“You mentioned a boat ride with candles and a picnic. Where would I find that and how much did it cost?” Liselle asked.
Elssa answered, “It cost my husband ten gold, which he saved up over a couple of months. I do recommend it if you get a chance.”
“Can we, Vevin?” Liselle turned to him hopefully.
With one look into her pretty, grey eyes, he responded, “Yes, of course. We’ll do it right away.” He took her in his arms and they did a happy, boat-riding dance.
Suddenly a holler came from the children, followed immediately by crying. One of the boys was bleeding from his nose and he came over with tears flowing down his face, pointing at a girl who was following and telling him to shut up. “Eva hit me!” he yelled through his tears. The girl looked to be two years younger than him and a total terror.
“Pardon us,” Isobel said with a roll of her eyes as the women walked over to handle the situation. The companions left the women to deal with the tragedy and walked off toward the Llaav River.
Chapter 19
Enormous, multilevel inns bordered a park between the avenue and the river. Each gaudily painted building had gardens with statues and fountains in front. Behind were docks with boats for taking passengers out onto the river. The floor of the enormous cavern gradually sloped downward toward the inns, allowing the party to see for miles. People teemed along the avenue.
Sir Danth led them through the park to the riverside. There was a small retaining wall along the river below and a low-railed fence to keep people from accidentally falling in. The river swarmed with boats carrying passengers up and down the waterway.
To the right, the park continued up to a twenty-foot tall iron fence spanning across the river and avenues on either side. Eight Rojuun guards stood in front of a pair of golden colored gates, ready to turn away anyone who didn’t belong. They didn’t have much to do because nobody came near.
The companions could see the fortress on an island that butted up against the cavern wall. Another river flowed into the Llaav, joining in front of the fortress to separate it from the rest of the city. Downriver was a mammoth opening in the opposite cavern wall where boats traveled into the next cave, taking their passengers to the beaches of the lake.
Liselle came up beside Tathan as he studied the four bridges crossing the river downstream. “You can see all the way to the bottom,” she remarked in awe. Tathan looked down over the railing and saw hundreds of bright fish swimming. Liselle was right; the bottom of the deep river was visible in the perfectly clear water. Glowing plants lined the riverbed, but it was hard to see most of them because there were so many fish.
“I do not believe those are all fish.” Sir Danth said in confusion. “That green one with the lavender wings is a daliit like the one that landed on my gauntlet in Garrrn Cavern.” In addition to various birds, there were other animals. They recognized a large herbivore floating along with the tide. The Rojuun often used them for food, much as humans used cattle.
“Oh yes. Almost everything underground has gills and can swim or walk underwater,” Vevin said.
“How do you know that?” Tathan asked.
“Everyone knows that.” When Vevin saw they were frowning at him as though they didn’t understand, he explained. “They mentioned it in Jarrrn Caverns and a lot of people have been talking about it since we’ve been traveling on the Cavern Road. Haven’t you been listening?”
They looked at each other and then back at Vevin, shaking their heads at the same time. “Oh! It’s very interesting,” he said. He went from doing his quiet ‘looking at things dance’ to doing an ‘I’m going to describe something really neat shuffle’. Tathan had privately labeled at least a hundred different variations of Vevin’s dances and filed them away in the back of his mind.
Vevin gestured as he spoke. “The majority of underground areas aren’t connected to each other by anything except rivers, lakes and underground oceans. The Rojuun build some tunnels, as do various creatures, but if you want to visit most underground places, you have to be able to breathe underwater.”
“You learned all that by listening to random conversations, Master Vevin?” Sir Danth asked, obviously impressed. “I thought you were tuning out everything but talk about the princess.”
“Oh no. I can listen to lots of things at once. Now I prioritize them by what I want to hear most,” Vevin said with a big smile. “First is anything related to treasure, second is pebbles, third is flowers; because it’s important to Liselle, fourth is keys, fifth is carnivorous fairies, sixth is animals; it used to be animals that were above ground, but now I listen to information about underground animals too, seventh is ears, eighth is . . .”
