R.E.birth

by Thomas W. Everson

  Now looking for two people, I figure finding a jester with such a flamboyant hat shouldn’t be too hard, but the crowds make it difficult. After a few minutes pass and I don’t see him return, I step down from the fountain’s stone rim and re-adjust the strap on the bag so that it’s a little more comfortable. Just when I’m about to cut my losses and start walking, I hear jingling bells within the crowd and he emerges with a rolled up piece of parchment, making his way quickly over to me.

  “As you can see you have nothing to fear, quickly let us open your map over here!” The jester points at the place I was sitting.

  He kneels down and unrolls the parchment directly on the spot I was sitting by the fountain. Setting his bauble down next to him he motions for me and I take a couple steps and drop to one knee.

  “What you need to do is make your way to the east side, though you’ll want to use the shadows to hide.” He points to the map of the city and directs me with his finger through alleyways to get me to my destination.

  “Why would I want to hide?”

  Looking around he responds in whisper, “The city has people who cannot be trusted.”

  “That wasn’t a rhyme.”

  “Whoops, it appears that my words need to be readjusted.”

  I quirk my eyebrows at him.

  Something isn’t right.

  “What do you mean?” I ask but he jumps up and starts to dance away.

  “It is time for me to flee and spread some more glee!” He bounces away.

  Within moments he is moving along spinning his bauble, laughing and mingling with the passing people as if he had not just given me dark words of warning. He disappears from sight into a crowd that is heading in the direction of the castle and I feel my muscles relax, no longer plagued by something that I have a strange apprehension about.

  Could there be an actual danger or is it just tricks from a jester?

  Memorizing the route I need to take on the map I roll it up and place it in my bag. Heading toward the nearest alleyway, my feet carry me as the map and jester indicated, pushing through a crowd to reach it. These alleys have significantly less people moving about than the main pathways and it’s as the jester said it would be, in the shadows. Due to the narrowness between the first two buildings, even the near midday sun isn’t penetrating into the sliver of room between them. Moving quite freely, I find my way down until I reach a fork. Turning to the left fork I continue to head in a mostly eastern direction.

  The new branch of the alley has a little bit more room than when I first entered, but the sun still doesn’t come any farther than a few feet from the top of the buildings at most. The alley makes a right angle at the intersection of two buildings and as I come around the corner I bump into a small-framed woman dressed in an elegant white cloak with gold embroidery. Though she has her hood up I can see her face well enough and her skin looks fair and smooth. Blonde curly locks flow out from under the hood of the cloak and her light amber-colored eyes seem to gleam even without a direct light source.

  “Pardon me,” I excuse myself and step to the side to get around her. She blocks me. I move to get around her again but am intercepted yet again. “Sorry, I don’t have time to dance, miss. I’m in a little bit of a hurry.”

  “I need your help.” A sweet and melodious voice emanates from this quite beautiful woman.

  “As much as I would like to help a woman of your beauty, I simply cannot detour from my current objective,” I tell her as politely as possible.

  “I know what your mission is and I think you will find that what I need your help with coincides with what you are doing.”

  “How could you know of my mission?”

  “I am a very smart woman.” She smiles innocently. “You have come here seeking someone.”

  “Could be. I could be seeking companionship with a beautiful woman.” The urge takes over my mouth and I say things that I don’t mean.

  Her innocent smile turns into a smirk, “You have the makings of a jester. But truly I know that you seek a woman who wears similar clothes to yours. Your clothes are different than the people of this city.”

  “A good guess.”

  “It is no guess. You wear an orange chrysanthemum on the right shoulder of your cloak. Hers had a pink rose.”

  “Now, you have my attention.” My mind clicks from being flippant to alert. Seeing my attention is now focused, her face becomes serious.

  “She came into the city yesterday, but she has nay been seen since.”

  “What happened to her?” I ask, raising my voice quite a bit.

  “Shh.” She looks around and behind her before returning her gaze to me. “I am unsure what has become of her to this moment, but an awful thing is happening in the city and unfortunately the King is blind to it.”

  I nod for her to continue while listening intently.

  “Illegal slave trading has crept into the city and has been corrupting its citizens. Travelers who come in disappear shortly after and are not seen again. I have been able to gather some information through my eyes and ears in the city but it has been limited due to his…we will say, jovial nature.”

  “Jovial? The jester?!”

  “Yes, he was under my direction to find a fresh, young and strong looking traveler and direct that person to me. When he saw you and the flower you have sewn into your shoulder, he knew you would be seeking your friend. He is very observant.”

  “Is that why he was gone so long?”

  “He was reporting to a guard who then came to inform me.”

  “So is it your assumption that the person I seek has been taken into this slave ring?”

  “Yes.”

  “How is this happening to me? Can’t I just get a month of reprieve?” I mutter under my breath and cross my arms, speaking normally again. “I guess now is the time I ask, ‘what do I need to do to help?’”

  “Indeed. Since you will already be seeking your friend, what I am asking can be done along the way.” Her sweet tone returns. “I need you to find evidence of the slave traders working in Asta and the nearby area. If you could and bring that evidence back to me I would be indebted and hopefully you find your friend safe.”

