After they had been walking for hours, and the sun was high overhead, Kelder burst out, "This is boring."
Irith nodded. "That's why I don't come here often," she said. "The Small Kingdoms are much more interesting."
"These fields go on forever!" Kelder said.
"It only seems like it," Irith said.
A moment later she added, "But it does seem like it."
They stopped for lunch at a spot that was just like all the others, and while they ate more westbound traffic passed them.
There was still nothing the other way. Kelder remarked on it.
"Of course not, silly," Irith said. "We aren't halfway yet, and nobody would stop for the night anywhere between Lamum and the bridge—the local farmers would probably kill you if you tried."
It was almost two hours past noon when they encountered their first eastbound traveler.
"Oh, may the gods help me," Kelder said, "you mean we're just now halfway?"
"Probably not," Irith said. "After all, they're probably faster than we are."
Asha whimpered at that and tried to walk faster.
The sun was setting, its parting magic turning the clouds to incredible shades of pink and lavender, and Kelder was becoming concerned that they would have no shelter for the night. He looked at the orange ball and suddenly came to two realizations.
First, the sun was off to the right rather than straight ahead; the road had turned until it was headed far more south than west. And second, the ground was no longer level, but sloping slightly downward. He looked down at the dirt beneath his feet, trying to convince himself that this was not merely an illusion.
Irith noticed what Kelder was doing, and her wings sprang forth; she rose straight up, flapping lazily, and peered ahead.
"I can see the river," she reported, "shining gold in the sunset. There's a bright line across it that must be Azrad's Bridge catching the sun, and a black line beside that that must be the bridge's shadow, and the inn is atop the ridge on the far side. Look closely, maybe you can see the smoke from the chimney."
Kelder stared and saw a line of smoke rising gently into the vast polychrome sky—but that by itself would have meant nothing, as many of the farmhouses had cookfires and chimneys.
"That's the inn?" he asked, pointing.
"That's it," Irith confirmed.
By the time they came within sight of the bridge, full night was upon them; the gods had washed the World in darkness and lit the stars anew. The lesser moon gleamed pink in the west, while the greater was nowhere to be seen. The fields to either side were black in the gloom, as was the road they walked upon.
And in truth, they could see almost nothing of the bridge itself, but the torches set along its rails blazed warm and inviting, beacons in the night. The sight gave Kelder and Asha renewed strength, and they hurried ahead.
Irith held back slightly, and Kelder turned, wondering.
Before he could speak, she said, "There's a toll."
"What?"
"They charge a fee to let you cross the bridge, just the way Caren wanted to charge tolls on the highway through Angarossa."
Kelder stopped. "How much?" he asked.
"A copper piece, it used to be—that was for each adult, no charge for children or livestock."
That meant three pieces—Irith, Ezdral, and himself. Asha would be free.
"I'll fly across," Irith said, "or maybe swim—I haven't been a fish in ages. And I'll meet you on the far side."
Two pieces, then; Kelder considered the contents of his purse and decided that was manageable, but he was not happy about it. "Maybe I should swim, too," he suggested.
"Are you a good swimmer?" Irith asked. "It's a long way to swim for a human, especially in the dark."
"I've never tried swimming at all," Kelder admitted. "There wasn't anywhere to swim, in the hills of Shulara."
"Then you can't swim, silly!" Irith told him. "It's something you need to learn! You'd just sink and probably drown!"
"Oh," Kelder replied, embarrassed.
"Come on!" Asha called; she had ignored the discussion and was waiting halfway down the slope.
Kelder came.
There were no guards on the bridge, so far as he could see, and he wondered if Irith's information might be out of date. He said as much as they stepped onto the first stones.
"I don't think so," Irith said. "I think they're at the other end. And even if they aren't, I'm going to swim, anyway—I haven't been a fish in years!" She leaned over, kissed Kelder on the cheek, then slipped away into the darkness beyond the bridge's torchlit rail.
