by Ijaz, Usman
Alexis’s mind came to dwell on the assassins. Sune was far from Haven but had they outrun the assassins, or would they find them waiting here for them? He scanned the approaching docks, trying to discern one face from another. He looked at the two boys by his side and realized that he was all they had left. It was his duty to guard one of them, but having them both might prove to be an advantage. Did the assassins really know what the boy they searched for looked like? Might they not take Connor instead, and allow Adrian to escape? Connor is dispensable. The thought came to him unbidden, not something he wanted to face or admit, and nothing that surprised him in his depth.
In his heart he knew the mission took precedence before everything else.
2
The ship was docked and moored. The captain pulled Alexis and the boys aside as the plank was lowered to where the tariff officer waited.
“I suppose you’ll be leaving now,” Lavos said gravely.
“We must, captain,” Alexis told him.
“Before you go, take this,” the captain said and held out a pouch jiggling with coin.
“We have money,” Alexis told the man patiently.
“Enough to buy three horses?” Lavos asked. “Or do you intend to walk your way to Teihr?”
Alexis frowned. “No,” he said at last. “We don’t have enough for that.”
“Then take this. I want to help in any way I can.”
Alexis looked at the offered pouch for a long time. At last he reached into his own pouch and drew out a marked bullet. He gave it to the captain as he took the money pouch. “If you ever go back to Grandal, ask audience with the king - mentioning my name might be enough to allow that - and show him this. He will reimburse you.”
“I think meeting the king will be more than enough,” the captain said in silent wonder.
They said their goodbyes and departed then, leaving captain Lavos yelling at his crew to not drop the cargo, and marched into the city of Sune.
3
“It’s hard to believe isn‘t it, Adrian?” Connor asked. “We’re in Marith! I never thought I’d make it this far in my life.”
“Neither did I, Connor,” Adrian replied softly.
Tall square buildings of red brick more often than wood or white plaster dotted the streets, their glassy eyes peering down on the crowds roving about. The streets were congested with folk, many pausing to look at the fresh fruit displayed or to smell the large mounds of spices. The people, Connor saw, were dark-skinned as often as light, and they all moved without a second thought to one another. He had seen people of other lands in Port Hope, but he had never seen so many gathered in one place.
“Adrian! That man, he’s a Kuwait!” he exclaimed, pointing at a very dark-skinned man further up the street.
“Keep your finger to yourself,” Alexis warned. “That man might decide to cut it off if he chooses, and I just might let him.”
“Oh,” Connor said. He looked at the vendors’ booths on both sides of the street, marveling at the different assortments they carried. He breathed in the smell of spices coming from a red mountain on a hawker’s table, and then marveled at the next stall where long strips of meat hung from hooks. “It’s all so different,” he whispered.
“Did you expect everything to be the same as in Grandal?“ the Legionnaire asked.
“No,” Connor answered, looking all around him. “But I didn’t think it could vary this much.”
They marched through the thick crowd, staying close to one another lest they be separated.
“Some of the women here are dressed like men,” Adrian remarked.
“It’s Marith,” Alexis said, as if that was explanation enough.
They came to pillar in the market that was plastered with bills. Many were mostly advertisements, promising miracles in small bottles, but here and there were news pamphlets. The Legionnaire scanned through a few, shaking his head.
“What are you looking for?”
“Word of Haven.”
Connor scanned the other bills that hung there. A few were notices of murderers and outlaws. His eyes lingered on those.
“There’s nothing here,” Alexis said. “Come. We need to purchase horses.”
4
By the time dusk rolled around they had seen only one man about the horses, and his price had proven to be too high. They decided to take a room at an inn, and wait until the morning before continuing their search. They bathed in the inn’s baths, glad to be rid of the dirt and smell that clung to them, and then sat in the common room to enjoy their first meal in what felt an eternity. As a serving girl came to place their dinner on the table, Alexis stopped her and asked if she had heard any news of Legionnaires from Grandal. He was growing tired of asking everyone, and aware that it singled them out in the minds of the citizens, but his need to know was imperative.
“Haven? Nay, I do not know where that is,” the girl said humbly. “And Legionnaires, well there may always be rumors about that sort.”
Alexis thanked her and let her go on her way. He hadn’t expected much, but his disappointment weighed heavy nonetheless. What happened to you, Hamar, Owain? He began to eat, and then became aware of a man sitting a few tables away who glanced towards them too often for it to seem inconspicuous. Alexis looked around the room, feigning interest in two women that strode through the door, and got a quick look at the other man. The man’s coat, the sole glove that he wore on his left hand, and the way he held himself screamed Legionnaire in Alexis’s mind.
The man stood up and started towards them, wavering a little and steadying himself with a hand that passed from table to table. Alexis looked at the man and met his cold gaze calmly.
“Why do you want to know about Legionnaires in Haven, boy?” the man demanded.
Alexis smiled in a benign manner. The man was drunk he saw at once. “I was simply curious. I had heard of a scuffle, but not much else.”
“Legionnaire business is no concern of yours, boy,” the man said flatly.
