The road was muddy from the recent rains and thick with dung, so Tanis mounted his horse again and rode at Jael’s side.
“Are we going to stay at the Horn of Plenty?” Jael asked him.
Tanis grimaced.
“I’d choose not to, but we’d likely best stay there,” he said. “If Wagonmaster Nezed’s people turn up here, they may be looking for us, thinking we were in league with the brigands. But if that guardsman is suspicious, too, and checks at the Horn, he’ll wonder why we didn’t take his recommendation. Maybe we’ll be lucky and it’ll be full.”
To Tanis’s disgust, however, the Horn of Plenty was only half-full, and the innkeeper, a cheerful ex-guardswoman with one leg missing just above the knee, lowered her price for the room to half a Moon when Tanis mentioned Everd’s name.
“Supper’s at sunset if you’re eating here, and that’s three coppers,” she told them. “Two coppers stabling and food for each horse, and five for a bath with soap and towels.”
Jael grimaced at the prices, but Tanis counted out the coins resignedly. The room was plain but clean, as Everd had promised, the bed linens and straw mattress fresh-smelling, and the water in the jug on a table in the room was clear and sweet. Jael sighed contentedly and flopped back on the bed, luxuriating in the softness under her.
“I think I could sleep from this moment until the same time tomorrow,” Jael declared.
“Well, you’d best not,” Tanis said practically. “We’ve got to find Merchant Karina and bargain for a place in her caravan, and we’ve got to buy more supplies. Besides, I want supper, don’t you?”
“I’d kill for a hot meat pie and a bowl of dumplings,” Jael said wistfully.
“I want to drink a whole skin of the best wine I can buy,” Tanis said, sighing. He glanced sideways at Jael. “Why don’t we each take some money? You can buy the supplies, and I’ll find the merchant, and we can each do as we please for supper.”
A moment before, Jael would have rejoiced in spending some time away from Tanis; realizing, however, that she was in a strange city trying to buy supplies for their survival, the prospect suddenly frightened her.
“Don’t you think it’d be wise to stay together? Jael asked hesitantly.
“Oh, I think it’s safe enough,” Tanis said, rather too quickly. “Just keep your money in your tunic and only take out a few small coins at a time. You know trail supplies as well as I do— maybe better—and you’ve been through the market in Allanmere hundreds of times. A market’s a market, only this one won’t be quite as big.”
“Well, we could meet back here for supper,” Jael suggested.
“That still leaves part of the afternoon to run our errands.”
“Well—” Tanis hesitated. “I have some errands I want to do, and I—I may not be back till late. Better just do what you like for supper.” Unaccountably, he blushed.
Suddenly, seeing the blush, Jael realized why he wanted to be alone, and what sort of errand he had in mind.
“Gods, Tanis, if you want to go brothel-hopping, why didn’t you just say so?” Jael said, chuckling. “I’ll wager the innkeeper could direct you to a good place where you won’t catch whore’s-rot. And if the brothel has a healer—I hear some of the good ones do—maybe he’ll look at your arm, too.”
“Baaros have mercy, Jaellyn, just shut up, will you?” Tanis’s face was flaming now. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“All right.” Jael shrugged. “I’ll go to a money changer and get some small coin in exchange for some of the money Mother and Father gave us, and you can take all that money you stole and have a grand tumble with a hundred whores if that’s what you want. Just find out about the caravan first, will you, and if you’re going to be out all night long, leave me a message.” She dug into her pack until she found the pouch Shadow had given her. She pulled out a few small gems and a handful of Suns and tucked them into her sleeve, then stuffed the rest of the pouch into a pocket inside her shirt.
Tanis watched these preparations unhappily, but without comment. At last he stood and left without another word.
Jael waited a little while before leaving, to give Tanis time to talk to the innkeeper if he wanted. After a fair interval, she found the innkeeper herself and asked for and got directions to the market. On the street, however, she found that in Westenvale, as in Allanmere, all she really needed to do was follow her nose.