He tried to watch her go, but outside the glow of the torches he could see nothing but the night. He sighed and led Asha and Ezdral onward.
Irith's information proved correct in every particular; by the time they were halfway across, Kelder could see and hear that four soldiers lounged at the far end of the bridge, chatting in Ethsharitic spoken in accents just like Azraya's, telling each other obscene anecdotes. When they spotted the travelers they broke off the conversation long enough to collect two coppers and then ignored the threesome thereafter.
Once aground again, Kelder hesitated; Irith was nowhere in sight, and although she had told him the inn was just the other side of the low ridge ahead, he could see nothing of it. It might be farther than he had hoped, and Ezdral was in a stupor and on the verge of total collapse. "You two go on ahead," he said, despite misgivings about sending a sick old drunkard and a child alone in the dark. "I'll wait here for Irith."
"I could wait," Asha offered.
Kelder considered; leaving a child alone in the dark wasn't any better, and might be worse.
Before he could answer, though, Irith called, "Here I am!"
Kelder turned to see her walking up a narrow path that descended from the bridge's entrance to the river. Even in the dim glow of the torches, he could see that she was soaked, her long hair hanging in ropes down her back, her white tunic drenched and clinging heavily to her body.
That was very interesting to look at, from Kelder's point of view, as the garment was almost transparent when wet, but he saw that it was also obviously cold and uncomfortable, and he helped her up the stone step that linked the path to the highway.
"What happened?" he asked. "I thought your clothes changed with you."
"They do," she said. "I feel dumb."
"Why?" Asha asked.
Irith snorted in annoyance, and Kelder felt her shivering.
"We can talk about it later," he said. "Let's get to the inn. Irith can dry off there, and we can all warm up."
Nobody argued, and the four of them trudged up the hill, drops of water pattering from Irith's clothes and hair. Kelder's sleeve was saturated as well, where he had put his arm around her.
The hill was longer than it had initially appeared—Kelder had assumed that it was covered with sprouting grain, as the other bank of the river was, though he could not see any in the dark; he had figured that into his estimates. In fact, the ridge was covered with meadows, which meant it was higher than Kelder had estimated. Furthermore, the inn was not at the top but at the foot of the other side.
They did reach it eventually, and found their way around to the entrance, which was on the opposite side. Ezdral was more alert on the way than he had been in hours, obviously seriously concerned about Irith. It was clearly all he could do to keep from wrapping protective arms about her.
"Don't you have a blanket, Kelder?" he asked, about halfway up the first slope.
Kelder cursed himself for his own stupidity and, without stopping, dug a blanket from his pack and wrapped it around the Flyer's shoulders.
When they reached the door it was closed; a torch blazed in a bracket above it, but there was no signboard or other indication that the place was open for business. Light spilled out through cracks in the shutters, so it was obviously not deserted, but Kelder hesitated.
"Are you sure it's an inn?" he asked.
&
nbsp; "I'm sure," Irith said. Without bothering to knock, she opened the door and stepped in.
Chapter 32
Sound and light and warmth washed over Kelder as he followed Irith into the inn. He found himself in a large, comfortable room, standing on well-worn planking and facing several tables of assorted shapes and sizes. Half a dozen patrons were clustered about one of the larger tables, shouting encouragement to two burly men who sat facing each other, hands locked in an arm-wrestling match. The faces of the two competitors were red and strained with effort. Nobody seemed to be eating, but some of the spectators had mugs in their hands.
The walls were stone, but pierced with numerous doors and shuttered windows. At one end of the room a cheery blaze failed to come anywhere near filling a huge fireplace; a row of mugs stood on the mantel, and above them a scabbarded sword hung from wires set into the stonework.
Most of those present ignored the new arrivals, but a tall brown-haired man in an apron, apparently in his thirties or so, looked up and exclaimed, "Irith!"
"Valder!" Irith called back in Trader's Tongue. "How are you?"
"I'm fine," the man said in the same language, hurrying over. "What about you?"
