“Here you go,” replied Crass, indicating a huge pile of dollars on the opposite side. I noticed there were also healthy piles of Diamond Dinars, Heart Riyals, and Spade Solvos. This came in handy when my parents traveled between the countries, which they did occasionally. I picked up a handful of dollars, not bothering to count them, and took some each of the other currencies for safe measure.
I filled a bag with the currency and, thanking Crass, ran back up to my room. I dressed in my warmest outfit and picked up a blanket for Elphin. I hated to use him when he was not quite healed, but I didn’t have time to wait for the Urbis Express.
I ran back down through the castle as quickly as I could with the blanket and bag full of cash.
“Can I help you, miss? You look a little weighed down there.”
I turned to see Willow.
“Thank you, Willow, could you take the blanket, please?”
“Surely.” He took the blanket from me and followed me as I raced out of the castle to the stables.
Elphin gave a nod of his head as I walked into the stable. I checked his wing. The cream had worked well, and he had almost healed.
I covered his back with the blanket and put a saddle on top. He stood patiently while I saddled him up. The fawn nudged me as if he wanted one too.
“Not today, little man.” I patted the fawn’s head fondly.
“Willow, can you look after the fawn and doe while I’m gone? They just need to be fed and kept warm. There is plenty of straw in here. It might need cleaning. I could leave it to the stable staff, but this fawn likes the company. He likes being sung to.”
“If that is what you wish, milady.” He looked like he was about to say something else for a second, but he remained silent as I mounted Elphin.
I heard him clear his throat just as I was about to take off.
“Actually, I thought you might need someone to come with you, miss. Your sister told me where you were heading, and I wouldn’t like to think of you going alone.”
“I’ve been to Urbis before, Willow. Thank you for your concern, but I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
It was only when I was soaring into the sky that I realized just how harsh I had sounded. He was only trying to help. Although I hadn’t been lying about visiting Urbis, my visits, for the most part, had been to my old nanny’s house in the Club District. I’d only visited the Heart district a couple of times on shopping trips, and I’d never been to the Spade or Diamond districts at all. I almost thought of turning around and asking Willow to come, but I didn’t have time. I’d have to do this particular adventure alone.
The Club District was exactly as I remembered it, full of quaint little thatched cottages with smoking chimneys. The roofs were all white with snow, but the roads between the houses were free of snow. Traffic had cleared most of it away.
I dashed through the quiet streets of The Club District’s outer residential area to the inner commercial district. When I got to the usually busy market, I stopped in shock. Most of the stalls were closed. I looked up to the sky to see the position of the sun. It had taken me a long time to fly here, but it was still early afternoon on a Saturday. This would usually be the market’s busiest time of the week. I walked Elphin over to the nearest stall, a young man selling animal food. I bought a carrot and fed it to Elphin who chomped on it happily.
“Where is everyone? Has the snow put people off going shopping?”
“Not the snow, miss, although that doesn’t help. People are afraid to come out. The newspapers are full of stories, and I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the Hearts have tried diverting our water. There was a big battle over it.”
“Yeah, I heard,” I replied dryly. He obviously didn’t recognize me. Probably because I never went out in public without the painted flowers on my face.
“Is there a pharmacist or alchemist nearby?”
“The nearest alchemist is in the Heart district, but I wouldn’t go there if I were you. You won’t be welcome if you know what I mean.” He indicated his pointed ears.
“There is a herbalist in the commercial district at the far end of the market. I think more of the shops are open on the main street if you want to try there.”
I bought another carrot and thanked the man for his time.
The commercial district of the Club District was really nothing more than a series of thatched cottages with bigger windows than the houses, showing their wares. The first shop on the main street was a toyshop called Thistle and Whistle Toys and Games. The front window was taken up with the biggest dolls house I’d ever seen. It was something I would have loved as a child, but I didn’t have time to stop and admire the craftwork and intricacies of the little dolls that were lined up in front of it. I hurried past Twigg and Sons Bakers, Peacock’s Fine Clothes, and The Ink and Quill Book Emporium. The pub was the last building on the street, and it seemed that it, of all the places in The Club sector, was still doing a roaring trade. Even though it was only 3pm on a Saturday, there were still groups of people sitting at the outside tables, which were being kept warm by flaming torches and what looked like heated whiskey, judging by the way it was steaming. Most of the people looked like Clubs, but I did see a couple of Spades chatting to a troll who was drinking a massive tankard of green beer. I picked the least unsavory people to ask for directions, a couple of women who were eyeing up a cute boy at the next table. Given that he, in turn, was eyeing up the good-looking bartender, who was serving the troll, I didn’t think they stood much of a chance with him.
“Excuse me. Could you tell me where the herbalist’s shop is please?” I queried.
The woman on the right sneered at me as though I’d just plopped dog shit into her martini.
“What?” Her friend looked my outfit up and down and gave me a kind of half sneer, half grimace.
I wasn’t used to people talking to me like this and had no idea what I’d done to irk the pair.
“I was just wondering if you could direct me to the herbalist's shop.”
“Over there.” She pointed her finger at a shop on the opposite side of the road that I’d not noticed, and then went right back to ogling the cute boy at the next table.