Sir Danth cut him off, “What number is the princess?”
“She’s nineteenth,” Vevin responded with a nod and sharp smile.
“Nineteenth? Shouldn’t she be more important than pebbles?” Tathan asked in disbelief. “Why do you listen for talk about pebbles anyway?”
“Not many people talk about them, so it’s important to be vigilant,” Vevin replied seriously. “There are more pebbles in the world than absolutely anything else, you know.”
“Umm . . . no. I didn’t know that,” Tathan admitted. He wasn’t sure why it was important and didn’t really want to know.
Sir Danth asked, “Why wouldn’t birds fly instead of swimming?”
“Well that would just be silly,” Vevin replied, rolling his eyes. “This obviously isn’t the cavern the bird wants to fly in. It’s looking for a nicer cave with lots of insects, isn’t that right little birdie,” he said, waving at a swimming bird. The original daliit had disappeared far downriver by that point.
“I see,” Sir Danth said, though it was obvious he didn’t. “So, do you know why underground animals glow?”
“Of course. It’s so they have light to see by. Why else would they glow?” Vevin rolled his eyes again. The liquid silver rippled in a circle.
“Ahh,” Sir Danth said, nodding. “That makes complete sense.” Tathan and Liselle nodded too, after all, why else would the creatures glow?
“Shall we take a boat ride?” Liselle asked hopefully, pointing to a nearby dock with boats for hire.
“Oh yes! That sounds like fun! Let’s do it, Tathan.” Vevin’s happy dance had new moves, which Tathan labeled as the ‘let’s take a boat ride’ version.
“I don’t like boats or deep water.” Sir Danth shook his head. “It’s a bad idea. A person could fall in and be dragged along in the current. Plus, fish are slimy, even the glowing ones.”
They stared at him for a moment.
He held his arms out. “Why are you looking at me like that? It’s true that I can’t drown, but the armor would still cause me to sink.” He banged his gauntlet on the chest-piece. “And fish are evil, you know. They seem innocent, swimming around down there, but they’re just waiting for someone to fall in so they can sit on them and drown them. Mark my words.” He pointed a finger at them.
“Umm . . . alright then,” Tathan responded with a raised eyebrow. “I think we should find a room to stay in first. You two,” he said, pointing at Vevin and Liselle, “can get a boat ride afterward, hopefully finding out more information about the fortress by asking other riders.” He pointed at Sir Danth, “You can take a walk around land to see if you can find out anything else. Meanwhile, I’ll try to figure out why we’re being followed.”
They all looked around to see who was following them. Tathan buried his face in his palms. “No, no, no, no, no. You don’t look around when I say we’re being followed. It gives away the fact that I know.” He put his hands on his hips indignantly. “I can’t take you anywhere.”
Sir Danth put up a finger. “You didn’t tell us not to look beforehand, Master Tathan. Therefore, you are accountable for our actions in the matter.”
Tathan glared at the knight before throwing his hands up in the air, turning around and stomping off toward the inns. The rest of them exchanged looks, shrugge
d and followed.
Tathan had only caught glimpses of the person following him, enough to know that it wasn’t the woman from Puujan with the striking green eyes and giant squirrel named Steve. He led the party down the street toward the inns. There was no way he would ever pay a hundred gold pieces for a room. That was just ridiculous. Everything was ridiculous down here.
Tathan realized he was becoming angry and wanted to start swinging his sword at everything in sight. He took a deep breath to calm himself. It wouldn’t do for that to happen again. Tathan hated the dark thoughts that crossed his mind. Since traveling with his cousin, life had seemed pleasant and good. It was like an illusion though, a pleasant dream Tathan would have to wake up from soon.