  “What kind of evidence? How do you propose I do this?”

  “Anything. Journals, log books, falsified indentured servant papers. Head to the inn that my jester marked on the map, rent a room and then go to the tavern and feign being drunk. They will no doubt target you and from there you will be on your way.”

  “Were my friend not missing, I would just as soon sit this out. I have seen too much adventure lately, but because I am unlucky, you are in luck.” I frown.

  “Then it is settled. I will give you some coin now as a good faith payment and a full reward upon your successful return.” She smiles, kneels down and removes a pouch that was tied to her ankle.

  She holds out the pouch as payment. Hesitation enters my mind and for a brief moment I wonder if I should just seek out Agatha and forgo the mission she asks of me. But because Agatha has potentially been taken that hesitation dissipates. I take the payment and place it in my bag.

  “Good, it is settled then. You find your missing person, I get my evidence and we all live happily ever after.” She smiles again.

  “Hah,” I let out a sarcastic laugh as ‘happily ever after’ seems to be a myth. “I would ask how I get in touch with you once I am finished, but you will be watching for me will you not?”

  She smiles, pulls the hood down farther over her face and turns around to head down the alley. According to the map, she’s heading in the same direction I need to, so I follow. We reach a side alleyway and she turns into it and we begin to part ways. However, curiosity stops my feet and I call after her.

  “Who are you anyway?” I ask.

  She turns back for just a moment, barely showing the profile of her face, “For now we shall just say I am someone who is concerned about the state of this kingdom.”

  Leaving the area, I watch he
r move down the long alley she has chosen and disappears into the sun and bustling crowd. Continuing on my way down the alley, I follow the directions on the map, and a short time passes before I reach the street where the inn lies.

  When the sun hits my eyes I have to shield my face for a few moments. Turning to my right I follow the flow of the crowd and make my way to the inn.

  A sign hangs out from the building on a post in front of me, clearly labeling my mark. The sign is wood, carved and painted white as a backdrop, while the words ‘Day’s End Inn and Tavern’ are raised out of the wood and painted in a bold red. After the last inn, I’m reluctant to enter, but when I do push through the heavy wooden door there is a jingle above my head from a bell and cool, sweet smelling air drafts outward over me. I am pleasantly surprised at the classiness of the interior.

  The inside is well-kept, everything is clean. There are bright woven tapestries hanging on the walls depicting many different things from a bird’s eye view of the city to the crest of the kingdom to a farmer standing in front of his farmland. To the immediate left of the door is a counter with a savvy looking man sorting rolled parchments.

  To the front, on the left and right are two spiral staircases that lead up to a second floor balcony and past them is the tavern area with shellacked tables and fancy chairs with red cushions. Even further is a bar with brightly polished steins lined up in a row. Different colored liquor bottles glisten in the lantern light on shelves behind the bar tender that is cleaning an open space on the bar.

  If Agatha wasn’t kidnapped before night, this is definitely somewhere she would have stayed.

  “Good day sir!” The man behind the desk turns from his parchments and greets me with a warm smile. His appearance is immaculate; his hair is styled, his clothes are clean and pressed and his hands appear to have no wear on them.

  “Afternoon.” I nod at him. “What is the going rate per night at this establishment?”

  “Fifty silver pieces. This includes the room and the evening’s meal. Drinks are extra.”

  “Sounds reasonable. What is the exchange rate of silver to gold here?” I pull out a single gold coin with Asta’s crest on it from the pouch given to me by the mystery woman and set it down on the counter.

  “With that coin you will be well taken care of! You drink as much as you like! Let me show you to your room!” The man seems a little overzealous in his excitement to see a single gold coin, the same reaction I received from the jester in the city’s center.

  I push the coin his way and he takes it and puts it in a coin pouch of his own strapped to his belt. From the wall he grabs a key ring of simple, long, one and two-pronged keys and then eagerly pulls a half-door open on the side of the desk, motioning for me to follow.

  He leads me up the spiral staircase on the left taking two steps at a time. Not sharing his eagerness, I take my time coming up the stairs and when I reach the balcony overlooking the lobby and tavern I find that he has already made his way to the back wall. Several doorways down on the left he is flipping through the keys for the right one to open my room. I hear the tumbler within the door as he slides the key in and then turns it.

  It clicks and the door swings open to reveal a huge and fancy suite lit up by a chandelier with candles. The bed is on the left and is sized for a king with large pillows covering it and has a canopy. On either side of it are windows with dark blue curtains woven with such intricate spiral gold thread patterns that it amazes me. Tables sit under each window with lit oil lanterns. On the right hand side of the room there are a few paintings of boats on either side of a vanity with a large mirror. The room seems intended for women, but due to its size and extravagance it works well to cater to men too.

  I move over to the bed, setting my oil lantern on the table closest to me and untie the strings on my cloak, throwing it onto the bed. The bag and dagger follow the cloak onto the bed, though quite a bit more delicately. Turning around I find the man from the desk is still standing there.

  “Was there something I could help you with?” I ask.

