B008P7JX7Q EBOK (27 page)

“Adrian! That man, he’s a Kuwait!” he exclaimed,
pointing at a very dark-skinned man further up the street.

“Keep your finger to yourself,” Alexis warned.
“That man might decide to cut it off if he chooses, and I just might let him.”

“Oh,” Connor said. He looked at the vendors’
booths on both sides of the street, marveling at the different assortments they
carried. He breathed in the smell of spices coming from a red mountain on a
hawker’s table, and then marveled at the next stall where long strips of meat
hung from hooks. “It’s all so different,” he whispered.

“Did you expect everything to be the same as in
Grandal?“ the Legionnaire asked.

“No,” Connor answered, looking all around him.
“But I didn’t think it could vary this much.”

They marched through the thick crowd, staying
close to one another lest they be separated.

“Some of the women here are dressed like men,”
Adrian remarked.

“It’s Marith,” Alexis said, as if that was
explanation enough.

They came to pillar in the market that was
plastered with bills. Many were mostly advertisements, promising miracles in
small bottles, but here and there were news pamphlets. The Legionnaire scanned
through a few, shaking his head.

“What are you looking for?”

“Word of Haven.”

Connor scanned the other bills that hung there.
A few were notices of murderers and outlaws. His eyes lingered on those.

“There’s nothing here,” Alexis said. “Come. We
need to purchase horses.”

4

By the time dusk rolled around they had seen
only one man about the horses, and his price had proven to be too high. They
decided to take a room at an inn, and wait until the morning before continuing
their search. They bathed in the inn’s baths, glad to be rid of the dirt and
smell that clung to them, and then sat in the common room to enjoy their first
meal in what felt an eternity. As a serving girl came to place their dinner on
the table, Alexis stopped her and asked if she had heard any news of
Legionnaires from Grandal. He was growing tired of asking everyone, and aware
that it singled them out in the minds of the citizens, but his need to know was
imperative.

“Haven? Nay, I do not know where that is,” the
girl said humbly. “And Legionnaires, well there may always be rumors about that
sort.”

Alexis thanked her and let her go on her way. He
hadn’t expected much, but his disappointment weighed heavy nonetheless.
What
happened to you, Hamar, Owain?
He began to eat, and then became aware of a
man sitting a few tables away who glanced towards them too often for it to seem
inconspicuous. Alexis looked around the room, feigning interest in two women
that strode through the door, and got a quick look at the other man. The man’s
coat, the sole glove that he wore on his left hand, and the way he held himself
screamed
Legionnaire
in Alexis’s mind.

The man stood up and started towards them,
wavering a little and steadying himself with a hand that passed from table to
table. Alexis looked at the man and met his cold gaze calmly.

“Why do you want to know about Legionnaires in
Haven, boy?” the man demanded.

Alexis smiled in a benign manner. The man was
drunk he saw at once. “I was simply curious. I had heard of a scuffle, but not
much else.”

“Legionnaire business is no concern of yours,
boy,” the man said flatly.

Alexis realized that the man knew the answer to
his inquiry, but wouldn’t divulge it to a stranger. He contemplated hard on
showing the man the mark of the Legion on his hand, and at last pushed the
thought away; he didn’t dare risk revealing himself, even to a fellow
Legionnaire. He wanted to ask the man nonetheless, but the fumes that had led
the man’s words told him perhaps it was wise not to. “Of course not,” he said.
“I was merely curious. I have always admired Grandal’s Legion.”

The man had started to turn away, now he paused
and looked at him, then sneered something inaudible and walked off.

“Who is he?” Connor asked.

Alexis watched the man leave the inn. “A
Legionnaire.”

“Are you sure?” Adrian asked just atop his
cousin. “Why didn’t you tell him you’re one as well.”
 

“I thought about it,” Alexis said. “But in the
end I think it safer if he doesn’t know. We can’t let word of our mission
spread. Also, even him being a Legionnaire, I’m not sure what he would have
done if he had found out who you were.” The concern he left unvoiced was he
wasn’t sure if he could trust the man at all, or anyone they met.

They ate the rest of their meal in relative
silence before retiring to their room.

5

Adrian lay on a bed that felt as strange to him
as the rest of the city, and wondered just how far they had left to go. Connor
had marveled at how far they had come, but he thought it was still a long way
to go before they ever reached the Source. And of the Ruins? He didn’t even
want to think what such lands could hold. What creatures would roam under an
ever-lasting dark sky? He didn’t want to find out.

Across from him rested Alexis and Connor. The
Legionnaire had insisted that they all share the same room, so that he would be
there if anything should happen. They were already asleep, and he supposed the
reason he himself was still awake was because he feared what the dreams would
bring him tonight.
Always the dreams
, he thought,
it always comes to
them again.

When he did at last fall asleep, he dreamt of a
massive flock of ravens, blocking out the sky in a fog of black wings, and in
that immense cloud he could feel eyes searching, searching. Searching for him,
he knew.

An
Old Friend

1

The next morning, after eating a small
breakfast, they continued their search to find a horseseller. They met with
three men, and Alexis bargained with them hard, but in the end the Legionnaire
couldn’t get any of the men to drop their prices enough to what they could
afford. He stopped asking about news of Legionnaires after the first two men
gave him suspicious glances and told him they knew nothing.

