A Soldier's Life - 67 - The Chains That Bind

Chapter 67 The Chains that Bind

The capital city of Telha was easy to navigate from the main road.  I started the long walk back to the Legion Hall.  It was late afternoon, and the streets were packed.  Someone bumped me and searched inside my hardened leather chest armor for a coin purse.  The hand was gone before I could grab it, and I had no idea who the hand belonged to in the dense crowd.  It did not matter; all my possessions were in my dimensional storage, and my short sword and dagger were at Legion Hall.

My stomach was stuffed, and I was coming down from the minor buzz of the wine.  I slowed as I thought about finding the Adventurer’s Hall.  There was a lot of gold waiting for me there.  I decided against it.  If Konstantin found out I went before checking in, he would probably lay into me.  I paused as I passed a tailor.  I was halfway to the Legion Hall, so I was far away from the more expensive shops near the palace and upper city.  There were only a few patrons inside when I walked in.  It looked like the shop catered only to men.  I entered, and no one came to help me, so I walked among the shelves browsing. They sold a mixture of new and used garments in a massive array of designs and colors.

I found cotton clothes for the first time.  Everything I had seen so far had been wool, linen, or a heavy linen that was called canvas.  This material was definitely cotton.  One of the men in the store approached me, “Legionnaire,  Can I help you?”

He was middle-aged and balding and wore a fake salesman smile.  “Is this cotton?”  He replied with the Latin word for cotton and then went into a salesman diatribe about where it was produced and imported from.  All I got from his lengthy explanation was that cotton was not grown in the Empire and would cost me a lot.  I understood without industrialization, clothing was much more labor-intensive to produce.

“I am newly assigned to the capital.  Can you help me put together two sets of clothing for wearing in the upper city?  I do not want to feel or look out of place,”  I asked politely.

The man looked me up and down in an assessment.  “You are…quite large.  Come into the back room and remove your armor so we can try a few things.  Do you want new apparel, or is used manageable?”

I guessed he was judging my ability to pay.  I did not want to come off as wealthy, even though I had a large amount of gold and silver.  “Probably used, but just bring me whatever you think may fit my frame.”  He showed me to the back room, which was not private.  A short middle-aged man with a pot belly was trying on clothes.  A father was working with his preteen son to find clothes as well.

I removed my armor and my top, revealing my muscled torso.  My tailor arrived with a load of used shirts to start.  I noticed the pot-bellied man comparing my physique to his, clearly envious.  The shirts were mostly too tight.  I soon found a deep blue wool shirt that had been mended many times that fit well and smelled clean.  “The is merino wool, legionnaire.  The finest hairs from a Tegairosian sheep.  As you can see, this piece has been mended a few times.  You seem to like it.  Two silver?”

I felt the long-sleeved shirt again.  It was nice, and if I wore a jacket over, it would cover the repairs.  “One and a half?”  He looked a little upset but nodded.  I bought three new snug black cotton shirts for five silver each, which made him quite happy. I learned unlike used clothes, new clothes prices were not negotiable. The cotton material was thick, and they were all long-sleeved.

The next piece to purchase was the pants.  He had some thicker cotton pants, something close to denim.  They fit like sweatpants with no pockets, slightly loose and requiring a belt.  The problem was the colors were atrocious.  Purple, red, and orange seemed to be in fashion for the wealthy.  I found one black pair, but my muscled thighs were too tight in the pair.

It was a shame we had to move to new pairs because the older pairs had already been broken in and were softer.  But at least I had a color choice.  In my size, my color choices were red, dark brown, or an undyed off-white.  I got the two pairs of dark brown pants for 25 silver each, which was cheaper than the brighter dyed pants.  Socks were easy as they came in three sizes, and I was the largest size.  I got ten pairs of wool socks, five dyed black and five dark blue.  I had ten pairs of Legionarie wool socks in my dimensional space, but I wanted to disassociate myself from wearing Legion markers when I explored the city.  All legion stockings were off-white and may be noticeable to those with a keen eye.  Plus, you could never have too many socks.

Belts were just a silver each, but I had a number already in my space, and some were not legion belts.  I still bought two dark brown belts.  The jacket was next, and it took some time for him to bring out his selection of inventory.  He had a large number of used jackets.  I wanted something used and found something close to my Legion oversized oiled canvas duster made to wear over my armor.  The used jacket was mostly black leather with a dark green cotton lining.  It had a few interior pockets as well, and one looked to be for a knife.  It was broken in but still in excellent condition, and he wanted two gold for it.  I talked him down to 180 silver.

The last piece in the ensemble was boots.  My legion boots were broken in already but easily recognizable.  He did not have much in stock as he was not a cobbler.  I found some dark brown riding boots in his meager offerings that fit a little loose.  But they were broken in and only 50 silver because he had them for so long.   Just not a lot of men with my size feet. Good boots were normally very expensive.

My total invoice was just over three gold.  That was over half a year’s legion pay for me, but I still had thirteen gold coins from the dungeon. For the quality of the clothing, I thought it was worth it.  It was comfortable, and I should be able to blend in with the myriad of fashions I had seen on the streets of the capital.  It also lacked any bright colors the wealthier people seemed to like, as I did not want to draw attention to myself.  I paid the happy man, and he bundled everything together.  After I left the tailor, I turned into an alley to be unseen and moved the package to my dimensional space.  I hoped to have time to explore the city as a well-off civilian and not as a legionnaire.