His eyes caught a girl, who must have been about fourteen, leaning against a building across the avenue. She had brown hair, a dirty complexion and wore a long, open cloak. Underneath that was a frilly shirt, black trousers and a wicked looking rapier.
He handed his expenses pouch to Sir Danth and pointed at an inn bordering the park. “See if you can get a room on the top floor facing the fortress. If it’s too expensive, take whatever you can.”
The knight frowned. “I was under the impression you wished to handle matters of money, Master Tathan.”
“I have someone to go talk to,” Tathan replied cryptically.
“Why not give the money to your cousin?” Sir Danth asked, holding the pouch out to Liselle.
“Because, people don’t take money pouches out of the hand of an armored knight with a big sword, but they do take it from pretty young women,” Tathan explained, gesturing toward Liselle.
“Nonetheless, I prefer to allow you or the pretty young lady do the talking.” Sir Danth put the pouch in Liselle’s hand. “I promise to use my big sword to hit anyone who should attempt to take the pouch from the pretty young lady.”
Tathan sighed.
“You sigh a great deal, Master Tathan. Did you know?” the knight replied, eliciting giggles from Liselle and Vevin.
Tathan glared at him, sighed again and then turned to go talk to the girl waiting across the avenue. She wasn’t there. He paused to look around and saw her at the next intersection on a side street. As soon as he noticed her, she disappeared. It was obvious she was going to lead him somewhere, possibly even a trap. Tathan grinned. Things had been too tame lately and it was nice to see some danger.
He reached the road the girl had disappeared down and saw her at the next intersection. She looked directly at him and turned down another street. Tathan looked back at his companions. They were watching him with curiosity. He gave them a grin and followed the girl.
***
Tathan reached the next street. She was leaning against a lamppost at another intersection, moving further away from the river upon seeing him. Tathan didn’t run after her. If she really wanted him to follow, she would keep waiting. He was willing to set off a trap, not run into one at full speed.
A few zigzags later, he was back in the Market District. More people filled the streets, walking between shops and going about their business. The girl took time to move through the throng. Occasionally, she would look back over her shoulder to make sure Tathan was still following. She grabbed a large blue fruit from a cart she walked by when the vendor wasn’t paying attention. Tathan grabbed another and gave the vendor a silver uun to pay for both. He didn’t mind stealing from people who had more than they needed, but didn’t like stealing from honest shopkeepers who worked to feed a family.
Before long, they were at the edge of the Warehouse District near the eastern wall of the cavern. It surprised Tathan as he had expected to go more toward the center of town. There were hardly any people and the girl had taken a larger lead again. Tathan was content to follow casually, keeping an eye on his surroundings to see when others would show up. He knew the girl wasn’t acting alone.
The shops on the left disappeared, making way to small residences built for humans. Tathan could see the distant towers of the fortress over the tops. The warehouses on the right had very little activity, many seeming vacant. Some of the din had died down, but there was an echo coming off the cavern ceiling that curved to meet the ground a short distance ahead.
Tathan finished the tasty fruit and chucked the core into a trashcan at the corner of an intersection. It was odd to see them everywhere, unlike human cities where he would have thrown it on the ground for dogs and rats to scavenge. Rojuun hated trash and dirt in their territory, but the reason Tathan threw it in that particular trashcan was to startle the man standing at the corner watching Tathan.
He knew they were getting close to their destination because that man was one of two watching him. The other was on the roof of a warehouse just ahead, trying to hide. It would have worked against most people, as few ever looked up, but Tathan survived by being observant. They passed two more thugs along the way, neither capable of giving him a challenge.
A wide strip of park lined the area where the cavern wall met the ground. The girl went into a door in the last warehouse near the park. It was unpainted like a few others this far away from the center of town. Tathan assumed they didn’t have owners.
The door was on the long side of the warehouse. There were larger doors on the end that could easily fit a wagon. Two heavyset thugs guarded the side door to prevent anyone uninvited from entering. Tathan walked up and moved to turn the knob.
