AO 5 Ch 30

Chapter 30

The rest of the trip to Fargo was largely uneventful. Despite traveling in a single carriage, Eva tried to give me a little space, but she did press her advantage. 

During a few necessary lessons using my serpent sphere, I made sure to be physically close to her during these lessons. She also tried to test me, hiding in the darkness and making me use my magic to find her. After finding her, she surprised me with another kiss and then she would disappear.

I understood the direction Eva wanted, but I still hadn't quite decided how I felt about any of it yet. 

As for my anchors, five days on the road with the four of them and two others was a wonderful time for me to reconnect and ensure that each of them felt cared for and loved. Even if they were all oathed to me, even if I could consider them my own women, I never wanted to leave it at that and end up taking them for granted. Our relationships would also require some level of maintenance, certainly more maintenance than a wagon wheel. 

Cyam nudged me from my shadow. The poor boy had been cooped up in the carriage. It seemed that I was going to have to find an excuse to let him out before he got into trouble. 

All of this turned over in my head as I stared out the window, taking in Fargo for the first time. 

My first thought was that it wasn't nearly as impressive as seeing Hidavente for the first time. Hidavente had awed me with its huge magical wrought walls. Fargo had low set walls, only a little higher than a carriage. And instead of a giant portcullis that would ratchet upwards, they had dark wooden doors set on a wheel. The doors were currently wide open, allowing for traffic to come and go, while guards leaned on spears and talked to people as they approached the city. 

We were all, of course, more formally stuffed into our identities after revealing that the rebels called me out. Uncle Valken went through a few exercises with me during the ride to help me stay in character. Turns out I was not as skilled at lying as I liked to believe. Instead, he suggested a number of tricks to lie using the truth, which was an entirely new concept for me, but I had a feeling I was going to have a bit of fun trying it out.

"Name?" The guard asked as our carriage rolled up. 

"Trevor Shalman. Merchant," I smiled, leaning out the window. 

"Reason for entering?" 

"Trade," I said, slapping the wagon. "I came from the east, with plenty of goods from the war front." 

"One gold entrance fee," he said. He sounded so bored saying the words, I would have expected that this was commonplace. However, I was fairly certain there was no such fee. 

"Excuse me?"  I asked.

"New rule," he said, leaning on a spear. "Merchants are paying a tax. The lord doesn't much care for you lot running around like cockroaches, devouring up all of the good deals. So, there's tax. One gold. If you don't think you can buy and sell enough to make up for it," the guard shrugged, "move on to the next city. I just man the gate." 

I glanced at Uncle Valken in the carriage, only for him to wave dismissively. I pulled a gold coin from my pouch and handed it out to the guard.

This time, he didn't look quite so bored and snatched it up, palming it and giving it a quick heft before slipping it into his coin purse. 

"Is there a document to show that I've paid the tax?" I asked him, only for him to frown and reach into a bag on his back and hand me a letter. The paper was almost completely bereft of any sort of validity. However, it did simply state that I had paid said tax. I rolled my eyes, stuffed it in my pocket, and waved him goodbye as our carriage rolled into Fargo.

In contrast to the Avente cities, which were largely made of white or pale gray stone, Fargo was immediately different. Most of the buildings were made of dark timber or rusty red stone, presenting a very different aesthetic than Avente. In Avente, even buildings made from wood had darker wood trimming, and the walls were often painted in a lighter color giving each building a distinct sort of outline. Garrish buildings looked ugly by comparison, all painted a single color or not even painted at all, muddled together like a lump of clay. The red stone buildings, rather than being square and towering, often had rounded roofs and a textured side that made them look like they were chipped out of the ground itself. 

"Different, isn't it?" Uncle Valken said as I was staring out the window. 

"Very." I replied.

"So, now the age-old question," he gestured out the window, "Which do you prefer?" 

I wrinkled my nose looking at the city. "It sounds bad, but it just feels dirty," I said, unsure if that was the right word to use. 

"You're allowed to say whatever word comes to your mind," Uncle Valken shrugged. "It does seem a little dirtier. The Avente streets stay a nice bright white. It rains more in Avente, and the water washes away the dust quite a bit more." He explained.

Now I paid attention to the street below us and saw what he was describing. The streets here were certainly a darker, grimier color than those I would normally call home. Not to mention, the darker buildings gave it an overall darker feeling.

