Ebudae (4 page)

It wasn’t a concern in the Merchant District
where Lady Pallon’s estate was. Ostentatious manors bordered the
streets, each with guards to show how important the occupants were.
The rich women strutting by wore opulent dresses that assaulted the
eyes instead of attracting them. It was an offensive show and
Ebudae hated every aspect of it.

“They’re looking down their noses at us even
more than usual,” Pelya observed. She examined her outfit. She wore
a shiny red shirt with gold embroidery instead of the normal blue
with silver. Her pants were black with matching gold embroidery and
she wore a silver sword belt laced with gold filigree. Ebudae knew
it was expensive clothing. Her friend was rich by most standards,
from coin given to her by members of the City Guard whom Pelya
called her aunts and uncles.

Ebudae by contrast, wore a long white dress
with black and green frills. It was something she had made on her
own and looked very much out of place against the pastels and puffs
plastered on most of the ladies and merchant wives surrounding
them. What those people didn’t know was that numerous runes of
protection and power were sewn into the material with threads that
blended into the cloth. Ebudae wasn’t about to go anywhere without
magical protections. “I don’t think we’ll ever fit in,” Ebudae said
with a wry grin. “They’ll just have to keep looking down their
noses at us while we go about doing as we please.”

“I guess they will,” Pelya replied, grinning
back. She held out an arm. “Shall we?”

“We shall.” They skipped down the streets,
eliciting gasps of disapproval from the uptight ladies who gawked
at their boldness.

It didn’t take them long to reach the Noble
District where the people were just as rich, but more dignified.
The occasional noble nodded or smiled at the young women walking
happily along. Ebudae was thrilled at the freedom and a little
scared at the same time.

She had never been allowed out of the manor
alone. Neither she nor her grandmother were welcome very many
places, so it was rare that she left, even
with
an escort.
It hadn’t stopped her from going through a secret door in her
secondary workroom that led to stairways going deep below the city,
but those dark ruins weren’t as frightening as the dangers above
ground.

Young women often disappeared in Dralin.
There were countless houses of prostitution, sweatshops and every
other terror imaginable for a person. Worst of all were the slavers
who slunk in the dark alleys waiting for a lone fool to get too
close. People kidnapped in Dralin were usually smuggled out to
other countries while people kidnapped in other countries were
smuggled into Dralin. It was a vicious cycle of crime making the
world of Ryallon a terrible place to live for many.

Pelya’s father was a member of the Dralin
City Guard. Thousands strong and exceptionally capable, they did
their best to keep chaos and lawlessness from taking over, but it
was an impossible task. The crime guilds were powerful and deadly.
To remove any one would come at a great cost of life, leaving
openings for others to gain more power.

Even worse than the crime guilds were the
wizards. They were anarchists for the most part and avoided control
wherever they could. They were dangerous in the city where magic
was strong. Any one of them in their tower could repel entire
squads of the Guard should they choose.

So the Guard did their best to keep people
safe whenever they could. The weak and vulnerable were often lost
to evil and darkness. The strong stood a chance of survival in
Dralin, but even that was a slim chance.

“I think it’s funny that they would only let
you go if I came with to protect you,” Pelya said as they moved
from the Noble District to the Mosh District, an old section of the
city occupied by performers from Carnival, young merchants looking
to make their way in the world and university students.

“I know, right? You’re younger than I am,
but they trust you and you’re
so
good with that sword. They
figure you can keep me safe. Plus we’re only allowed to go to areas
where there’s a strong presence of City Guards.” A unit of those
guards waved from across the street and they waved back. “I’m
willing to bet that every single unit knows to keep their eyes out
for you.”

Pelya sighed. “Yeah. I made Daddy promise
not to have us followed, but every member of the Guard looks out
for me and they know we’re out on our own. I couldn’t figure out
how to make all of them promise.” She shrugged her shoulders in
embarrassment.

