Regret's Shadow (Sins of Earth Trilogy) (16 page)

“You!  Head topside and await the arrival of supplies.”

As Wielder Duln made his way deeper into the catacombs, in search of Calistra’s pet wizard, he wondered not for the first time, if this whole venture would likely end in disaster.

Dramus had to admit that the view
of the city from two miles out was well worth the travel time it had taken to get there.  They’d stayed in a few towns that were larger than Akilo along the way, but the sight before him took his breath away.

Galloway was vast, spread along the se
a for as far as he could see in both directions.  The buildings were larger and taller than in any other town he’d ever seen.  In the center, at the crux of the bay was a large rock formation, upon which had been built the palace of the baron.  It shone in the sun like a spire of light.  Dramus wondered how much magic had gone into its construction.

“It’s really something, isn’t it,” Erick breathed next to him on the bench of the wagon.  The normally laconic aide was in a good mood this morning, as the
headmaster had decided to sleep off his hangover in the back.  Things had been positively lovely all morning.

Dramus didn’t take his eyes away from the skyline, but smiled just the same.

“That it is, Erick…that it is.”

The two young men had
finally begun to form a bit of a bond during the trip, one forged from their mutual dislike of the headmaster.  While this rarely manifested overtly, both men felt the commonality between them and had talked more and more as the trip had worn on.

“I wonder what kind of library they have,” Dramus said, as Erick snapped the reigns and got the cart moving again.  They
were in a long line of carts, horses, and people on foot that was making its way to the main gate of the city.  It was a journey of stops and starts.

Erick shook his head, “It must be vast.  Perhaps they have more than one?”

The thought hadn’t occurred to Dramus, but it gave him a happy chill to consider the possibility.  The idea that a city might have so many books, maps, and scrolls to fill more than one library was positively fantastic.

“I hear they have a wizard’s school here too,” Erick managed before having to bring the horses to bear as the troupe in front of them stopped suddenly.  After the wagon had come to rest, he smiled at Dramus.

“Maybe you could sign up, find a way to expand that gift of yours.”

He hadn’t thought of something like that before.  Seeing the city, the massive amount of people just on the road, and smelling the salt
air for the first time all contributed to the growing feeling that anything was possible.

He wasn’t cooped-up in the temple and its environs now.  He was out in the world, about to enter the largest city ever made no less!  Who’s to say he couldn’t try and make a go at becoming a wizard.  Maybe his ability would give him an edge!

He turned to say as much to Erick when a gurgling moan erupted form the back of the wagon.

“It’s hard enough to sleep with all this jerking around,” came the
headmaster’s pain-filled warble, “But to have to listen to your endless prattle makes me want to swallow a dagger.  Keep. It. Down.”

Dramus cast a frown toward the flap that separated them from Colius, while Erick covered his mouth to stifle a giggle.

“I just happened to have a dagger right here,” he whispered, snickering quietly.

Dramus suppressed a guffaw.  He turned his head sharply to the side and chuckled into his sleeve.  He’d been thinking the same thing.

The close proximity the two young men had shared on the road could have forced them into conflict, and for a time that was what Dramus feared would happen.  The last thing he needed was to be traveling with the headmaster while the man’s aide annoyed him as well.  Luckily, Erick had come to the same conclusion.

While they kept their budding friendship low-key around Colius, they had time during the increasingly long hangovers of the
headmaster as well as after the man passed out at night to commiserate.  They found that they shared a lot in common, both having been raised in the temple.

Dramus would have liked to say he was surprised by how badly Erick was treated by
Colius, but the aide’s stories of casual cruelty hit close to home.  In turn, Erick was shocked to learn that Colius treated Dramus badly, as knowledge of his gift was common among the monks.

Erick told Dramus that while the
headmaster was usually mum regarding Dramus and his work, many of the other monks that he met with were thankful for the young scribe’s abilities.  They were excited to have someone that would grant them access to knowledge thought lost, and any jealousy they felt was subsumed by their gratitude.  Dramus was flabbergasted, but happy.

They rode in stops and starts in silence for a while, each of them contemplating what their lives would be like without the temple, without the order, and yes, without the
headmaster.  What would their lives have amounted to if they’d grown up in this massive city?  It was an exciting and scary thought.

Eventually they made their way through the massive gates.  Dramus craned his neck to look at the parapet that arched over the massive wooden gates, and the murder holes and channels that would allow boiling oil to be rained down upon an invading enemy.  He suppressed a shudder as he saw shadows of the soldiers above flicker in the small passageways and turned back to admire his first look at the city proper.

The gate opened onto a wide avenue that was teeming with people.  Peddlers of all kinds choked the sides of the way, eager to ply their wares on pilgrims from all over the Realm.  The noise was something new for Dramus; a cacophony of voices raised in urgency.

The smell changed as they trundled through the crowded lane.  While they had approached the city across a wide field, the smell of the salt water had been bracing.  The spring air was crisp, but not uncomfortable,
and Dramus thought he’d never smelled anything so fresh.

Inside the city, however, the sea breeze was overwhelmed by the scents of unwashed bodies, dust, horse manure, and cook fires.  It was an unpleasant, yet vaguely exotic mixture.  It actually added to the heady excitement he was feeling.

They made their way through the streets in slow progress.  Several times they were forced to make way for guards on horseback, passing nobles, or a vendor’s cart that had been stalled by stubborn pack animals.  They were making their way downhill, Dramus noted, although the grade was slight.  All the while, the raised palace loomed larger and larger, and he was able to glimpse the masts of ships between buildings.

At some point, Colius had awakened and come to the front of the wagon.

“Alright, Erick, I’ll take over.”

