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Chapter 4 – First Steps
Jesipam caught herself dozing off and gave her head a shake to clear away the sleepiness. Her horse, Pakke, shied a little to the left, but only a little. His ears pricked up – alert to receive his rider's signals. Jesipam realized that she had accidentally kicked the animal in the side as she dozed. She straightened up in her saddle. I must be confusing the poor beast. Jesipam mused. She stroked his neck. The horse's stiff hair felt warm and sweat-slick in the cool morning air.
Jesipam glanced ahead to where the travel group's official leader, A'Teslem drove their supply wagon. She saw his silver ponytail gleaming on his thin back. He wore a plain white shirt, and though she couldn’t see them at the moment, he had seen his pale gray trousers.
Blonre had said that the A’Teslem’s pony tail and light colored clothes were A’Teslem’s way of indicating that he intended to wear ‘The White’ when he became old enough to be considered a true elder. He wanted people to know that he intended to serve all of A’Tlaran, not just one house or class. That knowledge gave Jesipam more confidence in her decision to come on this journey. She wanted to do the same thing when she became old enough… if she ever lived to be that old!
Jesipam looked up. The blue-gray sky spread above her as milky-translucent as an opal - still glittering with faint stars. Only the palest pools of gold light shown from between the crests of the mountains to the east. Still, the sky was notably brighter than when Blonre shook her awake earlier that morning.
She remembered looking up into his face as he crouched over her. The dim light of her neighbor’s glow grass lamp traced his nose, chin and left cheek in greenish strokes, but his deep set eyes and right side remained dark.
It had taken a moment for Jesipam’s mind to make sense of this sight. She reached up to toss back her blanket. Her hand brushed against the buttons of the new travel vest she wore. The sensation reminded her: the travel group started this morning. She had promised to accompany Blonre to Watertown this early in the morning to help him greet the travelers as they arrived at the designated meeting place.
She rose, already dressed in travel clothes, and felt around the foot of her mattress for the knapsack she packed the night before. When her hand touched on her glow grass lamp, she lifted its hood – just a little, to let out light to help her see. Lilitram stirred on the mattress next to hers. Jesipam looked over to see her sister eying her from under half closed lids. Jesipam drew in a breath then picked up her bags and pulled the hood back down to dim the lamp.
“I won’t do any practices while you are gone.” Lilitram hissed.
Jesipam expected something like this. Lilitram had been needling and complaining to Jesipam ever since she heard that Jesipam planned to leave this summer. “I’m counting on you not practicing,” Jesipam replied. This is what her uncle advised her to say when Jesipam consulted him about Lilitram’s sulky behavior.
“I mean it!” Lilitram whined.
“I know you do.” Jesipam congratulated herself for keeping her voice soft and calm – even though Lilitram raised her voice to the point where sleepers around her stirred.
Lilitram flipped her body onto her stomach and buried her head deep into her pillow.
“Good –bye, Lil. I’ll see you in a couple of months!” Jesipam whispered. She bent down to give her sister a hug. Lilitram shrugged her off. The rebuff hit its mark, but Blonre stood behind her, watching. Jesipam didn’t want to display family troubles in front of him. She drew herself up, hoisted her knapsack onto her shoulders and nodded to Blonre to lead the way. They crossed the shadowy courtyard, weaving their way quietly between the sleeping mats to avoid waking the people around them.
When she and Blonre reached the door that led out of the Children’s Court Jesipam paused a moment to look back. She saw the small, shadowy outline of Lilitram lying on her mattress, her face still buried in her pillow. Her pose was of a person hiding rather than the slack-muscled prostration of sleep. Jesipam felt her chest tighten in dismay.
She silently called a blessing upon her sister. Kind spirits, watch over Lilitram. Keep her safe and happy. Help her feel loved and guided while I’m away. Without realizing what she was doing Jesipam extended a hand toward her sister. She felt a warmth flow from her hand toward Lilitram.
Blonre put a hand on Jesipam’s shoulder. “She’ll be all right. I remember how hard it was to leave my charges when I stopped being a baba. But you know, they were just fine without me.”
It had struck Jesipam then that Blonre probably had no idea of the strength of the bond between her and her little sister. They shared more than bloodlines. She and Lilitram had she been abandoned together, suffered threats on their lives together, twice fled their homes together, and had to restart their lives together in two very different households.
Now she watched Blonre’s features as they rode side by side down the winding path that led to the river and Watertown. In the cool pre-dawn light his smooth features looked as though they could have been carved in marble. He seemed calm, confident, and totally focused on the tasks ahead of him.
Jesipam found her mind jumping between the tasks ahead and the things she left behind – especially her little sister. “Blonre, do you have any brothers or sisters?”
Blonre looked over and smiled. “I’ve got a brother. Last I heard, he was a soldier patrolling the hills to keep the hill folk from raiding our iron shipments.”
Jesipam brightened. She knew something of such patrols from her uncle. “Really? Which House does he fight for?”
Blonre shrugged. "I haven't seen or heard from him in years. He left when I had seen only eight springs. I think he writes to our mother sometimes, but I don't see her much anymore either."
Jesipam cocked her head to the side. "How come?"
Jesipam saw a shower of yellow and red sparks fly from Blonre's aura as he registered that question, but his face stayed calm. "How come I don't see my mother much?"
Jesipam nodded.
Blonre glanced away from her gaze. He let out a short puff of breath underscored with a noise that sounded halfway between a laugh and a sob. His reaction alarmed Jesipam. She worried that her question cut too deep. But then he gave a shiver that seemed to literally shake off his feelings. He turned his head back to Jesipam and looked her straight in the face. "So tell me, why don't you see your mother much?"
The question took Jesipam by surprise, and distracted her from Blonre's reaction. "You know why I don't see my mother!"
Blonre wagged a finger at her. "I know about your problems with your father. That doesn't say anything about your mother."
Jesipam glanced ahead to A'Teslem on the supply wagon. His attention seemed fixed on the road ahead. The clatter of the wheels against the rocky road seemed sufficiently loud to keep him from hearing her.
Still, Jesipam nudged her horse closer to Blonre's and leaned toward him so that he could hear her whisper. "My mother lives in the same castle as my father. From what I've heard, she is so ill that she doesn't even leave her tower. My father would kill me if I went back. Besides..." She paused and drew in a breath to steady voice before speaking again. "My mother stopped seeing me long before I left Blue House."
Blonre stared at her. Jesipam felt her heart thumping in her chest - as it always did when she thought about the way her mother abandoned her. She tried to shift her thoughts to more cheery subjects, but Blonre's gaze seemed to pin the thought at the front of her mind.
"Mosquito, does your mother even know where you are now?"
Jesipam shrugged. "They say that she uses the Stillen Tir to see things. I expect that with the magic of the Tir she could see just about anything she wanted to see."
Blonre gave her a sidelong look. "Do you think she keeps on using the Tir if she's sick? I've heard that the Tirs are pretty tricky to operate. It takes a lot of energy and concentration."
"And I've heard that it's the Tir that made her sick." Jesipam tapped a finger against the side of her head. "They say the Tirs make people crazy!"
"I don't know, Mosquito. They didn't make the Stillens crazy."
"Well the Stillens aren't like regular people!" Jesipam hissed.
Blonre shook his head. "They can't be that different from everyone else. I mean, you can't cross a cat with a dog. They just don't produce offspring together. But there are plenty of people who can point to both Stillens and regular people as their ancestors."
Jesipam felt her face grow hot. Memories from her early childhood in Blue House came rushing back to her. The taunts of the other children echoed in her mind: Pale as a Stillen...Puny as a Stillen...Hair like a Stillen. . You look like a Stillen... Images of small pale Stillens: humiliated and begging at the front gate; segregated from everyone else; hunted down and beaten…the stories of the wicked Stillens and how cruel they were when they ruled the land… She didn't want to be associated with them. She didn't want to even think that maybe... Feelings of anger and panic rose inside her.
Jesipam fought off those feelings. She told herself that she just didn't like the idea of facing those taunts again - especially from someone she considered a friend! The thought gave her a measure of control over the panic.
She held her chin up and faced Blonre squarely, but she felt the anger tightening her throat as she started to speak. "Are you saying..."