I realized just how sheltered I was at the castle. No one would have dared to talk to me the way those girls did. Perhaps, they would have been nicer if they recognized me.
I had to duck down to get through the door of the shop, which had no sign hanging from it as the other shops on the street had, but it did have the words Herbs and Cures written in scrawling script on the door.
A bell tinkled as I entered, and the strangest odor hit my nose. It was sweet, but musty, like nothing I’d ever smelled before. It was cloying and made me feel light-headed.
“Hello,” I called out.
A door opened, and a young boy came out. He looked younger than me, perhaps thirteen or so. His hair was full of bits of something purple, and his apron was covered in the same.
“Bit of an accident with some violets and scorch powder,” he said, answering my unasked question. A black mark on his face confirmed that heat had been involved.
“Is your, erm, mother or father here? I need to see the herbalist.”
“I am the herbalist,” he stuck his chest out proudly. “This is my shop.”
“I…”
“It used to be my parent’s sweet shop, but when I was experimenting with herbal recipes for the sweets, I found that the things I came up with tended to cure things. Only minor things, sore throats, coughs, colds, cuts and bruises, and whatnot. I bought a book on herbal cures and turned my attention to them as a sideline for the shop. Well, they sold about twenty times more than the sweets did, so we ditched the sweets and became a herbalist’s. My parents are holidaying in the Diamond Valley for the seasonal period.”
“Wow!” I was impressed. He’d done more in his life than I had in mine. I suddenly felt woefully inadequate.
“Do you have any Feverthorne Elixir? Or anything else that does the same thing?
”
“Ah, I’d love to help, but I’m afraid the Royal Palace sent out a decree that all herbalists send their stocks to the Castle. They cleaned me out completely. I won’t have anything like that until my parents get home. They are the ones that go out and pick the Feverthorne.”
“Do you know anyone else that sells it?” I asked desperately.
“Sorry, there’s no Feverthorne in The Club District. Your best bet would be to go up to the castle and beg them for some. They might take pity on you if you have a sick family member. They have enough of the stuff.”
“That’s just it,” I replied. “They don’t.”
I didn’t wait for him to reply. Instead, I ran from the shop and mounted Elphin once more. I kicked my feet down, and he took off running down the street. His hooves hit a puddle as he ran past the pub, splashing the two horrible women with muddy slush. I suppressed a grin as I turned and saw the angry faces disappear into the distance. The herbalist had said that there was no more Feverthorne in The Club District, which was what I expected. He’d not said anything about The Heart District, though. I would have preferred to go to either the Spade or Diamond parts of town, but they were farther to travel. Also, even though I’d only been to the Heart sector once, I remembered exactly where the shopping district was. My mother had dragged me around enough shops there. I rode Elphin through the Club District until we got to the long road that ran from the south entrance of Urbis to the Ace Palace. We were about halfway along and by pure luck had come out just opposite one of the archways in the giant wall that kept The Heart district segregated. The gates were currently open, so I walked Elphin to them slowly. Two guards stopped me and ordered me to get down.
I obeyed, but it seemed they wanted more from me.
“You can’t bring your horse in here,” said one guard blocking my path. He was wearing some puffed-out trousers and a strip of leather that crossed his muscled chest. Apart from that, he wore nothing but boots. The other guard was equally contoured and dressed in the same almost naked outfit. I wasn’t sure if the choice of attire as a uniform was so they could show off their muscles to intimidate anyone who might pass through into the Heart Sector, or if it was to just show off (which the Hearts were wont to do), but all I could think was how much I wanted to take Elphin’s blanket and cover the pair of them. Snow had begun to fall lightly again, and it was freezing. I could see goosebumps on the hairless arms of the guard.
“He’s a unicorn,” I replied, trying to keep my eyes on his face rather than his bare chest.
“Whatever! It still can’t come in!”
I looked around and saw a metal ring attached to the wall. I tethered Elphin to it using his reigns and gave him a quick pat on the head.
“I’ll be back soon,” I whispered to him. I hoped that was the case. Not having him to ride would slow me down considerably. Each district was huge, and it would take me hours to navigate the streets on foot.
“There!” I said. “He’s tied up. Now may I go through?”
“What do you need to go into The Heart District for?”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard!”
“What I’m doing is hardly any of your business.”
“It is my business because I decide who goes through here.”
“Why do you need to know?” I’d not had to do this the last time I’d come to town. My mother and I just walked through. Two extremely well-dressed Heart women walked out, chatting with each other. They looked down at me as they passed. I heard them giggle, and I’m sure I heard one of them whisper, “What was she wearing?”
“Look, love. You are a Club. I don’t like Clubs, and while I can’t officially stop you from coming in because you are a Club, I have orders to see why Clubs are coming through here.”
“Why don’t you like Clubs?”
His face turned angry, and he brought himself to my eye level.
“Because my brother was nearly killed just a few days ago by your poxy army, that’s why. I don’t like Clubs, and I don’t care for you either. Now either tell me what you want or shove off.” He spit on the ground between us, narrowly missing my feet.
