Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The road to Lazzure

Vella

“So why again are we headin’ to Lazzure?” Aren asked. He was slumped over on his horse, half asleep from boredom as they went along the countryside. What once had been a beautiful view of the scenery had now become mundane and uninspiring after days of travel. “Cause I can’t see a darned reason why we should be goin’ to that awful place.”

“As I have told you many times over the past days,” Kraevos replied with irritation in his voice, “I have to retrieve something from Lazzure before we are able to go to Horath. It is as simple as that!”

“Well, that’s where I run into a problem an’ keep askin’ you,” Aren grumbled. You still won’t tell us exactly what it is that we are goin’ there for. How am I supposed to trust you if ya won’t tell me?” Aren sat up and stared up at Kraevos who was gliding alongside on the moss dragon Vella had freed in Aroster. “A man who is hidin’ things ain’t one that you can trust.”

“Funny that you should say that of all people knight, I feel as though you’re hiding your fair share of secrets too. Besides, if you believe in honesty so much, why don’t you explain to us all why you hate Lazzure so much? I doubt you could have so much disdain for the great port if you hadn’t spent time here.” Kraevos smirked back at Aren who immediately got flush and looked down at the horse. “As I have said, I cannot and will not bother explaining what it is I am here to retrieve. It is best that you find out when we go to get it, otherwise you would all think me mad.”

Aren continued to stare at the horse and mumbled out, “Just once I’d like to meet someone who knows magic that ain’t a thorn in my side, just once.”

Vella was about to interject that she wasn’t a thorn in his side, but then she thought about how her attempt to simply return a dragon turned into a cross-continent journey and wisely kept her mouth shut. Sani on the other hand spoke, “You know if you were a little less openly cranky we might have less to pick on.”

“Oh quiet you,” Aren barked back at her. “If you didn’t have stars in yer darned eyes from meetin’ yer idol you would see that somethin’ ain’t right here! There’s a reason he ain’t tellin’ us what we’re after and I know none of us are gonna like it.”

The three of them argued about the information for several more minutes before an uneasy silence filled the air. More than once Vella thought about breaking it, but she assumed the others would just argue again. They had been traveling for days and they were all tense, but Vella couldn’t figure out a way to help them all relax. Finally, she couldn’t stand it anymore and she spoke. “So Kraevos, I have a question.” He nodded but gave no verbal response. “What exactly is the Wild Order? I know Sani is a part of it and you’re the head of it, but what do you guys do exactly?”

“A reasonable question I suppose, after all, it is a group that does a great deal in the shadows. We do our best to make sure our full story isn’t known,” Kraevos replied. It all started after the first couple hundred years of my self-imposed exile. I believed that everyone would be better off without my meddling, so I simply stopped being a part of anything. That got dreadfully boring as most things do after a century or so, so I decided it was time to take a more subtle approach. I knew that there were plenty of people abusing the powers of magic, but I also knew that there were enough who revered it and respected it the way I did. I decided I would gather these people as best as I could and use them as a balancing force to keep the scales of magic at the correct point. This was not a simple or small task, so I knew I needed allies. The mage’s academy would be of no use to me, as I had burned that bridge quite sometime earlier. I went to the only group of people that I knew as a whole respected magic properly, the people of the forest of Morenseo. I spoke to the Moren of that time about creating a network of mages and those who supported the proper balance and nurturing of magic. This meant that it required people who had not been to the mage’s academy because anyone who had been there was no doubt indoctrinated in their backward ideals. It took some time, but eventually, we formed the Wild Order. The symbol that is on the coins Greenbraid has, the one that was in certain spots in Aroster, is the mark of the Wild Order. If you see that symbol some place it means that it is a safe haven for those who believe as I do, for those who may not be aligned with the kingdoms as they are now. Leadership of the group would bounce around from time to time between those who had risen and shown true dedication, often times it was a Moren. When the current Moren disappeared I took control of the group again, fearing some form of infiltration. Like any secret group, we do value our privacy, this is why we all have code names, such as Greenbraid. The goal is that no one knows the other’s true name, for there is power in a name, especially for magic. Even though Greenbraid is well known for her deeds in the order I did not know her true name as Sani until I met you all in Aroster.” Kraevos looked over towards Sani, “Of course, you have no need to worry on my account miss, I shall not spread your name around.”

“Wait a second,” Vella interjected, “You said the last Moren disappeared, do you have any idea what happened to him? He’s supposed to be super powerful right, it’s not like anyone could have taken him.”