Blonre drew back and held a hand in front of his face, as if to defend himself. "All I'm trying to say is that maybe your mother is not crazy. Maybe she would like to see you if she knew where you were. She may really be sick. Beslre may be poisoning her -not enough to kill her – because if she dies, he loses the throne (the throne is in her line, not his) but enough to keep her down – to keep her from tossing him out and putting someone better on the throne."
Jesipam nodded. His words appeased her. Jesipam remembered overhearing her cousin A'Lomre saying that he'd like to marry her so that he could rule Blue House, and then poison her in just the same way Blonre proposed that her father was poisoning her mother.
"There are rumors at Blue House to that effect," Blonre continued. "The rumors may just be wishful thinking. A lot of people would like to get rid of Beslre without provoking succession wars. Having your mother rise from her sick bed and boot him out would be one way to do that. However, the fact that people wish it, doesn't mean it's not true. Maybe all she needs is…" Blonre glanced ahead at A'Teslem and stopped mid-sentence. He drew in his breath, paused a moment and then reached out to touch Jesipam's arm. He looked into her eyes. "Maybe all this time she has been hoping you will come and…"
"I can't go to Blue House. I told you – my father will kill me!" At the thought of facing her father's wrath again, a new panic rose in Jesipam throat.
Blonre withdrew his hand.
"I'm sorry. It's just that you seemed so sad - thinking that your mother doesn't want to see you – I'm just not sure it's true. Besides, I guess I just think that Gold House is not the best place for… someone like you. You are just hiding out there. That's no way to live!"
Blonre's talk of her mother planted a seed of hope inside her. Jesipam felt her panic subsiding. Still, she felt eager to change the subject. "You sound like my Uncle Rogna. Only he wants me to go to Red House instead of Blue House.
Blonre smiled. "Do you think maybe we're right?"
"Well, as you might recall, I don't plan to stay at Gold House forever. I plan to join the Brown Robes –that's why I am going on this journey with you."
Blonre paused. His expression changed. “What does your uncle think of your plans? Does he disapprove of this journey?” Jesipam noticed an edge of worry creep into his voice.
She smiled. “Well, I’m not sure he knows that I want to join the Brown Robes. But as to disapproving of this journey… No. In fact, he told me that he thinks traveling is good preparation for the life he wants for me!”
Blonre’s stifled laugh came out as a quiet snort. Jesipam had told him about her uncle’s plans for her. “Well, it could be that!” he whispered.
Jesipam reflected that she was lucky Blonre couldn’t read minds. Otherwise he might pick-up how Uncle Rogna questioned her about the travel group’s leaders, and how he sent out spies to check on them. Her uncle then made Jesipam promise to spend a day with him, discussing the details of her trip when she came back – "to correct any misconceptions she might develop on her travels." Apparently her uncle didn't trust Blonre's and A'Teslem's view of things. She reached out to her dream-answer-place, I wonder why? No answer came back.
Instead, a song started running through her head. It was a song she'd learned as a young child at Blue House:
In Melta’s house there lived a bear,
a bear and monkey too.
Monkey said, “Bear, if you dare, I have a plan for you."...
Jesipam shut off the thought. She was afraid that if she let the song run through her head, she might start humming it. She didn't want to be caught humming childish songs – not on her first grown-up journey, and with a handsome young man at her side!
Jesipam drew in a deep breath of cool morning air and looked down the road into the valley below. She watched a shepherd clamber out of his small felt tent. He stood and stretched while his companion poked at a smoldering cook-fire. Their flock grazed nearby. The sound of their collar bells peeled across the pasture lands which stretched down the hillside and disappeared into shadow.
As they rode on, Jesipam heard a chirp of a bird from a far tree and then another and another. More and more birds joined in, until a great chorus of bird song rose and echoed through the valley. A ray of light pierced into the valley. Jesipam looked behind her to see a wedge of sun peeking through the cleft between two mountains.
Remembering that staring at the sun could blind a person, Jesipam turned her eyes back to the road. She watched as the ray of light grew and spread, turning the grays and shadows into vibrant green grass and trees, all shimmering with dew.
"You can see Watertown!" Blonre called. He pointed to the bottom of the valley where a bank of mist swirled. "There, you can see the watch tower and the tops of the inns just above the fog."
Jesipam noticed what looked like a small white-washed house with a red tile roof and large windows floating on the fog. Then, a little to the left of the "house", the climbing sun hit a row of windows that reflected the light like a line of tiny gold flames. Jesipam squinted to make out the shape of the gray slate roof above the windows. A moment later the glare of the sun bouncing off a second row of windows below the first, obscured the sight of the roof. Up and down the valley, more windows flamed with morning light.
The little party traveled on. As they moved closer and the day brightened, Jesipam began to make out the shapes of more and more buildings peering through the thinning mist. Her wonder grew as little by little the size of the city became apparent to her.
She'd never seen anything that big – not anything made by humans anyway. The largest human dwelling place she'd ever seen was Blue House castle. She remembered those massive rambling walls completely filling her view as she left it those many years ago. Jesipam guessed this city to be many times as big as that huge structure.
Soon they passed little farmhouses on the edge of town, their windows still shuttered closed against biting insects and creatures of the night. Here and there Jesipam saw a cow or goat tethered close to a house, munching on stubbles of grass. One or two chimneys poured out the smoke of morning cook fires, but most stood cold and quiet, waiting for the household to wake.
The dirt road they had been traveling gave way to a cobblestone street. Rows of buildings lined up on either side of them. Most of them were small, simple structures of brick and stone – often mudded and painted-over in white to ward off the summer heat. Most of the roofs were unpainted terracotta, or thatch, or slate.
They passed a man opening his shop for the morning. Jesipam noticed that there was no glass in the window of his shop. Nor was there glass in the open window of a home where she glimpsed a family sitting down to breakfast.
Seeing this, she whispered in Blonre’s ear, “Why don’t they have glass in their windows.
“Too expensive,” he answered.
“More expensive than bricks?” Jesipam asked. She found it hard to believe that something as thin and fragile as glass could be more costly than something as solid and sturdy as brick or stone.
Blonre nodded. “Bricks can be made here from straw and clay found just a little up river, but glass is made far away and the cost of it has to cover not only the cost of making it and transporting it, it has to cover the cost of all the panes of glass that broke along the way – the ones they had to pay for but can't sell.”
Jesipam mind bought up images of all the windows, the mirrors, and the glass retracting roofs in the castles. “But then how did we get so much glass in the castles?
Blonre shrugged. “Taxes I guess. Besides, I think much of the glass came from the Stillen era.” He called to his lanky mentor. “A’Teslem, didn’t you once tell me that the Stillens made glass?”
A’Teslem nodded. “They used to - when they were still in power. Their glass smithies were destroyed during the war we fought to overthrow them.”
“Why?” Jesipam asked. She thought anything that valuable should have been preserved.
“Well, war is unpredictable. Often things get destroyed that everyone would rather save. It’s like a wild fire. It’s hard to contain once it starts. It tends to consume everything in its path.” A’Teslem paused. A grin spread across his face. “Of course there are rumors that the Stillens destroyed the glass smithies themselves - just to spite the people who drove them away.”
Jesipam wondered why such a rumor would make A’Teslem grin. Everyone knew that the Stillens had been tyrants. Destroying the means to make glass seemed like just another example of their mean spirit and cruelty.
She looked up at A’Teslem’s face for clues, but his gaze had turned away from her. He still smiled, but his expression remained mysterious. Jesipam saw a faint mist of black kee surround A’Teslem’s head. She knew that meant he protected a secret at that moment. She began to wonder about the leader of their travel group.
Deeper into the city, buildings rose higher, were built of more expensive materials and showed signs of fine workmanship. Glass covered the unshuttered windows of their upper floors. As they approached the river, the fine homes and shops gave way to warehouses.
Jesipam smiled. She knew they approached their meeting place. Blonre said that they arranged to gather close to the warehouses where the supplies they needed could be bought at the best prices with the least leg-work.
She looked around at the rough brick walls. Chips and chinks revealed terracotta red beneath the paint. Small high windows gave light to the buildings’ interiors without allowing people on the street to gaze inside. A few merchants were setting up stalls outside their warehouse doors to give buyers and sellers a clue to what lay inside.
