Aralim 35

1479 - 5 - 6 Aralim 35

“You’ll have to stay close to me,” Rattar said.  They stood at the corner of a bakery, watching the guards across the street with their faces hidden in cowls and Aralim’s lantern staff left at home.  Brallo Ma’kreo, the merchant who had almost met his end at the hands of Yakalaka and the ‘stolen’ knife, was holed up in the old miner’s shaft beneath the abandoned warehouse across the street.  The guards there wore leather lamellar—leather layered like chainmail—and held short spears. Continue reading Aralim 35

Farek 8

1479 - 5 - 5 Farek 8

The Claycroft Tavern rose over the adjacent rooftops of an old Saltwater Army Barracks-turned homeless shelter and a successful clothier’s shop, built of big clay bricks from the north coast of Var Nordos.  By the evening, when Farek made his way toward it, there were tables set up right across the whole stone-tiled street.  Drinkers and gamblers lounged in big wooden chairs while women in scanty silk clothes weaved a metaphoric dance of hushed words and clinking coins around them.  The guards did not work for the city; Claycroft could afford their own hired muscle dressed with short swords bristling at their waists and blue sashes dangling past their knees. Continue reading Farek 8

Raya 30

1479 - 5 - 4 Raya 30

For most of the Fourth Moon, Raya and Benn searched in a few of the outlying scribe’s shops, without striving deeper into the streets of the central city.  Ith was a land of its own, Raya learned, but it was not a land unaware of the world at large.  On every breath and on every road, there was talk of ill variety.

Raya heard curses against the rulers—there were eleven Mage Kings in Ith.  There were refugees from Ellakar here, joining voice with the displaced people of Elpan.  All blamed the Mage Kings. Continue reading Raya 30

Arn 12

1479 - 5 - 3 Arn 12

Razaad felt the edge of Arn’s aggression once more.  The hunters pounded across the hilltop with muddied boot and poisoned spear.  Arn’s knife hilt rubbed against his side—the raw flesh there felt like the line of water scales they chased.  He moved the knife with his free hand, so it didn’t cause his recently healed wound to bruise or bleed again.  At his left, Thalla cawed like a bird as she leapt over a small, dirt crevasse and into the side of a scaly beast.  Her spear poked out its left eye and the two disappeared in the wake of Arn’s charge.  They descended down the beach of Razaad, and Arn claimed his own kill. Continue reading Arn 12

Zanna 3

1479 - 5 - 1 Zanna 3

On the first of each month, Zanna’s ritual was the same.  She stood on board a wooden raft with a smooth.  She was thankful it was smooth, for her bare feet were not troubled by splinters.  She turned and looked east, then west, across the serene water.  She could see the distant wooden wall on the banks, which meant those on the wall could see her.  Her bare shoulders, her knotted up hair. Continue reading Zanna 3

Aralim 34

1479 - 4 - 28 Aralim 34

The royal animal keeper was a short old man who filled a role Aralim had never suspected.  When Miresh stood next to him, they were almost of the same height, and his long barn north of the Iron Palace was filled with cages and creatures Aralim had never seen.  “This hardly seems like a good place to find a pet.  These animals seem feral,” the Walker said.  A snake hissed and snapped at the metal lace that lined its cage. Continue reading Aralim 34

Lerran 43

1479 - 4 - 27 Lerran 43

They reached the gates of Sheld in the middle of the morning.  With the dawn fog came a drizzle of water, the first precipitation in months.  The dirt was so dry, it refused the moisture.  Puddles wider than their horses formed, even though it was hardly rain.  Lerran and Ash rode into the streets of the city first.  The commoners seemed relieved by the water, though their clothes hung damp and muddy as they went about their business. Continue reading Lerran 43

Farek 7

1479 - 4 - 25 Farek 7

Farek stopped reviewing the financial report and massaged his closed eyes with the back of his knuckles and then his fingers.  He needed a break, to catch his breath.  But his breath wasn’t missing; it was more to escape the overwhelming dryness of his tasks and review everything that had happened.  Which was, to be honest, very little.  Farek sighed.  The most consequential event in his sister’s absence was the withdrawal of twelve hundred coins by Paral Magavar, concerning which all of Farek’s research had only revealed one thing. Continue reading Farek 7

Zanna 2

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Sunlight streamed in amidst the wide silk ribbons that hung from above the arched window.  A soft current of air, cool from the lake beyond, parted them in an ever shifting pattern.  The sparkling on Zanna’s pillow eventually awoke her, and she watched the dark red curtains for a few minutes longer.  Her stomach growled and she stepped out of bed. Continue reading Zanna 2

Aralim 33

1479 - 4 - 21 Aralim 33

Aralim and Hayan had spent the last few days exploring the city of Rema—for the last few weeks, Miresh was reviewing and training things she had already learned, so Aralim had no useful research to provide her.  This day they had found an amphitheatre where a priest recounted old stories of Tag’na’s reign and an open-roofed meat deli where they enjoyed the Emperor’s purse.  The stories were more like proverbs and the meal more like a small feast. Continue reading Aralim 33