“What did you say your name was?” I asked.
“I din’t, but my friends call me Buck, Buck Shadley,” he said amiably. “Anyways, that wizard, he fought off the armies o’ Gododdin’, an that was accordin’ to the old king, who didn’t seem to care much for him, so you can bet it was the truth. I dunno if I believe the stories about this road they’re buildin’, but if it’s true, it can’t help but be good.”
“How’s that?”
“If you’ve ever hauled your harvest to market, you’d understand. A road like that makes it better for everyone and easier to sell food where it’s needed, though ‘m sure the ones makin’ the biggest profits will be the merchants.”
“You think it will help you out?”
Buck laughed, “I’m too old to do much or gain much, but it’d be a blessin’ for my children who still have a lot of livin’ left to do.”
I coughed before standing up. “That might be true. It’s been a pleasure talking to you, Buck. I don’t suppose you’d let me pay you for the clothes? I have to be on my way.”
“Nah, I wasn’t usin’ ‘em, and Sam’s got his own wife to sew and darn for him. My other kids are too far away to visit. You keep ‘em and I’ll be happy knowin’ they’re getting some use,” said old Buck. “Sides, I’m too old to spend it.”
I handed him a small pouch of coins. “Take this then,” I told him.
“I told you I din’t need any payment,” he protested.
“It’s a gift… for Sam,” I explained. “Thank you for talking to me.” Somehow the old man’s words had made me feel much better about things. I might not have a solution for all the world’s ills, but at least a few people thought I might be doing something good.
“Hmmph, alright then, though it don’t seem right to take a payment for simple hospitality.”
I smiled at him, “It was getting too heavy to carry anyway. Take care of yourself, Buck.” I picked up my staff and started walking back toward where I had left Roland. I didn’t turn back, but my magesight showed me that the old man was watching me until the trees obscured his vision.
I wondered how long it would be before he noticed that his eyesight had improved.
Chapter 35
“Good morning,” I said, as Roland stirred beside the small campfire. “Did you sleep well?”
He groaned, “My mouth tastes as if something crawled in and died. What did I drink?”
Obviously he hadn’t quite remembered the circumstances surrounding his last awakening. I handed him a cup containing watered wine, “Here rinse your mouth out.”
“Where are we?” he asked, looking around at the dark and empty landscape.
“The southern desert, a short distance from Agraden,” I replied.
Roland frowned. “How did I get here…? Oh you bastard!” he said, standing up with a loud exclamation. “You tried to kill me!”
“I wouldn’t go that far. I tried to make the trip as pleasant as possible,” I protested.
“Pleasant?! Is that what you call it? I woke up being thrown around inside your invisible box and nearly broke my nose, and then I discovered we’re miles in the air and falling to our deaths! That’s supposed to be pleasant?” he yelled.
I did my best to keep my features calm. Roland was quite upset and it wouldn’t do any good to laugh while he was still angry. He had actually been through a traumatic ordeal, especially for someone already deathly afraid of heights. “You’re right, but you did repay me a bit for your suffering,” I said blandly.
“Repay you?” he said, staring at me blankly. I plucked at my shirt to draw his attention to my clothes; his quick eyes took them in. “Are you wearing a peasant’s tunic?” he asked.
I nodded. “I couldn’t get the others to stop smelling, so I traded them to a kindly farmer.”
“Smelling? Oh! Well it serves you right! What you did was despicable!” he finished, and I could see he was struggling to keep an angry expression on his face, but eventually a smile crept across his lips. “You were covered in it weren’t you?”
“Mmm hmm,” I said in agreement. “It was hours before I found a place to set down and clean up,” I lied. As Marc might have said, ‘a little embellishment never hurt anyone,’ and in this case it served to make Roland feel a bit better about his inadvertent revenge.
He laughed and I joined him, letting the simple sound ease the tension between us. “How long did it take us to get here?” he asked, once he had finished snickering at me.
“Less than half a day,” I told him. I might have been able to manage it in less time, but after our near death experience I had restricted myself to more modest speeds.
Roland let out an appreciative whistle. “As impressive as that is, there is no way I’m letting you put me back in that flying deathtrap of yours,” he informed me.
“No need,” I replied. “We can walk to Agraden in a half an hour from here, once the sun comes up. I’ll make a circle to take us back to Lancaster or Castle Cameron after we…,” I paused as the realization of why we were there struck home, “…after we’re done,” I finished. Once your brother, my best friend, is dead, said my inner voice.
I slept fitfully that night, while Roland slept not at all. He had had a very restful day already, thanks to my sleep inducing spells. The next day we started walking early. My companion woke me at the first light of dawn, probably out of spite, but I couldn’t complain.
We hadn’t brought anything in the way of supplies for camping or traveling, and there was very little food for breakfast. That might sound foolish, but I’d had no intention of making a long trip, and if we had run into serious problems securing food, we always had the option of creating a circle and returning home.
True to my word, I had put us close enough to the desert city that it was a short walk to reach the outer limits within a half an hour. While most of the landscape for many miles in most directions was barren, the city itself was situated in a lush oasis created by a natural system of springs that rose to the surface there.
From what Marc had told me previously, the home he and Marissa had settled into was located near the northern part of the city, in a district that also housed several of her relatives. Much to my confusion though, the city was an elongated elliptical in shape, with the longer distance stretching in an east-west direction. That meant ‘northern’ encompassed a lot of potential areas.
“I never imagined it would be so big,” commented Roland, as we walked down one of the bigger thoroughfares. The buildings on either side of us were constructed of some sort of tan bricks, as almost everything we had seen was. The predominant color was a sandy brown, from the buildings to the road, and it might have been monotonous if not for the large palm trees and lush vegetation surrounding and infusing the city with a sense of vitality.
Remembering my geography lessons I replied, “I have heard that nearly a hundred thousand people live in or near Agraden.”
“Do you intend to pay a visit to the Shah?” asked Roland suddenly.
The thought had not occurred to me. As a landed noble of Lothion, it would be considered mildly rude for me not to pay a courtesy visit… for the crown prince, Roland, it would be a diplomatic insult to ignore the Shah. None of that mattered though, if our presence went unreported. “I’m really not dressed for it anymore,” I answered, plucking at my shirt. “But we should keep our identities to ourselves for now, just to be safe.”
After asking directions several more times we eventually arrived at our destination. The house standing before us was one of the larger ones in the neighborhood, and I could tell from the front that it probably had a large inner courtyard as well as side buildings. I wonder what I paid for this, I thought silently. Marcus had used an open letter of credit I had given him to purchase whatever he needed. I wasn’t surprised though; he had never been one to do anything by halves.