It was late afternoon, and Westenvale’s market was still busy. As Tanis had told her, it was a little smaller than the market in Allanmere, but the strangeness made it seem larger. Still, as Tanis had said, a market was a market, and Allanmere’s market had always been Jael’s second home. Here were the same smells, the same noises, the same crowds, even the same urchins and thieves and beggars populating the spaces between stalls and carts. Among all that clutter and clamor, it was possible for Jael to almost ignore the growling belly of a dog searching for scraps in the alley or the pain of a horse as its noble rider dug spurs into its sides.
After several passersby stopped and stared, however, Jael discovered that Westenvale was, in fact, very different from Allanmere in one way. There were elves in the market, both buying and selling, although not as many as might be seen in Allanmere, but these weren’t the familiar elves of the Heart-wood, laughing and arguing and no two alike. These were elves from the eastern elven cities, every one of them tall, slender and pale, graceful as swans on a lake, their conversation punctuated by flowing gestures so elaborate that the elves seemed to move in a never-ceasing dance. A few of them paused to gaze at Jael with gently surprised curiosity.
Jael changed her Suns and gems at four different money changers’ shops for Moons and coppers. After that the market was hers, and she roamed among the shops and stalls nibbling blissfully on a too-hot meat pie, buying some sweets here, a dried-berry tart there, all the while watching the haggling at the stalls where journey food was sold. When she had a fair idea of who sold good-quality merchandise and what she could expect to pay for it, she made her purchases. She would rather have bought the food later than make an extra trip back to the inn to stow the food, but what if they had to leave soon? Better an extra walk now than an empty belly on the road.
After Jael had deposited the sacks of supplies in her room, however, it was suppertime, and she decided reluctantly that it was easier to sup at the inn than make another trip back to the market. Besides, she wanted her bath.
Because of the poor soil and vast plains surrounding Westenvale and the whimsical drought-or-flood weather, many farmers preferred to herd livestock for meat or milk instead of depending on uncertain grain or vegetable crops. Consequently, meat was cheap and good, and even simple inns like the Horn of Plenty could serve all the rich roast spring lamb its patrons could eat for a three-copper supper. Jael stuffed herself to drowsy repletion and then ordered her bath.
Unlike Allanmere, Westenvale had no magically drilled taps to subterranean hot springs, and bathing water had to be laboriously heated in the kitchen; that, of course, was why a bath in an inn in Westenvale cost five times what it would in Allanmere. To Jael’s surprise and dismay, however, the price of the bath included the services of a bathboy to scrub her back and rinse Jael’s soapy body with fresh water. When Jael stepped out of the tub and thanked him, however, the bathboy hesitated.
“Will there be”—the young man’s eyes swept over Jael’s towel-wrapped body—”anything else?”
“Huh? Oh! Uh—no, no, thank you,” Jael said hurriedly, scrabbling for her purse to press a few coppers into his hand. “Just empty the tub and take it away.”
When the bathboy was gone, Jael latched the door and curled up on the bed, luxuriating in its softness and the cleanliness of her skin. Despite the noise from outside and the strange surroundings, she was soon asleep; it seemed only a few moments later, however, when she was roused by Tanis calling through the door. When Jael raised the latch, Tanis stumbled in, smelling strongly of wine, perfume, and musky incense. He mumbled s
omething incoherent. Jael, still half-asleep herself, only caught the word “tomorrow” before Tanis sagged limply onto the bed. Jael shook her head, irritated, and pulled Tanis’s boots and tunic off before she crawled back under the covers. Whatever it was, it could wait.
“Jaellyn. Wake up.”
Jael bolted upright, and Tanis winced, shading his eyes from the morning sunlight.
“What is it?” Jael mumbled, trying to shake the sleep-fog from her head.
“Get dressed. We’ve got to go.” Tanis’s face was gray and his eyes were shot heavily with red, but he stepped away rather gingerly and reached for his clothes.
“Huh?” Jael rubbed her eyes. “What do you mean?”
“The caravan.” Tanis peered out the window and winced again. “It leaves this morning. I’ve already paid for us to join it.”
Jael poured herself a goblet of water, glanced into the goblet, and poured the water over her head instead of drinking it.
“Why didn’t you tell me that last night?” she said annoyedly. “You could’ve left a message.”