They turned a corner and entered a street that led directly to the river. Its cobblestones sloped down into the water to form a ramp. A'Teslem signaled for them to stop. "This is it!" He called. Jesipam and Blonre dismounted. Blonre set to loosening his pack from his saddle but Jesipam just stood holding Pakke's reins and stared at the river.
The climbing sun now glared off the water with such intensity that it looked like a huge ribbon of fire – complete with smoky mist. It hurt Jesipam's eyes to look at it. Still, she squinted into the brilliance to watch as men pulled carts down the ramp into the water – floating them out to waiting boats where dark muscular silhouettes of men stood out against the gleam of the river. These silhouettes tossed cargo into the floating carts until they were full, then, dragged the loaded carts back up the ramp and onto the street.
One of the silhouettes jumped off his boat and walked up the ramp. He headed straight for them. As he approached Jesipam was startled to notice that the man had not looked dark just because of the contrast with the bright water - as she’d presumed. His skin and hair were actually as dark as the rich swamp mud the farmers used to fertilize their fields in the spring. He walked up to A'Teslem and spoke to him in halting, heavily accented A’Tlaran. He pointed to a group of ten or so young people filing in by the side of a warehouse.
Jesipam recognized most of the young people from Gold House Children's Court. A groom from the Gold House stables stood off to the side of them guarding a group of horses and packs. She felt embarrassed that she hadn't heard them arrive. She walked over to greet them – leading Pakke. She said hello to the kids she knew, and introduced herself to the rest.
A'Teslem came up behind her and addressed the group. "That fellow back there is wondering if some of you big strong boys might be interested in earning a little pocket money by helping them to unload their cargo. Apparently, they were waylaid by bandits a couple of times on their journey this far. Now they are afraid if they meet any more delays they won't make it across the plains before the rivers there dry up for the summer."
A boy named Kinre, whom Jesipam knew from her fight circle, gave A'Teslem a doubtful look. "Why is he asking us? We don't know him. I mean, isn't this a little unusual?"
A'Teslem shook his head. "Not at all. You are standing right where laborers looking for dock work usually stand. So naturally, he assumed that you are looking for work."
Kinre scowled. "If you knew that, why did you ask us to meet you here?"
A'Teslem spread the palms of his hands in front of him and grinned. "You're coming on this journey to learn about the world outside the castles. What better way to learn than to do what people outside the castles do?"
"Hire myself out to strangers as a manual laborer?"
"You don't have to accept the job if you don't want to – but the man's money is good." A'Teslem held up a handful of silver coins. At the sight of the coins several boys jumped forward. "I'm in!" One of the boys called. "So, what do we do? Go up and bargain with the man?"
A'Teslem shook his head. "I've already done the bargaining for you. If you want the money, grab a cart and start wading into the water."
Three young bodies dashed over to the line of carts at the top of the ramp. They grabbed carts and splashed into the water. "Hey! This water's warm!" one of them shouted.
A'Teslem nodded. "The Kosteran hot springs empty into the river just a little way up stream."
Kinre followed the other three boys down the ramp – still looking doubtful. As Jesipam watched she wished that she could earn a few coins herself. However, she knew that the boatman wanted big strong boys, not small thin girls to do his work.
The groom came up and tapped her on the shoulder. He held a hand out to her, offering to take Pakke's reins. Jesipam knew this moment would come, but she still found it hard. In the past few weeks of riding lessons she'd grown fond of this steady little gray horse. He was so much more gentle and responsive than the spirited ponies she rode in her riding lessons at Red House. She knew that once she gave him up, chances were that he would be assigned to someone else in her absence. However, it was time to start the journey and he couldn't come with her, so she had to give him up.
She molded her face into a happy mask, handed the reins to the groom and untied her pack from her saddle. She slung the pack over her shoulder and then walked over to lean against the side of the warehouse with the other kids.
The sun crested the tops of the buildings and spread its rays onto the cobblestone street. Heat poured into the thick, damp, morning air. Jesipam loosened her backpack and let it slip to the ground. It thudded against the wall of the warehouse behind her. She noticed other kids around her dropping their packs as well. The heat prompted them to pull off as many layers as modesty allowed. They all gravitated to the fast disappearing shade.
Jesipam felt the exposed skin on her face begin to burn. Reluctantly, she pulled her sun hat out of pack. She didn’t like drawing attention to her fair skin, and feared that wearing a hat so early in the morning would bring on teasing, but she also knew that red burnt skin would also invite derision; and the physical pain of the burn would add to the emotional pain of their taunting. She steeled herself against the anticipated comments as she tied the broad brimmed hat onto her head. A boy named Deelan did make a remark, but, much to Jesipam’s relief, several other girls pulled hat out of their packs and a couple of boys tied a white scarves to their heads to deflect the sun. When Deelan made a sneering comment about the boys’ “veils”, the larger of the boys lazily slumped against the warehouse wall and pulled the “veil” further down over his face. His companion did likewise. “That sun is just too cursedly hot!” he explained. His tone made it clear that he didn’t care what Deelan thought about it. Jesipam noticed that Deelan let the matter drop
A wagon brought in a few more kids to join their group, but they remained short of the number of travelers expected. Jesipam especially watched for the arrival of Janna and Tsemilan. She had hoped they would be there earlier. They said they were coming. She reassured herself.
The travelers settled in to wait for the rest of their party to arrive. Some played dice games, while others sat in groups, chatting. Blonre and A'Teslem began distributing the supplies from the wagon among the traveler's packs. They called out from time to time for the travelers to check their packs for one item or another and wrote the tally on their check lists.
Boredom made it hard for Jesipam to push back the feeling of unease that niggled at the back of her mind. The tune of the Bear and Monkey song kept running through her head. Without realizing it, she started humming.
A'Teslem looked up. "That's what we need: a song to make the time pass."
Embarrassed, Jesipam stopped humming.
Blonre laughed. "No, don't stop! Sing out so the rest of us can hear."
"It's just a stupid kid's song. I'm not a very good singer."
Blonre waved off Jesipam's protests. "Kids songs are great! Most everyone knows them – and I doubt if anyone here is ready to be a festival singer!"
Jesipam shook her head.
"Come on! I'll tell you what – I'll start singing and you join me!"
Blonre started singing:
In Melta’s house there lived a bear,
A bear and monkey too.
Monkey said, “Bear, if you dare, I have a plan for you.’
Jesipam drew in a breath and let her thin voice join Blonre's booming one.
The treasure Melta prizes most stands in that tower there.
You break the door, we’ll enter in,
The treasure we can share,
Oh! The treasure we can share …”
Little by little, other voices joined with theirs. The men and boys unloading the boats began pacing their movements to the rhythm of the song. This made Jesipam feel less conspicuous, but didn't relieve her feeling of unease... even of danger? As she continued to sing, the words of the song seemed to magnify the feeling:
Bear, he paused, then shook his head
“That door, I will not break”,
By Melta’s grace I have a home;
my meals here are at stake!
If he’d not welcomed me this year,
I fear I would be dead!
That treasure’s owned by Melta, friend,
It is not ours to take,
No! It is not ours to take!
The monkey smiled his charming smile,
“My friend, I think you’re blind”
“Melta keeps you as his slave,
and yet you call him kind.”
“He works you in his fields all day,
and beats you if you’re slow.”
Displease him and he’ll banish you.
That, I think you know.
Yes! That I think you know!
At this the bear just turned away.
“All lords are like that, friend.
Their place is to give orders,
and our place is to bend.
Displease them, and they banish you.
Please they and you stay.
Betray them, meet a bitter end.
There is no other way.
No! There is no other way!”
“There is another way, my friend,
If you are in command.”
Cast off your fear of the lash,
you can take a stand
With your own army oh my friend,
you need not bow and bend.
Treasure buys a soldier’s vows.
Your bondage you can end.
Oh! Your bondage you can end!”
Bear felt the whip scars on his back,
the calluses of his paw,
Monkey’s plan now seemed to hold the only hope he saw.
His future now, in Melta’s House, suddenly looked black.
He bowed to Monkey and he swore,
“I’ll get that door to crack!
Yes! I’ll get that door to crack!”
“Excellent!” the Monkey cried.
I’ll keep the watch and stay outside,
and I’ll whistle like a bird,
to warn if you’ve been seen or heard.
You charge and break the tower door.
When you land inside the store,
grab every bag of jewels you see
To bury ‘neath that tree.
