by M. Gregg Roe
But she wasn’t going to let it go there. Marryn was going to be receiving both detailed instructions and useful advice before she left.
With her back against the city wall, Aliva watched the approaching storm. No one could see her, because she was outside the wall, not inside. Well, aside from the denizens of the Witchmarsh. She had hoped to watch the sunset, but the western sky was practically black aside from occasional flashes of lightning. Already she could hear rumbles of thunder.
Aliva was distraught. She had been presented with the perfect opportunity to visit her father on Kaldir. But because of Lasrina, it wasn’t going to happen. There were things that needed to be done in order to forward the goddess’s mysterious plans, and they couldn’t be postponed for Aliva’s convenience. Aliva had written a long letter to her father that Gabriel promised to deliver, but it just wasn’t the same. She wanted to see Albert in person, to hear his voice, to laugh at his jokes. He was her father and she missed him.
She prayed that the storm would finally break the heat wave that was plaguing the city. The heat wasn’t just an inconvenience; it was killing people, particularly older ones whose spirits sometimes declined to be raised from the dead. Four had died just yesterday.
Aliva frowned as an intense bolt of lightning ignited a small stand of marshwood trees maybe two miles away. When it arrived soon after, the thunder was shockingly loud. This wasn’t just some minor cloudburst; it was a sky-filling behemoth. Despite the rain she could already see in the distance, there would probably be fires.
You should seek shelter, said Lasrina suddenly.
“What happens if I don’t?” she asked, wondering if the goddess had foreseen something.
You will be soaked. Also, there will be large hail. You could be injured.
“What do you care?” snapped Aliva, making no move to get up.
I do care about your welfare. You will be able to see your father in person later this year. You have my promise.
That was good to hear, but Aliva was still in a foul mood. “I wanted to go with my friends. Can’t someone else fill in for me while I’m away?”
Not for what is required. I am truly sorry.
The lightning strikes were becoming more frequent and growing closer. And the temperature was dropping as the wind came up. Aliva stood up and turned to face the wall. She visualized herself on the other side of the wall and willed the displacement. There was hardly anyone in sight, which wasn’t surprising given the weather. Even if she ran, there wasn’t time to make it back to Kora’s house. She could only displace herself a short distance, and flying was out of the question in a thunderstorm. After a moment of thought, she headed to the nearby Temple of Dukane at a fast walking pace.
“I’m sorry I can’t make it to Arwon’s temple,” she said quietly to herself. “I know that he’s your consort.”
I have no special relationship to Arwon, countered Lasrina. For that matter, I have no gender. Or any physical form that you could perceive. We are fundamentally different.
“So people just made all that up?” Aliva picked up her pace as the first drops of cold rain began to fall.
Yes, to make us more understandable. But the relationship is more complex. Our worshippers shape us, and we shape them. It is symbiotic.
Aliva raced up the temple’s steps as it began to rain in earnest. She wasn’t wearing the protective charm that Daragrim had made for her, but it wasn’t necessary. Lasrina would keep her from being harmed by the temple’s defensive wards.
“Hello,” said Tabitha, after walking over to where Aliva was now standing. “I see I’m not the only one who thought this would just be some brief shower. I can’t believe how dark it is.”
Aliva hesitated as a bright flash was followed by a rumble of thunder she could feel. “It’s going to be bad. There might be flooding.”
“And we might be here for a while,” added Tabitha, pursing her lips.
They ended up being there for hours. The city was a mess the next morning, with flooded streets, downed tree limbs, and hail-damaged roofs. But it was noticeably cooler after that. The heat wave was finally over.
23
‡ Hamsa ‡
Saxloc had told her what to expect, but it was still surprising. Oljot’s spell was nothing like when Audrey had been teleported by Fern. That had been instantaneous, and kind of frightening. This, however, was so slow that she could watch it in progress. The mansion’s parlor was gradually fading out as a much smaller room faded in. It was mesmerizing.
