Reciprocity : Volume 1 of The Fledgegate Cycle

by Zachary Smith

  He settled on a log the girls had pulled up near the fire earlier, and Glem took the piece of stone from the creek out and began to quietly work it lengthways down the blade.

  Each stroke would make a single soft tone, attesting to Rues’ skill in the repair of the old sword. Oddly, the stone did not seem to bite into the untempered areas as he expected it to.

  It skated, as though the blade was hardened already.

  Glem stripped off the rotten leather of the hilt and threw it away, then examined the wood that remained. Even that is punky, he grunted to himself as he separated the halves with his belt knife and threw them into the fire. A long dried piece of maple that he had intended for the fire, he deftly split lengthwise. He began to work a hollow into the center for the hilt’s core and trimmed it for fit and length. He adjusted it a bit at a time until it was a snug fit on the hilt.

  He then cut three long thin strips from their small leather supply, and braided them tightly and began to wrap the grip. He tied it off and grunted, "Good enough."

  The next morning, Glem woke to a fire going in the pit. Rues sat nearby with the sword from the night before across her lap and slowly worked the stone down its length.

  "Nice job on the blade last night. I only had to fix your bungling a little," she teased Glem. "Alyra has the rabbits roasting that we caught in the snares set while fishing yesterday."

  "Is it just me, or is that better steel than I thought last night?" Glem asked.

  "I don't understand it. Before I started working on it yesterday, I would have said it was junk steel and not worth fixing, but this morning, it looks like I was just fixing a master's work that had been ignored for too long. The stone is starting to skate along the edge as if hardening itself somehow. I can't decide if it's my imagination or if something’s changing in it."

  "Last night, I wondered about that my own self," Glem replied. "Let's get through breakfast and break camp. The nearest big town is a couple of days’ walk."

  "Alyra, come over here," Glem said, holding up the leather belt and sheath he had been working on while they ate. "It won't last long, but it'll hold until we can get into the town and get the materials to make a better one." First, he fastened the hand-wide strip of material around her waist and then the sheath to the belt.

  Glem told her, "If it comes to a fight, drop the belt and sheath when you draw the sword, that will keep them out of the way. Rues, draw your hammer, and both of you stay behind me."

  Rues looked carefully at the heavy hammer choked up on the haft and nodded at Glem as she looked up.

  "Alright then, grab the food we have left, and let's go," Glem said.

  Glem didn’t understand what had happened with the man at the stream.

  Only fragments of his memories of the encounter remained.

  The description of what happened—that the girls had given him—sounded like magic. Still, nothing like that had existed since the last kingdom had fallen almost two thousand years ago.

  He remembered hearing the scholars in the capital talking about magic when he was in his novitiate training for the army, but also remembered clearly that the learned men in the capital had believed that it was gone forever.

  Maybe the girls had been mistaken, and the man had tripped and fallen into the fire instead.

  "Girls, when we get to the city, stay close to me. Don't make eye contact with anyone; they will either want to sell you something or think you want to fight. Understand?" Glem said.

  "Grandpa, we are grown women, not little girls anymore. I think we can handle ourselves in a town," Alyra replied.

  "That you are... that you are. Just the same. Until you get comfortable, you understand?"

  "You don't have to worry about her, Glem. I will keep an eye on her," Rues said.

  "Ha, I'm sure you will, but who will keep an eye on you, little mouse?" Glem laughed. "We may get to the city tomorrow. I remember there being another village up this way that we can stop in tonight. If we don't come to it soon, we will stop for the night before it gets dark. We have enough of the forage that we won't need to hunt along the way."

  "Glem, it’s starting to get dark. Do you think we will get to the town tonight?" Rues asked.

  "No, I am thinking we won't, after all. Let's find somewhere to camp, and we can go on in the morning," Glem replied.

  The night was quiet and uneventful, allowing them to get the first real rest they had had since fleeing their village.