I could hardly tell him I was here for Feverthorne nowHe would assume I was buying it for Club soldiers and would never believe I would also use it to treat Heart soldiers. I had a feeling, saying I wanted to go shopping wasn’t going to wash with him either.
“I’ve been hired for a job,” I improvised.
“What job?” He looked at me suspiciously. “We have enough Hearts to do jobs without you filthy clubs coming in to steal them.”
“Bottlewasher at a cocktail bar.” I improvised. No one wanted that job, so they had to recruit from outside.
He appeared to weigh my answer.
“What cocktail bar?”
Crap! I could only remember the one that had been destroyed, and that was only because there had been pictures of it in the Heart Echo.
“The Ancient Galleon Tavern. It’s in the old part of town.” I made up a name hoping he would believe it.
“Hmm, never heard of it.”
“Please, let me through. I’m going to be late for my first day. Apparently, the Eight of Hearts drinks there, and I wouldn’t want his glasses to be dirty.” I hoped to Monsatsu that he didn’t ask the Eight of Heart’s name. I couldn’t remember it for the life of me.
“Fine!” He sneered as he stepped to one side to let me past. As soon as I’d passed him, I ran before he could change his mind.
I stopped about three streets away and bent over, clutching my knees to try and get my breath back. A couple with a pram actually swerved to walk as far away as they could while passing me as though being a Club was contagious. Another woman passed me and did the exact opposite. She intentionally barged into me, knocking me to the ground.
I stood up and dusted myself off, but it was no use. The damp cobbles had left dirty imprints on my dress.
I looked around at the nearby shops It was clear that I wasn’t going to get anywhere looking like I did. A lot of them had signs in the window saying things like ‘No Clubs’ or ‘Hearts only.’ I scouted the street until my eyes fell on a dress shop. It was one of only a few with no such sign in it With bated breath, I opened the door and entered, not expecting to be served.
“Good afternoon, lovey,” said a gorgeous middle-aged woman behind the counter. “What can I get you? If you are after a dress, we have the best in the whole of Vanatus.”
“You are going to serve me?” I asked surprised.
“Of course, why wouldn’t I? Now, don’t be offended, but it looks like you could do with a fashion upgrade.”
I looked down at my dress again. It was one of my favorites. I’d embroidered all the lilies on it myself. It had taken hours.
“What size are you? No, don’t tell me.” She bustled around the counter with a tape measure and proceeded to measure everything from my height to my waist size. “Well, ain't you a dainty little thing? I’d kill for your tiny waist. You know, if you painted some flowers on your face, you’d look like that pretty Club Princess.”
For whatever reason, I felt that I could trust her. “I am that Club Princess. Stargazer Lily Club.”
I held out my hand. She didn’t shake it, but she bowed down.
“I’m so sorry for not recognizing you, your highness. I’m used to seeing you with the make-up.”
“Please stand. It’s fine. You’re not the only one not to recognize me. Actually, you are the first to recognize me today, and that includes my own subjects.”
“Well, you usually cover up that pretty face of yours,” she replied and then brought her hands up to her mouth in shock. “You really shouldn’t be here, love. There are a lot of anti-Club feelings around here at the moment after your army attacked our unarmed men up by the mountains.”
“The Heart army wasn’t unarmed. They were up in the mountains trying to divert our river into The Heartlands. Our troops set out on a peaceful mission to stop them. It
turned nasty. A lot of our men were injured, many died.”
I expected her to throw me out of the shop, but she didn’t.
“That’s awful. I knew the Echo was not reporting the full story. I honestly don’t know what the world is coming to.”
“Actually, that’s why I’m in The Heart District. I need to buy some Feverthorne. The Club district is out of it, and our men are dying, my brother included. We’re also caring for the Heart wounded and many of them need it as well. Do you know where I could get some?”
“There are a couple of alchemists that might have it in stock, but they won’t serve a Club, not anymore.”
“That’s why I came in here. I was hoping you might be able to help me dress like a Heart.”
She looked me up and down.
“Well, you’ve got the looks for it, lovey, but you are going to need the biggest heels I’ve got, and we need to cover those ears.”
“Thank you!” I replied gratefully. I couldn’t have hoped for anything better. She picked up something on the counter and talked into it.
“I’m going to need your help. Get your arse down here now, bring your brushes and don’t tell anyone where you are going. I’m locking up, so you’ll have to knock.”
“Sorry?” I said, not sure what she was talking about.
“Don’t tell me you’ve never seen a telephone before? I just called my daughter. She’d going to do your make-up and there’ll be none of that floral stuff.”
“Oh!” I replied feeling like a complete hillbilly. If Clubs wanted to talk to people, they went directly to them or sent a messenger.
“My name is Claudia,” she said, locking the door and turning the open sign around. “My daughter is Alice. She’ll be here in ten minutes, so you might want to get out of that dress.”
I pulled my dress over my head, revealing my underwear. A white vest and bloomers. Claudia tutted.
“We are going to have to get you something nicer than those.”
“It doesn’t matter what underwear I wear. I’ll be wearing a dress over the top.”
Three of Clubs (War and Suits Book 2) Page 3