A ghostly Romee waved at her, and Audrey waved back. Oljot and her five companions still looked normal to her, but Romee was no doubt seeing them as ghostly figures now. Iris and Ilona, now barely visible, also waved briefly.
The process continued, and now the parlor was barely there. The new room had a wood plank floor and only basic furniture. And there was barely room in the middle of it for the seven of them. The single window was shuttered, but bright sunshine was still leaking through in places.
“That’s it,” said Oljot as his shoulders sagged. “Let yourselves out. I’m going to bed.”
“Thank you,” called out Audrey as he promptly headed for a doorway to her right. He really did look tired now.
“It is this way,” said Gabriel, gesturing toward where Hankin was already pulling open the door to the outside. Audrey followed him, and soon all six of them were standing outside the small house blinking in the bright early morning sun. From the outside she could see that Oljot’s house was fairly small. It was all wood, including the peaked roof.
The town of Hamsa was rectangular, surrounded by a tall stone wall that had seen better days. The houses all looked relatively new, and most had large vegetable gardens next to them. Audrey wasn’t surprised to see that Oljot’s house was surrounded only by weeds and scraggly bushes. She could see a few larger buildings, but the largest by far was fairly close. It was also the only one with a stone exterior and glass-paned windows. The two-story building had a large red-and-black sign that read, “The Firewater Inn”. That was where they would be staying, and it looked like a nice place.
(As Audrey had been told, written Kaldiran really was similar to her native language of Threnian. It was the pronunciations and word order that had altered over the centuries, perhaps influenced by the intelligent creatures native to Kaldir before people arrived there. She had only had time to learn a few words, and she knew her pronunciation was terrible.)
Marryn’s smile was wide as she looked all around. “It’s morning here,” she said. “It’s going to be a long day for us.”
They had departed in the late afternoon, but here, much farther to the west, the sun had only recently risen. There was a chill to the air that felt good to Audrey, especially after all the hot weather lately. It also felt less humid.
“Let’s go ahead and get rooms,” said Saxloc, nodding at the inn. “I want to get out of this armor.”
Audrey moved closer to Gabriel. “Isn’t anyone concerned that six armed people just appeared here?” There didn’t seem to be any guard patrols, and the only person she had spotted simply looked at them briefly and then continued walking.
“They are accustomed to this type of thing,” he said. “And four of us are known here.”
That was true. She and Marryn were the only ones that hadn’t been there before.
Audrey trailed behind as Saxloc led them toward the inn. The front door opened as they approached, and a young woman with long blond hair and striking blue eyes stepped forward displaying a welcoming smile. Her plain cotton dress matched her eyes. Audrey estimated her to be in her early twenties.
“That is Alzi,” whispered Gabriel. “Her parents own the inn.”
Alzi began speaking in Kaldiran, but Audrey could barely understand anything other than people’s names. She suddenly heard Saxloc speak her name, and she responded by smiling in Alzi’s direction. Then she heard Grasapa and Xlee. That seemed to impress Alzi.
Alzi soon ushered them ins
ide. The place was impressive. The open area, floored with polished wood planks, was filled with tables, some round and some rectangular. Audrey estimated that there was seating for at least a hundred people. Directly in front of them was a large U-shaped bar. On the opposite side were private booths, stairs leading upward, and several doors. It was all clean and in good condition.
After another speech that Audrey didn’t even try to understand, Alzi led them upstairs. The entire upper floor seemed to be guest rooms, each with a number painted in white on the wooden door. After turning right down a wide hallway, Marryn was assigned the first room they came to, which happened to be number four. Audrey found herself being motioned to enter the next room, number five. It was a corner room, with large windows looking out both south and east. And it had two small beds.
“They’ll be serving breakfast downstairs soon,” said Saxloc, hanging behind after the others headed back down the hallway. “They don’t have any guests at the moment, so we each get our own room.”
