Odif let the chest plate fall to the floor. “Unless you don’t want that finger anymore, stop pointing it at me.”
Shalenthansia gave the man a frightened look. “Honey, please sit down, that witch shoots fire.”
“Fire?” Odif asked malevolently, “Will fire get the truth out of you?”
“Odif, no!” Jeni and Sally chorused at the same time.
“Enough!” the older elf woman rasped, striking her cane on the floor. Glaring at Shalenthansia, she said, “Shanni, the truth!”
Her neck muscles seemed to be working hard as the woman forced herself to look up at Sally. “I am sorry if Arenthanas heard anything he thought was...demeaning.”
“I heard it from the other side of the courtyard,” Odif stated.
The old elf woman turned her stare to Odif. “Hush!” Returning her gaze to the seated woman, she took a couple of labored breaths and asked, “Shanni, do you owe Art an apology?”
Shanenthansia studied her lap for a moment. Swallowing, she said haltingly, “I never meant Arenthanas to hear it. If I hurt his feelings, or yours, Saurenthansia, I am sorry.”
Sally nodded slightly. Looking at Art, she asked, “Do you forgive your aunt?”
Art forced a nod as he watched his lap. “Yes, Mom,” he said dully.
“Then it’s forgotten,” she stated. She turned to Odif, flicking her eyes briefly at Shanenthansia.
Odif sighed. Unfortunately, that would be the best apology either of them would get. Stepping close enough to see her face, she told Shanenthansia, “I am sorry for scaring you. I too, forgive you for what you said. I was just as hurt by it as Art was.”
“Then it is settled,” the old elf woman stated. Looking at Odif, she said, “I understand you are looking for Eric.”
“Yes. Jeni is going to help me while I’m in the city.” As Odif looked at the old woman, she noted that her face had become paler. She wasn't sure what, but there was something wrong with her.
Shanenthansia and her mate rose, neither looking pleased that Odif was planning to stay. The man bowed slightly to the old elf woman.
“We have other matters to attend to, with your permission, M’lady?”
The old elf woman nodded. As the pair left, Sally introduced her and the man next to Art. “Odif, this is my mother, Salinthia, and my husband, Arthur. I take it you’ve met our son, Art.”
Odif noted the man’s gray hair was lined with strands of dark, as if the color was trying to defy old age. He still bore a sturdy build and bright eyes. Envisioning him with a smooth face and dark hair, she imagined he had been quite handsome. “Hello, Arthur, Salinthia.”
Clasping his hands under his chin, Arthur asked, “What makes you think you can find Eric when no one else can?”
Odif sat on the arm of a vacant chair and explained. “Jeni is going to help me find a seer. Once I know where he is, it should not be that hard to go get him.”
“Odif can tell if a seer is real,” Jeni added. “I can reschedule a few meetings to make time, and I’ll visit the coach yards as we go through the city.”
Salinthia reached over and laid a hand on her arm. “Jeni, I’m sure what Arthur is concerned about is your getting your hopes up again.” She stopped to take a few breaths that started to become labored. “You must prepare yourself...in case you can never find him.”
“We will find him,” Odif assured her. As Salinthia paused in her fight for breath, Odif saw pain briefly cross her face. She assumed it was the aged elf's breathing muscles giving out with old age.
Arthur flailed an arm at her. “How can you be so sure? You find out he may be alive and come here, getting Jeni all excited. We’ve been looking for years, not days--”
“Dad, please...” Jeni winced.
He ignored her. “You don’t see Jeni’s disappointment when a lead turns cold or rumors are found to be just rumors.” Leaning forward, he said, “I am tired of having Jeni’s hopes smashed again and again. I want proof you can do what you say.”
Looking at the family, she tried to put herself in their place. They were city people; and from what she had seen, they had no option but to trust others. Apparently, that trust had been misplaced. Only in cities did she find people who were skilled at just one thing. This family most likely would be hard-pressed to survive without the servants who saw to their daily needs. Jeni looked anxious, which was understandable. Odif had no idea what she was going to find--maybe it was best if she did this on her own. Getting up, she scooped up the chest plate.
