Luck in the Shadows - Chapter Thirteen and Fourteen

[kalinara]

So last time, Seregil took a turn for the worse and Alec had an exciting time navigating a place he's never been, by means of travel he's never used, to reach a city that he'd never heard of before a few days ago.

Really, he's doing quite well. I'm proud of him.



This chapter takes us back to the inn. You remember the one: where they assumed Alec had murdered Seregil and then ran and hid.

There are some new visitors there: a "comely, dark-complected gentleman with [a] scar under his eye" and some other dude who isn't important enough to get a description.

The scarred dude is Mardus. We met him before. He's asking after Seregil and Alec, claiming that the "young men" are escaped servants of his. The innkeeper gives his version of events:

“Oh, aye,” his wife assured them, eyeing the strangers over her husband’s shoulder. “Never should have taken them in, I said after, empty rooms or no.”

“And she was right. The yellow-haired one tried to murder the other in the night. I locked me’self and the family in the storeroom after I caught ’em at it. In the morning they was both gone. Don’t know whether the sickly fellow was living or dead in the end.”

Reasonably accurate, I suppose. Anyway, Mardus offers more coins in hope of getting their direction, but the innkeeper and wife had been hiding until they were sure Alec and Seregil were gone. Mardus has them take him to their rooms, where some drops of blood have been left behind from the fight.

So the innkeeper wanders off, conveniently allowing our villains to scheme together. The other guy is the necromancer, Vargul, of course, and he's elated at being able to find them. Both of them speak "the Old Tongue" which makes me wonder why they bothered having the innkeeper leave at all. Mardus is more cautious: he's not yet sure that our boys are the people they're seeking. Well, actually, he's pretty sure Vargul is right, but he doesn't want to encourage the guy.

Villains and their pettiness.

Mardus does get verification though, when he asks the innkeeper what the boys were fighting over. He thinks they were fighting over some tiny wooden necklace. This confirms it. Vargul is angry and thinks Seregil should have been dead a week ago. Mardus is more thoughtful. And well, there are loose ends to tie up, so he orders his subordinate, "Captain Tildus" to murder the innkeeper and family, and burn the inn.

Since it's a short chapter, I'll move onto Fourteen.

--

Here, we rejoin Alec. He's in a cheerful mood as he's finally at sea. He seems to be enjoying the experience, even though he's given the lowliest jobs. (This isn't out of maliciousness, the narrative/Alec reassures us. It's only that they know that Alec isn't going to be around long enough to train. Alec doesn't mind.)

Unfortunately, Seregil's health is getting worse. The infection is spreading and he's feverish. The ship's cook/surgeon tries to help, but there's not much luck. Alec's still able to get broth down his throat though, so it's not completely hopeless.

At some point on the third day, the Captain happens by. He compliments Alec, noting that it's too bad the kid's leaving at Rhiminee, because they could make a passable sailor out of him. That's a pretty good compliment! The captain warns him that he'll have some adjustment when he gets back on land (similar to how he had to find his 'sea legs' to begin with). And it's nice really. The captain doesn't have to go out of his way to give this poor kid some advice, but he does.

I really like when we encounter decent people in fantasy novels.

And actually, land is in sight!

The next morning, Alec realizes that the ship's motion feels different and it makes him queasy. One of the sailors that we met before, Biny, calls him up and shows him:

A thin mist steamed up from the surface of the sea. The first rose-gold light of dawn shone through it, bathing the scene before them in a layer of pale, shifting fire.

Sheltering cliffs soared up out of the mists on either side of the harbor. At its head lay Cirna, a jumbled collection of square, white-plastered buildings that clung like swallow’s nests to the steep slopes above the jetties.

The captain explains that they're looking at one of the oldest cities in Skala. He points out the mouth of the canal:

Looking across the water, Alec saw that a huge channel had been cut through the cliffs at the head of the bay. Flanking the mouth of it were enormous pillars carved in relief. Each reached five hundred feet or more from the waterline to the top of the cliff and was surmounted by an elaborate capital. At this early hour, flames and black smoke still issued from the huge oil flares that topped them.

They were built by Queen Tamir the Second, who founded Rhiminee. Apparently it took a hundred wizards and a thousand workmen two years to build it. There aren't nearly as many wizards to sapre now. Apparently it's five hundred miles from end to end, but only three hundred feet wide.

Later, Alec gets a closer look at the pillars. Each one has a symbol and he asks Sedrish the cook/surgeon about it. They're each devoted to one of the gods: Astellus, Sakor, Illior and Dalna.

He also gets to people watch a little bit, and even catches sight of some very interesting horses:

These creatures were as tall as the black mare he’d left behind in Wolde, but not so heavily made. Their legs were long, tapering from rounded haunches to dainty hooves, and they bore their proud heads on well-arched necks. Their coats and manes had none of the rough shagginess Alec was accustomed to, but shone in the morning sun as if they’d been polished. Despite the commotion around them, the animals showed no skittishness as they milled about. Most were bays, with a few chestnuts and blacks mixed in. The one that immediately caught Alec’s fancy, however, was a glossy black stallion with a white mane and tail.

They're Aurenen horses. Aurenen, or Aurenfaie, are this settings floofy elves as you might recall. Alec is enthusiastic to hear about it, and immediately asks if there are Aurenfaie there and what they look like.

Sadly, Aurenfaie are rare in Skala. Skalan ships generally bring Aurenen cargo back for trade instead, from Viresse, which is the only port in Aurenen open to foreigners.