Oh! To bury ‘neath that tree.
Bear did as he was told,
Broke down the door and stole the gold,
To bury ‘neath the chosen tree,
bounty he’d share with Monkey.
Four trips between tower and tree,
yet more lay in the treas’ry.
Bear returned one time more,
But Bear he was too bold.
Oh! Bear he was too bold!
“Stop! You thief!” a guardsman called.
Bear dropped his bags and he stalled.
“Monkey told me you’d be here,
stealing Melta’s treasure dear.”
It stunned the Bear to comprehend
the treachery of his former friend.
Fury burned in Bear’s wet eyes.
He was too late to realize!.
Oh! Too late he realized!
“Monkey! Traitor!” shouted Bear.
“You bade me do this on a dare!”
“Bear’s the liar,” Monkey said.
To this, the guardsman nods his head.
Bear charged Monkey but came too near,
to the guardsman’s fatal spear.
Bear crumpled, skewered, and bled.
The guardsman pierced Bear dead.
Oh! Treachery felled him dead!
After dark, Monkey returned
To claim the prize he never earned.
Dug up the treasure,
sack by sack to throw into his wagon back.
Went off to hire an army grand,
that won him much desired land.
Melta’s lands fell to his hands.
All bow to Lord Monkey!
Oh! Bow to Lord Monkey!
In Monkey’s house there lived a fox,
a fox and great ox too.
Fox said, “Ox, now, if you dare,
I have a plan for you.’
The treasure Monkey prizes most stands in that tower there.
If you break the door, we’ll enter in,
The treasure we can share,
Oh! The treasure we can share...”
Jesipam ended the song with a sigh of relief. I'm nervous about this journey. I shouldn't be singing songs about danger and betrayal when I feel nervous she told herself. She looked up the street towards the center of town, hoping to see a sign of Janna and Tsemilan. All she saw was a man pulling a dripping cart of newly loaded goods into town.
She began to worry that her cousins had decided not to come on the journey after all. She looked around at the group of travelers. She knew most of them, but none of them were close friends. As much as she liked Blonre, he was a near-stranger to her. She suddenly felt very alone.
She watched Blonre. She admired the way his clothes showed off his well muscled physique, his proud but playful manner, and the way he kept his composure even in this steamy heat. Blonre took charge with a manner that told everyone that he expected them to obey him. He took their questions and complaints with such easy authority that while a few people might question his judgment on this or that issue, she heard no one question his right to lead. Again, Jesipam thought about her uncle’s insistence that she would one day ascend a throne. Ridiculous! Jesipam thought. I would never be able to do what Blonre does.
A lanky boy wearing the livery of an apprentice guard slumped against the wall as if his legs had suddenly become too weak to hold him. Still, his expression remained keen. He fixed his gaze on Blonre who stood in front of the group with a tablet in hand, checking off names and equipment.
“And the reason we decided to start traveling in the heat of the summer is…?” the young guardsman asked.
Blonre glanced up from his tablet and smiled. “The reason we start traveling now is that many of the places we’ll be visiting are up in the mountains. Until summer we can’t be sure that the trails and passes are clear of snow. Besides, it gives us all a chance to escape the heat of the castles and breathe some cool mountain air!”
“Well I could use some of that mountain air right now! This is worse than the castle!” The young guardsman quipped.
Blonre pointed to the river behind him. “That’s because these red bricks are designed to gather in the heat – to keep them free from ice during the autumn freezes. That, and the fact that we're so close to where the Kosteran hot springs empty into the river. The hot springs warm the river, and the river warms the air. That’s very nice in the winter. In fact, that is what keeps this town going. The hot springs keep the river from freezing until after all the harvest is in. It allows traders to get their goods to foreign markets that would otherwise be closed to them before their grain and nuts had a chance to dry for shipping. It is a bit steamy and uncomfortable in the summer though."
“So why are we meeting here?” a girl groused.
“Because this is the best place to buy the rest of the supplies we need for the journey and…”
He paused. All eyes focused on him. Blonre looked down the rows of sullen faces. A smile crept onto his face. He made a sweeping gesture with his arms – as if to embrace the whole area. Jesipam noted that he seemed to grow taller. She knew he was about to launch into another one of his lectures. He does love being the dispenser of wisdom! She thought with a smile.
“You are now standing in Watertown – the largest most cosmopolitan town in all A’Tlaran.” Blonre’s voice echoed full and clear-toned between the warehouses. “Just about anything you use or own that is not made in the valley, came through this place. This is where the outside world meets A’Tlaran – the last port a boat can reach when traveling upriver.
“You can’t walk very far past the eastern edge of Watertown before the grade becomes too steep and the river too swift to allow traveling against the current. We get a few small boats and caravans heading downriver from the passes to the east - but even most of them stop here. For those heading further west, there are easier passes to the north and south of us.
“Merchants tell me that this is the biggest trade center until you come to A’Lmarken in the west, or Louden to the east. A’Lmarken and Louden are both out in the desert – very hot and dangerous journeys away, so when tradesmen reach Watertown, they usually sell their goods here and go home! You can find people and goods from all over the world here!”
Blonre looked over at Jesipam and gave her a wink. “And to think that many people – even from the best A’Tlaran families – never bother to visit here even once in their lives!”
“Well then, let’s see it!” grumbled the young apprentice guard. “Why should we all stand here cooking on these bricks, waiting for people who may never show up?”
Blonre rubbed his chin. “I suppose that you don’t all have to stay here.”
A’Teslem looked up from the wagon of supplies he was examining. “Blonre, before you think of dismissing these kids, I need a couple of big strong volunteers to help me repack this stuff. Oh, and make sure they leave their knapsacks with us! We have to distribute the load as evenly as possible.”
“You heard the man!” Blonre called out. “Which of you big strong fellows want to lend a hand?”
A tall, but very thin boy stepped forward, followed by a big sturdy boy. A’Teslem waved them over.
“The rest of you, leave your knapsacks in a pile against this wall here,” Blonre directed. “Make sure that your names are sewn on your sack before you leave though. We don’t want any mix-ups here!”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t want someone else spending my travel allowance,” one boy quipped.
“Take your coin purses with you - everyone!” Blonre growled.
“What if we don’t have our names on our knapsack?” one girl asked.
Blonre looked into her face. “Then, you’ll have to sew it on now.” He caught A’Teslem’s eye. “Old man, do you still have that cache of needles and orange thread?”
A’Teslem leaned over and dug into a corner of his wagon, pulled out a small cloth pouch. He tossed it to Blonre.
The girl looked up in horror. “I – I have my own thread,” she stammered. She stepped away from Blonre, sat down on the hot pavement and started digging through her knapsack.
Jesipam stifled a giggle. Orange was not considered a proper color for a person to wear on his or her body. Any Tlar seen wearing orange was suspected of being either dreadfully ignorant or, worse, adopting dangerous foreign ways. Jesipam suspected that this girl would be more careful to follow instructions from now on.
“What if someone doesn’t know how to sew?” asked a wide-eyed boy.
Blonre grinned and held out his hand to receive the offending knapsack. The boy handed it over with a most mournful look on his face. Blonre handed the knapsack to Jesipam and then tossed her the little bag with the orange thread. “Here Mosquito! You just volunteered to sew this fellow’s name on his pack!”
Jesipam felt disappointed that she didn't get to explore the city with the other kids, but grateful that Blonre recognized her sewing skill. She didn't like feeling useless. She set to work.
In a short while, the four boys finished unloading the boat and A'Teslem dispensed their payment from the bag of coins the dark man had given him. Their wet clothes clung to them and made them walk bow legged.
"Mosquito," Blonre called, "Are you about finished embroidering that name?"
Jesipam nodded.
Blonre nodded his head in the direction of the dripping boys. "These guys could use a little privacy to change out of those wet clothes. Why don't you go take a look around the town?"
Jesipam blinked. "Alone? I don't know this place. What if I get lost?"
Blonre laughed. "You really don't get out enough, do you? How are you going to become a Brown Robe with that attitude? If you lose your way, just follow the river. You'll find us eventually. Just make sure you get back here well before sunset. Things get rougher around here after dark."
"But where should I go?" Jesipam hated to sound like a baby, but she hadn't anticipated being sent out to fend for herself the first day of the journey.
