by Dean Cadman
“There we go, two mugs of our finest ale. Would you mind getting rid of the…” she said, waving her hands towards where she thought his soundproof barrier might be.
“Of course,” Lusam said, cancelling his barrier and giving her a warm smile. She had obviously said as much as she intended to say about the subject, and he respected that. He really would have liked to ask Alicia to teach him how to communicate properly with animals, but he knew he didn’t have the time right now. Maybe in the future—if he survived—he might come back and ask her to teach him someday. But for now, he knew that he must complete his mission, and the sooner the better.
Alicia asked one of the men in the tavern if he would bring in some food for Lusam and Neala, and he was happy to oblige—especially after she informed him that his next ale was on the house. It wasn’t long before they were tucking into some delicious food and discussing far less emotive subjects. It wasn’t until his third ale that Lusam suddenly realised that they hadn’t asked Alicia about a room yet. As it happened, she had already assumed they would be staying at the tavern, and had reserved her best room for them in advance. She also refused to take any payment for either the room or the ale, stating that it was the least she could do after what Lusam had done for Fairport. She pointed out that without Lusam doing what he had, she probably wouldn’t have had any business at all, as her prosperity was directly linked to that of Fairport’s.
Lusam was already feeling the effects of the ale when Alicia suggested that they might want to go and join the celebrations outside. He knew it was probably the result of the alcohol, but he no longer felt as nervous about the prospect as he did before, and readily agreed to the suggestion. But before he went, he decided to try and make amends with Mouse first. He had saved a large piece of meat from his meal, and approached the sleeping dog with it.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Neala asked as she watched him walk towards the huge dog. He didn’t answer her, but instead reached out with his mind towards the hound. He had no idea what to say, or how to say it, but he tried his best not to sound too loud this time. He brushed minds with Mouse and simply said, ‘sorry’. He didn’t know if Mouse would understand him, but he immediately lifted an eyelid to watch him approach. Lusam held out the meat for him, knowing that at least he would understand that if nothing else, and allowed him to take it from his hand. The hound gave him a questioning look at first, but eventually took the meat from his hand and wolfed it down, then promptly closed his eyes and went back to sleep. It wasn’t quite what Lusam was hoping for, but at least he still had all of his fingers.
“I see you’ve found Mouse’s weakness,” Alicia said, chuckling to herself. “He just said, maybe the loud one isn’t too bad, after all.”
“I’m sure Mouse will have him trained to sit down and roll over in no time,” Neala said, grinning at Alicia.
Alicia laughed loudly. “You’ve no idea…” she said, shaking her head and looking sympathetically towards Lusam. “Anyway, go on you two, out with ya. Even the threat of Mouse won’t stop them from rioting before long. I’d imagine they’ll keep you out there well into the night, so if I’m not around when you come back, help yourself to the room key. I’ll leave it on the shelf below the bar. You’ll be using room seven, up the stairs, fourth on the right.”
“Thanks, Alicia, we appreciate it,” Neala said, standing up from her bar stool.
“Yeah, thanks,” Lusam said, smiling at her.
“My pleasure. And remember. It’s likely to be a long night out there, so you best pace yourself,” Alicia said, looking directly at Lusam. He grinned and nodded, took Neala by the hand, and headed for the awaiting crowd outside without another word.
Lusam was actually quite looking forward to the celebrations now. That was, until everyone spotted them emerging from the tavern and a massive cheer erupted, rekindling some of his former nerves. They had barely stepped foot outside the door before two young girls greeted them with garlands of flowers. They hung them around their necks and led them by the hand to a freshly constructed platform in the centre of the square. Two makeshift chairs had been created from crates, and covered with bolts of cloth and cushions for them to sit on. And the entire platform had been carpeted with several different types of winter flowers, giving it a summer-like appearance, even if the bitterly cold breeze suggested otherwise.
Lusam and Neala had barely sat down before they were handed a mug of ale each and the music resumed once more. Only this time, it wasn’t the fast flowing sounds of a fiddle that they heard, it was the tranquil sound of a harp being plucked. They both looked up together, and a wide smile spread across their faces as they saw who it was playing.