  “The chamber pot is in the corner. Just let us know and we shall dispose of it,” he tells me and I am slightly disgusted remembering that working plumbing doesn’t exist now. “Since you have paid so generously I wanted to make sure all your needs will be met while you are in our establishment. Is everything satisfactory?”

  “At the moment I don’t have any needs, thank you. When will the evening’s meal be served?”

  “In just a few hours.”

  “Sounds perfect. I’m going to rest in my room until then. Please let me know when it is ready.”

  “Yes sir!” He bows courteously.

  As he leaves, I close the door behind him and return to the bed, lying down to think. While there are now technically four women in my life and as much as I would like to keep my mind focused on just the two that I actually care about, I can’t help but wonder about Eve’s acclimation.

  I hope Agatha is okay wherever she is at, and I hope Ami isn’t worrying about us too much. What could Eve be doing right now? Annoying Ami by pretending she’s still in charge? Or is Ami dominating now because Eve is in her territory? Eve pretends she is independent, but if she were truly left alone I wonder how she would do.

  I shut my eyes and allow my body to relax a few moments.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  A loud knock on the door wakes me. Startled I grab the dagger, putting one hand on the sheath and one hand on the hilt while moving over to the door.

  The mysterious woman said that since I was new to town I would be targeted, could they have found me so soon? With the number of people in the city, the magnitude of this operation has to be huge, otherwise how would they know a new person from a regular?

  I pull the dagger out with my left hand while with my right I hold the sheath and reach for the knob on the door. Yanking it open I brandish the weapon at the knocker. The desk clerk’s face pales and I can see his body lock up on him. During my thinking and sleep I had forgotten that I had asked to be informed when the meal was ready. Sighing in relief I sheathe the dagger and return it to the bed. When I come back to the man he stammers.

  “Th-the m-meal is r-ready.”

  “Sorry about that. I am a little on edge,” I apologize. “Please, lead the way.”

  “Yes sir!” He does an about face and strides quickly away toward the staircase.

  I close the door behind me and follow him. He leads down the stairs and to a table near the bar where a stein and silverware have already been set out for me.

  As I sit down, I notice that there are now a few women servers about dressed in seductive clothing that appears to be standard uniform for this establishment. The shirts are white, frilly and very showy. They hang off of the women’s shoulders, showing collarbone and a few inches of chest, and they end only a few inches below the women’s busts, but because of it being white, puffy and pleated in different places it looks like something that Ami might make and wear. They’re also all wearing pleated blue and white dresses that hang off of their hips and if I had to guess, my bet would be that they dress this way for bigger tips and to get men to buy more alcohol.

  My food is brought to me by one of the servers and its smell is delicious. There is shredded meat, of which kind I’m not sure yet, cooked beets and a small, dark brown loaf of bread. My mouth waters.

  “What would you like to drink, love?” My very attractive server asks in a sweet tone.

  I wave her in close with my hand. Now is the time to enact the feigning drunk plan. “I want you to be my server tonight, you and you alone. There is a full gold coin in this for you, paid in full, up front.”

  “Such generosity! But I will have you know I am betrothed, so no funny business!”

  “No, nothing like that,” I whisper. “I simply need you to keep my stein full with small beer, but you must play it off like you are giving me actual alcohol and go along when I act drunk.”

  “Wh
y?”

  “Sorry, no questions. Can you do this for me?”

  “I can do that for you.”

  “Good. Please bring me the first stein. I will be right back.”

  As she takes the stein and goes to the bar, I head back upstairs to retrieve the pouch that has the coins with Asta’s crest on them. As I make my way across the balcony to the spiral staircase I see my brunette server setting my stein down on the table and waiting for me to return. When I get there, I promptly pull a gold coin out and pay her what I offered. Back in my seat I take a sip from the stein to make sure she had done what I asked. She has.

  While I’m eating, more people begin to trickle in, mostly for the alcohol. Every time I take a drink from the stein, I glance around, noting that the majority of the patrons seem to be of the middle to higher class based on their clothing. Men and women alike eat and drink and the once quiet tavern has become noisy with chatter and laughter. I empty my stein and wave my server over. When she reaches me, I hold up my stein and say nothing. Taking it, she leaves me and returns moments later with the small beer. I continue to eat and watch the people around me.

  With my plate and a second stein now empty, I begin to act slightly drunk. I sway back and forth a little and crane my head around, grinning like an idiot. I holler out holding up my stein.

  “Wench! Another refill!”

  She looks slightly embarrassed as she heads my way, which works quite well to call attention to me. Taking my stein she heads behind the bar, fills it and returns. I drink it sloppily, spilling a little on myself, then using the shoulder of my shirt, I wipe my mouth. Slouching in my chair and putting my arms behind my head to keep it from flopping all the way back I look about noting no one suspicious. But people are still coming and going, so I must wait it out.

  If I drink any more small beer my bladder is going to explode though.

  To take my mind off of it, I purposely slip off of my chair, falling to the floor hard, and when I try to get up I grip the chair tightly, feigning that I’m having a hard time doing so. When I get back into the chair I drink again from the stein and slam it down. Knowing I’m getting looks from people I look around and smile sheepishly.