  ✽✽✽

  "Come on, lazybones, time to get up," Glem said as he nudged Alyra gently with the toe of his boot.

  "What about Rues... She has to get up too," Alyra responded sleepily.

  "Ha, she is already up and made your breakfast," Rues responded to her friend. "Come on and eat so we can get moving."

  Rues threw some dirt over the morning’s fire remains while Alyra grumbled and started to eat her breakfast.

  "Glem says the other town should not be far this morning. Maybe we can find somewhere to have a bath. You certainly need one," Rues told Alyra.

  They picked up their few possessions and started to walk toward the trail.

  The light fog clung in patches to the forest floor and each of them was lost in their own thoughts as they walked till mid-morning.

  "When we get into the village, keep quiet about what happened at home. We don't know these people or how they will react. We are just travelers headed to Eshly to look for work. Understand?" Glem asked.

  "Yes, Grandpa," Alyra replied.

  "Yes, Glem."

  "I can't wait to get a bath. This smoke smell never seems to go away," Alyra said as she shook her shirt.

  "We could all use a good wash, you especially," Glem replied. “But I smell smoke too, and it is coming from in front of us on the breeze. Off the trail now, and hide," Glem said as he slipped his bag off and handed it to Rues. "I’m just going for a look. Stay here until I return."

  Rues and Alyra quickly moved off to hide in the brush along the side of the trail.

  Glem loosened his sword in its sheath. Then he took a last glance around and started forward. "Be careful," he heard from a whisper in the brush.

  A short walk later, Glem arrived to find the small village still smoldering. A ring of scorch marks around the village looked eerily familiar. The forest village had been built entirely of wood, and the fire had not left anything standing. Sadly but predictably, the rain had missed the village, so there had been nothing to slow the fire’s appetite and the bodies of the villagers were scattered between the remains of the houses. They lay where they had fallen.

  They didn't even burn the bodies this time, just left them where they lay. If I meet the man that ordered this, he will not survive either.

  Glem moved from building to building, looking for survivors.

  He found only the dead. After searching the village quickly, he left.

  "Girls, it's safe to come out. We’ll go around the town. There is nothing left," Glem said softly when he reached the brush in which he had left them hiding.

  Chapter 7

  They stepped out from the edge of the forest. Alyra’s hand rested firmly on her sword as she stared in awe at the stone walls of the city. The sun was starting its evening descent behind the low towers of the fortified city over the other side of a wide field.

  The walls of the city stood twenty feet high, with circular guard towers spaced regularly along them. Even from across the field, they could see the guards along the top of the walls. Never having left their small village, the stone city was imposing for Alyra and Rues.

  "I never knew a city could be so big. It goes on for ages," Alyra said, looking around at the stumps at the edge of the forest. “Why do they cut the trees so far from the city, Grandpa?"

  "Protection, girl. This is probably about three times the length of a good bowshot from the top of the city walls,” Glem replied. "Quick now, the sun is falling, and if we are not through the gates before they are closed for the night, we will be sle
eping rough again."

  Rues followed quietly behind, and offered, "Let's move. I need to find a forge to temper that blade, and I need a bath. I don't smell as bad as the two of you, obviously, since you could make a skunk's eyes water, but I’m still more fragrant than I like to be."

  "Hey, I resent that. I don't smell any worse than you do," Alyra said indignantly.

  "Enough, you two. Let’s agree that you both smell terrible," Glem laughed, "and I smell like, uh, like something that died a week ago. So, let's get in and take care of it. Rues—tomorrow, we will find a forge to try and salvage the blade."

  "But Glem…" Rues began to protest.

  Glem held up a hand to stop her. "The sword will not be any worse tomorrow, and you will do better work for a full belly and a night's sleep."

  Without waiting for a response, he turned and headed for the city.

  Glem looked across the field to the road running at a diagonal and said to the girls, "Let's work our way around the edge of the field to the road and come in with the rest of the travelers."