Kira looked stunning in her white flowing dress as she sat on her stool and smiled in their direction. She nodded slightly towards them, and her music slipped seamlessly into a tune they had once heard before: The Heroes of Lamuria. Lusam’s heart skipped a beat as he recognised the introduction to the song. The dancing stopped almost immediately, and the crowd fell silent. Every eye in the crowd falling on the minstrel and her lever harp. It was clear that everyone had been waiting for this moment for some time, and Lusam could only imagine what they had been told to expect. He held his breath as the first chords were played, and gripped Neala’s hand tightly.
Kira expertly extended the introduction of her song, building the atmosphere in the square. But when she finally began to sing, they were not the words Lusam or Neala knew, nor anyone else for that matter. This was her new rendition, and it was nothing like the original. The people listened in complete rapture, taking in every word of her incredible new ballad. Her story… their story… the true story of The Battle of Lamuria. Her words flowed and weaved in a way Lusam could never have imagined. Gone were the untruths and exaggerations of the old ballad, replaced by the true events and raw emotions of that fateful day. Emotions which reached out from her song and grabbed each and every person with their power, as the losses and victories of that day were recounted in exquisite detail. Tears filled the eyes of even the hardest of men, and women wept openly as they listened to the haunting words of the ballad.
When the song was finally over no one moved a muscle, and not a sound was made. Not a cheer, nor a spoken word broke the eerie silence of the night. Only the crackling of the burning fire could be heard within the square. Eventually, one man began to clap slowly, and one by one, everyone in the square joined in with him. At first, everyone faced Kira whilst they clapped, but a moment later—to a man—they all turned in Lusam and Neala’s direction. Lusam felt his face flush under the sudden attention, but he could also feel the genuine warmth of the people towards them. He felt like he should say something, but he had no idea what he could say after hearing Kira’s ballad. Anything that he chose to say would surely pale into insignificance compared to what she had just done.
Kira had been magnificent.
And judging by the tears he saw in Neala’s eyes, he felt certain that she agreed.
“Do you have one about the destruction of the Empire’s fleet?” a man called out. Kira looked at the man for a moment, then shifted her gaze to Lusam and Neala.
“I’m afraid Lusam and Neala haven’t shared that particular story with me yet, but I hope they will choose to do so very soon. They did, however, recently share another of their adventures with me. One which took them to the very heart of The Dark Forest, and pitted their strength against the dark God, Aamon, himself. I’m sure many of you have heard the rumours about the sacred bell glowing at The Sanctum of Light, and what that signifies. Well, thanks to Lusam and Neala, I can confirm the rumour is true. They have already shared with me the story of what happened there, and now, I will share it with all of you.”
The crowd collectively gasped at the news, but the moment her first note was played they all fell silent once more to listen intently to her new song. Every single person was transfixed by the minstrel’s words. Everyone, except, a small blonde girl of about four years old, who
had seemingly wandered off alone and was now walking slowly towards Lusam and Neala, whilst playing with her small doll. When she reached the side of the wooden platform she clambered up on top of an upturned box, then climbed up to where Lusam and Neala were sitting. Lusam thought Neala had already seen the little girl, but judging by her reaction when the girl attempted to climb onto her knee, he knew that she hadn’t.
“Oh… hello there,” Neala said, as the young girl tried to make herself comfortable on her knee. The little girl looked up at Neala and gave her a divine smile, then continued to play with her doll as if she belonged there. “What’s your name then?”
“Lilly.” she replied, in a sweet voice.
“That’s a pretty name. It’s nice to meet you, Lilly. My name’s, Neala.”
The little girl looked up at Neala and gave her a toothy grin. “I know, silly,” she said, then went back to plaiting her doll’s hair without another word. Lusam couldn’t help chuckling to himself. In the past he’d seen Neala deal with everything from street thugs to undead-minions and Netherworld creatures, but never had he seen her as uncertain about a situation as she was right now. The little girl, on the other hand, looked completely at ease on Neala’s knee, and showed no signs of wanting to leave.