As I approached the Legion Hall, I thought maybe I should get Castile something.  Congratulations, you are not going to be executed gift.  I stopped at a bakery and pastry shop and got a basket of various doughy sweets for a silver.  That was a lot of coin for a nine pastries, so I assumed they were good.

When I returned, the Eastern Legion Hall was not very active in the evening.  A few men practiced in the central courtyard, but fewer men lounged about like yesterday.  I went to the bunk room where we slept last night and found Pavel and Benito lying in the beds.  “Guess it went alright?”  I said, entering.

Pavel sat up, “Castile is in the private room at the end of the hall.  She is sleeping but said to send you in if you returned.  Konstantin and Linus are checking to see when the next portal to Caranhagan will be opened.”  He remembered where I went, “How was the Chancellor?  Did you meet the Emperor?”

“We just went and ate lunch at his house with his wife.   He asked questions about ruins, and I answered him as best I could,” I made the mistake of putting the basket down.  Benito snatched and took a sticky bun inside. I should have noticed him eyeing it as the smell of the warm pastries filled the room.

“I actually got those for Castile, Benito.”  He ignored me and handed the basket to Pavel.

Pavel said, “Well, we all rushed here to save her, so I am sure she would want us to have one…or two…or three.”

I just shrugged, “Fine, save some for Konstantin and Linus then.”  Benito was already on his second, and I doubted any would be left when Konstantin returned.  I turned away and went to look for Castile.  From my exploration, I knew where the private mage rooms were located.  I knocked on a few, and no one answered.  Finally, Castile opened her door.  It was two back, so she must have gotten up slowly.  She looked haggard and tired.  Her hair was a mess.

She recognized me, “Eryk?  Is Konstantin back?”

“No, Pavel and Benito said you wanted to see me when I returned,” I said.

She studied me, “You look well for having raced across the Empire.  You even shaved?”  She tried to make it sound complimentary.  “Come in, and we can discuss things.”

Castile smelled a little ripe.  She had not bathed and still had on the same clothes from when we fled Macha.  She sat on the bed while I remained standing.  She was quiet, so I opened, “I am glad you escaped the Tribunal.”

She barked a harsh laugh, “Escaped?  From one spider web to another.  Duchess Veronica may have saved me from Octavian’s planned fate, but now I owe her favors.”

“Better than being dead and you were only found guilty on one count,” I offered, trying to be positive.

She grunted, “Yes, the duchess could not worm me out of that one.  She did manage to reduce the penalty from life of servitude to just ten years.”  She looked me in the eyes and explained, “The Magistrates review all judgments.  They can send it to the Emperor for review if they find something not in line with the evidence the Truthseekers gave.  The duchess could not challenge the facts on that charge, but the evidence confirmed by the Truthseekers also allowed her to manage the facts for Duke Vito on the other charges.  I would not be surprised if she owes Duke Vito a few favors for his votes. Octavian was definitely livid at how Vito voted.”

I was not sure if I was overstepping by asking, but I did, “Why did the duchess take such an interest in you?”

Castile looked like she had aged in the last few days, “Duchess Veronica is one of the Emperor’s granddaughters.  I do not know the lineage, two or three generations, I am guessing.  When she was educated in the palace, the Emperor favored her as a child and carved out a province for her to rule when her father named her a First Citizen and paid her tithe.  It is a tiny province with one small city.  I guess she has higher aspirations than ruling the smallest and weakest province in the Empire.”

“So Octavian is her uncle?”  I asked.

“All of the dukes are related in some manner,” Castile stood off the bed.  “Enough of my fate, Eryk.  Now you.” She eyed me, “I do not know if you are an outworlder.  If you are, never tell me.  Better yet, give me a false narrative, so if a powerful Truthseeker questions me, I will not have the answers they seek.”

I nodded, relieved.  “I am from Tsinga.”

“Really?  How did you get here?  Why were you naked in the farmer’s barn?  Why would you come to the Telhian Empire and not speak the language?  I read your transfer card from Commander Silas, Eryk when you were assigned to me.  It reads like you fell out of the sky.”

Seeing the worry on my face, she smiled, “Do not worry, Eryk.  The only things sent to Imperial Legion Hall were your tablet scores and a few pieces of fabric with your blood.  Your background information only came to me. Commander Silas is an idiot and only cared about what bonus you earned him for imprinting your spell form.”

“Blood?  Why would they need my blood?”  I said, but I already had an idea.  I remember the first weeks of training; the trainers had taken our bloody and torn shirts and given us new ones.  After that, we were shown how to repair our clothes.

“It is for magical tracking.  Only those who graduate into the Legion of Lion are registered in the capital in case of betrayal.  After two thousand years, the Empire learned to be prepared to respond and hunt down traitors. It is why all the children of the nobility are educated at the palace under the Emperor’s teachers.”  Castile paused and let me realize the scope and my own predicament.

“If they think I am dead, would they destroy the bloody clothes?”  I asked.

“Ha, if they were only that organized.  The Legion Hounds maintain the archive in the capital.  They probably have tens of thousands of samples from the last thousand years.  Not just legionaries but every mage as well.  We have it worse than you, though.  There are backup archives for just mages and nobles hidden elsewhere in the Empire.  We are truly bound to the Empire,” Castile explained.

I was angry and felt a little helpless. “Why are you telling me this?” I finally asked.

Castile let a smile creep onto her face, “Because I think we can help each other.”