Blonre threw out his arms in a dramatic sweep. "Anywhere! There is something to see on every corner of this town. Go out and see for yourself."
Jesipam saw that lingering any longer would only make Blonre think less of her. Her pride refused to let her demean herself in his eyes. She dug through her pack to find the embroidered scarves she'd brought with her as trade items, and stuffed them up her sleeves. That done, she lifted her chin and squared her shoulders. "Well, I joined this group in order to see the world. I guess I better get started."
"That's the spirit!" Blonre clapped her on the shoulder.
Jesipam gave him a smile and then turned and walked up the nearest street. She hesitated when she came to the corner. To the left, a near-empty street lined by more warehouses. To the right the road led to a street bustling with people. The stately tile roofs of grand buildings peeked over the tops of the warehouses. Jesipam headed left.
As she approached the intersection of the next street a yammer of many different languages filled her ears. People wandered up and down the streets looking at the many merchant stalls, examining their wares. Their clothes came in many colors, - not just red, yellow and blue – and the styles! – robes, trousers, and head dresses like she'd never seen – shoes like she'd never imagined – some of them no more than crisscrossed rope attached to a piece of leather that cradled the foot!. The smell of many unwashed bodies almost overpowered her. Perfumes and spices, and the smell of sizzling vegetables mixed with an unfamiliar and none-too-pleasant smell she could not quite identify.
Jesipam walked wide-eyed past the stalls. She watched people bargain with the merchants the way Blonre bargained with people who manned the booths at Spring Festival. Beads, bottles, carpets, and dishes, vegetables, clothes, cloth and spices, hinges, nails, paintings, cosmetics. It seemed to Jesipam that everything a person might want or need was offered for sale in the booths along the street.
Her wonder doubled when she came to the end of the street and found it opened into a broad plaza lined with shops and a center area filled with rows of still more stalls and tents, with more different kinds of items for sale. She saw an entire shop filled with cages which held live animals and birds – many of them fantastically shaped and colored. A little orange monkey shook his fist and screeched at her as she walked by.
As if to mirror the song that still ran through her head, when she looked to her right she saw on man in an open part of the plaza, leading a bear on a chain. The bear lumbered and twirled on its back legs, in a sort of a dance to the tune played by another man who followed with a strange stringed instrument held to his body by an embroidered strap slung across his shoulder.
Further up the row she saw another wonder – real live camels! Tall, shaggy, long necked creatures with double humps on their backs – their humps nearly obscured by the trade goods piled between those hairy mounds. One camel, instead of carrying merchandise, carried a large sort of cradle holding a baby camel. Fascinated, Jesipam walked up to the animals with her hand outstretched to touch the baby. When she came near, the older camel bucked and let out a cry that sounded something like the squawk of a large goose. A hand grabbed her from behind and pulled her away just before the animal's long neck whipped down to bite at her. A camel driver cajoled the camel into walking further down the row, and Jesipam found herself facing a wiry boy about her height, shaking a finger at her and scolding her in a language she'd never heard before.
When the boy released her, Jesipam wandered further down the row until she came to another strange sight. In a shop window she spied strange, bloated, pale objects. When she came close, she noticed that the shop smelled of rot and blood. Jesipam stared, unable to make sense of the shop and its wares.
A plump middle-aged woman strode up to her. "So what will you be buying today?"
"What are they?" Jesipam couldn't even summon the presence of mind to disguise the wonder and repulsion in her voice.
The woman cackled. She turned to the woman behind her. "What are they, she asks!" The other woman joined in her laughter. "Dear girl, you must be from the castles!"
Jesipam looked at the women, confused. "Why do you say that?"
The first woman cocked her head to the side and gave her companion a sly wink. Her companion smirked, but turned her gaze to Jesipam. "You see, girl, if you weren't from the castles, you'd know meat when you saw it.” The woman nudged her neighbor with her elbow. “They don't eat meat in the castles."
The first woman nodded. "Of course, if you worked in the kennels, you'd know because they feed it to the dogs and cats."
"Naw!" The companion shook her head. "She still wouldn't recognize it. Castle folk don't buy meat on the bone. They have it delivered to them all cut into neat little chunks so that it doesn't offend their delicate eyes!" She pointed her nose in the air and sniffed.
Jesipam blinked. Meat on the bone. It took a moment for the words to sink in. "You mean these are dead animals? Carrion?"
The women laughed again. The first woman jabbed an elbow into the side of her companion. "That's it! It took her a while didn't it?"
"But they don't look like animals!' Jesipam protested.
"Well, you wouldn't look much like a girl if they took the skin and hair off you!"
Jesipam's head spun. She began to feel sick. "Why do you take the skin and hair off them?"
The plump woman planted her hands on her hips. "Well, tell me, would you like to bite into a mouthful of fur or feathers?"
Jesipam drew back, appalled at the thought. "I wouldn't want to bite into an animal at all!"
Her remark drew another duet of laughter. Jesipam turned and walked away – unable to bear more talk of eating flesh. She'd heard people say that folk outside the castles sometimes ate dead animals, but this was too vivid and real for Jesipam to handle with grace.
"Oh, castle girl!" One of the women shouted to Jesipam's back. "Don't go taking anything here without paying for it. You're not in the castles anymore. Here, you have to pay for everything."
"I don't want any of your carrion!" Jesipam called without turning back. She heard a peel of laughter. At this, Jesipam did stop and turn around.
"I don't mean just this shop." The plump woman shouted. "I mean anywhere outside the castles. Castle folk have a habit of just taking what they want - and I guess that works in the castles - but anywhere else, taking things without paying will land you in big trouble."
"Or even dead!" her companion added.
Jesipam nodded, thinking that she had no intention of taking anything without paying. However, she suspected that the women's warning was meant to be helpful. Feeling a need to politely acknowledge their advice, Jesipam gave them a little bow.
She turned and continued up the row, but as she looked around, she saw that every shopkeeper and stall owner within earshot was glaring at her. "Omens!" she muttered - not realizing she'd spoken the profanity out loud. "Now they all think I'm a thief!"
She quickened her pace and, as soon as possible, ducked behind a tent and dashed away from the accusing eyes. She headed for the large building whose blue tiled roof beckoned from over the tops of the booths and tents. She didn't stop running until she reached the marble steps in front of the building. She sat down on the third step to catch her breath and think.
Obviously, she had much to learn about life outside the castles! It disturbed her to learn that people from the castles had a reputation for stealing. I guess I'm going to have to learn to blend in with the local people if I don't want to be mistaken for a thief! She glanced about, searching for clues as to how the local girls dressed and moved and talked.
"You shouldn't run through a market place. People are likely to think that you're a thief." The voice from behind her made Jesipam jump. She wheeled around to see a bulky man wearing a gray uniform with a three colored sash. She gulped and then remembering herself, straightened up and lifted her chin to meet his eyes.
I'm not a thief," she stated in the steadiest voice she could manage. Her heart pounded.
The side of the man's mouth twitched. "I was just giving you a little friendly advice."
Jesipam bowed. "Thank you sir."
The man bowed his head in return. "Now, I'm afraid I have to give you another peace of friendly advice." He pointed his thumb to the building in back of him. "This house here belongs to the mayor, and he doesn't like people sitting on his steps… not without an appointment or something."
"I'm sorry! I didn't know!" Jesipam gave the man another bow and then started backing down the steps.
"Of course, I might be able to arrange a meeting with the mayor for you – if you have a little coin… The man rubbed his thumb and forefinger together, as though he was polishing a coin between them.
Jesipam stared at the gesture. She shook her head. "I don't have any coins."
The man lifted an eyebrow. "Then what are you doing in a market place?"
Jesipam felt a nudge from her dream-answer-place: Danger!
She saw the trap. If she didn't pay him, he'd threaten to accuse her of stealing. Casting around in her mind for a way out of the dilemma, she remembered her embroidery. She held up a finger to him. "I brought these to trade – if you'll just wait a moment..." she reached inside her shirt sleeve. She brought out three embroidered scarves and held them up to the man.
He took them from her hand, examined them, scowled, and handed them back to her. "I can't do anything with these."
Jesipam hesitated for a moment and then stuffed the scarves inside her shirtsleeve, slung her pack over her shoulder, and started to back away.
