Ebudae (7 page)

Ebudae blushed and looked down at her hands
in her lap. She knew what the reference meant and had read some of
those erotic books from the ruins, but to hear someone say
something so brazenly, shocked her. Ebudae was beginning to
question the value of leaving the manor.

The others chuckled at first, but grew
silent. She heard Aphry’s voice. “Glav, the vulgarity of your jests
is not for everyone and I believe you’ve upset the noble lady and
embarrassed Pelya.”

“It’s alright,” Pelya said. “I hear some of
that in the Guard, but my aunts and uncles control what they say
around me most times.”

“Your aunts and uncles?” Glav asked.

“Umm . . . pretty much everyone in the Guard
is my aunt or uncle,” Pelya explained with a shrug. “They all look
out for me.”

The others exchanged worried glances. “Are
you allowed to be here?” Glav asked hesitantly. “We don’t want to
get in trouble . . .”

“Yes,” Pelya reassured them. “Granted,
harming me could be hazardous to your health, but we were given
permission to be out today and if any of my aunts and uncles were
to bother you, they’d have to answer to me.” She patted her sword
and grinned. The words didn’t seem to comfort their hosts. “Really,
it’s alright.”

Aphry nodded. “Good then. Now everyone’s
been introduced but your friend . . . Ebudae you said her name
was?” Ebudae looked up, but she could still feel that her face was
reddened from embarrassment. She didn’t know why it was so hard to
interact with anyone. Every time Ebudae sat in her suite and
imagined talking to people, she was witty and everyone hung on each
word. Out in the real world, her tongue didn’t work and she felt
lame. To make matters worse, tears were flowing down her cheeks and
she had no idea why.

“Ebudae, what’s wrong?” Pelya asked in
alarm, putting an arm around her shoulders.

“I d . . . don’t know,” Ebudae sobbed.
Everything was overwhelming, so she buried her face into Pelya’s
shoulder and cried.

“Here, Milady. I meant no offense. I was not
aware of how delicate you are,” Glav leaned forward, alarmed by the
reaction.

It was difficult, but Ebudae forced herself
to get a grip on her emotions. She took a handkerchief from a
hidden pocket in her dress and wiped her eyes. “It’s a . . .
alright. I’m s . . . sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“Was it my comment or something else?” Glav
frowned in concern.

“I . . . I don’t know.” Ebudae managed to
get the last of the tears and wiped her nose. “There have been so
many people and so much noise today . . . I can’t seem to take
everything in.”

“Are you not used to people?” Aphry
asked.

“No. Grandmother never lets me out. I’m
sixteen today and it’s the first time I’ve been away from the manor
without an escort. If it weren’t for Pelya, I probably never would
have been able to go.”

“Your birthday? We must celebrate!” Lizor
exclaimed. “My muscles shall dance for you.” He put his arms up in
a bodybuilder’s pose and made his pecs and numerous other muscles
bounce up and down. Ebudae laughed and clapped her hands.

“Not the celebration I think she had in
mind,” Aphry said with another roll of her eyes. Glav began playing
his lute in time with the flexes. And before long they were all
clapping and laughing in time to the movements.

When the mirth subsided, everyone relaxed,
including Ebudae. “I
am
sorry about that. I don’t know what
came over me.”

“It’s fine,” Aphry assured her. “Will you
tell us a little about yourself?”

“Umm . . . yes.” She didn’t know what to
tell them. “My grandmother is Lady Pallon and I live in her manor.
My mother . . .” Ebudae couldn’t figure out for the life of her why
she brought it up.
Talking to people is overrated.
“I don’t
know. I live with my grandmother and spend most of my time reading
books. Pelya is my only friend in the world.”

She felt a gentle hand on her right
shoulder. Juggles was smiling at her, his grey eyes showing nothing
but kindness. She smiled back.

“Lizor shall be your friend and all of his
muscles consider you friend too.”

Ebudae laughed merrily. “Well thank you,
Lizor and thank you to all of your muscles.” The laughter lifted
much of the weight off her shoulders.

“Will you tell us of your mother?” Aphry
asked gently. “I sense that it’s an unpleasant issue.”