Our carriage rolled through the wide street, which included far more people on foot than I saw in Avente scrambling about. Some hurried to get out of our way, while others hurried to get their tasks for the day done. 

"Where are we going to stay, Papa?" I said, falling more firmly into the Trevor Shalman role. We officially were inside an enemy city and I needed to get into character before I got myself into trouble.

Lord Valken pointedly raised an eyebrow. "Well, that depends." 

"Depends?" I asked. 

"Yes, if you want to collect secret messages now or later." The man was just messing with me.

My eyes practically shined. "Now. Secret messages now." 

"Well then, we're going to head up to a slightly nicer district." The carriage was being driven by Maribelle, and he tapped against the wall. "Left in two blocks." 

Maribelle didn't say anything, but I knew she had heard him based on the way the carriage shifted slightly.

"Not only is being on the upper half beneficial for staying clean," Uncle Valkan explained, "but it's also in Garrish. They believe that being situated higher is a sign of honor. You’ll see it in several places." He waved his hand dismissively. 

"You don't put a lot of stock in what they think, do you?" I asked Uncle Valken. 

"None of it makes anyone correct. All it does is make people think differently. But we won't go all the way up. That's reserved for far higher status than either of us. No, we'll go to where merchants and high end crafters are typical," he said. 

I nodded along. I wasn't going to be the one making the decisions. However, I was definitely interested in understanding what we were doing.

We turned left after two blocks, and as we followed the city streets, they did improve. Most notably, the streets seemed cleaner, and so did the people walking them. Garrish citizens strode confidently through the city with their heads held high. I could only assume that this boded well for the crime rate and other concerns an average citizen might have. 

We continued to roll through the city until we came upon a nice inn, marked by a large white horse.

"Does the inn have a name?" I asked Uncle Valken.

"Yes. It is called the White Mare," he said, only for Cyam to whinny like he was prepping himself for a date.

"Really?" I glanced at my shadow, the poor guy was going to be disappointed.

Cyam gave me another huff, as if to say, who are you to judge? The White Mare was nicer than the buildings we had passed by the gate. It was still painted a solid color. Though, to go along with its name, it was a clean, brilliant white with a rounded roof overhead. Our carriage stopped right at the entrance, and Uncle Valken gestured for me to head on out.

"Lead the way. The servants, of course, will take care of the carriage and our belongings." Uncle Valken shooed me out.

I stepped out of the carriage, and Aurelia was just behind me, looking slightly frustrated that I didn't let her out first. Uncle Valken and Eva followed along. Meanwhile, Maribelle pulled the carriage ahead, still containing Emlyn and Zuri. Those two would end up helping Maribelle situate the carriage at the stables, as well as our belongings.

Not one to waste time, I continued into the building, the noise of the busy city streets dying away. The inn's front room was filled with laughter, as well as the clink of plates and silverware as patrons ate their meal. It was late enough today that people had retired from whatever activities had kept them busy during the day.

"What can I get for you?" A portly man slapped a countertop and waved me over. "I'm afraid we're a little short-staffed today. Normally we've got three hands, but we only have two today."

I shrugged. "Good help is hard to find."

"Hard to hold on to, more like." There was a slight darkness to his eyes as he said those words, but he shook his head instead of continuing. "Please. How many rooms? How long are you staying?" He pulled out a little book that mostly just had check marks in it, rather than legible writing.

"Three rooms, please," I said. "I think we'll be here for at least a week." I rummaged around in my coin purse. My anchors and I would likely take up one room, while Uncle Valken would have his own. Eva would probably have her own as well, though one of my anchors might stay some of the nights with her. Better safe than sorry.

"Wonderful," Uncle Valken said, "do you mind if we get the rooms right away? I could use a rest before I join my company for dinner." Considering he looked like a middle-aged man, Uncle Valken got the innkeeper's sympathy. The man slid across three brass keys.

"I normally have someone show you to the room, but we are that swamped," he said apologetically, and pointed towards the stairs. "You'll find this one," he tapped one key on the counter, "upstairs, third door on the left, this one, fourth door on the left, and then finally this one, end of the hall on the right." He tapped all three keys down on the counter.