“I’m sorry.” Tanis also poured water into a goblet, but settled for splashing his face. “In case you didn’t notice last night, I was drunk. I don’t even remember coming back here.”
“I suppose you won’t have time for your bath, then,” Jael said, sighing. “And you need it worse than I did.”
“Sorry. Believe me, I’d much rather lie in bed for another half-day and soak in a bath for hours more.” Tanis tied the top of his pack and slung it over his shoulder. “Come on, let’s get the horses loaded. There won’t be another caravan traveling west for days. It’s a good thing you got the food last night.”
Jael was tempted to make a retort about the relative value of his and her evening’s activities, but seeing Tanis’s pasty face and shaking hands, she decided that a little mercy wouldn’t be wasted on her friend. Instead, she quickly pulled a potion out of her kit, poured a few drops into a goblet of water, and offered it to Tanis.
“Try that,” she said. “Father makes it for my rainy-season headaches, but Aunt Shadow says it’s good for bad mornings, too.”
Tanis gulped down the water without replying, but by the time they had carried their belongings down to the stable and loaded the horses, he was already less pale and no longer winced every time Jael spoke too loudly. Just as well, for they rode out of the inn directly into the morning going-to-market crowd, and only their height on horseback kept them from being swallowed in the press of peasants and nobles hurrying to buy and farmers and craftsmen hurrying to sell.
It would have been quicker to ride back through the city gates and around to the west side, but there was no question of trying to fight the inexorable tide of bodies pushing toward the market. They were forced to ride amidst the crush of people, carefully keeping the pack horse between them so that nobody could cut its reins or rob the packs, and Jael was already weary by the time they made their way to the west gate of the city, where the caravan was almost ready to depart. Jael was relieved to see that the train of wagons fairly bristled with well-armed guards; obviously there were more valuables on this caravan than simply cheeses!
“There you are.” A tall, stout woman dressed in riding clothes, apparently Merchant Karina herself, came to greet them. “Thought you’d fallen in love with Westenvale and decided to forego traveling with me and my cheeses. Tie your horses at the back and ride with me if you like. I’ve cut a wheel of my best, and I’ll gladly make you sick of it while I pry out everything you can tell me about every cheese seller who works the market in Allan-mere.”
Jael glanced at Tanis, and to her delight this time he nodded. The two quickly tied their horses behind the wagon.
“Everd says you’re the ones gave warning about the bandits on the road from Allanmere,” Karina continued, walking along the other wagons and nodding to the drivers. “That warning gave me time to hire a few more guards. Hopefully we’ll make Gerriden with our goods and hides intact. Sparing your bottoms from the saddle’s the least I can do. I’ve hired a fair cook, too, so we won’t starve. Guess you can tell from looking that I’m one to expect a goodly meal. Well, the others look to be ready if you are, Durgan,” Karina added to a tall, dark-skinned young guard standing beside the horses hitched to the lead wagon.
“Almost ready, Mistress Karina,” Durgan said, smiling and half-bowing. He raised his eyebrows as he saw Jael and Tanis. “Cesanne is checking the horses for the last time. Is this lovely young lady and her friend to be a part of our company?”
“This is Caden, a merchant’s son, making his way west from Allanmere,” Karina said, “and Acorn, one of Allanmere’s forest elves. Caden, Acorn, this is Durgan, my guard captain and wagonmaster.”
“I am delighted to meet you,” Durgan said, taking Jael’s hand and bowing over it.
Jael almost snatched her hand away as she felt a familiar tingle at his touch. Gods, he was wearing some kind of magic— maybe something as simple as a trap-spell on his purse or a water-repellant spell on his clothing—and the gods grant she hadn’t just ruined it!
Durgan released Jael’s hand and turned toward the horses. “Cesanne, come and meet our new friends. Caden, Acorn, I present my sister Cesanne.”
An extraordinarily beautiful woman, as dark of skin as Durgan but her hair golden as the sun, stepped out from behind the horses. She was as slender as Durgan, but not as tall, and her radiant green eyes slanted exotically like his dark brown ones.