“I have to go. If I find anything, I’ll be back. Tayan is coming; I would appreciate it if you help him gather an army to help us. He'll probably see your duke first then come here for support.” Stopping, she added, “One thing is terribly important. No matter what, Tayan has to go to the city in the middle of the plains. I don’t care if he has only himself and a bent stick to defend himself with, he has to be there.” Her piece said, she started to leave.
Jeni shot to her feet, intercepting Odif, “I have to come with you! You could use my help, and I need yours.”
Odif frowned at the small woman. “Pushy, aren’t you?”
Staring up, she said, “You might be a great druid, but you know nothing about dealing with civilized people. If you go out there and bull your way around, no one will tell you anything. I’ll take you, and I’ll do the talking. We'll both get more information that way.”
Her parents weren’t going to appreciate it, but Odif figured Jeni had a right to go. She only hoped the girl was strong enough in case they found bad news.
“All right, let’s go.” Glancing back to Sally and Arthur, Odif told them, “Don’t worry, I’ll watch out for her.”
Jeni called for a coach. When it came, Odif climbed aboard, noting the Redman name on it.
The city turned out to be a miserable place. Beyond the protective walls of the estate, the crowds were endless, as were the various stenches of rotting garbage, horse manure and sewage. The people seemed oblivious to the reek as they went about their affairs. Odif’s nose started to run, and her eyes burned. The only winds were brief gusts that seemed to do nothing other than stir up more filth from ground level.
“How can you stand this stench?” she asked, swallowing a gag.
Beside her, Jeni wrinkled her nose. “It gets bad some days. I’ve learned to live with it. There are good things about being in the city.”
There had to be thousands on the streets. She noted a peddler with his wagon on a corner offering his wares--whole fish, a few fruits and bread loaves. How wonderful they must taste after being in this all day. Even the halshaken would not eat fish half a day dead, let alone one hanging in stinking heat.
“Like what?”
“We have plenty, there are always things to do, and we are well protected by the guardsmen.”
Two of the guardsmen she referred to were walking by. They eyed Odif and whispered to each other. She didn’t notice anything special about the; they were just men with armor and weapons. They weren’t even paying close attention to what was happening around them. She bet that a hoarc could take them both out fairly easily. As for the rest, the forest had plenty, too; and she was never at a loss for something to do. Jeni had to be making the best of her situation. She didn’t see how anyone could like this place.
Odif spent a grueling day searching for a legitimate seer. They found two Jeni hadn’t already eliminated. Although they lived what seemed like miles apart, both had the same signs proclaiming their all-knowingness and had very similar dark and heavily curtained rooms in which the bandana-crowned women in voluminous dresses wanted hard coin before they could “summon their spirits.” It took Odif only a short time in their presence to realize the only thing they were all-knowing about was how to get people’s money.
After their visit to the second fortuneteller, Jeni suggested stopping for lunch. By what Odif had seen of the city so far, she was hesitant to eat anything. As it was, she had a queasy stomach from the unrelenting foul sme
lls. She needed a break from the odors, someplace where real air could find its way into her lungs.
Remembering that Tolina was built on both sides of the Jude River, she asked, “Can we go down to the waterfront for some fresh air?” She desperately needed a drink to clear her throat out.
Jeni gave her a queer look. “Fresh air...at the waterfront?”
“Is that a bad idea?”
Jeni wrinkled her nose again. “If you don’t like this then you’ll vomit at how that smells.”
Odif felt faint. They had fouled the river, too? “You’re kidding.”
“No, the sewers drain into the river. The city walls are built high on both sides to help keep the smell out.”
“Dear Goddess,” Odif whispered, raising a wrist to her forehead. She remembered seeing the fish for sale. They ate fish from...
“Why aren’t you people dead?” she blurted out.
Jeni laughed. Quelling her mirth, she patted Odif on the arm. “I’ll take you somewhere clean and decent, okay?”