His voice was thick, and he reeked.  Dramus scooted even further to the edge of the bench while the
headmaster and his aide switched places.  Looking away, he made eye contact with an elderly street vendor behind a bench that displayed trinkets and jewelry of common make.  Too late, Dramus turned his head from her eager expression.

“Young master!” He winced as he heard her approach. 

Colius was taking his sweet time getting situated, releasing an odious belch as he fumbled with the reigns.  Dramus knew they wouldn’t be moving again in time to avoid the sales pitch of the old woman.  He turned and forced a smile.

“You’ll be needin’ somethin’ nice for yer
lady friend,” the crone said.  She was right next to the wagon now, carrying several bracelets and a few rings cupped in her wrinkled hands.  The jewelry clinked as she reached out, surprisingly deft, and gripped Dramus’s hand, hoping to slip on a bracelet or ring.

Something completely different greeted her touch.  Immediately she jerked, eyes widening.  Dramus looked on in alarm as she dropped her baubles and her bulging eyes began to cloud over.  He tried to recoil, but her grip had become like a vice.

“I see doom hover near you,” her voice was steely, strong – not the voice of an old lady, but that of a strong woman in her prime.  It sent gooseflesh rippling along Dramus’s skin.

“Fire will come for you.  Death.  A nightmare from the past wings toward the now.”

Blood began to ooze from her nose, and Dramus gasped, again trying to pull away to no avail.  Behind him, he heard the
headmaster call his name.

“The sins of the crown will be levied against the Realm!” this she shrieked, her eyes nearly solid white orbs. 

The wagon jerked as the horses began to canter, and for a moment Dramus was afraid he would be pulled from the bench.

“You have the gift!  Read the text in all men’s words!” was the last of her rant before her hand slipped from his arm, leaving read finger marks in his flesh.  Dramus breathed heavily and turned away, gripping the bench to steady himself. 

He looked to Colius, and the man regarded him with heavy-lidded eyes.  As Dramus sat straighter, he looked away from the man’s disturbing expression and back to the old lady.

She stood alone in the street, trinkets forgotten at her feet.  People were giving her a wide berth, unconsciously keeping her in a pocket of open cobblestones.  Her face was
hidden in her hands.  Dramus was overcome with a sense of foreboding and turned back to stare ahead of the cart.

What
was that about?  Did the woman have a gift?  Could she see the future?  It certainly seemed that way from the exchange, but Dramus was too shaken from the encounter to make sense of it.  For several minutes the world passed by in a haze as the old woman’s worlds replayed in his mind.

“We’re here.”

Dramus started and looked around.  He’d been so absorbed in his thoughts that he hadn’t noticed the cart come to a stop.  He rubbernecked, taking in the immediate surroundings.

They were in a common-looking district.  The cart was parked in front of an inn, the Lamprey’s Lure.  Dramus thought the name strange and a little disturbing.  The façade of the building seemed well maintained, and its
sign depicting an angler’s lure with a snake-like fish entwined through it was colorful.  He could hear the sounds of music and laughter from within, which helped to dispel some of his doubt.

The street lay in the shadow of the palace, its bulk rising up behind the inn to blot out the mid-morning sun.  Its walls were painted a creamy white, which contrasted nicely with the blazing orange of the roof shingles.  Flags depicting the Royal Seal, as well as several local pennants snapped in the wind.

“Wait with the cart.  I’ll go and secure our lodging,” Colius commanded.  The wagon swayed as he dismounted.  Erick immediately joined Dramus on the bench, and for a moment they two just took in the sights.

People walked around them constantly.  They
both were taken aback by the sheer amount of ever-present humanity.  The buildings here were crammed close in together, some of brick, some of plaster, some of wood grayed by the salt air. 

Dramus noticed more refuse along the sides of the street here, but the sea breeze actually managed to waft weakly along the street, as close as they were to the docks.

“I can’t believe we’re here…actually here in Galloway,” Erick breathed.

“I know,” Dramus responded.

The two of them gawked, under the city’s spell, until Colius emerged from the inn and waddled over.

“Snap out of it, you two bumpkins,” he said.  When they turned to regard him, pulled from their sightseeing, he jabbed a finger toward an alley just past the inn.

“Pull the wagon around to the stables in back.  Our rooms are on the top floor, and there is a back stairway that will get you to them.  You’ve got a lot of work to get done before dinner.  I suggest you hurry.”

With that, the rotund man put his back to them and re-entered the Lamprey’s Lure.  The duo watched him go, before turning back to their rubbernecking.

“I wonder how much gold and silver you could find all through that place,” Erick said, pointing to the palace.

Dramus grabbed the reigns, “I don’t know, but I bet we’ll never see.  I don’t think the Hogmaster is going to be keen on letting us do any sightseeing.”

As he guided the wagon into the alley, tensing at the narrowness, Erick grinned.

“If he’s passed-out drunk, how will he say no?”

The sun was westering by the time the two men, sweaty and sore, joined their headmaster in the common room. 

Colius was, unsurprisingly, well in his cups by this point, and actually smiled and waved them over to his table.  He’d picked a spot near to a small raised area that was used
as a stage by a trio of minstrels.  As they made their way through the crowded supper throng, Dramus took in the décor.

The walls were paneled in dark wood and bedecked with many framed paintings depicting sea life, or galleons at war.  The roof was low, adding to the slight sense of claustrophobia.  There was no bar, only a smattering of large, round tables crowded with folk. 

Lanterns lit the center of each table, and a few hung from beams above.  There was a small cast-iron stove in a corner that threw some heat, but it was largely unneeded due to the body head permeating the room.

The
headmaster was working on his supper, a plate of some kind of meatloaf, with mushrooms and dark gravy.  Dramus’s stomach rumbled as he sat.  Colius raised his hand again and beckoned one of the agile serving maids that wove through the crowd.