Audrey smiled her thanks. “Okay. I’ll see you downstairs.”
After closing the door, Audrey propped her quarterstaff in the corner. Then she removed her backpack and emptied it out onto the nearest beds. She put away the clothing in the wardrobe. That included a yellow cotton dress that she had brought in case there was a reason to dress up.
Audrey sat down on the other bed, finding it reasonably comfortable. The linens, including a light blue flannel blanket, were clean and smelled fresh. There was a small table between the two beds, and another table with two wooden chairs in front of the window that looked south. The view that way made it clear that the southern half of Hamsa was wholly given over to farming. She could see both penned livestock and fields of crops.
One thing that Audrey had noticed as they walked to the inn were the outdoor toilets, which they had always called privies in Farmerton. But she assumed that the inn must have some kind of washing and bathing facilities inside even if they were primitive.
Audrey exited her room and made a loop of the upper floor. There were seventeen rooms in all, and some of them were completely interior. For such a sparsely populated town, the inn seemed grossly oversized. It also both looked and felt new, certainly no more than a few years old.
When she reached the stairs, she headed down to have breakfast even though it felt like time for dinner. That was definitely going to take some getting used to.
After glancing around briefly, Siljan seated herself at the same table as Audrey and Marryn. “So we’re splitting up by gender?” she asked, raising her eyebrows. Not far away, Gabriel, Hankin, and Saxloc were sitting together.
“Marryn was here when I arrived,” explained Audrey. “Those three came down together and sat together.”
Siljan saw Gabriel looking toward them, so she waved. “You want me to show the two of you around? Not that there’s much to see. This inn is the most impressive thing in the whole town.”
“Oljot’s pretty impressive,” said Marryn. “I heard about how he restored this place, but it’s amazing.”
Audrey looked confused, so Siljan decided to explain. “This inn was built over 150 years ago. When we first saw it, it was kind of run down. Then, after a bunch of undead attacked Hamsa, it was a wreck. Oljot used a Wish spell to restore it. That’s why it looks brand new.”
“There’s a spell that grants wishes?” asked Audrey, leaning forward with an eager expression.
“Yes, but it’s dangerous. There are always side effects. And there are limits. You can’t wish that something didn’t happen, or that it happened differently.” From what she had heard that was invariably fatal to the spell-caster.
“What was the side effect?” asked Audrey, now looking sad. She had probably been thinking it might be a way to bring her dead parents back.
Siljan noticed that Marryn was smiling now. She had obviously heard about it from her brother. “The news of the miraculous restoration spread, and people began to worship Oljot like he was a god. People started coming here from all over just to see him. They want his blessings, or his words of wisdom, not that he has any. Oljot hates all the attention.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad,” said Audrey.
Alzi walked up with a tray and quickly placed a cup of juice in front of each of them. Siljan was familiar with it, but she saw the surprised looks from her two table companions when they sampled theirs. “It’s mango juice,” she explained.
“It’s good,” said Marryn, and Audrey nodded her agreement.
“Getting back to wishes,” said Siljan, after sipping her own juice. “The side effects weren’t that bad for Oljot because it was a relatively selfless act. It benefited the entire town. But if you wish for something selfish, like to be incredibly rich, and you might find yourself rich but also so old you only have minutes to live. Or maybe about to be killed by your greedy relatives. There are all kinds of stories of people using the spell and then regretting it afterward.”
It was Alzi’s mother that brought their food. Siljan quickly introduced Marryn and Audrey. The food was fried eggs, pork sausage links, and fresh bread with butter. For the next few minutes, the three of them simply ate quietly.
“This is really good,” said Audrey as she buttered another piece of bread. “The sausage has an unusual flavor. They probably have different spices here.”
That wasn’t something that Siljan had ever thought about, but it was probably true. “You should look into it. Maybe take back some to Almera.”
Audrey had to finish chewing before replying. “I will.”