  The wide, well-built road of cobbles was clearly a trade route heavily traveled. A steady stream of people moved along it. A small contingent of guards was visible at the gate, choking the line to a trickle as they stopped and spoke with each group of travelers.

  "When we get to the gate, let me do the talking," Glem said.

  The line into the city moved slowly but steadily, and the guards paused each person or group to speak with them. Some of the carts were being searched, but in general, the guard’s apathy toward the incoming traffic was clear even from a distance. One of the guards manning the gate held up his hand as he stepped up to them.

  "Hold there. What's your business here in town?"

  "We are here for supplies, passing through on our way to the capital," Glem replied. "Can you suggest a place for us to get a meal and a clean room?"

  A man with a neatly trimmed beard and gray streaks in his hair stepped up behind the younger guard. He was clearly a ranking officer from the sudden crispness displayed by his young associate.

  "I can recommend a place. You won't make trouble for them, right?"

  "No. No trouble. Just a room and a meal."

  "Stay on the road straight ahead. When you see the stalls for the market, turn left. Down a way on the left and look for a sign with a ladle and a fork crossed on it over the door."

  "Is it a good place?" Glem asked, noting the Lieutenant's insignia on his lapel.

  "That's Oarf's place. He married my sister Eiriean. Let them know that Jorick sent you over." Jorick laughed and shook his head. "Oarf is ugly as sin but big as an ox, and she is the best cook in the city. Their place is clean and quiet."

  Glem thanked the older guard, and they followed his directions into town. The girls looked around wide-eyed at the throngs of people crowding the city. The noise and bustle of the place were almost a cacophony.

  "Alyra, Rues, look at me,” Glem barked.

  Focusing on Glem, the city began to recede a little in their view.

  "Breathe, slow and deep, and you’ll find the city won't be as overwhelming shortly. If you think this is bad, though, you should see the capital. This is a provincial backwater in comparison,” Glem said. "Come on, let's go find the inn."

  Alyra had never imagined that so many people could be in one place at the same time, all talking and rushing around. She couldn’t wait to go to the markets. Alyra hoped that Glem would let her buy some sweets when they went to the market.

  There she goes, drifting off into her own imagination. I'm going to have to keep an eye on her, or she is going to get us into trouble. Probably thinking about whether or not she can buy sweets again…it’s all that girl ever thinks about, thought Rues as she looked at Alyra.

  The clean smell of the forest was gone in the cloying scent of rotting trash.

  A miasma of smoke came from the oil lamps that hung along the street, and the girls watched the men as they moved from lamp to lamp with a ladder and a light.

  They were being illuminated against the encroaching night.

  Now, the sun fell slowly behind the building, casting its long shadow deep into the streets of the city. The heavy shadows dampened the excitement of the girls, their weight almost palpable. They edged closer to Glem’s broad back as they hurried after him through the streets.

  They quickly found the inn described by the guard, hidden away on a side street, the fork and ladle clearly painted on the swinging sign above the door making it easy to spot.

  The inn lay in a decent part of the city, on a street that was well cared for. But it managed to take things to a higher level. The ambiance was subtle, yet homely, the large lamps that bracketed the carved door already lit against the encroaching night.

  They were a welcome sight for travelers arriving late.

  The warmth of the inn extended outward, with the walk and street having been swept and the stone walls of the inn scrubbed recently. The thick oak beams of the second floor overhung the walkway and shadowed it, causing the travelers to veer toward the warmth of the reddish light of the lanterns. For the first time in days, the travelers felt a sense of safety.

  "This is the place," Glem said. “Looks good to me.”

  He opened the door. There was a row of trestle tables along one wall suitable for large groups, and the community tables had a handful of people on one end, who all glanced up as they entered the inn. A couple of other tables scattered through the room were also occupied, but given the size of it, the room was mostly empty. A small fire in the hearth burned cheerily, and a minstrel, at the table closest to the fire, stared into his beer as if seeking to conjure up something exciting to help him pass the quiet night.