Alexis realized that the man knew the answer to his inquiry, but wouldn’t divulge it to a stranger. He contemplated hard on showing the man the mark of the Legion on his hand, and at last pushed the thought away; he didn’t dare risk revealing himself, even to a fellow Legionnaire. He wanted to ask the man nonetheless, but the fumes that had led the man’s words told him perhaps it was wise not to. “Of course not,” he said. “I was merely curious. I have always admired Grandal’s Legion.”
The man had started to turn away, now he paused and looked at him, then sneered something inaudible and walked off.
“Who is he?” Connor asked.
Alexis watched the man leave the inn. “A Legionnaire.”
“Are you sure?” Adrian asked just atop his cousin. “Why didn’t you tell him you’re one as well.”
“I thought about it,” Alexis said. “But in the end I think it safer if he doesn’t know. We can’t let word of our mission spread. Also, even him being a Legionnaire, I’m not sure what he would have done if he had found out who you were.” The concern he left unvoiced was he wasn’t sure if he could trust the man at all, or anyone they met.
They ate the rest of their meal in relative silence before retiring to their room.
5
Adrian lay on a bed that felt as strange to him as the rest of the city, and wondered just how far they had left to go. Connor had marveled at how far they had come, but he thought it was still a long way to go before they ever reached the Source. And of the Ruins? He didn’t even want to think what such lands could hold. What creatures would roam under an ever-lasting dark sky? He didn’t want to find out.
Across from him rested Alexis and Connor. The Legionnaire had insisted that they all share the same room, so that he would be there if anything should happen. They were already asleep, and he supposed the reason he himself was still awake was because he feared what the dreams would bring him tonight. Always the dreams, he thought, it always comes to them again.
Whe
n he did at last fall asleep, he dreamt of a massive flock of ravens, blocking out the sky in a fog of black wings, and in that immense cloud he could feel eyes searching, searching. Searching for him, he knew.
Chapter 20
An Old Friend
1
The next morning, after eating a small breakfast, they continued their search to find a horseseller. They met with three men, and Alexis bargained with them hard, but in the end the Legionnaire couldn’t get any of the men to drop their prices enough to what they could afford. He stopped asking about news of Legionnaires after the first two men gave him suspicious glances and told him they knew nothing.
They headed back to the inn to catch a respite from the molten sun that hung high in the sky. Adrian marveled at the wonderful sights Sune had to offer. They passed small palaces, and large racing tracks; the former held an elegant beauty in their design, while the latter were obviously well-dressed gambling pits. Crowds congregated around the racing domes, large throngs going in and out. Adrian quickly learned that that was the most popular entertainment enjoyed by the majority of the citizens.
He stared down towards the docks, and saw the bazaar still teeming with people, and wondered if the flow ever slackened. He looked for the Sea Spirit at the docks but did not see it. At Connor’s request Alexis stopped them at a canvas-topped booth and bought them both roasted ears of corn.
“At least we have enough for that,” Alexis muttered.
It tasted different than any other corn Adrian had eaten, and he put it down to the spices that it was cooked in and the sour juice that it was covered in. Alexis said the juice was from something called a lemon, and that it was also used to make drinks. Adrian wasn’t sure he wanted to drink anything made from that sour juice.
They were about to step into a small mercantile shop, at Connor’s curious behest once again, when they were hailed by a voice.
“Alexis? Alexis Marshall, is that you?”
Adrian turned with the others and saw an old man with white hair and dressed in elegant fabrics come rushing up to them.
“Landerly!” Alexis cried in bewilderment. He caught the other man in a warm embrace.
“I thought it looked like you,” said the man as he stepped back. “My, you have grown.” There was a slight accent to his words and he seemed to speak slowly, Adrian observed.
“You’ve grown as well, I see,” Alexis said, and laughed.
Landerly dismissed it with a gesture of his hand. “It comes with the times. What are you doing in Sune? You sound different, you know?”
“I’m on a mission from the King, but what are you doing here? Last I knew, you still lived in Gale.”
“I became too bored with life in Gale and sought out someplace new to me. I found it here.” Landerly looked at Adrian and Connor, as if just realizing they were there. “Now, who are these two?”
“This is Adrian and Connor Moor, they ... they are part of my mission,” Alexis explained.
“Pleasant lads,” said Landerly, and shook the boys’ hands. “Now, what kind of a mission are you on? No, no, wait, do not tell me here, we will go to my house and talk there, not like strangers in the street.”
They followed the man to his house, with Adrian and Connor bringing up the rear and looking at the two men in curious wonder. Adrian couldn’t help but notice how jovial Alexis looked at meeting someone he knew. He realized that until he had seen the Legionnaire’s reaction to a familiar face, he had never thought how alone he might really be.
“How long have you been living here, Lander?” Alexis asked as they walked up the street.
“Oh, a year or so now,” Landerly answered. “So, you are still in training then, I presume?”
“No,” Alexis said with humble pride. “I passed my test.”
The old man stopped in the street and gaped at him. “You are in the Legion then?”
“Yes,” Alexis said, and grinned.