Obviously, these are not mounts meant for normal folk. The Queen and Princess Royal though will only ride Aurenen horses. The Princess Royal is apparently the head of the Skalan cavalry. That's good to know.

So Alec gets to pet a pretty horse and in the process ends up meeting a girl!

Dark chestnut hair, drawn back from a sharp widow’s peak, hung in a thick braid down the back of her mud-spattered green cloak. A few strands of it had escaped to frame her heart-shaped face in soft, curling wisps. As she turned to Alec, frozen in awe beside her, he saw the startling blue of her eyes, the flush of healthy color in her cheeks. For a moment his only thought was that here stood the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. And an extraordinary one at that, for instead of a gown she wore close-fitting doeskin breeches beneath a green tabard edged in white. The front of the tabard was richly embroidered with the emblem of a pair of crossed sabers supporting a crown. A heavy silver gorget at her throat flashed in the sunlight, and a long sword hung from a military baldric slung across her chest.

This lady seems pretty friendly, making conversation with Alec. She's happy to hear that he doesn't intend to buy the horse, because she wants to, but she hadn't wanted to swoop in and grab him if Alec had wanted him instead. Aw. That's nice! For his part, Alec is happy to see that his favorite of the horses will get a fine mistress.

The horse trader refers to the girl as "Commander", and there's a Captain with her who "has the purse", so clearly this lady is very important. And indeed, after she leaves (having tossed "Aren Silverleaf" a coin and telling him to drink to her health), Alec learns that she was the Princess Klia, youngest daughter of the Queen. So Alec met royalty, and we get to see that Skalan royals are a lot more martial than a lot of fantasy princess types.

The coin she'd tossed Alec, by the way, is a half-sester. (Two hundred sesters bought the horse.) It's a decent amount of money, the sailor friend notes: Alec could drink to her health for days on that.

Alec is pretty awed, but apparently it's actually not all that rare to see Princess Klia. She's the second in command of the Horse Guard (her brother is first) and thus is a frequent visitor.

So Alec gets to go back aboard ship and wait. The next step of the journey is the Canal. And it sounds pretty swanky.

The sun had already passed noon, and little sunlight penetrated far into the chasm. It was colder inside and smelled of salt-drenched stone. Alec was standing with Sedrish when he happened to look up.

“Are those stars?” he asked in amazement. The narrow strip of sky was pricked with faint points of light.

“It’s the high walls, shutting out the sun. I fell down a well when I was a lad and it was just the same. About the only time there’s much light in here is at high noon.”

Rough stone towered overhead on either side, seeming to bear down over the vessel. Small freshets of water flowed down here and there, tumbling off the uneven rock face. In places, the surface of it gave back a glassy Reflection that puzzled Alec.

The reflection is from the magic used to make it.

Anyway, about halfway through the canal, they spot a huge marble statue in the niche. It's of Queen Tamir the Second:

“Queen Tamír the Second.” Sedrich touched a hand respectfully to his forelock as they passed. “Skala’s had good queens and bad, but old Tamír was one of the best. Even the balladeers can’t improve much on the life she led.”

Alec squinted through the gloom as they passed the statue. The sculptor had visualized his subject striding into the wind; her long hair streamed behind her, and the robes she wore were molded to the gracious curves of her form. Much of her left side was covered by an oval shield and in her right hand she raised a sword as if saluting the passing vessels. Her face was neither exceedingly beautiful nor terribly plain, but her proud stance and fierce expression spoke across the centuries.

We get more backstory on her, by the way. She existed about six hundred years ago, and had been raised as a boy in the mountains after her uncle had seized the throne. It sounds like an exciting story, probably worthy of a spinoff novel or two. *cough*

So they make it through the other side. Alec's new friends point out some more geographic features like the Queen's Highroad, and eventually Alec goes down to see to Seregil. Seregil is not doing terribly good, choking on broth and his breath is rattling.

Alec goes to plead to the Captain to go faster. The Captain is concerned about missed business (since he'd be bypassing ports of call), but Alec offers Lady Gwethelyn's jewelry and his own half-sester. Talrien gives them back, telling him that he'll get them to Rhiminee by tomorrow and they can decide a price later.

Aw. I like Talrien a lot. I hope he gets a reward for this and we see him again.

We then get more cryptic Seregil dreams about a golden skinned god wearing an eye-patch. Meanwhile, the wound on Seregil's chest seems to have sprouted an eye that looks exactly like the god's visible one. That's probably not good.

So onward to Rhiminee. It's fucking big. Alec asks his sailor friend about Oreska House, home of the wizards. Of course the sailor knows of it. Everyone does. He points out the top of the great Dome. Alec's heart sinks because now he has to find a way to get Seregil up there.

...OR DOES HE.

Actually, some men have come aboard. And one asks Alec about "the sick man":

Taken by surprise, Alec turned to find a tall, thin old man smiling down on him. His long, good-natured face was seamed with age around the eyes and brow, and his short beard and the curling hair that thickly fringed his balding pate were silvery white, yet he stood as straight and easy as Alec himself. The dark eyes beneath the unruly white eyebrows revealed nothing but friendly interest. By his clothes—a simple surcoat and breeches under a worn cloak—Alec took him for a trader of some sort.

“What business do you have with him?” Alec asked warily, wondering how he’d known of Seregil’s presence on the ship.

“I have come to meet you, dear boy,” the old man replied. “I am Nysander.”

Hey, cool! Alec met a wizard! And with this, the chapter ends.