That infectious smile broadened. Gramm slid a long case out from the cart and opened it. The box almost had the appearance of a cachement. Inside were inset several pipes of various sizes. “Only the best,” he said.
“Why are the sizes different?”
“These long ones put more aroma into the air around you. These shorter ones with the larger bowls put more of the tobacco flavor into your mouth.”
“Flavor?”
“Oh, yes. These tobaccos have a flavor as fascinating as their aroma. Will you buy a pipe, wizard? I will give you a pouch of tobacco for free with it and you can decide for yourself.” The merchant's eyes sparkled, but with no deceit.
Melaki chuckled. “Very good then, I will buy that pipe there.” He picked a medium length stem.
“A fine choice. Do you have imperial coin or any of the trinkets...” His tone said he preferred the trinkets.
Melaki fished in his pouch for a cachement trinket. He produced a pendant with small emeralds inset in silver. “Good?”
“Very good, wizard, and my thanks to you.” Gramm pocketed the trinket and slid his choice into a leather case. He put the leather case into the cloth tobacco pouch and handed it to Melaki. “This is Soam's Crossing?”
“Indeed.”
“Ah, end of our trip then. This was the last stake.”
“Yes. North a ways is Kellerran.”
Gramm nodded, a pondering frown on his face. “May we reside here a while? The Second Charter should be coming through and those wishing to explore Kellerran.”
“You have your own provision?”
Gramm cocked his head sideways and raised an eyebrow as if implying Melaki insulted him.
He shrugged. “The stake-holder is Talin. He should return tomorrow. But I see no reason you can not.”
“Good then. I should like to explore Kellerran myself to see what might be of salvage.”
“It is not pacified, and evil resides there.”
“I merely wish to follow along after everyone else, to see if there might be items of interest to those on the mainland.”
Melaki nodded in thought. The merchant might find a peculiarity – some carvings or other – and sell them back in the empire as relics of the necromancers. “Even Talin would have no objections.”
“This area is pacified, I imagine?”
He nodded to Gramm. “Indeed. Talin returned to Balis Port to report it so. I have sensed nothing nearby, since.”
Bena chortled. “Oh, that must be a useful talent. But I should expect as much from a wizard of the tenth--”
“Ninth,” Melaki said.
“Oh?” She frowned at his sleeve. “Oh yes, I see now. Please pardon me--”
“No insult was taken, lady.” He bowed his head slightly.
“You seem unlike other wizards,” she said.
“Bena.” Gramm gave her a tender look that said “shut your mouth” as if he had shouted it.
She slapped his arm, but pursed her lips. She gave him a loving look in return.
Melaki grinned. “The tavern there is Talin's. The manor house over there is mine. All of the other buildings are serviceable.”
Tila said, “I will repair the door-jamb of whatever you select.”
“You?” said Bena.
She placed her hands on her hips. “Yes, me.”
Bena's eyebrows climbed.
“She does a fine job, too,” he said.
Gramm frowned for the first time. “Were you taught?”
Tila's chin came up. “I was.”
Gramm's frown deepened. “Did he know he could be banished for it?”
Her chin rose higher, but she said nothing.
Gramm waved his hand and the smile returned. “But it is not my guild and not my interest to report such.”
“Will you fall over if I fix your door-jamb?”
Gramm laughed and it was pregnant with mirth. “Oh, no. I think not. But I might like to watch. A woman carpenter...”
“Tila--” Melaki said.
His horse nickered from the stable.
He looked at Tila the horse. She was standing up against the railing, ears pitched forward. Sala stood next to her, looking sleepy. But the two animals were taking turns slapping their tails back and forth at each other.
“Hmm?” said Tila the woman.
“When you are done, perhaps we should go and scour Tolam's Ford for supplies. Before it gets restaked.”
She nodded. “I think your horse is jealous of me.”
“It is not what you think.”
“Are you actually blushing, Master Wizard?”
“I... Well...”
* * *
Melaki rode Tila the horse. Pulling a cart alongside was Sala. Tila the woman rode on his other side. “I suppose we should send message back to Balis Port about the stake.” He did not want to mention Neret's death.
She sighed. “Where out of the Altanlean Empire were you going?”
“Iberia, perhaps.”
“Savage lands, those.”
He raised an eyebrow at her. He could not tell her that his origins came from deeper in those lands. He could not tell her that he remembered and remembered well.
Tolam's Ford was as they had left it.
She went quiet and lowered her eyes.
They searched out buildings for basic foodstuffs or useful items. Cellars produced rice, though most of it was rancid. Some vegetables in glass jars were found, and more coffee.
Melaki had no doubt the coffee would be just as vile as what they already had.
A few casks of rum were found and loaded into the cart. Sala waggled her ears and watched impassively. Tila the horse kept moving close and showing teeth.
“Be nice to each other,” Melaki said. He heaved a sack of grain onto the cart. It had not looked moldy. The had not found very much, but what they had would help until some kind of supply runs could be made.
“Sausages?” Tila said. She heaved a rope of them into the cart.