“Unfortunately I do not have a clue and that is a most startling thing as I am usually rather well informed.” Kraevos frowned, “It is a shame, I did find this Moren to be a rather agreeable fellow. All I do know is that he is still alive. If he had died I would have felt it in the pulse of magic.”

As Kraevos finished his sentence the group passed over the top of a small ridge. A gust of fresh sea air brushed across their faces and the smell of salt water filled their nostrils. They could see a brilliant sun coming down in the sky, illuminating the water ahead. The slope in front of them came down and slowly turned to fine sand before it stretched into the water below. It was a truly beautiful sight, the first one that had stood out in days. As Vella looked on, taking it all in she scanned from her left to her right, finally ending up on their destination. Rising out of the water with large sandstone walls and buildings was Lazzure. It was completely different from any city Vella had seen and the descriptions in the books did not do it justice. Where Draeton was a dense mountain of a city, Lazzure seemed to go on forever, stretching across the coast as far as the eye could see. The buildings were mainly the same sandstone color except for a few larger ones that poked out above the skyline. These few buildings had golden domes that reflected the blazing sun and seemed to shimmer brighter than anything Vella had ever seen. Then further down the coast, deeper into the water sat the massive structure that was the High Arbiter’s castle. Vella could not make out much detail as the building was far away, but even from a distance, it had an imposing look to it, larger and taller than any other building in the city. At the edge of the water sat mighty ships with great sails, their masts piercing up towards the sky with all sorts of ornate flags marking the tops. Everyone sat silently for a minute, taking in the view. Eventually, Vella broke the silence but all she could manage to get out was a “wow.”

Kraevos was the first to move, his dragon beginning down the slope to what appeared to be a nearby stable. Sani followed, as did Vella. It was Aren who took up the rear, not seeming to shake his view. Vella looked back at him but didn’t say anything as she thought she saw tears welling in his eyes.

“Quite a lovely sight at this time of day,” Kraevos said back to the other following him. “it does not matter how many times you have seen it, the sun across this city is magnificent.” They continued on, following Kraevos to a stable that bore the mark of the Wild Order. By the time they reached it, Kraevos had already changed his form to that of a smaller, unassuming man. They all stabled their mounts and met back in the center to discuss what to do next. Aren was especially silent by now, not even muttering under his breath as he usually did. “I will need a little bit of time to scout out where the item I need is.” Kraevos put a hand into his pocket and pulled out a bag that was far larger than the pocket and full of coins. “Why don’t the three of you head to the market? We need more supplies for our continued trip to Horath and I’m sure a little shopping couldn’t hurt anyone. Besides, Lazzure has arguably the best markets on this whole continent, it would be a shame not to show this wonder of the world to Vella.”

With feigned hesitation, Sani grabbed the bag from Kraevos. This at least got a grumbling response from Aren, though no one could make out his words. Kraevos smiled, “Now Miss Vella you are in for quite the treat. Though I do have a soft spot for the markets of Aroster, they are nothing compared to the markets here. Just be careful, in Aroster we may have cutpurses, but here it is the merchants themselves that are the danger. They are very cunning and will spot that you are not from here easily, they will try and oversell you on bad ideas or make you overpay on the good ones.” He pulled a coin from his pocket and with a touch it began to glow silver. “If there is an emergency, use this to contact me, otherwise I will use it to contact you, and I do mean an emergency, otherwise please leave me to my work.” With that Kraevos left the stable and vanished from sight. Aren, Sani and Vella walked out of the stable, getting a map from the stable master so that they could figure out where to start. As far as Vella could tell based on the map, basically, the whole city was a market, what goods you could buy just seemed to depend on what section of the city you were in.

Vella was busy pondering what she might want to look for when Sani burst out with Giddy excitement. “Come on you two, you heard Kraevos, it’s time to go shopping!” She skipped ahead of Aren and Vella happily as they tried to keep up.

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“Yeah, sorry kid,” Aren said to Vella, “Didn’t realize I needed to warn ya, but Sani gets a little nutty when she has money.”

“Hurry up!” Sani yelled back at them. “This money isn’t going to spend itself!”