She didn’t see why not, but it was difficult
to talk about it to people she had just met. “There’s not much to
tell. When I was a baby, she left me on my grandmother’s doorstep
and then disappeared. No one knows where she went.”

Glav nodded solemnly. “Bad things happen to
people in this city.” The others agreed.

“No. It’s something else. She abandoned me
and intentionally left. Nothing bad happened to her, or if it did,
that’s not why she didn’t come back.” Her grandmother had said
something to that effect and Ebudae agreed.

“How interesting,” Glav said, striking an
ominous note. “And your father?”

“I have no idea. I think he’s somewhere, but
I can’t begin to tell you why. It’s just a feeling.”

“Very interesting. I must admit that I’m
intrigued.” Glav played a note of mystery, making the sensation
come alive. It sent chills up her spine. “And what of your parents,
Pelya? May we ask?”

Ebudae held onto her friend’s hand while
Pelya answered. “My father is a master sergeant in the City Guard.
He’s responsible for training recruits in the city. My mother died
in childbirth.” Her voice grew quieter and she stared at the pillow
she had placed in her lap at some point. “It’s my fault.”

“How is it your fault?” Aphry asked
tenderly.

“It just is. Daddy was so happy with her and
then he was stuck with me.”

“I don’t think it was your fault,” Aphry
said. “But I’ll leave it at that. Are you sixteen too?”

“No. I’m a few months younger, but I’m very
good with a sword and Ebudae could only go if I was along to
protect her.”

“I see. Well I’m glad you both came to visit
us. A lot of people don’t trust or like Carnies, outside of other
Carnies.” Aphry took a hit of the hookah.

Glav chuckled. “A lot of
Carnies
don’t like or trust Carnies. We’re a casual group. Aphry and I are
married and come from the Kingdom of Obda to the north. We think
Juggles comes from the Palthoon Deserts, but he won’t say.”

“Lizor is from the mountains of Grint in the
far north,” the muscle-bound giant said, jamming a thumb into his
chest. “I grow taller and stronger than the mountains, my mother
says.”

“Not quite as smart though,” Glav jested.
The big man laughed and waggled a finger at him.

Ebudae was back to watching the coins move
back and forth between Juggle’s fingers. They faced each other
cross-legged and he gave her one of the coins. She watched as he
took one in his left hand and began slipping it deliberately
between the fingers. Her first clumsy attempts resulted in it
falling. At that point, she became determined to master the
technique.

The conversation began to drone into the
background as Ebudae added a second coin and began moving it
through her fingers in time with the first. Juggles made
corrections here and there and added a third and fourth, which was
as much as Ebudae could handle right away. Her fingers started to
become sore from the workout. It was different from casting because
there was an object that worked the muscles differently, but Ebudae
came to the realization that it would be excellent exercise to make
her hands stronger.

“Ebudae!” Pelya said, getting the
wizardess’s attention.

She stopped moving the coins through her
fingers. “What?” Then she realized that her hands were sore and
tried to rub it out.

“Glav asked if you know anything about the
history of your family.”

The minstrel strummed his lute. “I like to
know the history of noble families. It’s fascinating and very
difficult to study in Dralin where the nobles have become secondary
to wizards and merchants.”

“My husband knows more useless facts about
everything in the world and never stops trying to find more,” Aphry
said with a playful shove on his shoulder.

“Umm . . . I don’t want to tell you that,”
Ebudae replied. Her grandmother had made her read the family
histories, which used up two and a half large tomes. Most of it was
boring, but there was a fascinating branch of the family consisting
of assassins and murderers. Going back to the beginnings of the
records, Ebudae had learned that one of her ancestors killed the
king and his family when the wizards took over the country of
Altordan hundreds of years ago.

Ebudae had also learned that
she
was
the direct descendent of that assassin. Lady Pallon had made it
very
clear that she was never to tell anyone of those
histories. Even Pelya didn’t know.

“I see.” Glav looked insulted. “Well, the
nobles of Dralin are notoriously tight-lipped about themselves. I
shouldn’t have expected otherwise.”

“Glav, peace,” Aphry said with a soothing
hand on his arm. Everyone else looked uncomfortable.

