Brother Salvo looked up and smiled. “Thank you, Brother. It’s hard not to despair sometimes. Your words comfort me.” He rose to his feet. “Now, I must attend to my other duties. Please stay as long as you wish.”
“Thank you, Brother Salvo,” said Millet. “But we’ll be leaving at sunrise.”
“Then I hope you’ll stop here on your return journey,” he said, and walked back into the heart of the encampment.
“Surprising,” said Kaylia.
“Surprising how?” Gewey asked.
“Such kindness in a human is to be admired,” she said. “My people would be very interested to see it.”
“It appears you have as much to learn about us as we do about you,” said Millet.
“So it seems,” she replied.
“I’m worried,” said Lee. “I had intended for us to stay a few days at the temple in Kaltinor, but if what Brother Salvo says is true, we may have to make other plans.”
“That would be fine by me,” said Kaylia. “I never thought it to be a wise plan.”
“Good thing you’re not in charge, then,” Lee said, glancing at Kaylia. “We need information, and the temple is the best place to get it. Without it we travel blind.”
“What do you suggest…as the leader?” Kaylia asked sarcastically.
Lee smiled devilishly. “I could say we’ve killed an elf, and we need somewhere to dispose of her body. They’d let us stay in the High Priestess’ apartment if we did that!”
Kaylia glared at Lee from underneath her hood. “You could try,” she hissed.
“Enough of this,” said Gewey. “Let’s just get there. Maybe they’ll simply let us stay.”
“The first intelligent thing I’ve heard all night,” Millet declared. “I, for one, am going to sleep. If you two wish to insult one another, be my guest. But please do it quietly.”
There was silence among the group. Though tension remained between Lee and Kaylia, they eventually decided Millet was right and lay down to sleep.
Chapter 9
In the morning, they said their goodbyes to brother Salvo. Millet gave him two gold coins that Lee had given him, and promised to stop there again when they returned home. As they pulled away, Gewey wondered if they would be able to keep that promise. The more he learned, the more it seemed unlikely he would ever see his home again. Kaylia was deep in thought, her robes pulled tight around her.
“Are you alright?” asked Gewey.
“I’m fine,” answered Kaylia. “I was just thinking about the people at the encampment. They weren’t what I expected.”
“What did you expect?” Gewey asked.
“I don’t know,” Kaylia admitted. “I suppose I expected them to be more brutish. I didn’t expect the kindness they show one another.”
“Millet’s right,” said Gewey. “You have a lot to learn about humans.”
Kaylia was silent.
“The story Brother Salvo told about the Demon King,” said Gewey. “Have you heard it before?”
“Yes,” said Kaylia “Though it’s told differently among my people. In our tales, he’s a hero.”
“How could someone called the ‘Demon King’ be a hero?” asked Gewey.
Kaylia laughed and said, “We don’t call him the ‘Demon King,’ we simply call him King Ratsterfel. In our stories, he stood up to the tyranny of the Gods and tried to free the world.”
“I wonder which story is true,” Gewey said pensively.
“Perhaps neither,” Kaylia replied. “It was long ago, and storytelling among my people is not what it was. Much of our history was lost with the fall of our Nations."
“That must be hard,” said Gewey. “My people depend on their stories as a way to connect them to our ancestors. If we didn’t have them, we’d be lost.”
“You keep referring to the humans as ‘your’ people,” she said.
“Yet they are not. Being raised human does not make you human.
If they found out what you are, do you think they would bow down and worship you, or would they run in fear and disgust? Though I admit the monks surprised me with their kindness and selflessness, I wonder how kind would they have been if they discovered what I am? What if they knew they had shared a meal with an elf? Do you think they would just ignore it and smile?”
“And what about your people?” interjected Lee, who had been listening from the front of the wagon. “They want to murder you just for traveling with humans. Are they any better?”
“You’re right, half-man,” Kaylia acknowledged. “The old hatreds run deep on both sides. I cannot claim differently. Perhaps on this journey we can find a way to change that.”
“Wouldn’t that be something,” Millet added. “Now that would be an adventure I would be proud to be part of.”
“I think you speak for us all, old friend,” said Lee.
For the rest of the morning conversation between Kaylia and Lee was more civil than usual. They even exchanged a few stories while Gewey listened with a pleased grin.
It was just before noon when they reached the gates of Kaltinor. They expected the gates to be open during the day, but instead they were shut tight and protected by four members of the city guard. Millet pulled up and halted the wagon.
“What’s your business?” the guard captain inquired. As the captain spoke with Millet, the other three guards moved to the back of the wagon and looked inside. Gewey and Kaylia bowed their heads and stayed quiet.
“We’re just pilgrims passing through,” said Millet.
“Pilgrims, you say?” said the captain. “I’m sure you saw the monks camped back the way you came, and I’m sure they told you the temples will not receive you. We have no room here for a bunch of poor pilgrims. Best you move on.”
“They did tell us,” Millet affirmed. “All the same, we are just passing through.” He reached down and handed something to the guard captain.
The captain looked at it for a moment, then quickly put it in his pocket. “Your stay here can be no longer than three days. Any longer and you’ll be arrested. Understand?”
Millet nodded. “Completely.”
The captain ordered his men to open the gates. Millet glanced over at Lee and sighed with relief. There was a loud screech of metal on metal as the gates slowly swung open. Millet urged the horses forward and passed through.
“We’ve managed to bribe our way through the gates with little problem,” said Lee. “Let’s see if our luck holds at the temple.” He glanced back at Gewey. “If you want, you can walk beside the wagon. I know you’ve never seen a city before, and you won’t
see much of it from back there.”Gewey smiled with excitement and leapt from the wagon.
The streets of Kaltinor were thirty feet wide and paved with smooth stones. Most of the buildings along the main avenue were two stories tall; the bottom floors held shops of all kinds, while the upper floors held residences where Gewey could see people eating and talking on small balconies. In just a few minutes, he had counted at least five taverns and three inns-a far cry from what he’d grown up with in Sharpstone. People of all kinds surrounded him; commoners, lords, monks, and merchants all moved about at a pace that astounded him. In the distance, towering above it all, stood a large manor of deep gray stone. At four stories high, it was by far the largest building Gewey had ever seen.
“What do you think, young master?” Millet asked. Gewey could barely hear him over the noise of the city.
“It’s amazing,” he said breathlessly. “I can’t imagine what it would be like to live here.”
“Like living in a hornets’ nest,” muttered Kaylia, who had jumped down beside Gewey. “It’s unnatural.”
“I agree,” said Millet. “Over the years I’ve come to appreciate living in the country.”
Lee laughed. “So I guess all that about hating the smell of horses and pigs, not to mention the constant complaining about not having proper shops and clothing was nothing but hogwash.”
“Not hogwash, my lord,” answered Millet. “I guess I’ve just changed more than I realized.”