They reached the main part of the city and started to look around, everywhere they eye could see there were merchant stalls and every building had a different sign. Aren pulled his hood up over his head and placed a hand on Sani to hold her. “So Vella, Lazzure is a bit different from the other kingdoms. I know you might have read about it, but figure it’s worth explainin’ anyway. This here’s not really a kingdom, no king, nothin’ really like that. No royals technically and nothin’ that calls itself a government. Instead, there’s the merchant’s guild and bank, and at the head of that is the High Arbiter. He oversees all the biggest deals that go down here to make sure everything is square. If a deal has his seal of approval it’s basically law here. Since he can influence the seas and oceans the people in his favor can make trade more efficient too. His people regulate trade here for everyone. Overall the merchants are happy here, they can make a good livin’ and someone looks out for them, it just requires a cut of their profit. There’s rarely thievery here, everybody knows what happens if you try, you die, plain and simple. The one rule that comes with that is you can’t pull a blade here, surest way to get kicked out o the place. Unlike the other kingdoms that care about gods or kings or spirits only one thing rules in Lazzure and that my friend is coin.”

Sani was paying no attention to Aren’s explanation of the city, instead, she was busy counting the coins in the bag. Aren reached out his hand and grabbed it from her. “I know how loose your purse strings are, best if we split the coin now before you spend every last bit o it.” Aren felt the bag in his hand for a moment and split it surprisingly fast, handing a chunk to Sani and an equal portion to Vella. “We can stay together or split up, either way, keep your guard up, I don’t trust this place. If you go off on your own just meet back here at sundown.” As soon as Aren finished his sentence Sani darted off, almost frantically going from shop to shop. Aren sighed, frustrated by everything.

“She’s acting really strange,” Vella said patting Aren on the shoulder, “But then again so are you.”

Aren grumbled and then responded, “Well, Sani’s always been like this with money. You grow up like she did and it’s no surprise. She never had it, I mean we barely had enough to get cruddy food most days. So having a big bag o coin like that is a bit mesmerizing to her. It lets the kid in her out I guess. She’s a wickedly smart person and clever to boot, but hand her a big bag o gold and it all goes away, her spendin’ habits are terrifyin’.” Aren cleared his throat as his mind wandered for a moment. “As for me though, I don’t particularly want to talk about it, so I think you’re better off taking this and spending it for me.” He tossed his bag of coins over to Vella.

“But don’t you want some for yourself, I’m sure you could find something you wanted,” Vella insisted.

“Nothing I want here, not that I can buy,” Aren said as he pushed the bag of coins closed in Vella’s hand. He wiped his eyes and cleared his throat, “Besides, don’t you want a nice shield to go with that fancy sword o yours? I’m sure we could find you a good one here.”

Aren’s distractions clearly worked because Vella looked down at her sword. It was a nice short blade, so she could easily manage the weight and wield it in one hand. Pairing a shield with that did make an awful lot of sense to her. “That sounds like a good idea,” Vella said happily.

The two of them headed to a part of the city that Aren said would have the weapons and armor. As they walked along Vella enjoyed looking at the people of the city. It seemed like there were people from everywhere in this one place. Though she did notice a lot of the locals had that same sunburnt, leathery skin Aren had. She thought this must have come from them all being outside as much as she had been all her life. They walked past all sorts of different booths and stalls, but Vella was focused on a shield and had decided not to spend much else until she found a good one. Every once in a while they would see Sani down an aisle with increasingly more things being jammed into her bag. As much as Aren was trying to be grumpy, Vella had a good time. She had even gotten Aren to spend a little, convincing him that he looked hungry as they passed a stall that had all sorts of meats hanging about. It was hard for Aren to keep up his sour mood as he was chewing on a large leg of turkey. Vella had purchased herself a piece of lamb too and happily chomped it down. She had purchased a few other small trinkets, some charms, and a few books, but was still trying to keep most of the money to buy a shield.

At last, they reached the section of the city that contained the stalls selling armor and weaponry. She marveled at all the variety of weapons here. There were ornate weapons for ceremonies, small nimble weapons of a stealthy build and large lumbering battle weapons that would have seemed oversized even for Aren. The two split up, both looking to find a shield that would suit Vella.

Eventually, a shield caught Vella’s eye as she was looking at the goods at one particular stall. She thought it looked to be a good fit to go along with her sword. It was a small circular buckler, it had leather grips to put your arm through to a metal handle at the center to hold. Vella thought the flexibility and the lightweight of it would be valuable in combat, giving her different ways to fight. It had one long leather strap so that it could be carried on the back, which she also thought was rather practical.