One of the guards put a hand in front of him. “Hey! Where do you think you’re going? Nobody gets in without an invitation.”
Tathan raised an eyebrow. “I have been invited, didn’t you notice?”
The guard looked at his compatriot who shrugged in confusion. Then he turned back to Tathan. “I don’t see no invitation. Who invited you?”
“The girl who just walked in,” Tathan answered, pointing at the door. “She invited me to follow her back on Llaav Avenue and I’ve been trailing her ever since.”
The guard frowned and put a strong grip on Tathan’s shoulder. “She didn’t say nothin’ about you coming in. Maybe you should just go away before we hurt you real bad.”
It was easy to slip out of the grip. It was also easy to have his sword at the guard’s throat before either one could move, let alone draw the simple knives on their belts. Both guards stared at the dark blade, which sucked in the light from nearby globes attached to the wall of the warehouse.
“I’ve been invited,” Tathan informed them quietly and ominously. “You can either let me in nicely, or I can step over your dead bodies. I’m fine either way.” It took no time at all for the guard to open the door and gesture for Tathan to enter. Tathan sheathed his sword smoothly and stepped inside.
Empty shelves lined the walls up to the high ceiling. The front half of the warehouse was empty with enough room for wagons to be unloaded. The space was cool and dry. It was also silent, the sounds of the city shut out.
The girl was leaning against one of two stone columns in the center of the warehouse. She was startled by Tathan’s quick appearance, probably figuring the guards would hold him a bit longer. The girl quickly turned and walked between two rows of shelves heading toward the back of the building.
Tathan assessed the odds. After coming through the door, he had moved to the side in case someone wanted to take a shot at him. Three more guards were placed around the room; two at a door in the back, which the girl was headed to, and one small rogue on top of shelves in the middle of the room. That one was terrible at hiding so Tathan ignored him and followed the girl again.
He sauntered between the shelves, keeping an eye out for trip wires or signs of a trap. Tathan liked sauntering. It meant that a person was out for a casual walk and wasn’t afraid of anything. His saunter impressed people. Indeed, the new guards looked impressed as he walked up to them a moment after the girl disappeared through the doorway. “Hi. I have an invitation,” Tathan told them with a little wave. He figured he’d get that out of the way in case these guards were hung up on that sort of thing
too.
“Who’s the invitation from?” the skinny guard on the left asked. He had crafty eyes and carried himself as a cat would. The one on the right was big, but stupid.
“The girl who just walked in the door. She invited me to follow her and I’m doing so. Isn’t that nice of me?” Tathan asked with a big smile to show how nice he was being.
The skinny guard drummed his fingers on the hilt of a rapier at his belt that was similar to the girl’s. He looked Tathan up and down, gauging the level of danger. It didn’t take long for him to figure out that it would be best to just open the door. “Go down the stairs on the left. Then follow the hallway to the end.”
Tathan followed the instructions. About two hundred feet down the hallway it became a perfectly round tunnel. Tathan remembered that a type of rock-eating worm left round tunnels. Perhaps someone had figured out how to aim one in a specific direction.
The tunnel continued about three hundred feet further with a stone door at the end. Tathan hated stone and metal doors. Wooden doors could be broken down with an axe, but not stone or metal ones. There was no guard at this door, which surprised him. Before touching the handle, he checked the walls and ceiling. Most thieves’ guilds had a kill zone right outside their doors where archers could kill an unwanted guest with an arrow, acid could be poured from a hole in the ceiling, or a false floor that could be opened up from inside with a lever. There didn’t appear to be any sort of opening or trap around the door. Tathan was actually disappointed.
He examined the door. It was simple stone with a square hole at eye level that was shuttered at the moment. He squatted down to look at the handle. It was a simple lock he could pick if needed, yet another disappointment. Tathan knocked on the door. The metal plate covering the eyehole slid back. “Yeah?” a gruff voice said.
“No,” Tathan replied. He loved messing with people.
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