She could not imagine anyplace here that fit that description.
“We’re leaving the city?” she asked hopefully.
“No, silly!” Jeni giggled. “The Troll’s Lair has a rooftop restaurant. It’s not far from our house, and it has very good food.”
Rooftop--maybe it was high enough to catch a fresh breeze. She was beginning to feel as if she’d spent the day in Zodiac’s cesspool. “All right, but no fish.”
“No fish,” Jeni agreed.
The Troll’s Lair was a large, three-story inn. As they approached, Odif noted that this building was one of the tallest in the area. The upper floor had balconies and curtains, while the middle and lower floors had shuttered windows. The front door was set in with a canopy extending over the walkway to the street. Instead of a sign proclaiming its name it had three troll statues, one on each side of the doors and one on a platform above the canopy. The carvings were very good, but not too accurate, if one knew trolls. The shape of the furry bodies was right, as were the squarish heads with thick, wide ears; but never had she seen a troll stand perfectly upright, let alone cross its arms over its chest or appear so regal in the face as these did.
Inside, they went up the wide, carpeted stairs past well-dressed people who looked at her with distaste. Most greeted Jeni with a pleasant “Good afternoon, Mrs. Redman” and tried to act as if she were alone. The only people to even look at Odif were a few young men who grinned and whispered to each other.
The rooftop smelled much cleaner, to Odif’s relief. They were shown to a small table near the waist-high wall that marked the edge. Someone finally spoke to Odif--the waiter asked her what she wanted. After hearing the options, she decided to let Jeni pick one of the many names for meat they had and a “fresh” fruit salad.
As they waited for their orders to come, Jeni asked cautiously, “Is your mother alive?”
Odif nodded. “She lives in the Jude. For the last few years, she’s been studying the wildlife there, including vlaks.”
Jeni’s eyes went wide. “She studies vlaks? How does she do that?”
The only thing she knew about vlaks were that they were big, bone-covered lizards that attacked anything that came close.
Odif grinned. “These vlaks are no longer controlled by wizardry. You see, a vlak in its natural state is a scavenger about the size of this table. They don't bother anything bigger than themselves; and if confronted, they curl up into a ball and wait for the intruder to go away.” Tipping her head north, she said, “The vlaks left behind during the Great War are starting to revert back to their natural state. Each generation is a bit smaller than the last. When I visited Mother last year, they were used to her enough that we just walked into their nesting area. The closest we came to harm was when a mother vlak hissed at us to warn us away from her hatchlings. In another two or three generations, we think they will be back to normal.”
Jeni shook her head in wonder. “I’m surprised they didn’t kill you.” She took a sip of water and commented, “I thought druids killed monsters like vlaks and dragons.”
“We destroy unnatural creatures. Vlaks seem to be returning to normal over time. Dragons, monsters made from a winged lizard called a kila, will never return to normal. They’ve been deformed too badly to even breed.”
“So, a form of dragon exists in nature?”
Odif leaned on one elbow, tapping the table as she spoke. “Kila are nothing like dragons. They only grow as long as your foot, and they’re prey to many things, mainly eagles and falcons. Dragons were made to combat Alnargons. When the Alnargon population started to diminish, elf and human wizards started making their own dragons to fight with. As you can see, this has all but wiped out the kila. Only a few kila are left in their natural habitat, and we are guarding them closely.”
Jeni tried to keep from grinning at how upset she was being over what happened to a flying lizard. Like most people, she didn’t see how the loss of one creature could affect anything. There were so many different kinds of animals, what did one matter?
“Odif, have you ever thought that maybe it’s best the kila are almost gone? If what you’re saying is true then with no kila there will be no more dragons.”
“Do you have bats?” Odif asked crossly.
“Yes, too many. We’ve tried to get rid of them--they stink, and Art got sick from spending too much time up where they live under the roof.”
“And I've noticed there aren't too many large birds around here, either.”
Jeni shook her head. “No, just seagulls here and there.”