The man gave her a tight smile. "If you want to get a little coin, you might show those to the proprietress of the embroidery house."
Jesipam's heart pounded. She wasn't sure what the man intended by this, but she didn't want to offend him. "I don't know where the embroidery house is." She hoped her ignorance would persuade him that she was too much trouble for the money.
"It's right over there." He pointed across the plaza. "The big one with the slate roof."
Jesipam bowed. "Thank you sir." She turned and headed for the building he indicated. She wanted to run, but heeded the man's advice and kept her pace to a brisk walk.
Jesipam's heart sank when she saw the building up close. Most of the paint had worn off the gray stone walls. What paint remained on the stones looked more gray and dingy than the stones themselves. Jesipam saw a row of glass paned windows on the second floor of the building –but no windows at all on the first floor. The little wood-plank front door also looked worn and shabby.
Jesipam looked back at the mayor's house with its many windows, smooth, white walls and elaborately carved demon-chaser sculptures peeping out from under the corners of the eaves. Their bulging eyes and toothy grins were still visible from across the plaza. Too bad those bug-eyed sculptures couldn't chase off that guard! Jesipam thought, but she suspected the man was watching her from his post, so she walked up and knocked on the embroidery house door.
A young woman answered the door. It surprised Jesipam to see that she wore a simple child-white dress, partially covered by a three color apron. The young woman bowed. "May I help you?"
Her demure manner also surprised Jesipam. In the castles people rarely treated someone close to their own age or younger with such respect - unless they were known to be Upper Court. Jesipam was well aware that she looked young for her age – and she wore cheap clothing with no Upper Courtinsignias.
Jesipam pulled the scarves from her sleeve. "Someone told me that I could get money for these here." She held the scarves up to the girl. She took the scarves from Jesipam, examined them. She bowed, excused herself, and left Jesipam standing at the door.
Jesipam began to wonder if the young woman thought Jesipam had stolen the scarves. She contemplated leaving - hoping no one detained her before she could get back to the protection of Blonre and A'Teslem’s company. She took a couple of steps backward then looked to the left and the right, trying to decide which way would bring her back to the river and her travel group more quickly.
A gray haired woman came to the door. Her smile looked warm and welcoming. "Foniam says you brought us some very pretty embroidery, and that you are looking to make a little money."
Jesipam nodded.
"Well then, please come in." The woman stepped back and swept an arm towards the house interior to indicate Jesipam's welcome. "My name is Galenam. Most of the girls call me 'Grandma' though."
Galenam didn't seem suspicious or angry. Jesipam decide that it was probably safer to go in than not. She stepped inside. Galenam walked to a staircase and waved for Jesipam to come up with her. Jesipam followed the woman up to a long sunny room with a steep pitched high ceiling. Dozens of young women sat around rows of tables, cutting cloth, sewing embroidering, and wrapping up packages. They laughed and talked among themselves. They looked happy.
Damp, loose-woven white cloths hung in the open windows cooled the air as the breeze passed through them. Jesipam heard what sounded like rushing water on one side of the room. She dared to walk over and pull aside one of the window-cloths. To her delight, Jesipam saw the river rushing below her. Now I know which way to go to get back to my group. She thought. More than that though, she found the view charming. A pretty red wooden bridge arched over the water, leading to a row of small neat homes. Behind them spread verdant woodland and above the woods rose the rocky hills and then majestic mountains beyond that.
"Everyone loves that view."
Jesipam startled, fearing she'd taken too much liberty by lifting the curtain. But Galenam just smiled. "Come on. Sit at this table here. I'd like to watch how you work."
Jesipam nodded. She figured that Galenam harbored suspicions that Jesipam may have stolen the scarves, and wanted proof that they were actually her own work. Fair enough! She thought.
Galenam gave Jesipam square of silk set in an embroidery frame, two needles and a kit of different colored threads. She pulled an embroidered cloth from one of the other tables and placed it in front of Jesipam. "Do you think you can copy that?"
It looked simple enough. Jesipam nodded.
"Alright then, I'll check back with you in a little while."
As Jesipam set to work she felt herself relaxing. She hadn't realized how hot she'd felt walking around the market until she entered this cool room! The air smelled fresher up here. The sounds of the market place drifted up and mixed with the rush of the river to create a soothing background hum. It felt nice to be off her feet, attending to a familiar task and... though it hurt her pride to admit it... it felt nice to be out of the foreign throng, protected, unseen and safe. A tiny doubt began to niggle at the back of her mind. Am I really suited to be a Brown Robe? Just one day alone in a city market scares me. Maybe this travel idea was a mistake!
A voice welled up from her dream-answer-place: Give it time. This is all new to you. All things grow easier as you gain in knowledge and skill. Give yourself a chance.
The sun sank in the sky as Jesipam finished the embroidery piece Galenam assigned to her. Jesipam held up her embroidery hoop to show that she'd finished – a habit from her learning circles in the castles. It only took a few moments for Galenam to notice. The embroidery mistress walked over.
"Getting a little impatient to get my attention?" Galenam raised her eyebrows.
Jesipam pointed to the window, where the disk of the sun shown like a halo through the damp white gauze. "It's getting late."
Galenam smiled. She took the embroidery hoop from Jesipam's hand to inspect the work.
“This is good." She nodded her approval. "And you finished fairly quickly." She leaned against the table where Jesipam had been working, and folded her arms across her chest. She seemed to be sizing up Jesipam.
Jesipam met her gaze. She wanted to look as trust worthy as possible.
After a moment or two, Galenam unfolded her arms. Jesipam gathered that she'd made some kind of decision. "Let me tell you something about our little establishment." Galenam opened her arms out, as if to hold up the whole room to Jesipam. "We do fine needle work – both standard trade goods and custom orders. Our clients include people from some of the most powerful families from here to Louden. We have a reputation for producing high quality work quickly. We also have a reputation for treating all our customers with respect and courtesy – even the ones that don't seem to have much money. Courtesy costs nothing, but adds infinite value to our products – makes them more desirable. Everyone here understands that." Galenam turned her head to the left and the right – inviting Jesipam to look around the group to see the 'everyone' who understood this.
Jesipam nodded. It made sense to her that people would prefer to do business with people who treated them well. It also explained why the girl who answered the door acted so deferential toward her.
"We work hard to maintain our business reputation. We also work hard to maintain our personal reputations. As you might imagine, there are people who easily get the wrong idea about a place filled with young women. Everyone who works here, sleeps here – every night -no exceptions. No one entertains male visitors here. If male clients come, either I or Fatelan (another old lady, whom you haven't met yet) conduct the negotiations.
"The girls are allowed to visit the market three times a week, by pre-arrangement. But only in groups of five or more, and they must stay to the public areas. The girls are not prisoners. They may go other places if they pre-arrange, and if they are accompanied by an approved chaperone. We supply all clothing worn by the girls – which is, as you see, quite modest. We discourage flirting. If a girl is interested in getting married, she can tell us so. We get requests for brides almost everyday. We can broker a match for a girl. However, if a girl is caught trying to broker her own match, we ask her to leave. We are not unsympathetic to girls who wish to marry, but we must walk a delicate line with our reputation.
Again, Jesipam nodded. This seemed a bit harsh to a castle bred girl, used to seeing girls "broker their own marriages" all the time. But she'd heard that arranged marriages were common in the countryside – and wasn't her uncle trying to "broker" a marriage for her?
"We work our girls hard. Most times girls work almost from dawn to dusk, four or five days a week and partial days the rest of the time. We expect them to do all assignments in a timely manner, and if, for some reason, a girl can't complete an assignment, she needs to let one of the lead girls know this is the case, and give the reason. We expect our girls to keep honing their sewing skills and their manners. Everyone is to treat each other with respect.
"Also, no one is allowed to ask about another girl's background, or even press for their former names. We give everyone a new name when they come to us. This is because we have so many girls fleeing bad homes. If a girl knows another girl's former name, she might let it slip while she is shopping in the market place. We had one girl who was kidnapped and killed by her brother because someone had mentioned her name and birthplace in the market, and word got back to him where she was. We even have girls here who choose to never leave the building. We supply all meals, clothing, laundry, bedding, and basic toiletries –so there is no real need to leave if a girl prefers to remain hidden."
Jesipam nodded again, but she was beginning to wonder why Galenam was telling her all of this.