“I hope they are still good.” He saw her carrying a satchel, filled. “What do you have there?”
Her eyes lit up. “Books.”
He chuckled. She read every night. “Shall we go?”
She sighed and looked around. Hands on hips. She glanced towards the graveyard where Neret was buried. “I believe we have what we need from here.”
He watched her mount. For once, her eyes were not watering when considering Neret.
“Why Iberia?” she said a little later.
He shrugged. “Why anywhere?”
“Do you not think it would be dangerous for an imperial wizard?”
He lifted his arm and regarded his robes. “Perhaps I should not wear them.”
Her mouth opened in shock. “But you earned them.”
He had and he knew it. Doubly so in that he had earned them having to hide his magic to pass the tests. No initiate had ever had it so tough in the testing. Could he really take off the robes? Could he take away the only thing he had earned in his life? He had been a success, and he wanted the world to see it. He had overcome the Rukha and he wanted everyone to know it.
He might face persecution in Iberia over the robes; he was not sure. But his appearance was not Altanlean. What matter the color of his robes? They would see him as he was: of their own people.
She turned to face ahead. “I could never be ashamed of what I had earned.”
“No, I will not remove them. You are right; I earned them.” He felt better with himself in saying it.
* * *
Melaki heard the commotion as he puffed his pipe. He stood up from the bench around the well and peered down the road.
“What is it?” said Tila.
“Talin, and soldiers.”
“Soldiers?”
“Come to inspect the pacification, I expect.”
Talin rode at the head of a dozen pikemen on horses. Behind them all, several carts.
Bena came out of their dwelling and stood next to Tila.
“Gramm?” Tila said.
“Going over his inventories. Imagining what he might need. It is endless. Sometimes I wonder if he is going to stop to eat.”
“A wise man,” Melaki said, “considers his ways.”
Bena waved as if at an insect.
“Melaki,” Talin said. He stopped his horse a few paces away. “All is well?”
“Indeed.”
“Who are these people and why are they here?”
He indicated Tila. “The mercenary Tila, you recall?”
“Hmm, yes, I do remember her.”
He indicated Bena. “This is--”
“Yes, a merchant. I saw them in Balis Port. Why are they here?”
“Tila's husband was killed in Tolam's Ford.”
Tila the horse nickered from the stable.
Talin rolled his eyes. “How very tragic.” His tone said he would yawn any second.
“She offered to help me--”
“You are here to help me.”
An imperial officer stopped beside Talin and looked them all over impassively.
“And she will help me,” Melaki said.
“We do not need a woman around--”
“She will help me.”
“I will not be sharing with her--”
Tila stood taller and looked up at Talin. “I do not need your share.”
Talin's eyebrows rose and then a small smile crossed his face. “Oh. Well, then. As long as you are useful--”
“She will be fine,” said Melaki. “Gramm and Bena are here having already worked the line to Kellerran. They wish to follow after us to see if there is anything of salvage.”
“Salvage?”
“Carvings, peculiar tools. I do not know. Something to sell back on the mainland.”
Bena was nodding.
Talin flicked his robe. “Oh, very well then. All seems in order. This is Imperial Officer Moko. He will sweep the area tomorrow.”
“I will need to speak with you, Moko,” said Tila. “After you settle in.”
The officer said nothing, but he nodded. His eyes were constantly searching.
Melaki took Talin's horse and tended it. When he was done, he stepped out of the stable. Talin was waiting, hands clasped behind his back. “Something the matter?” he said to the wizard.
“Matter? No.” Talin looked down his nose as if expecting something. “I want to know what progress you have made.”
He pointed. “We have five chickens there in that coop--”
Talin tilted his head.
“--and we have a small flock of sheep--”
“No, you fool. What progress towards Kellerran?”
“Kellerran?”
“Yes, Kellerran. Did you think I meant you to become a farmer while I was gone?”
“We needed food and supplies--”
“I brought some. I did not bring you along to grow beets in the mud.”
Melaki sighed.
“Well? What of Kellerran?”
“I have done nothing except patrol the stake--”
“Pah! You could have scouted Kellerran--”
“I detected evil there.”
“Of course there is evil there, you fool!” Talin's face was turning red. “I can feel it from here.”
“I suppose you wanted me to clear the way to the next cachement?”
The wizard sighed as if repressing his emotion.
So I was right.
“You could have found ways into the city most advantageous--”
“We ride in. Shelter the horses. Kill the evil thing.” Melaki's tone was dry.
The wizard pursed his lips and breathed heavily through his nose. “I will expect better out of you.”
You ass.
“Come and prepare our supper.” Talin strode away.
* * *
Melaki's fire roared in the fireplace of the tavern. He had brought in the casks of mead and rum they had found.
Cups were raised in the hands of soldiers and jokes were told in the once-dead village.
The mead was awful. The rum was good.
The soldiers had carted in their own supplies, but they were pleased to partake in Talin's generosity.
“Neret died while pacifying the stake,” Tila said to the officer. The man noted her words down on parchment for delivery to the imperial offices.
Melaki puffed his pipe.
