Peorum was a small town, not nearly the size of Brinn or Taburdum. Most of it was made of wood, although there were still plenty of marble buildings speckling the town. None of the buildings were very large, and only a few were more than one story tall. Still, it was clean and well organized, with cobblestone streets crisscrossing between the buildings. Many of them appeared to be inns, and Alana assumed that it was because Peorum was a town built for travelers.
They weaved through the streets looking for the shops where they could buy the items they needed. Rommus had already found a place to purchase food for travel, and he bought enough to last them a while. He was also able to buy larger water skins there. They stopped and ate again, wanting to be full before they left Peorum. It would probably be the last hot meal they had for a while.
"Over there," Rommus said. "That looks like a place that sells clothing. Let's go in there."
They dodged the people on the street and waited for horses to pass as they made their way to the shop. The man inside looked to be a friendly fellow, and greeted them right away.
"Good day to you sir and madam. What can I do for you?"
"Hello," Rommus said. "Do you happen to have any capes of black fabric?"
The man frowned and cocked his head. "Black fabric? No, I have no black fabric. This is Medora, my boy."
"I know we're in Medora. I am traveling into Vindyrion and I don't want to stand out with a bright color. What is the darkest color cape you have?"
The man grabbed his chin and looked to the ceiling. "Well, if my memory serves me right, and it usually does, I have some darker purple in the back somewhere. Let me go look." The man turned and disappeared through a doorway.
"Rommus, you can always wait until we get to Vindyrion to get one in black. You said we weren't that far."
"I know that, but the nights are getting cooler now, and I think we should both have something to cover up with. Besides, I can't have this sword gleaming in the sun and attracting the wrong attention. I don't want to risk having Mages recognize it."
"Yeah I guess you're right. And you're right about the cold. My shirt doesn't even have sleeves."
"We'll get you a new one then. We both will."
The man reappeared with a smile on his face, carrying an armful of capes. "You're a tall one, which one of these is the best fit?"
Rommus held up a few of the capes until he found the proper size. "This one will do. I need one for the lady too, in whatever color she likes. We both need long-sleeved shirts as well. I'll take something in dark red if you have it in my size."
"Of course my Lord. And what colors does the lady like?"
Alana looked around her at all the fabric in the shop. "Wow, you have so many beautiful colors. I don't know what to pick." She ran her hand over some fabric on a nearby shelf. "I guess I will go with a dark blue for both. I am fond of blue." The man bowed his head to her and disappeared again.
"This is a lot nicer than what I was picturing," Rommus said. "I was thinking something less elegant."
"Elegant? That's just an ordinary cape. It doesn't even have a different color lining or anything. Just because it's made of fine fabric doesn't make it elegant."
He rolled the dark purple fabric between his fingers. "I guess you're right. I'm just not really a person to wear capes."
The shopkeeper appeared again with several items for Alana to look at. She chose a cape that was reversible, one side being a deep blue satin, and the other a heavier cloth of lighter blue. It was hemmed in gold and looked like something that royalty would wear. For her shirt, she chose something simpler, and in fact it was pretty much the same shirt she had on, except it had long sleeves.
"Is this shirt big enough for you, my Lord?" the shopkeeper asked as he handed a dark red shirt to Rommus.
Rommus held it to his chest. "I think so. We also need some kind of travel pack. Do you sell those here?"
"Yes my Lord, they are over in that corner."
Rommus went and found a suitable pack and brought everything to the counter and paid for it. They said farewell to the happy shopkeeper and left the building. When they came out into the sunlight, their breath caught in their throats. A Mage stood against a wall across the street. He was facing them, but he did not pay them any particular attention. Rommus nudged Alana in the direction he wanted her to go and she obeyed.
"Do you think he saw us?" she asked as they rounded a corner.
"I don't know. You can never see their eyes under those big hoods they wear, and they always seem to be standing in the shadows. But he didn't react at all when we came out of the shop, so he probably does not know who we are."
"What about the sword? Did he see it?"
"I don't think so. I was careful to cover it when I saw him. Let's get these capes on so that we can throw him off if he is following us. He won't be looking for people in capes."
Rommus put on the small travel pack and they both put on their capes. They looked in all directions and then cut through some alleys before emerging at another line of shops on a different street. Their attention was immediately drawn to a rather loud man in a white robe in the center of the street, surrounded by people.
"Who is that man?" Alana asked.
"I don't know his name, but he is a Noble."
"You mean he is royalty?"
"No, we use the word differently than you do. We don't have royalty here, although an Emperor is sort of like a King. In Vindyrion your Nobles are more like an upper class of people that have royal blood. Here, Nobles ?or Noblemen?are part of the Empire. They don't rule anything, but they are part of the process."
"I thought the Emperor was the sole ruler of the Medorans."
"He is. But he believes in listening to the people he rules. He can't make time to speak with every Medoran, so he speaks to the Nobles," Rommus said as he backed up against a wall in the shadows, pulling her with him.
"So how is speaking with these Nobles like speaking to the people?"
"Well, the people choose who the Nobles are. Every two years, the people from different areas decide who best represents them. Of course, it doesn't happen everywhere at the same time. Some places choose their Nobles one year, and other places choose them the next year. This keeps things from changing too drastically."
"I see," she said. "The Nobles in Vindyrion are all gone now. There is no one left in the royal family except the King and Queen, his sister and his niece. It's quite a problem for the King, and it's all anyone talks about these days."
"Well can't the King just choose a successor? That's what would happen here if the Emperor didn't have a son. He would just choose a new Emperor that he felt was worthy to replace him."
"I don't know. I don't think that has ever been done. I am not sure that the Vindyri would support someone without royal blood."
"That's ridiculous. Blood does not make you a ruler. It takes knowledge and wisdom, it's not a birthright."
She frowned up at him. "But isn't the Emperor's son to become Emperor?"
"Yes, he is. When the Emperor dies, Uritus will take his place. But the Nobles have ways of removing Emperors who are unfit to rule."
"How do they do that?"
"I don't know. I have never seen them do it. In fact I don't remember ever seeing them do anything more than fight with each other."
They listened as the man's loud voice overpowered their own. "You see, good people of Medora, that the Emperor has once again abused his authority and put us all at risk. His desire for power will drain our economy and tax the Legions beyond their limits, leaving us unprotected. We must do what we can to stop this war with the Bhoors. They are a good people and we cannot let the actions of a few condemn the entire group."
A man on the street yelled a response. "But the Bhoors are attacking the Vindyri. How can we allow that to happen to our neighbors to the east?"
The Noble smiled a smug smile and raised his hand, demanding silence. "Good sir, you do not understand the intricacies of warfare. Moreover, you see
m to misunderstand the balance we must maintain with the people of all our lands. We must go out of our way to accept, and not offend the Bhoors. We must leave them to their business with the Vindyri, so that we can uphold our beliefs of tolerance and acceptance. It is the only way a civilized nation is permitted to behave."
"How can he say that?" Rommus asked rhetorically. "He's saying that we must watch the Vindyri die because it is wrong to pass judgment on the Bhoors."
"But Rommus, acceptance is important. I know you don't believe the things I do, but he's right about being civilized. No nation can look down on another for their beliefs."
Rommus turned his attention from the Noble down to her. "Is your idea of acceptance so universal that you would rather have your people be slaughtered than protect yourselves? Are the rights of the enemy more important than the rights of the innocent? How can you have sympathy for the Bhoors, and only apathy for the Vindyri?"
She could not think of an answer that she thought he would understand. "I don't know Rommus. I guess I never thought of things that way."
"Come on. I can't stand to hear this fool speak another word. Let's get out of here."
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