"The basic pay is two silvers a month, plus bonuses for special projects. We hold the money for you until you ask for it. Since there is no really safe place to store it in the sleeping area. Some girls are able to save up a tidy little dowry for themselves by the time they leave our service."
Galenam folded her hands into her lap and looked expectantly into Jesipam's face. Jesipam wondered what Galenam wanted her to say.
"This sounds like a good place," Jesipam hesitated. "A good arrangement…”
"So you'd like to join us?"
Jesipam started to nod when the thought flashed into her mind that this was not merely a question, but an offer! Jesipam shook her head. "Uh, no. I mean, it sounds nice and all, maybe later but... I'm meeting people! I have to go. I was just hoping you might buy the scarves I embroidered."
Galenam's mouth dropped open. "We don't buy embroidery, we sell it."
Jesipam didn't like looking like a fool. "But the guard over at the mayor's house sent me over here. He said that you might pay me for the scarves."
Galenam shook her head. "He probably thought that you were looking for work. Lots of girls flock to Watertown looking for work."
Jesipam considered this. I suppose that's possible.
"What I'd like to know is, if all you wanted to do is sell me those scarves, why did you sit there embroidering half of the afternoon?"
"I thought it was a test – to see if the scarves were really mine. Everyone here seems to think that people from the castles are thieves!"
Jesipam heard giggles rise from several girls close by. Galenam's mouth twitched. "Well, you've just stolen some of my precious time!"
Jesipam looked at the cloth she'd just embroidered. From the look on Galenam's face, she doubted the embroidery mistress planned to pay her for this piece of work. "Well, since I've just given you another piece of embroidery to sell, maybe you can help me steal out of here. I think that guard over there expects me to pay him, and I don't have any money. Nobody told me that you had to pay to sit down on the mayor's front steps!"
Galenam chuckled. "Apparently, the mayor doesn't pay his guards enough money!" She stood up and walked toward the stairs, gesturing for Jesipam to follow her. "We have a back door. You ought to be able to slip away without that extortionist seeing you."
Galenam led her down the stairs, through a dark dormitory and into a kitchen. She crossed the kitchen and opened a door. This led to a small fenced area filled with lines of growing vegetables below and lines of drying clothes above.
"The gate is toward the corner off to your right." Galenam indicated.
Jesipam picked her way between cabbage, beans and apron strings and let herself out the battered-looking back gate. The heat of the afternoon bore down on her after sitting in the cool sewing room. She walked over to the river lay down on a grassy patch of ground and reached over a small embankment to scoop a handful of water – hoping to wet her head and arms so they’d stay cooler on her walk back to the warehouse. She dipped her hand into the water, but drew it back with disgust. The water felt nearly as warm as the air and slipped over her fingers with an almost soapy texture.
She shook the water from her hand, pulled herself to her feet and started walking again – following the river upstream. She hoped Blonre had remembered to bring clean drinking water with him.
Many more people thronged the riverfront now than when she left it that morning. Everyone she met on the riverside road carried something. Old men driving donkey carts of boxes, young women balancing baskets of fruit on their heads, dripping young men pulling carts – some bringing goods to load onto the boats, others taking goods off the boat - all of them bustling between the riverside docks and ramps, and the cobblestone streets leading to the market.
Jesipam, paused a moment to watch a group of lean shirtless men wearing voluminous green and orange striped trousers hoist a white buffalo out of a barge with a pulling device. As the buffalo's hooves came to rest on the planks of the dock, one of the men caught sight of Jesipam. He pointed to her and gave a loud "La-la-la-la-la", cry. His tongue licked out of his mouth with each 'la', in a way that made a chill run down Jesipam's spine. Some of his companions called out to her in a strange language and grasped towards her in pinching motions.
Their eyes focused on her with a wide, predatory look. Jesipam had never seen that look focused on her before, but she'd seen men look at older girls that way. She knew what it meant. She fought back the urge to run, but turned and walked away as briskly as possible. Two of the men started to follow her. Jesipam quicken her pace, taking every opportunity to put a cart or barrel between her and the pursuing men. The men matched her pace. They whistled and called after her in words she didn't understand. From the tone of voice they used, Jesipam suspected they hurled obscenities at her. She glanced back at them. One of them lolled his tongue at her while the other one laughed. They act like dogs chasing geese! She thought. She shuddered as she thought about what she'd once seen a pack of dogs do to a goose they'd caught.
She began casting her gaze around for her travel companions. She felt sure that she should come to their meeting place soon. As she passed one dock after another, a dread rose inside her. What if she'd already passed by the meeting place? What if she's gotten turned around in the market place, and the embroidery house was actually upstream from the meeting place instead of downstream? She could be traveling farther away from her friends, and farther away from help!
Then she caught sight of the cobblestone ramp and the warehouse with its high windows and peeling paint – the one she and the other travelers had leaned against in the long hot wait that morning. Now she did break into a run. She sped over the cobblestones darting to one side or the other to avoid colliding with dock workers.
Her heart leapt with relief as she reached the line of floatable carts at the top of the cobblestone ramp where four of her companions had earned their silver that morning. She looked around expectantly for her companions.
All she saw were a collection of men no taller than she was, unloading two small boats with eyes painted on their bows. Her companions were gone, the horses were gone, the packs were gone, even A'Teslem's wagon of supplies was gone.
She looked back to see her two pursuers advancing at a steady pace. They grinned and called out more obscene sounding words. She looked over at the diminutive men unloading the boat. She doubted if any of them would risk fighting these larger men to protect a girl they'd never even seen before. Jesipam wondered, If I started running now, would I make it back to the market place before these men caught up to me? She watched as they steadily closed the gap between them at their unhurried pace. Her mad dash had gained her very little advantage. If they actually started to run, she had little doubt that they'd catch her easily. Jesipam began to regret turning down Galenam's offer of a job and protection. Right now, even the prohibition against flirting didn't seem so bad.
Jesipam took a deep breath and tried to calm herself – to take stock of her situation as her fight instructor, Jelme had taught her to do – and to gather a shield of kee energy around herself as her Uncle Rogna had taught her to do.
As her mind settled, a voice welled up from her dream-answer-place. Call for help. Make noise. These men don't want to attract undue attention. Why do you think they didn't run? Yell!
Years of learning not to shout or call attention to herself made it hard for her to follow the advice. She stood for a moment, panting, gathering the courage to shout. She cupped her hands to her mouth and called out toward to boats with their painted eyes, "Hello! You there! I need some help!" Even to her own ears, her voice sounded winded and weak. "Hello!" she repeated, and waved toward boat. One of the men at the boat saw her and waved to her, but then immediately turned back to his work. Jesipam looked over to see the two men closing in. They now stood at the intersection of the riverside road and the street to the market – effectively blocking her escape. They beckoned to Jesipam and lolled their tongues at her.
"Go away!" She shouted.
Jesipam heard a rattle of wood and turned to see a silver head rise from behind a stack of barrels. "What's going on here?"
Jesipam recognized A'Teslem. She ran to him. "These men have been following me." She pointed to her stalkers, who still advanced toward her.
A grim smile crept onto A'Teslem's face. "I guess I'll just have to go see about this." He pulled himself to a standing position and faced the two men in their baggy striped trousers. The two men stopped. Their eyes grew wide. Most castle-bred Tlar men stand head and shoulders taller than most country–bred men. A'Teslem was no exception. He picked up a boat-hook pole and twirled it with the expert ease and power of a man trained in fighting from childhood. He took a step toward the two men. They turned and ran.
Jesipam felt so grateful for A'Teslem's help that she regretted ever harboring doubts about him. "Thank you so much! I didn't know what I was going to do!"
"Those are South men." A'Teslem nodded toward the fleeing figures. "Take note of their manner of dress and speech for future reference. It's best if women don't meet their eyes. They tend to take that as an invitation."
"An invitation! I ran away from them! How could they think I was inviting them?"
A'Teslem shook his head. "They don't think about things the way we do. They take it as an invitation the way a snow leopard takes an unguarded lamb as an invitation. They don't really care how you feel about it."
"Then why does it matter if I meet their eyes or not?"