“You have a good eye young miss,” said the merchant as he approached her. He had fine looking blue and gold silk robes covering him from head to toe. He was a short and fat little man with smooth looking skin as though he’d never worked a hard day in his life. “That is genuine Chirock steel, made in the best forges in the land. Lightweight and durable, folded steel in a manner that can withstand both direct hits and be used to deflect. Truly a good choice for the warrior looking to handle any occasion with ease. You look like someone who could use such protection well.”

Vella knew the merchant was laying it on thick. She preferred the blunt merchants of Aroster to the conmen here. “How much for it?” she asked.

“For such a nice young woman such as yourself I believe I am willing to let this piece of fine forging go for the very reasonable price of fifty gold.”

Vella looked into her coin purse, fifty gold was most of what she had left. Despite that, she did like the shield and if it helped her in battle it was well worth the price. “Alright, sounds like a good deal to me,” she replied.

As Vella began to count coins she could hear Aren barge in next to her. He put his hand over hers, stopping her from counting. Aren stepped forward and looked at the shield for a brief moment before he picked it up. “Wyrm’s dung, this isn’t Chirock steel.”

“Why of course it is sir, finest steel in the land, you just don’t know quality when you see it,” the merchant replied quickly.

Aren raised the shield up and brought it down on his knee, snapping it cleanly in half. “If that were real Chirock steel I would be the one broken.” The merchant stepped back as Aren stared him down. “You’re a crook, trying to take advantage of her like that. I oughtta turn you in to the merchant’s guild.”

The merchant scurried back and grabbed a piece of armor, flinging it at Aren’s head. It hit him square in the face and knocked him to the ground. Vella began to draw her sword, but before she could do anything Aren was up and launched himself at the merchant. He grabbed the man by the back of his silk robes and lifted him up in the air. The sound of metal flying caused a commotion and other shoppers began to watch As Aren dragged the merchant out of his stall.

Two guards approached with weapons in hand. “What’s going on here?” one of them said unsheathing his sword.

Aren held up the merchant who was wriggling against his grip. “this man here was sellin’ false goods.” Aren dropped the merchant on the ground and picked up a part of the shattered shield. “He tried to claim this dung was Chirock steel. It’s not even steel at all, just some cheap crud made to look like it.” The guards picked up the merchant and cuffed him quickly. “I’m willin’ to bet if you check the stall most of these items will be a similar story. I’d say you’ve got at least a third-level infraction o the code and that’s only if he’s new here. If he’s longer tenured it might be a fourth.”

One of the guards stepped into the stall to begin looking around. He pulled a small lens from his pocket and began looking through it. The guard turned back to Aren, “Quite an eye you have there, I wouldn’t have expected it from you based on appearance.” The guard shook Aren’s hand. “I appreciate you turning him in, enough so that I’ll even ignore the fact that your friend here was about to brandish her blade.” He smiled at Vella who went flush. She got so swept up in the commotion that she almost broke the one rule Aren had told her. “One thing I can’t figure out though. How did you figure out it was a fake? All the items here had a glamour over them, made them seem real.”

“Dumb luck I guess,” Aren replied quickly.

“Come on Aren, that wasn’t dumb luck,” Vella said. You took one look at it and knew, you were so sure you snapped the shield on your knee.” Aren’s head snapped around and his eyes were wide. Vella wasn’t sure what she had said wrong, but clearly Aren wasn’t happy.

“Took a look at it and knew… hmm…” the guard mumbled. He stared at Aren for a moment. “Then again you actually do look like you’re from around here and you’d be about the right age. You even look a little like the old pictures.”

“I don’t know what yer talkin’ about, best I just be on my way,” Aren said trying to walk away from the guard.

“The girl even said your name was Aren,” The guard looked excited and motioned in the air. Several more guards rushed over quickly. “I’m going to need you to come with me, sir.

The guards pushed past Vella and surrounded Aren, “Hey watch it,” Vella yelled out. “Leave Aren alone.” More guards pushed her back and the one talking stepped closer to Aren. “Aren what’s going on?” Vella yelled out.

“I’m sure your father will be so happy to see you, he has been so worried about you,” The guard said. “This is a happy day for Lazzure, the High Arbiter’s son has returned!”

The guards grabbed Aren and began marching off with him. Vella tried to push forward but the crowd had grown thick and the guards had now blocked the path. Aren turned to yell back. “Find the others and tell them what just happened!” Was all he could manage to get out before the guards had dragged him away too far for Vella to see. All Vella could think was that this must have been the reason that Aren didn’t want to come to Lazzure.