“I think it’s wonderful that you call them
all aunts and uncles. Everyone says how terrible it is that you’ve
been raised in the Guard, but it
has
to be better than being
stuck alone in a room like I have my entire life.” Ebudae checked
all her pouches, making sure they were tight so thieves couldn’t
get them. It was unwise to carry pouches around the waist, but she
had a system and each pouch had magical items or ingredients, plus
they had wards that would hurt any would-be pickpocket. If someone
tried to steal one, they’d be in for a terrible surprise.
Ironically, her coin pouch was tucked away in a secret pocket she
had sewn into her dress.

“You love being alone though,” Pelya pointed
out. “Your favorite days are the ones where you curl up on the
couch with a stack of moldy books and read while drinking tea.”

“It would still be nice to have the option
of not being alone though. If your father hadn’t saved
grandmother’s life so long ago, I wouldn’t know you either and then
I’d just
die
.” Ebudae’s shoulders slumped at the
thought.

“But we
do
know each other.” Pelya
put an arm around her shoulders. “Maybe we’ll get to make new
friends today and you can have the option of spending time with
them even though you’ll
still
sit around reading all day,”
she said playfully.

Ebudae stuck her tongue out. Then she looked
around at the mismatched stone and wooden buildings. It was as
though different architects had a contest to see who could be the
most unique. Odors became stronger than in the Merchant and Noble
Districts. People wore heavy perfume in place of taking baths. The
streets weren’t filthy, but they weren’t clean either.

Individuals were as varied as the buildings.
There was the occasional merchant, peasant, laborer or old person
sitting on steps or talking to each other out of upper level
windows. Most of the people seemed to be friendly, even tipping
their hats or nodding in greeting to the two of them on occasion.
It was vastly different from the sheltered life she had lived.

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” Pelya said,
her voice filled with concern. Ebudae looked at her in confusion.
Pelya explained, “You became sad like I hurt you. I didn’t mean
to.”

“It’s not that . . .” She looked at the
shiny black shoes on her feet, oddly fascinated by the way they
kept moving one in front of the other. It was better than thinking
about what was bothering her.

Pelya stepped in front of her and took her
by the arms. “Ebudae, what’s wrong? Tell me.”

Tears fought their way to the surface in
spite of Ebudae’s best effort to hold them back.

“Tell me,” Pelya insisted firmly.

“Grandmother says I’ll end up just like my
mother once I make friends.” Ebudae continued to stare at the shoes
even though they weren’t moving now. “She says I’ll meet terrible
people, do drugs, have sex and dump a child off on her to make her
even more miserable.”

“Your grandmother’s a heartless, cruel,
mean-spirited, old lady with a lifetime of candlesticks stuck up
her butt!” Ebudae looked up to see fury on Pelya’s face, the type
Frath showed when angry. “You get to be who you
want
to be,
not who your grandmother tries to make you out to be. I’m sorry
she’s so mean. You deserve better.”

Ebudae wiped the tears off with a sleeve.
“Thank you. I’m so glad you’re my friend. I would have died without
you.”

Pelya gave a sharp nod. “I agree. You’re
totally alive because of me. I’m amazing.”

Ebudae glared playfully at her friend’s
impish grin and shoved her in the shoulder. “Sure. You’re
amazing
. Let’s go to Carnival.” They laughed and skipped the
rest of the way.

Chapter
3

Frath watched the two girls disappear around
the corner and then closed his eyes. He was terrified. Pelya was
the only thing he truly cared about in his life. Frath had loved
Sheela, Pelya’s mother, with everything he was. Her death had
nearly ended him. Sheela had given him a daughter. Not just any
daughter, but the most wonderful, beautiful and delightful daughter
in the world.

Now his daughter was walking through the
streets of the most dangerous city in the world. Frath had seen
beautiful young women come into the city only to find them broken
and dead in dark alleys, their lifeless eyes accusing him of
failing to protect them.

He turned and began walking in the other
direction. Frath needed to pray to his goddess. He needed to beg
her to keep his daughter safe. The thought that Pelya could end up
like one of those women was driving him mad.