"I'm freezing cold and dripping wet," Irith replied irritably, "but other than that I'm the same as ever."
"Well, come on over by the fire," Valder said, beckoning. "I'll get you something warm to drink. Thetta!"
A serving wench appeared through one of the doors and looked at the innkeeper questioningly. "Build up the fire a little, would you?" Valder told her. "And tell someone to bring some tea—the kettle's hot, isn't it?" Nor was he idle himself; as he spoke, he was shoving a table out of the way and setting a half-circle of chairs around the hearth.
Just then the arm-wrestling match ended, amid shouts and cheering.
"He got you good, Kelder!" someone called, and Kelder of Shulara growled to himself.
"Best two out of three?" another voice asked.
"That was two out of three!"
"Three out of five, then!"
"Done, for another copper."
"You're on." The huddle, which had shown signs of dispersing, coalesced anew. Thetta disappeared back into the kitchen, or whatever lay beyond that door; Valder turned, exasperated, then shrugged and gestured to the chairs.
Gratefully, the four travelers settled into the proffered seats, Irith in the center, Ezdral on her left, and Kelder on her right, with Asha on Kelder's right. They sat silently for a moment, warming hands and feet, while Valder poked at the fire and shouted for more wood.
Thetta reappeared with an armful of logs, and close behind her came a boy bearing a metal tray that held a teapot and half a dozen cups.
"You didn't say how many, sir," the boy said as he approached. "Is it enough?"
"It looks to be," Valder said, taking the tray from him. Thetta dumped the logs on the hearth and began placing them, one by one, onto the flames. Valder put the tray on the table he had moved aside, then poured tea, and distributed cups to the four new arrivals.
Ezdral didn't see his at first, and when it finally registered on his consciousness he glanced away from Irith long enough to look at it with mild distaste.
"You wouldn't happen to have anything stronger, would you, sir?" he asked. "A little oushka would warm me better than that, I'm sure."
Valder glanced at the others, and Kelder caught his eye.
The lad shook his head. "I'm terribly sorry," the innkeeper said, "but these drunken louts over here have cleaned me out." He waved at the party around the arm-wrestlers. "Not a drop of strong drink do I have until the next cartload comes."
Irith smiled over her tea at him.
Ezdral reluctantly accepted a teacup, just as Thetta dropped the last log into place and headed back toward the kitchens. Valder took a cup himself and pulled up a chair beside Asha, turned so that he was almost facing Irith and Ezdral.
"Now, Irith," he said, "tell me how it is that you came in here soaking wet, when it hasn't rained for a sixnight."
"Yes, Irith," Asha said, "how'd you get all wet?"
"I turned into a fish," she said.
"But when you turned back," Kelder began, "isn't this an awful lot of water? . . ."
"I did something silly," Irith said, giggling slightly at herself; the hot tea and warm fire had done a great deal toward improving her mood. "I turned into a fish to swim the river, so I wouldn't have to pay the toll, right?"
Valder and Kelder nodded.
"Well, I got into the water just fine; dove in and changed in midair, so I was a fish when I landed. And I swam right across, following the bridge piers—it's dark down there in the river, and fish eyes aren't any better than human in the dark!"
"I hadn't thought of that," Kelder said.
"That's all right," Irith told him. "Neither had I, and I'd been a fish before, and you never were."
"Go on," Valder said. "It was dark . . ."
"Right, it was dark," Irith agreed, "but I found my way across by following the bridge and just by sense of direction—fish can feel the currents, and even when there aren't any currents you can sort of tell directions. It's hard to explain, it's just something fish do."
Kelder could believe that. Everyone said that different animals had different senses.
"And I got to the other side," Irith continued, "and suddenly remembered why I hadn't been a fish for a hundred years."
She paused, relishing the suspense she had created.
"Oh, come on, Irith, tell us!" Asha begged.
"Fish can't get out of the water," Irith said.
For a moment the others all sat, thunderstruck; then Valder burst out laughing uproariously. Kelder and Asha joined in; Ezdral simply stared at Irith.