  The good impression created externally continued way beyond the threshold of this place, as the stone slabbed floors were pristine too, and the small, plump sweeper woman was standing, broom in hand, behind the small bar at the back of the room. She wielded her broom like a weapon, but her face was welcoming, wearing an easy smile.

  A mess of brown hair pulled back with a kerchief finished off her quite matronly look.

  From the group at the long table, a big man stood, his head nearly brushing the ceiling beams as he came to his full height.

  "Can I help you?" he asked.

  "You must be Oarf," Glem replied.

  "Must I?" the big man asked.

  "And that would likely make you Eiriean," Glem said as he looked over at the woman with the broom.

  "I'm Glem. This is Alyra and Rues," he said, gesturing to each of them as he named them. "Jorick said we might be able to get a room for the night here and that you were the best cook in the city," Glem said.

  He looked back and forth between the large man and woman with the broom.

  "Two of you carry swords. Will you be bringing trouble with you?" the big man asked.

  "No trouble that wasn't coming already," Glem replied.

  "I'm Oarf, and Jorick was right,” the big man said, apparently having decided to believe what he was being told. “Eiriean is the best cook in the city."

  He smiled and nodded toward the woman with the broom. She said nothing but her cheeks pinked, and she set to with the broom again although there wasn’t a single speck to sweep.

  "If you have a room, we would like to get settled and have a meal," Glem said.

  "Of course, you can take the room at the top of the stairs and to the right. There are four stars carved on the door, painted yellow, and its windows look out over the street. It has two beds, and you’ll have to share the space, but it's the last room we have left," Oarf said. "Once you are settled, come down and Eiriean will feed you."

  "Thank you," Glem replied as he nodded to Oarf.

  Following the directions to the room, the rest of the inn matched the neat care shown below, and the door to the room with four intricately carved stars, each neatly filled with yellow paint, was easily found. Each door bore a different carving: a moon; a sun; tulips; a tree.
>
  Whispering behind him, Alyra said to Rues, "Did you see how big he was, like a giant?"

  "When he stood, I thought he was going to hit the ceiling," Rues replied.

  "Hush, come into the room," Glem interjected while closing the door. "Girls, you take the bed by the hearth, and I'll take the other. You can set your things in the chair over by the window. Alyra, take that sword off and set it by the bed. Rues, same for the hammer. I know you aren't ready to set it down yet, but please, let it rest a bit while we eat, at least."

  After setting their equipment down in the room, they returned to the tables.

  Alyra crossed to one of the tables. "Let's sit near the fire. I’m cold."

  "Wait here, I'm going to speak to our host and order some food," Glem said.

  He walked across the room to speak with Oarf and Eiriean who both stood near the bar, talking softly together.

  Glem slipped a coin from his pouch as he walked toward the couple. Would a single coin even be enough for a place as clean and neat as this?

  "I'd like dinner for the three of us and beer. The room is more than good,” Glem said. As he handed the coin to Eiriean, he asked, "Will that cover the room and dinner?"

  Eiriean looked at the small silver coin in her hand, and her eyes went wide.

  "Aye, well, for a couple of days. How long'll you be stayin'?"

  "I had forgotten how expensive the capital is compared to the outlying cities," Glem grunted. "Let me know when that runs out then. If we are still here."

  "I'll have your dinner out quickly, Sir," Eiriean said.

  "Just Glem, lass."

  "Yes, Sir, and thank you for calling me lass, but I'm old enough those girls could be my daughters," Eiriean said. She giggled as she turned through the swinging door into the kitchen.

  "After dinner, I have to run an errand,” Glem went on, now addressing the giant. “And I'll pay you to keep an eye on the girls while I'm out, so they stay out of trouble."

  "I can do that," Oarf replied. “There’ll be no trouble coming their way, that I can say.”

  With a nod and a wide grin, Glem returned to his table.