“That’s a lovely dolly you have there, what’s her name?” Neala asked.
“Her name is Neala, just like you. My Mummy says she’s special. She says Neala will always protect me when I’m asleep,” Lilly replied, holding up the doll for her to see. Lusam almost choked on his ale when heard what Lilly said, and it took him a few moments to stop coughing and spluttering. When he did, he took another look at the doll in Lilly’s hand and was astounded by what he saw. He hadn’t noticed it before, but the resemblance to Neala was uncanny, right down to the blonde plaited hair and the clothes that it wore. Even the boots on its feet were a fair representation of Neala’s own attire. Whoever had crafted the doll had either seen Neala for themselves, or had gained an accurate description of her from someone else. He was about to voice his observations to Neala, when the little girl spoke again.
“My mummy says you made all the bad men go away, and now they won’t ever come back again to scare me and my baby brother. Is it true? Is it… is it?” Lilly asked, almost pleading with Neala.
Neala didn’t really know how to respond to the little girl, but before she could think of something to say, Lusam spoke first.
“Yes, it’s true, Lilly. Neala scared them all away, and they won’t ever be coming back again to scare you, or your baby brother.”
The little girl’s eyes went wide with joy when her mother’s words were confirmed by Lusam, and she threw her arms around Neala and hugged her tightly. “Oh… thank you, Neala. Thank you…”
A concerned woman’s voice suddenly called out from the darkness. “Oh, thank the Gods… that’s where you are, Lilly. I’ve been looking everywhere for you. You’ve had me half-worried to death… ” The woman seemed to stop mid-sentence, as if she suddenly realised whose knee Lilly was perched on. “Oh… Lilly, come down here at once. I’m so sorry that she’s been bothering you, I had no idea that she’d wandered off like that. Please, forgive me,” the woman said, bowing her head towards Lusam and Neala.
Before either of them could reply, Lilly jumped down from Neala’s knee and launched herself off the edge of the platform into her mother’s arms, then excitedly announced, “It’s true, Mummy… it’s true! Neala did make the bad men go away, and they’re never coming back again.”
“I know sweetie. Isn’t that good?” her mother said smiling at her.
“Thank you, Neala,” Lilly called out again, from her mother’s arms.
“You’re very welcome, Lilly,” Neala replied, smiling at her. “It was lovely to meet you, and your special dolly. Make sure you look after her, won’t you? She needs lots of hugs and kisses, you know.” Lilly nodded enthusiastically to Neala, then immediately kissed her doll’s head and hugged it tightly to her chest.
Her mother smiled and mouthed the words ‘Thank you’ to them, then hugging her daughter closely, she turned and rejoined the crowd of people still watching Kira’s performance. Neala turned to speak with Lusam and found him already looking in her direction with a stupid grin on his face.
“What?” she asked, defensively. Lusam shook his head, but his grin remained firmly in place.
“Come on, spit it out. It’s obvious that you have something to say.”
“Me? No… well, now that you come to mention it, it was a very good likeness of you,” he chuckled. “I wonder if all the little girls in Afaraon will have one soon?”
Neala narrowed her eyes at him, but a moment later smiled herself. “I take it that you didn’t see all of the Lusam dolls in Lamuria then?” she said, in a neutral tone. Neala quickly turned her attention back to Kira before he could reply. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Lusam studying her face to see if she had been joking or not, but Neala kept her expression perfectly poised.
Chapter Nine
Lusam woke the next morning with a throbbing headache. His mouth was so dry that he could barely swallow, and the slightest movement of the mattress made him feel nauseous. He tried to open his eyes but they felt like they had been glued shut, but not before someone had filled them with sand first. He reached across the bed for Neala but found only an empty space. The door of the room suddenly opened, allowing the smell of stale ale and cooking food to enter. He retched at the smell, but somehow managed to hold onto whatever contents of his stomach remained.