Siljan sat back and belched. Looking at Audrey, she said, “I was thinking we’d first go to my brother’s house, so I can introduce you.”
“That’s fine, but I’ve already met Bjarni and Mina. We were staying at the castle in Rohoville at the same time.”
Now that she thought about it, Siljan did seem to have a dim memory of hearing about that. “Then we’ll just go visit them.”
“I haven’t seen them in ages,” said Marryn.
Siljan pushed back her chair and stood up. “Let’s walk off this breakfast first. Don’t worry about paying. We’ll settle up when we leave.”
It didn’t take long at all for Siljan to show them the other buildings of interest, namely the general store, a warehouse, and the guard barracks. Then they walked through the agricultural section. Audrey seemed to find it interesting, but it clearly bored Marryn. That certainly made sense given their backgrounds.
On the way back to the north side of town, Siljan spotted her older brother clearly waiting for them. Bjarni really did look like a younger version of their father, even down to the thick beard. He wasn’t wearing his armor, but he did have his longsword slung at his side. Bjarni commanded Hamsa’s guard force, all seven of them.
“Good morning, Siljan!” he called out as they approached, using the language spoken in Andoran’s Realm. “Welcome to Hamsa, you two.”
Audrey and Marryn returned his greeting, but Siljan simply smiled devilishly and said, “So, is Mina pregnant yet?”
Bjarni laughed. “You always ask that. No, not yet. Maybe in another year or two.”
“Ahem,” said Marryn. “Audrey and I are going to continue walking around. We’ll see you later.”
“Have fun,” called out Siljan as the two walked off.
Bjarni’s expression turned remarkably serious. “How are Marryn and Gabriel dealing with their parents’ divorce?”
Siljan shrugged. “Gabriel joined the Guard, and Marryn’s trying to start a clothing business. I think they both knew it was coming.”
“Mina’s working on plans for a temple here, but not a large one.”
That made sense given that Mina was a Priestess of Triara. “Tell her to make it for Lord Oljot too.”
Bjarni chuckled. “I’ve missed you.”
Siljan punched him playfully in the chest, but not too hard because he was wearing chainmail. They laughed and joked the whole way to the house. She really ha
d missed her older brother.
Marryn stopped as they reached the east gate, currently being guarded by a young man who looked surprised to see two strangers. “We’ve basically seen everything,” she said to Audrey. “Hamsa is a village contained within the walls of what used to be a small city.”
“I’m not tired,” said Audrey, eyeing her suspiciously.
“Neither am I. I want to continue walking, but outside the walls. Just a minute.”
Marryn walked up smiling to the guard. He was short in stature, blond-haired, and not terribly good-looking. “Can you open the gate for us?” she asked brightly, switching to Kaldiran. “We just want to take a walk.”
“Who’re you? Visitors?” His voice was surprisingly deep.
“Oljot brought us here this morning,” she explained. “Have you met Gabriel?” The guard nodded. “I’m his sister, Marryn. My friend’s name is Audrey, and, in case you’re worried about our safety, she’s trained in unarmed combat.”
He glanced at Audrey and nodded. “She’s got that look. I’m Garth. Just a second.” As she walked back over to Audrey, he yelled up at the guard in the gatehouse that he was going to unlock the gate.
Garth showed impressive strength as he removed the thick timber barring the gate and then pulled it open just far enough for them to pass. They quickly squeezed through and began to look around. The trees had been cleared out to about thirty yards beyond the walls, but there were some tall saplings here and there. A wide dirt and gravel road led due east. Marryn knew that that road eventually led to Lancia although it was a long way off.
“Are those mountains?” asked Audrey, staring north.
“Yes, but they’re not the ones where Xlee lives. Those are farther north and east.” Marryn had spent considerable time reviewing the maps her mother had of the area.
“Oh, okay. How far away are these mountains?”
“About thirty miles. They’re pretty tall.”