Even Gramm and Bena were there. It almost felt like a real tavern. It was, though. A bartender and some skimpy-clothed barmaid would have finished it off.
“Do not get too comfortable,” Talin said in a low voice to him. “I want you preparing for our venture into Kellerran.”
“Throw a few things in the cart--”
“Do not be impertinent.” The wizard's finger pointed and wagged at his nose. “When they leave the day after tomorrow, I want to be on our way immediately.”
“On our fastest horses?”
Talin's eyes drew down at the sarcasm. “Be ready.”
Melaki nodded, letting the argument go. He would go over what they might need later that night.
“Did you find any cachements in Tolam's Ford?”
“And if I did?” He puffed on his pipe, eyeing the wizard through the smoke.
“I will expect it added to our share--”
“Neret took it all.”
“He is dead.”
“What an astounding bit of deduction that was.”
“Do not test me--”
“Or what? Neret took it all. He gave me a trinket. I bought tobacco with it. Are you going to have me flogged over a trinket? Only the gems are subject to the imperial share--”
“You have none of the gems?”
“I only have the cachement from that white thing in the field the day before you left.”
“Oh.” He sat back. But his chin came up. “Did you touch--”
“Shut your mouth. I grow weary of your endless accusations.”
Talin blinked. “You what? How dare--”
Melaki leaned close to the wizard's oily countenance. “Talin, the cachement is in your room right now, untouched, under your tent satchel. Do you not want to go cast your gaze upon it even now?”
The wizard shot to his feet, greed in his eyes.
Melaki rose, slower.
“And just what do you think you are doing?”
“Coming to claim my share.”
A sneer flashed across Talin's face. Then a quick nod. Beads of sweat were popping out of the wizard's forehead. “Let us.”
In the room, Talin frantically heaved the tent satchel to the side. He gripped the box and felt the weight. Only then did a smile cross his lips. He opened the lid under Melaki's light. A gasp erupted from the wizard's throat. “Four gems.”
Melaki remained silent.
“How do I know you did not--”
He snorted. “There are four indentations in the velvet. There are four gems. Or are you too stupid to notice--”
“Cease.” Talin's voice was a snap. He plucked out the smallest gem and handed it to Melaki.
He suppressed a sigh. “My thanks to you, wizard.”
“As it should be. Now leave my room.”
* * *
Melaki watched the soldiers ride out in different directions. He saw Tila poke her head out of the manor doorway. He called to her, “Tila, here.”
His horse nickered from the stable.
“Your horse does not like me,” she said when she got near.
“She likes you just fine.”
“I believe she is laughing at me.”
“She likes you.”
“What do you need?”
“Another mind.” He started walking towards the stables. “Talin has it in his head to leave immediately upon their departure tomorrow.” He indicated the backs of the soldiers as they rode out, pikes out and ready.
“That was expected.”
“Indeed. He wants to travel to Kellerran and pursue a claim for it without regard
s to anything else.”
“That should not be possible. His next claim would be a town.”
“Under the rules, yes. Which would mean we should be heading northeast to Rejah.”
“But he wants... gems?”
“I believe that is all that drives him. He does not want to build anything here, only plunder.”
“This sounds familiar.”
“He had dreams of setting himself up as king in Dramlos.”
She laughed, but it was bitter. “Oh, that sounds very familiar.”
He did not want to hurt her feelings by telling her he had seen it in Neret's eyes. The man was dead. A better legacy would hurt no one.
“Then...” she said. She pursed her lips. “Then he will want to abandon everything here and just move in to Kellerran.”
He grunted. That sounded more like Talin – move and plunder rather than using Soam's Crossing as a base. He would not lose Soam's as a stake now that it was being inspected as pacified. He imagined Talin would sell his stake later. The wizard had no interest in holding a village. “Yes, you are right, of course. My thanks to you, Tila.”
His horse nickered from the stable.
He slapped his forehead and drew his hand down over his face.
“What?”
“Nothing. I realize we need to prepare to move as if to a whole new location – which it will be.” He looked around at Soam's Crossing. He had been starting to like it here. He heaved a sigh. Whether he agreed with it or not, Talin had been right to tell him to prepare.
What neither of them knew was how quickly death would visit their little party of adventurers.
CHAPTER 7
Melaki led the procession over the last hilltop. The land had steadily risen in undulating hills and vales. Past the scene of destruction of the white thing, the land rose to a broad and treeless height.
In the far distance to the east was the town of Rejah. They were bypassing it. Nothing in the charter prohibited what they were doing, but the charter had been written for pacification, not plunder.
Behind him was Talin. Behind the wizard was Tila and the rest of the train of animals and carts, including Gramm and Bena at the very tail.
Topping the ridgeline he reined in Tila the horse. Below, at the end of a swooping valley and up against the sea, was Kellerran.
The city was large and constructed in the Altanlean fashion. Broad avenues, columns and statues could be seen even from this distance. The living areas were a jumble of large structures, some of them three levels high. Being on the ocean, the columns and stonework were almost a stark white – constantly scrubbed clean by the salt air.
The Melaki Chronicle Page 11