“It’s about time,” Neala said, as the door closed behind her with a thump, sending a spike of pain through his head.
“What…” he croaked, but never got to finish his sentence because Neala threw open the thick curtains and flooded the room with daylight. “Aargh! What are you doing?” he said, retreating back under the blankets.
“It’s time you were up. The Pelorus is due back into port very soon, and Byron said that Captain Waylon will be on a tight schedule for his next consignment. If we’re not there on time, we might miss him altogether.”
Lusam groaned. “I don’t feel well.”
“That’s your own fault. I told you more than once last night to stop drinking, but you didn’t listen to me. Now you’ll have to suffer the consequences. And while you’re at it, you’d best apologise to Alicia when you see her, too. I had to wake her up last night so that she could help me carry you up the stairs and put you into bed.”
Although his thought processes had certainly been affected by the residual effects of alcohol, he suddenly realised that he had no clothes on. He gasped as his addled mind finally processed what Neala had just said. “Did Alicia…” he began to say worriedly, but Neala was already on her way out of the room again.
“Get up. Breakfast is almost ready,” she said, grinning at the look of horror on his face. The door closed heavily behind her, sending a fresh wave of pain through his head.
It took Lusam almost twenty minutes to get dressed and go downstairs. He tried several times to counteract the effects of the alcohol with his magic, but each time he tried the effort made him feel even more nauseous. Eventually, he managed to remove most of the alcohol’s ill effects from his body, but he was unable to do much about his state of dehydration, so his intense headache still remained.
His face flushed when he saw Alicia behind the bar, and the grin she gave him did little for his self-confidence. He decided to sit down before he attempted any apology, and slumped heavily onto a stool opposite Neala. The food on the table made his stomach do somersaults, but the large jug of cold water was quite possibly the best thing he had ever seen. One mug after another he downed, with barely a breath between them.
“Aye, that’s pretty much how he drunk his ale last night,” Neala said to Alicia, making her laugh. Lusam looked up from his mug at them, but saw little sympathy in either of their faces.
“Sorry, Alicia,” he said, weakly.
“Bah, don’t wor
ry about it, kid,” she said, waving her hand dismissively, then after glancing at Neala, she quickly added, “besides, you’re not the worst I’ve ever seen.” Lusam instantly felt his face flush again at the insinuation, and both Neala and Alicia laughed openly at his expense. He had no idea how… involved, Alicia had been in putting him to bed the previous night, but it was obvious that neither of them was going to let him off the hook too easily. He knew that they’d no doubt spent most of the morning discussing it among themselves, and he steeled himself for what would surely be more to come. It was going to be a long morning.
Lusam hadn’t felt like eating much at first, but once he started he found that it actually helped to settle his stomach, and quickly devoured most of what Alicia had prepared for him. Thirty minutes later he was feeling much better than he had done earlier, and was keen to move on and put the whole episode behind him. That was until he suddenly remembered he’d have to spend the next, Aysha knows how long, using his magic to repair Lamar’s damaged mind—or at least attempt to. Even the thought of using so much magic made him feel ill again.
They bid Alicia farewell and thanked her for all she had done for them. Even Mouse came to see them off, but Lusam wasn’t sure if it was a real show of affection from him, or that he simply wanted the leftover food from the table. Either way, he seemed friendly enough, and even gave Neala another sloppy lick on the face before returning to his favourite spot in front of the fire. Unfortunately, though, Kira was still asleep when they were ready to leave, but Alicia assured them that she would pass on their goodbyes to her when she finally awoke, and they were soon on their way to meet up with Byron.
The street outside was littered with the evidence of the previous night’s revelries. Two large blackened areas clearly signified where the bonfires had been, but someone had already cleared away the ashes, no doubt to avoid any of the embers causing another unwanted fire elsewhere. The rest of the detritus remained, however, and even the makeshift platform was still there. The square was strewn with all manner of litter and debris, and Lusam didn’t envy anyone whose job it was to clear it all up.