Like Durgan, she was dressed in butter-supple riding leathers, a sword at her hip and a bow at her back.
“My lady.” Before Jael could say a word, Tanis had stepped forward and bowed over Cesanne’s hand. When he straightened, Cesanne smiled slowly, and her fingers lingered on his for just a moment longer than necessary. Jael sighed to herself.
“Well, then, let’s be gone,” Karina said with just a hint of impatience. “Gerriden’s not getting any closer while we stand.”
Jael quickly found that traveling by wagon also had its disadvantages. The trade road was in poor condition after winter and the recent rains, and the wagon jolted as the horses did not. Merchant Karina was cheerful and hospitable, but her incessant conversation proved as annoying as the constant bouncing of the wagon seat. Jael munched on the proffered cheese—it was really excellent cheese—and let Tanis and Karina talk about the market as much as they liked while she watched the countryside roll slowly by like the Brightwater River on a lazy afternoon.
This was how Aunt Shadow saw the world, sitting on a jolting wagon seat while some merchant lord droned on unendingly about how his last shipment of goods had gotten damaged on its way to market and how the price of hiring additional guards to dissuade highwaymen had driven up prices. Somehow Jael had never thought about that; she’d pictured Shadow lying on soft cushions in some handsome lord’s arms at night, sipping expensive wines and nibbling sweets from the farthest cities, not sweating in the noon sun on a hard wagon seat while she bounced up and down. But then Jael had never thought much about highwaymen and cold, rainy nights, either.
Occasionally Durgan or Cesanne would drop back and ride beside Karina’s wagon. Cesanne often smiled at Tanis, a slow, sweet smile, and then Tanis’s conversation with Karina would falter and die. Jael chuckled to herself.
Near sunset Durgan brought his horse up beside their wagon, and Cesanne followed.
“Some of us will scout the road ahead and do a bit of hunting for our supper before the wagons frighten away the game,” Durgan said. “Would you wish to join us?”
“Acorn doesn’t hunt,” Tanis said before Jael could answer. “But I’d be glad to join you.”
“Yes, do come and hunt with us,” Cesanne said, speaking for the first time. Her voice was low and silken, like honey. “There are wild deer with long horns that run these plains, fleet as the wind. It’s been said that if you find such a deer with a perfect white coat and kill it, and if you eat its heart, then under the moon you can take its form and r
un like the wind over the tops of the grass.” She reached out and took Durgan’s hand, sliding her fingers caressingly over his own.
“Now, that’s a horrible tale,” Karina said, scowling. “Sounds like the curse of the shifters to me. Ride along, then, young Caden, if that’s your wish, but don’t be eating the hearts of any white deer, thank you very kindly, and changing into any uncanny thing while you ride with me!”
She stopped the wagon, and Tanis quickly ran around to the back. When he reappeared on his horse, Jael saw that he had removed the saddlebags, and she wondered whether he had loaded them on one of the other horses or thrown them in the back of Karina’s wagon. Tanis had unpacked his bow also, and Jael wondered amusedly whether he would try to use it, likely to his humiliation.
Tanis gave Jael a rather abashed look, but rode off after Cesanne and Durgan. Jael sipped from her waterskin and picked up another piece of cheese from the basket Karina had laid at their feet, munching thoughtfully.
“Have you known Durgan and Cesanne long?” Jael asked at last.
Karina shook her head.
“No. They’ve come recently from the far west, or so Durgan says. But they were well recommended by Lord Tedrin, who brought a load of spices from Gerriden. They got his caravan through safe even though a couple of guards deserted in mid-journey, just disappeared in the night. Not a pinch of his shipment lost, and some of those spices were worth Suns for a featherweight.”
“Do you think—” Jael stared after the riders. “Durgan and Cesanne, do you think they’re a couple?”
“They’re brother and sister, or so Durgan says, but that sort of thing isn’t uncommon in the wild country.” Karina shrugged. “I’d say yes but for the come-to-the-bushes-m’lad looks she’s been giving Caden.” Karina glanced sideways at Jael. “Is she grazing in someone else’s pasture?”
Jael shook her head.
Dagger's Point (Shadow series) Page 9