Pelya must hate me for raising her in the
Guard.
Frath felt terrible guilt at not being able to give his
daughter a decent life. Nearly every member of the City Guard was
like family to her, numerous units were currently keeping their
eyes open to make certain she and Ebudae would stay safe, but it
wasn’t the same as a real family.

People jumped out of his way as he stomped
along the sidewalk, but all he could think of was how angry Pelya
had been with him lately. She seemed moody, spending all her time
either drilling or hanging out with Ebudae. He was certain she
hated him and it was killing him inside.

At least Pelya had Ebudae. They had been
best friends since childhood. Frath was grateful that Pelya could
be there for the poor girl. Lady Pallon was Frath’s best friend,
but she was a terrible person when it came to raising the child.
The woman hated her daughter for leaving Ebudae in her care and
took that hatred out on the girl.

He ran into an old man who couldn’t get out
of his way in time. The startled man tumbled into the street
gutter, his scrawny legs flying through the air over his head.
Frath uttered a surprised profanity and scrambled to help the man
to his feet.

“I’m sorry, sir guard. My bones don’t move
me out of the way so well these days,” the old man apologized
fearfully.

“It’s my fault, Citizen. I wasn’t paying
attention. My behavior is unacceptable.” Frath felt terrible. The
poor man was terrified as were others surrounding them. Not every
guard member cared for the welfare of people and it was a high
crime to kill anyone of the Guard. People generally avoided even
saying anything negative in the presence of a Guard, especially one
as big and strong as Frath. “Please accept my apologies, my good
man.”

He nodded, not sure how else to react. Once
Frath let go of his arm, the elderly gentleman hobbled away as
quickly as his shaky legs would allow. Luckily, there didn’t appear
to be any permanent damage.

Frath looked around at his surroundings.
Bystanders who had been staring at him found other things to do. He
ignored them as he noticed that he had reached the edge of the
Orphan District. It was where he had been raised, a terrible
childhood in overcrowded buildings run by corrupt officials.

A shadow across the street waved at him. He
didn’t respond in case people might think him even odder. Ever
since the Goddess Distra had touched his mind, he had been able to
see the shadows. It was one of the side effects that came with his
amethyst eyes.

Most times, the shadows danced sadly. They
were always sad and Frath had no idea why. The shadow waved at him
again. Another shadow waved him over too. Frath looked around, but
he was the only one who noticed. They waved at him once more, so he
crossed the street after letting a carriage go by.

Another shadow near the next intersection
waved at him to go over there. He did so, being careful not to run
over any more old men. At the intersection, two more shadows
gestured for him to follow down the side street. He looked around
for anything out of place. Other than the shadows trying to get him
to follow, everything was as it should be, so he continued.

At the next intersection, a crow flew down
and perched on a lamppost on the other side. It cawed at him. Its
eyes flashed the same color purple as his. At that point, he knew
the Goddess Distra wanted him for something. They weren’t leading
him to the temple, so it had to be something else.

The crow flew ahead. Frath followed at a
cautious pace at first, but the shadows became frantic and rushed
down the street ahead of him. They would move for a short ways
before disappearing because the object or person casting them
didn’t move in the same direction or speed. Then they would
reappear and continue trying to run. The crow came back and landed
on top of a wooden shop sign sticking out the side of a building.
It cawed urgently and then flew off.

Frath broke into a run, which seemed to
please the shadows. After a moment, he found his stride and began
to make good time. The crow stayed ahead of him, looking back on
occasion to make certain he was keeping up.

At intersections, the shadows would guide
people aside or make them stop so Frath could continue unhindered.
Those people never suspected what made them stop at such a
fortunate time. Most were startled when the tall guardsman barreled
past at unsafe speeds.

Shadows led him north through the Church
District with its massive temples and priests preaching on every
corner, then to the enigmatic Tower District with its furtive
wizards. A shifting barrier of magical illusion shimmered around
the entire district, making it appear to shimmer and move. Many
said that the streets within the district
did
move. Frath
knew that belief to be fact. The District was one of the hardest
and most dangerous for the City Guard to patrol, even though every
Guardmember had enchantments sewn into their uniforms to prevent
the shifting from affecting them.