They headed back to the inn to catch a respite
from the molten sun that hung high in the sky. Adrian marveled at the wonderful
sights Sune had to offer. They passed small palaces, and large racing tracks;
the former held an elegant beauty in their design, while the latter were
obviously well-dressed gambling pits. Crowds congregated around the racing
domes, large throngs going in and out. Adrian quickly learned that that was the
most popular entertainment enjoyed by the majority of the citizens.

He stared down towards the docks, and saw the
bazaar still teeming with people, and wondered if the flow ever slackened. He
looked for the Sea Spirit at the docks but did not see it. At Connor’s request
Alexis stopped them at a canvas-topped booth and bought them both roasted ears
of corn.

“At least we have enough for that,” Alexis
muttered.

 It tasted different than any other corn Adrian
had eaten, and he put it down to the spices that it was cooked in and the sour
juice that it was covered in. Alexis said the juice was from something called a
lemon, and that it was also used to make drinks. Adrian wasn’t sure he wanted
to drink anything made from that sour juice.

They were about to step into a small mercantile
shop, at Connor’s curious behest once again, when they were hailed by a voice.

“Alexis? Alexis Marshall, is that you?”

Adrian turned with the others and saw an old man
with white hair and dressed in elegant fabrics come rushing up to them.

“Landerly!” Alexis cried in bewilderment. He
caught the other man in a warm embrace.

 “I thought it looked like you,” said the man as
he stepped back. “My, you have grown.” There was a slight accent to his words
and he seemed to speak slowly, Adrian observed.

“You’ve grown as well, I see,” Alexis said, and
laughed.

Landerly dismissed it with a gesture of his
hand. “It comes with the times. What are you doing in Sune? You sound
different, you know?”

“I’m on a mission from the King, but what are
you doing here? Last I knew, you still lived in Gale.”

“I became too bored with life in Gale and sought
out someplace new to me. I found it here.” Landerly looked at Adrian and
Connor, as if just realizing they were there. “Now, who are these two?”

“This is Adrian and Connor Moor, they ... they
are part of my mission,” Alexis explained.

“Pleasant lads,” said Landerly, and shook the
boys’ hands. “Now, what kind of a mission are you on? No, no, wait, do not tell
me here, we will go to my house and talk there, not like strangers in the
street.”

They followed the man to his house, with Adrian
and Connor bringing up the rear and looking at the two men in curious wonder.
Adrian couldn’t help but notice how jovial Alexis looked at meeting someone he
knew. He realized that until he had seen the Legionnaire’s reaction to a
familiar face, he had never thought how alone he might really be.

“How long have you been living here, Lander?”
Alexis asked as they walked up the street.

“Oh, a year or so now,” Landerly answered. “So,
you are still in training then, I presume?”

“No,” Alexis said with humble pride. “I passed
my test.”

The old man stopped in the street and gaped at
him. “You are in the Legion then?”

“Yes,” Alexis said, and grinned.

“That is great news!” cried Landerly. “Your
father must have been proud of you.”

“In his own manner,” Alexis said. Adrian heard
more than saw his grin slipping away.

Landerly’s house was a great white structure
that toppled over the surrounding buildings. Tall walls of white gave way to a
small courtyard that led to the house itself. As they passed through the
courtyard Adrian saw several servants moving about their chores. Alexis noticed
them as well.

“You’ve done quite well for yourself, Lander.”

“Well, riches come with success.”

“Landerly was one of the biggest merchants in
Gale before he retired,” Alexis explained to Adrian and Connor.

“My wealth is nothing compared to your
cousin’s,” Landerly told Alexis and laughed. “How could I ever match up to the
prince of Teihr?”

Adrian looked to Connor, and then both their
eyes darted to the Legionnaire.

“You’re related to the prince of Teihr?” Connor
asked.

“Not just prince, but king soon,” Landerly put in.

Alexis stopped on the wide steps leading to the
front door. He frowned at Landerly, and then looked at the two of them and
sighed. “I’ll explain later.”

7

Inside, it was quite cool, despite the heat
outside. They followed Landerly through aqua halls lined with paintings and
hangings. Adrian immediately detested the color. They came to a large room with
bookshelves lining the walls. Large, padded chairs stood around a small,
brightly waxed ironwood table. Adrian looked at the books all around him, and wondered
when the last time was that he had seen even a quarter this many books. Never,
he realized.

Landerly sat down in one of the large cushioned
chairs and motioned for them to do so as well. A servant came and Landerly
ordered her to bring hot tea and biscuits for all of them.

“So, you need horses, do you?” the old man asked
once they were seated.

“Yes,” Alexis answered. The opulence all around them
didn’t seem to surprise him at all. “We’ve been trying to buy some from here,
but might as well buy a palace for the price the sellers ask.”

“Do not worry, my boy,” Landerly said. “Horses I
have plenty, and I will give them to you for half what the sellers ask for.”

“That’s very gracious of you, Lander.”

“Think nothing of it.How long are you staying in
Sune?”

“We plan on leaving as soon as we can,” Alexis
told him. “We must reach Gale.”

“Funny,” Landerly said, smiling. “I decide to
leave Gale, and you are heading back there. Is it part of your mission?”

“Yes.”

“Well, what kind of a mission is that? To escort
two boys to the city?”

Adrian had been looking about the room, now his
attention was drawn to the Legionnaire, wondering if he would tell this old
friend of his the truth.

“I suppose they are only giving me smaller tasks
to start with,” Alexis said with a false smile.

The old man’s gaze fell on Adrian and Connor
once more, and he smiled as he looked at them studying the room. “And where do
you lads hail from?”

Connor started at the question, but Adrian was
quick to answer. “Port Hope.