“That is great news!” cried Landerly. “Your father must have been proud of you.”
“In his own manner,” Alexis said. Adrian heard more than saw his grin slipping away.
Landerly’s house was a great white structure that toppled over the surrounding buildings. Tall walls of white gave way to a small courtyard that led to the house itself. As they passed through the courtyard Adrian saw several servants moving about their chores. Alexis noticed them as well.
“You’ve done quite well for yourself, Lander.”
“Well, riches come with success.”
“Landerly was one of the biggest merchants in Gale before he retired,” Alexis explained to Adrian and Connor.
“My wealth is nothing compared to your cousin’s,” Landerly told Alexis and laughed. “How could I ever match up to the prince of Teihr?”
Adrian looked to Connor, and then both their eyes darted to the Legionnaire.
“You’re related to the prince of Teihr?” Connor asked.
“Not just prince, but king soon,” Landerly put in.
Alexis stopped on the wide steps leading to the front door. He frowned at Landerly, and then looked at the two of them and sighed. “I’ll explain later.”
7
Inside, it was quite cool, despite the heat outside. They followed Landerly through aqua halls lined with paintings and hangings. Adrian immediately detested the color. They came to a large room with bookshelves lining the walls. Large, padded chairs stood around a small, brightly waxed ironwood table. Adrian looked at the books all around him, and wondered when the last time was that he had seen even a quarter this many books. Never, he realized.
Landerly sat down in one of the large cushioned chairs and motioned for them to do so as well. A servant came and Landerly ordered her to bring hot tea and biscuits for all of them.
“So, you need horses, do you?” the old man asked once they were seated.
“Yes,” Alexis answered. The opulence all around them didn’t seem to surprise him at all. “We’ve been trying to buy some from here, but might as well buy a palace for the price the sellers ask.”
“Do not worry, my boy,” Landerly said. “Horses I have plenty, and I will give them to you for half what the sellers ask for.”
“That’s very gracious of you, Lander.”
“Think nothing of it.How long are you staying in Sune?”
“We plan on leaving as soon as we can,” Alexis told him. “We must reach Gale.”
“Funny,” Landerly said, smiling. “I decide to leave Gale, and you are heading back there. Is it part of your mission?”
“Yes.”
“Well, what kind of a mission is that? To escort two boys to the city?”
Adrian had been looking about the room, now his attention was drawn to the Legionnaire, wondering if he would tell this old friend of his the truth.
“I suppose they are only giving me smaller tasks to start with,” Alexis said with a false smile.
The old man’s gaze fell on Adrian and Connor once more, and he smiled as he looked at them studying the room. “And where do you lads hail from?”
Connor started at the question, but Adrian was quick to answer. “Port Hope.
“Port Hope, eh? Cannot say I have heard of it. What is in Gale for two fine boys such as yourself?”
For that Adrian had no answer, and by the look on Connor’s face neither did he. Alexis rescued them both.
“They are distant relatives of King Aeiron, and he thought it time that they see another grand city such as Gale.”
“Ah,” Landerly said.
There was a brief silence, which Alexis broke as he asked, “Lander, have you heard of any news of Legionnaires in a town called Haven? It might have been a little while ago.”
“I presume you are talking about Grandal’s Legion and not the Queen’s?” Landerly mused it over, then his eyes grew wide. “Ah, yes, I was not too sure about the name of the town, but I did hear about what happened there. Two Legionnaires dead, a sad thing that.”
Adrian’s g
aze fell on Alexis’s dispirited face. The Legionnaire lowered his eyes and shook his head. “Did you hear how they died?”
“No one really knows what happened to them, just that they were murdered. There was some speculation as to thieves, but that does not make much sense now, does it?”
“No,” Alexis agreed, “it doesn’t.”
“Why did you want to know?” Landerly asked.
“I’d heard rumors,” Alexis said quietly.
The tea was brought then and set on the small table. Landerly poured a cup and gave it to Alexis. As he was giving Adrian his, he faltered slightly and spilled a little of the hot liquid onto the table. “I ... I apologize,” he said. When you get to be my age your hands barely obey you.”
Adrian smiled gratefully and took the cup.
“Did you see Allyse when you were last in Gale?” Alexis asked in a resigned tone.
“What? Oh, Allyse. I have not seen her in a long time,” Landerly said. “Where are you staying in Sune?”
“We took room at an inn.”
Landerly shook his head and declared, “No son of my dear friend will sleep in an inn whilst I am around. Spend the night here, beneath my roof, and in the morning you can take the horses and go your way or stay a little longer.”
Alexis smiled. “Well, I suppose we could use a night’s sleep in some real beds.”
“Of course!” cried Landerly and clapped him on the shoulder.
They began to talk once more, of past times and current affairs, as the boys wandered around the room.
8
For the dinner that night Landerly had a dozen different dishes prepared, and even hired the entertainment of two puppeteers. As dish after dish were brought out, almost the boys had the sense of what it was like to live in extravagance. The night was full of merriment, and for the brief space of that dinner the three guests forgot the woes that plagued their minds.