Uncle Valken scooped them up. "I'll give them to your servants," he said quickly to me. "If it's up to me, I'll stay at the end of the hall and away from your nightly activities." Uncle Valken stared at me and let his eyes shift to Eva and Aurelia, making the young princess blush furiously.

The innkeeper chuckled, but then his eyes suddenly locked on Aurelia's bluesteel axe. They swelled into giant saucers. "Oh! A mage and his anchor!" the innkeeper realized. 

"Please, nothing special for us," I said in a hurry, patting the air for him to quiet down. 

"Of course not, of course," he winked.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Some of these people thought mages and anchors spent all day and night in bed, at least by the way they reacted every time they pieced it together.

"And the other young lady," his eyes shifted to Eva. She was supposed to be my sister, and I was about to introduce her before she interrupted me.

She spoke loudly, even given the noise in the tavern. "His fiancée," she blurted, causing me to squint and then adjust quickly before the look was noticed. If she was going to start changing things up, it would be nice to also be aware that it was happening. 

The innkeeper chuckled and nodded along as if he was now privy to some inside joke. "Well then, welcome all of you. If you are inclined to be too noisy, please," he hesitated, "keep the level down to a dull roar." 

"I don't think you will have any issue with the noise level," I said, glancing at the two who were making up such nonsense. "If you don't mind, I am starving from travel and though my father here," I gestured at Uncle Valken, "likes to think he can cook. I would nearly beg for a warm meal that tastes like something other than dried socks." 

"Young men these days. So unappreciative." Uncle Valken snorted as he walked off with the keys. We had pulled off a wonderful father and son act if you asked me.

The innkeeper gave a weak but good-natured chuckle. "I'm sure we can find something for you," he said quickly, trying to cover up a cough.

"I'm sure you can," I replied. The innkeeper waved over a lady that was working behind the counter, trying to get her attention, and gestured towards the two of us. She nodded, and he hurried off to his next task. It seemed the innkeeper really was incredibly busy. 

The woman behind the counter quickly ladled out several servings of stew, and put three bowls on the counter for Aurelia, Eva, and I. I picked mine up, following after Aurelia as she led the way to a table in the corner. The general rule of the inn, of any inn, was that people who sat on their own in the corner were to be left alone. 

Aurelia set her bowl down with her back against one of the walls so she could watch the inn, and gestured for Eva and I to slide in deeper to the corner. "So, Eva," she said, trying to make conversation. "You and Trevor engaged now?" The anchor did her best to hide a smile. 

"I just didn't think we pulled off brother and sister very well," Eva whispered quickly, tucking her head down as she tried to hide the flush. "Anyways, I'm starving."

"So, we're engaged now," I said to Eva, not meeting her eyes as I focused on my soup. I had comments from Emlyn and Zuri circling around in my head, and I didn't think I could keep a straight face if I glanced at Eva. After some of their rather suggestive talk, I was sure my mind would have a heyday.

"Yeah," Eva insisted before reiterating like she was trying to convince herself, "you just don't pull off brother and sister. It's bad acting. After some thinking on the rebels discovering us, I thought we should change it up. And this way, I can also be a mage. You are a merchant mage, and I am from a low noble family." She was clearly making up all the backstory as she went. 

"Who is trying to scoop me up? Does the noble family have a name? Do we have records that you or Uncle Valken could forge?" I pressed.

Eva had her tongue in cheek. "I am working on that. I'm sure something can be obtained. Our resources are quite extensive."

Rather than argue that, I studied my soup to give me a moment to think. The pieces of vegetable were floating in a thin, gamey broth. After years of stirring a soup pot, I could tell the broth came from mostly chicken bones. Perhaps a hint of something starchy to thicken it up.

"Okay, well then that's just going to be the new ruse I suppose. My fiancée." I reached over and palmed her hip before sliding her across the bench to press into me. "If that's the way we're going to do it, we had best put on a better act."

"Right," Eva stuttered, causing Aurelia to chuckle.

The Virel didn't turn towards us, instead, she kept scanning the inn's front room while she quickly shoveled some of her stew into her mouth. "You two have fun with that."

I was unsure entirely what I wanted to do with Eva. The games of politics certainly had a role in all of this. At some point, I would need to take her aside for a moment of privacy to go into everything more deeply. The front room of the inn was not where we should have this conversation, especially if it caused any emotional reactions. When we had a chance, the privacy of our rooms would be best.