Counting on her fingers to stress her point, Odif told her, “As well as large insects, kila eat bats--they are one of the few things that do. Fewer bats means the ones left are not so numerous that they stink up their lair. Birds of prey eat kila. The bats eat the insects, kila eat the bats, falcons eat the kila. That is the balance, one species checks another. Kila in your roof also warn you of strangers. They know what kinds of things regularly go near their lair and get upset, making a high-pitched sound, when they see something they aren’t familiar with.”
Sitting back, satisfied her point was made, she added, “You have no kila, so you have too many bats and not enough birds. Even in the city, if nature is out of balance, we suffer for it.”
Jeni gave an understanding nod, cringing inside at what Odif’s response might be if she asked why they needed more birds in the city. Changing the subject, she said, “After lunch, I have to stop a couple places before we look for another seer.”
Odif nodded slightly as she hooked an arm over the back of her chair. “These businesses you have, is one of them the Redman Coach Line?”
Odif’s pose wasn’t one a lady should take, but Jeni decided not to mention it. “Yes. We only own twenty coaches, but there are many more drivers who pay us to put the name on their own coaches. I keep visiting the depots to make sure the coachmen are keeping up the standards I’ve set.”
“Why would someone want to put your name on their coach?”
Jeni sighed. “At first, it was because of Eric’s reputation. When I opened our stone quarries, we had three wagons. One of our drivers was stopped by bandits; but when they found out it was Eric’s wagon they were going to rob, they backed off and let him pass. The driver bragged about it, and soon independent coach drivers came to me wanting to work for Eric so they, too, would not be bothered by bandits. I set up the arrangements, and soon every driver in the city was asking to join our company.” Picking up her glass to take another sip, she said, “I know that sooner or later the fear will fade, so I’ve concentrated on making Redman Coach Line stand for quality. We have regular routes, and every coach has to have a full roof and cushioned seats. I’ve set up the depots, and all the dispatchers work directly for me.”
Odif raised an eyebrow. “People are that afraid of my father?”
Jeni nodded. “Terrified. We don’t even need guards for the cross-country runs. Most of the bankers and nobles use our
coaches on a regular basis; they know they will be safe.” Waving a hand at the headwaiter standing by the door, she added, “That’s why I can bring you here; the owner doesn’t dare say no.”
“It sounds like you're living well off his reputation.”
Jeni’s face went blank then turned dark. “What do you mean by that?”
Odif shrugged. “Just that if he wasn’t so feared, you wouldn’t be making so much money.”
Jeni’s face reddened. “I have never tried to--” Her voice was low but stern. “You want to know the truth? I wish he wasn’t so feared! I wish the tales would not grow so cursedly tall!” She sucked in an angry breath, swelling her small frame. “Ever single copper the quarries and coaches bring in belongs to him! I am running his businesses. Don’t you dare accuse me of taking advantage of Eric!”
Odif raised her hands in surrender. Jeni had taken her comment very personally. “I didn’t mean to say you were.”
“Excuse me...ladies?” the waiter asked meekly. He was eyeing Odif closely, noting not only her bosom but her well-muscled arms. As soon as she looked his way, he diverted his eyes to the table. “Your fruit salads are here.”
Carefully, he put them down then retreated off to other tables.
Sensing wariness from him, Odif asked, “How long was he standing there?”
Jeni followed him with her eyes as he wound his way back to another table to pick up the used dishes. “I don’t know for sure, but I bet there are going to be more rumors around town shortly.”
Odif picked a grape from the mix of sliced fruit. It wasn’t the freshest she had ever seen, but it was edible. She popped it into her mouth. “How many more professed seers are in this city?”
“Quite a few, though not one has turned out to be the real thing yet.”
“Very few are. I’ve only met one. Tayan took me to this guy in Krundle who was a fortuneteller.” A smirk crossed her face. “He told us we were very close, but combative towards each other. He said it was a bond that could not be broken. If we only knew...”
Quietly, Jeni asked, “Did you and Tayan...you know...”
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