"They believe that when a woman meets their eyes, it creates a connection. They also think if a woman meets their eyes she is not well brought up, and no one will care what happens to her. In the South, they tend not to care so much about what is right as what they think they can get away with." A'Teslem stared into empty air for a moment, as though reliving a memory. He shook his head. "Of course we have some people in A'Tlaran who think the same way!"
Jesipam nodded. She realized that she probably stared at the men and their strange clothes. She had to admit that would be very rude. If someone saw her staring that way, they might think that no one had cared enough about her to teach her good manners.
I do have people who care about me though. Jesipam thought. "Where are the other travelers?"
"They set up camp for the night – down stream of the city."
"Why downstream?" Jesipam thought about the city garbage that would float past a downstream campsite.
"It's a city rule – all campsites must stay downstream of the city. I think when we get there you'll see why they made the rule!" A'Teslem laughed. His weathered face crinkled up into dozens of intersecting lines when he smiled.
Jesipam found herself liking him. The Bear and Monkey song disappeared from the back of her mind. In its place the ballad of Bracce the Black started to run through her head.
Of Bracce Black, the sorcerer,
that lofty king of old
They say he used his magic arts
to build an army bold
Of giant horses and giant men
from bloodlines that 'til then
had showed no distinguished fate
Yet ever-after produced the great
Protectors of the land…
A'Teslem strode back to his former resting place among the barrels. He stooped down to pick up his jacket and came back to Jesipam. "Well, I believe that you are the last traveler I was expecting here. We should head out so to make sure we get to camp before dark."
Jesipam looked up in the sky. The sun hung fairly low, but not so low that she would have expected to have to rush to camp just yet. Of course, she had only seen a small part of the city. It might be much larger than she thought.
She followed A'Teslem out to the intersection. To Jesipam's amazement, he turned left instead of right. "Excuse me sir, but I thought you said the camp was down stream. Wouldn't that be to the right?"
"It would be, but before we head to the camp, we're going to gather up the travelers who decided to take a look at the Kasablom swamp."
"The suicide swamp? Why would anyone want to go there?"
"Curiosity. It could be that some may want to pay respects to relatives who buried themselves there. But many people consider the swamp to be quite beautiful. However, it's also quite dangerous. I'm not leaving my charges alone there for very long."
Jesipam didn't like the idea of going to a place where many people had gone to kill themselves, but after the near-attack she'd just endured she liked the idea of wandering through the city alone even less. She followed A'Teslem out of town and up over the bridge that led to the neighboring kingdom of Kasablom across the river. She recognized the swamp from pictures she'd seen: The thick, misty air, the strange curling branches of the Ninjet trees, the white crusts of mineral deposits spreading like snow on the ground and rocks along steaming streams… she'd always suspected that they were fancies of the artists' imaginations, yet here she stood seeing them with her own eyes. She sniffed at the heady mix of sulfur, steam, and a sweet, pine-like scent in the breeze that she suspected came from the Ninjet trees. A soft gurgle and hiss filled her ears. As they walked farther from the river, this became the only sound they heard – no bird songs, or even the buzzing of an insect. A deep, peaceful feeling settled on Jesipam.
A'Teslem looked concerned. "I don't like this. The wind is coming from the wrong direction. We're getting more fumes than we ought to." He cupped his hands to his mouth and called out, "It's time to go people! Janna, Kinre, Tebbe, Betinen, give me a yell so I know where you are!"
A'Teslem paused. He stood very still. His eyes darted back and forth taking in the scene before him. A sound echoed back – muffled in the steamy air. "You wait here." He told Jesipam. He dashed down the road.
Jesipam knelt down and examined the pebbles at her feet. It looked as though someone dumped river gravel on the road as pavement. She dug her hand into the gravel. Smooth, round, speckled pebbles covered the road almost as deep as her middle finger was long. Some were crusted with white mineral deposits that Jesipam could scrape off with her finger nails. She continued to examine them, listening to the gurgling swamp and smelling the sweet scented air until she felt two large hands reach under her arms and lift her to her feet.
"We're leaving and you've got to come with us." She heard Janna's familiar voice in her ear. He held her up as they walked, but they both weaved side to side on the path. They turned downstream before crossing the bridge. The scents of true pine and grass replaced the scent of Ninjet and sulfur steam. The songs of birds and insects returned, and the lulling fog slowly lifted from Jesipam's brain.
"That was a close one," Kinre broke the silence. "A'Teslem, thanks so much for pulling us out of there!"
Betinen's voice came next. "I think the wind must have shifted because one moment we were fine and the next we could barely remember our own names!"
Janna still kept an arm around Jesipam’s shoulders. She felt him shiver. Jesipam knew he was shaking off the fear caused by what was probably a close call with death. However, Jesipam savored the hazy calm imparted by the swamp fumes. "It's funny," she said, "I always thought of the Kasablom swamp as a morbid place, but really, it's quite nice."
She felt Janna's muscles stiffen around her. "I think you need to take a few more deep breaths of fresh air."
Jesipam slipped free from his grip and stepped away. "I was just thinking –you know, we all die somehow. It would be kind of nice to just fade out in a pleasant daze. I bet it's a popular place when famine hits."
Tebbe threw his hands into the air. "Omens! What a thought!"
"I just mean that given a choice of deaths..."
A'Teslem put a hand on Jesipam's shoulder. "I think they know what you mean Mosquito. But many people, given a choice of deaths, prefer to die while trying to beat death."
Jesipam looked into the faces of her companions. A'Teslem looked at her with something like pity. Janna, Kinre, Tebbe, and Betinen all gazed back at her with stony determination. It looks like they'd beat death off with a stick! That wasn't how Jesipam felt though. She still savored the feeling of peace she felt at the swamp's edge. She shrugged her shoulders and started humming the tune to Bracce the Black. But she felt the resentment of her companions even without looking.
Soon the boats and buildings of Watertown came into view across the river. The setting sun gave a golden glow to the scene. Jesipam reflected that from across the river, Watertown looked more charming and less exciting than it did walking through the middle of it.
"We'll cross that bridge up ahead," A'Teslem announced. He pointed to a dirty-looking arch spanning the river. As they drew close, Jesipam saw that graffiti covered the bridge. Some of the graffiti was written in unfamiliar languages, but most of the graffiti written in A'Tlaran cursed foreigners and castle dwellers.
"A plague on all foreign pigs and castle dogs!" Kitre read as they crossed the bridge. "Well, I'm glad I left my old watch dog at home. I'd hate to see him come down with some plague!"
Betinen snickered.
On the A'Tlaran side of the bridge, a great village of tents spread before them. A riot of colors, shapes, smells and sounds rose from that space that served as a resting place for the visitors –both foreign and A'Tlaran – who thronged to the city in trade seasons. Jesipam peered over the edge of the bridge – looking downstream. Just as A'Teslem had promised, she saw why the city ordained that campers stay downstream. The river downstream from the camp changed color and choked with the garbage of a hundred or more tents. To Jesipam's disgust, she saw people bathing in the filthy water. Foreign pigs indeed! She decided not to point this out to her companions. She figured that she'd offended them enough for one day.
She followed A'Teslem to their tent. To Jesipam's surprise very un-Tlaran multi-colored stripes decorated the cloth, and a peculiar oily smell permeated the interior. "Is this really our tent?" Jesipam whispered to Blonre.
"It is for tonight. We rented this. We aren't going to carry anything this big and heavy while we tromp around the mountains."
Jesipam considered herself to be liberal minded concerning the Tlaran traditions of colors and how they supposedly affected the balance of the mind and the balance of the cosmos. However, it was one thing to tolerate other people dressing and decorating in outlandish color combinations, and another to actually sleep inside a thing like this!
"But the colors, and the smell!" Jesipam protested.
"The colors are traditional on the west desert. Most of the people there are as sane as you or I, so I don't think sleeping one night under such colors is going to hurt you."
"And the smell?"
Blonre sighed. "Someone probably cooked meat inside here. They do eat meat in the South - when they can get it."
Jesipam wrinkled her nose. "Burnt animal flesh!"
"Look, I'm not recommending that you eat animal flesh. Meat eaters tend not to live as long as other people - but the truth is that lots of people in the world eat animal flesh. Believe me, on this trip you're going to see things that are a lot more disturbing than a few people eating dog food - so you'd better get used to it."
Jesipam didn't doubt she'd see many more disturbing things. This day alone proved quite an education!
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