The words dismayed Ebudae. She didn’t want
to upset new friends just as soon as she gained them. “It’s just
that . . .” She didn’t know what to say.

“Don’t worry about it.” Glav brushed away
the matter and played a discordant note.

“My family has been around ever since Dralin
was built on the ruins of the city below.” They all sat up straight
and looked on with extreme interest, even Pelya. “I
can’t
tell you very much because I’m sworn not to and I don’t break my
word ever.”

“I respect that,” Glav said with a
respectful nod. “I would love to hear anything you
are
able
to tell us, especially about the ruins below.” The others nodded.
Pelya looked alarmed as though worried Ebudae might speak of their
many adventures in that city.

“It is said that people have lived in this
place ever since humans first appeared in the world of Ryallon.” It
was a safe story to tell, but one few people knew of. “I don’t know
anything about the beginnings, but I do know that at numerous times
in the past, invaders have leveled or conquered previous cities.
Every new city has been built on top of the old.”

“Fascinating. Do you truly believe there are
cities underneath us?” Aphry asked.

“No, that’s not possible, Artifacts and
other things may be buried underneath,” Glav told her. “Old
buildings would have been reused or leveled to make way for the
new. Ruined cities are fairy tales made up by foolish minstrels.”
He looked around with wide eyes. “Oh wait, that’s me!” He strummed
a funny little tune and waggled his eyebrows, drawing giggles from
the young women.

Ebudae didn’t look at Pelya so as not to
give anything away. “There are whispered rumors that Dralin is
built on massive columns over the old cities and that dangerous
creatures roam the darkness below.” Actually, it was fact. The
supports deep into the ground were architectural marvels laced with
a network of powerful spells that should hold Dralin for millennia.
She and Pelya had seen them.

“I doubt that,” Glav said with a wave of
dismissal. “It’s a pretty story, but there’s no way it’s
possible.”

“In this city? From what Lizor has seen,
anything’s possible,” the big man disagreed. “With all the crazy
things here like the Tower District and Wraith Park, Lizor would
not be surprised.” He jammed a thumb into his chest and playfully
made his pecs jump in response.

“It is intriguing.” Aphry looked at Ebudae
with interest. “What an adventure that would be.”

“It’s not possible, even with all the
wizards here.” Glav was determined that it couldn’t be. “You said
your family has been here since the beginning of Dralin. Does it
say anything about the time before that?”

“No. The family histories begin then, and
I’m not even sure I should tell you that, but . . .” Ebudae
considered what to tell them. “The Pallon estate has been in our
family since that time. It’s in the Merchant District instead of
the Noble District because of a marriage in that early time between
a rich merchant family and a powerful noble family.”

“Those arrangements happen a great deal
throughout history,” Glav stated to the group. “Oftentimes nobles
lose fortunes for any number of reasons: mismanagement, theft, war,
drought, insanity. It’s fascinating.” He asked Ebudae, “Do you know
why the marriage was needed?”

“No. That detail was left out. Since then,
my family has done well for some generations and poorly for others.
At this point, we have almost no power, but are still rich.”

“So dinner is on you tonight?” Glav asked
with a raised eyebrow and mischievous grin.

Ebudae laughed. “Yes. I’ll buy dinner, a
fair price for the shade and company. I’ve hardly spent any money
today so I’m able to.” The statement brought cheers from the group.
She gave Lizor and Juggles five silver pieces to get food and more
wine. Then they all enjoyed a good dinner and more conversation
before the girls eventually left at sunset.

Lamplighters used long poles to light
lanterns in the Mosh District as the young women made their way
home. The main avenues were busy, so Pelya took less traveled roads
that would still be relatively safe.

Ebudae was grateful to get away from the
press of the bodies, which had overwhelmed her again after leaving
the tent. She left the directions to her friend who had spent her
entire life studying the City Guard’s maps of Dralin and knew how
to get nearly everywhere.

“This has been the best day ever, Ebudae. I
had so much fun,” Pelya said with a happy grin as they walked arm
in arm. Ebudae stayed on the left so that Pelya would have her
sword arm free for any danger that might appear.