The shapeshifter smiled at the amusement to her right, then turned left and noticed Ezdral. She stared back at him, annoyed.
"So you were sitting there in the river?" Valder asked, distracting her. "You had to turn back under water?"
"Not sitting," Irith said, regaining her good humor. "When I turn from fish to human I come out lying facedown. So there I was, lying in a foot of cold water, fully dressed."
Kelder stopping laughing to listen.
"So I got up, half drowned, and I waded ashore, and there these three were wondering what had happened to me," she said. "And would you have said, "Oh, I forgot fish can't climb out of the water, so I spent ten minutes trying to figure out how to do it'?"
Asha giggled hysterically, and Kelder chuckled.
"Listen," Valder said when the laughter had subsided, "you aren't much bigger than Thetta; why don't you see if she has some dry clothes you can wear, and we'll hang yours by the fire?"
"Oh, please," Irith said, "that would be wonderful."
"Fine," Valder said. "Thetta!"
While they waited for the servant to appear, Valder asked, "Have you folks eaten?"
"No," the younger three chorused.
"We'll take care of that as soon as Irith's back, then," he said. Thetta emerged, and he called to her, "Tell someone to bring dinner for four, and while that's fixing, take Irith here upstairs and find her some dry clothes, all right?"
Thetta turned and leaned through the door, calling something to someone else, then came and waited.
Irith rose, put her tea on the table, and said, "Lead the way."
A shout rose from the arm-wrestlers once again, as the other Kelder was defeated for the third and final time, and this time the group began to disperse. A couple of the men eyed Irith with interest as she passed, but no one did more than look.
Once the two girls were gone, Ezdral announced, "I think I . . . I think I'll go see if I can help with supper." He rose and shambled toward the kitchen.
Valder looked questioningly at Kelder, who sighed and shrugged. "He's looking for liquor," Kelder said, "but I don't know how to stop him, short of locking him in somewhere."
Valder sighed. "Let him go, then."
That left
three of them, Asha, Kelder, and Valder, sitting in front of the fire.
"Tell me," Valder asked, "who are you people, and how do you come to be traveling with Irith?"
Kelder had been made so comfortable so quickly that he had forgotten that Valder had no idea who he was. "I'm Kelder of Shulara," he said. "That's Asha of Amramion, and the man cadging oushka from your kitchen help is Ezdral the Sot. I met Irith on the Great Highway, and we just decided to travel together. We bumped into Asha in Angarossa, after she ran away from her father and her brother got killed, and we found Ezdral in Shan on the Desert."
Valder considered that. "You seem pleasant enough, and I can see why Irith's traveling with you," he said. "And I suppose she felt sorry for the girl." He nodded politely at Asha, who smiled. "But why in the World would Irith put up with the old man, or he with her?"
"She enchanted him," Kelder explained. "A long time ago, when he wasn't much older than I am now. She put a love spell on him, and then didn't know how to take it off."
"And she didn't just fly off and forget about him?" Valder asked, startled.
Kelder was equally startled by accuracy of the innkeeper's guess. "Well, actually," he said, "she did, but then we ran into him in Shan, and he followed us, and when I found out why I said we should try to find a cure for him, not just leave him there."
"That speaks well of you, lad," Valder said. "Most people would have just left him to rot."
"Oh, I don't think so," Kelder said, embarrassed.
"I would have," Asha said. "Why didn't he find his own countercharm years ago?"
"I don't think he even knew it was a spell," Kelder told her.
"I didn't know Irith had any love spells," Valder remarked.
"Well, she doesn't use it much," Kelder said. "It causes trouble. Like turning into a fish."
Valder smiled. "I can see how it might," he said. "So you're looking for a countercharm?"
Kelder nodded. "I thought we could probably find one in Ethshar," he said.
"You may not need to go that far," Valder said. "Do you know the spell's name?"
"Are you a wizard?" Asha asked suspiciously.
Taking Flight Page 23
