodora entertained the other women. She had training in this art but, so far, had only performed for her teachers and other family. It was something a woman was supposed to be able to do, at least within their family. Tonight she danced, told stories, poetry and sang.
This should confound any rumours, she thought ignoring that what she wore was not what a normal dancing girl, or indeed any other entertainer, could afford to wear. Theodora reasoned that at least no one would expect any girl of the Imperial House to entertain commoners in a tavern. Despite her inexperience at working in public she must have done fairly well as, when she finished her first set, Saidah went around the room and collected a fair amount of money. It had dirhams and other small coins in it, but a quick glance showed there were at least five numismata among them. She was going to indignantly refuse the money or at least put it in drinks for the room, but then she realised that she was going to have to pay her own way in the world outside, and this might be how she did it.
After that, every night that she was at the Doe, she entertained. So as to not get the regular entertainer offside she included her music in her act and shared the money with her. On discovering Saidah beating rhythm on a pot she bought her a doumbec and included her in her act as well. As a self-taught drummer she was a natural. Each day Theodora worked hard at fitting in, at seeming to be just one of the inhabitants of the inn. Slowly the purse that she kept at the inn began to get fatter and fatter instead of losing weight.
Alternating a few days at the Doe with a few days at the palace enabled Theodora to bring down all her magical supplies and her jewellery. Her magic supplies, now wrapped in her calico, were a bit bulky and Esther would have bulging saddlebags. There was a light carpet of woven kapok that had her pentagram on it and woven with the significant signs of an air mage of the month of the Bird and the Year of Air Bird, ten cycles ago. This would be rolled up inside her bedroll and slung over Esther’s withers. There were a few other items as well, bits of Demons to use the Law of Contagion on as well as herbs, medallions and other items needed to cast spells under the other air signs of the Butterfly and the Monkey and the one thing she could not bear to leave behind.
At the bottom of one saddlebag was going to be her favourite formal dress and under-dress of silk, her best heavily jewelled superhumeral and her favourite coronet. Theodora rationalised the decision to take these useless things with her by thinking that you never knew when you might need to dress up. She had also created a new spell on an earring amulet that obscured her nature from observers. When she wore it she appeared to have the black eyes of an Insackharl and the same hair colour that she had woven into the veil’s spell. She started wearing it at the Doe and leaving off her veil. At least that made it easier for her to eat and drink.
~~~
One day, as she came out of the palace early, she realised that she had not been noticing the change of smells and sights and sounds as she changed to being Salimah anymore. She was now, she decided, ready to go away, and felt she was at home outside. Everything was packed and ready. She had settled her accounts with Maryam, and the Circus was on today.
As she moved towards the Doe the excitement on the streets was quite evident. She had been right. Today was a good day to leave. She dressed in her armour and made sure that everything was packed and then made her farewells, tearful and full of hugs, to Saidah, giving her presents: jewellery and clothes that would not fit in her bags and that Saidah would have to grow into.
As she rode away she could hear the calls of people betting, and see the crowds moving towards the arena. Raucous cries punctuated the buzz of an excited crowd. The sweaty smell of excitement blended with perfumes in the air. Esther lacked a smooth stride at the slow rate she could travel in through the crowds and her walk jolted Theodora and the horse huffed and made more noise than usual. The crowds made her horse nervous as she tried to watch all around her.
The same crowds made today a gala day full of excitement for many, but the excitement that was shared by Theodora was for a different reason.
Her mood didn’t last long. While Esther grew happier and snorted less, Theodora noticed that she seemed to be the only person heading out of the largest and most vibrant city in The Land. Around her crowds were kicking up dust she could smell, even from the paved roads, and it was hot in her armour. It was a long time, cycle or more, since Theodora had needed to wear armour all day and she was already itchy. Sweat trickled down her back and went places that made her uncomfortable. She was sure that she would smell when she took it all off.
Theodora had an uneasy feeling she was being watched and feared the breaking free of the confines of her family had been too easy. She made herself keep going, occasionally looking back to see if anyone followed. She went through the fields and past many small settlements, ones that she was sure that she had been past many times, but also ones that she had never bothered to learn their names, and headed southwest towards The Great Plain.
The crowds dwindled and Theodora shared the road with a only few traders with creaking carts and whose horses stayed clear of her, and with a wagon train from the Platys Dromos, the Imperial haulage, full of iron ore and trailing red dust and with some late farmers with produce to sell in a festive city. All of them were headed the other way. Early in the day she even had a tagma of several hundred Isci-kharl, with Insackharl officers, headed into the city and marching hard, go past her. They were singing one of their marching songs as their drums and pipes played to a quick beat that had Theodora tapping her finger against the saddle pommel. They must have hoped to be into the city in time to see some of the fighting in the games. Despite her vigilance she could see no one travelling at the same pace as her, even in the far distance.
~~~
As a part of the military machine of Darkreach the roads had all of the items necessary to help travel and Theodora was able to stop in the middle of the day for a meal and a rest for Esther at a military way station. Being military in appearance she could get a meal but, lacking written orders, she had to pay for it herself. She sat outside in the hot sun to eat. The bench was hard beneath her. In front of her was rough fare, well below what she was used to in both quality and variety, and she started to just pick at it, but it was filling and she was hungry, so she finished it.
That night she slept in another way station. The bed had rough blankets and sagged in the middle. Who knew how many had slept in it? At least it seemed clean. Unlike the inn there were no servants at these way stations, and very little privacy. At least there were places to bathe, even if she cou
ld not wash her clothes. Theodora realised she needed a servant. She had to admit to herself that she was useless without one. As she rode she thought she would be more likely to poison herself, than cook a good meal.
~~~
Never ceasing in her looking back she settled into a routine of travel and break by the time that she passed the turnoff that led north to Metal Hill—the largest source of iron in The Land and, in essence, one of the sources of Darkreach’s military strength. She remembered from school many years ago that they had more iron to be found in Darkreach than all of the other nations together. Coming down the road in the distance was another Imperial caravan of the Platys Dromos carrying iron ore—hundreds of swords waiting to be made. Soon after was the road heading south towards Jade Mountain. This was a strange uplifted rocky massif, clinging to the upper slopes of which were verdant oases complete with taverns with lacquered timber walls and secluded gardens. The rocks of the massif yielded jade, in its many colours, but that was not why she had been there. Wistfully, Theodora cast her thoughts back and reminisced. She had spent a very pleasant month there with a few lovers and friends.
As Theodora travelled along the firm roadway, gradually getting herself and Esther used to each other, she could see the land beside the road was growing drier and farming was giving way to pasture, and then to dry lands, almost desert, where only at a rare oasis was farming possible and then only for a few families. Looking down she noticed that a layer of dust was starting to coat her and Esther. It was a long dry road that she followed and even reaching Nu-I Lake was no relief. This year it was largely dry and the road bordered a hard-baked surface of mud with occasional remnant pools of salty water. The air smelt dry and had a bitter tang. She was glad of the dryness as she was sure that, despite the unfamiliar sensation, she was sweating far too much and, by now she was sure to smell more than a little off to an observer, something else that she was not really used to doing. Each morning the effect of bathing was gone in far too brief a time and she dared not attempt to wash her clothes as she had no idea how to even start doing it. She had to get a servant.
Intimations of Evil (Warriors of Vhast Book 1) Page 4