Journey of the Messenger Cycle 2 Part 2c
There was, in fact, a festival throughout the Lake Lands. The previous evening when they had arrived in Alloce their teamster had informed them that there would be no coach service leaving the Lake Lands the next day. Some would be coming in but none would be going out. Berri, despite her recent lessons, would not have been able to figure that out herself. Oddly, the pretty woman they had been riding with had told her the gist of what the teamster had said.
Surprised that the woman was speaking andalee to her, Berri asked, “Why did you not speak up before?”
“Before I had only heard andalee, few, a dozen time and only understood some tens of words. Now, after listening to your lessons, I have much better understanding.”
Berri looked at her suspiciously, “You speak like this? After only listening to my lessons? How?”
She shrugged, “I have a gift for language. Most basic things I learn in few days, unless the language is particularly difficult. I studied at the Lithremor Women’s Academy and am on my way to the University of West Port to study Tannican.”
“Oh…” Berri was not sure how she felt about that.
“You are going to West Port, also?”
She nodded hesitantly, “I am. After this festival I guess.”
“We could be travel buddies?”
“Travel buddies?”
“I help you, you help me, for rest of trip.”
Berri’s head still ached, she was not impressed that the other woman had learned andalee so quickly. She did realize that it would be the smart thing to do, she had not even travelled half the distance to West Port yet. She gave a dramatic sigh, “Okay then. Travel buddies.”
The other woman seemed relieved, “Good. What do I call you? Berri?”
“Yeah. What should I call you?”
She considered her response for a moment then replied, “How about you call me… Moon?”
“Moon?” Berri laughed, “Sure, Moon it is.”
“I’ve never had a chosen name before.”
“Never? What about all the mages in Maldorn? What about the fey?”
“Most of the mages are in the air force, to help protect us, even though a lot of them don’t want to be there. There are laws as well, that protect us from the misuse of magic…”
“And the fey?”
“You mean fairies and grump-kins, that sort of thing?”
Berri nodded. Moon looked disconcerted then replied, “I think they are not real, Berri.”
Berri sputtered and shook her head in disbelief, “Of course they’re real. Are you telling me you’ve never seen one?”
“Not that I know of.”
Berri huffed, “Well, travel through the Madden Hills. There are plenty.”
“Madden Hills?”
“North of the Republic of Caffern.”
“Oh, is that a Freehold?”
“No,” Berri’s head was throbbing and the conversation was making it worse, “I’m hungry.”
“Well, the meal will be served in a while. We could drop stuff at the bunkhouse.”
“I have some things I should leave with the station master, especially if there’s going to be a bunch of folks coming for the festival.”
“Ah, that makes sense. I keep my valuables with me.”
“Yeah, that’s what I usually do. But, I’ve a bow and a few other things I’d rather make sure were more secure and they’re rather obvious if I’m carrying them.”
“A bow. How… quaint. Lucky for you the Lake Lands are one of the few places where such things are used widely. Most use crossbows. But there will be competitive events for both over the next two days.”
“I prefer a crossbow. What about those alchemical weapons?”
“Kryl. That’s military or for the very well to do, expensive stuff.”
“Alright, I’m going to the station house. I’ll meet up with you for dinner.”
“Okay.”
Berri secured her bow, lute and the messenger’s satchel with the station master, who was a very busy woman. With all the extra people that had come in over the past day she was having to deal with accommodating them all. That also meant that the place was very busy, full past capacity. When she went to the bunkhouse there was an argument going on between an older woman and a young mother with two children. There were a lot of women just sitting on the beds, watching the argument, belongings close to hand.
Berri found Moon, also sitting on one of the beds “Why happen on?”
Moon replied in andalee, “There’s not enough bunks. I thought we share this one.”
Berri looked around, “Well… I have a tarp, bedroll and a blanket. It’s not too cold, we could camp on the edge of the orchard.”
Moon looked around the crowded room, “Alright, you travel a lot, seems like you would know how to camp.”
“Sure do. Let’s give the bed to the old lady?”
“Okay.” Moon called out, interrupting the argument. The older woman was delighted that someone was so respectful as to offer their bed.
They went to the edge of the orchard, found a decent spot opposite of the main building and its kitchen. Berri set up a camp and suggested to Moon that she could gather sticks from the ground for a small fire. It did not take her long before the camp was ready. The days end was not far off, the sun low along the western horizon. Moon returned for the second time with a big armload of sticks and piled them on top of her earlier gatherings.
Folks were queuing up alongside the dinning hall. Berri took advantage of the last of the light to gather a few apples from the trees, “These should tide us over until the morning. I’m too tired to bother with that.”
Moon looked to the line then sat down beside her, “That fine by me… Is fine.”
“If we’re up early enough, we can be first in line for breakfast.”
Berri crunched into one of the tasty apples, “Yeah, or I could go to the brook we crossed before arriving here and get us some fish.”
Moon looked thoughtful but made no reply, instead they chomped on apples and watched as folks slowly entered and left the dinning hall. After eating a few apples they crawled in under the shelter together. Berri stripped down to her undergarments, after a moment Moon did likewise. The two of them were slim enough that Berri was able to pull half the blanket over them, it took them a while to settle comfortably. Once they had settled Berri closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
She woke well before sunrise, feeling much better. Careful not to disturb her new friend, Berri crawled out from under the shelter, the morning was cool, refreshing, fairly quiet and smelled of early autumn. It seemed to Berri like it had been early autumn for the last six eight-days. After relieving herself, she gathered her fishing gear from her pack, slung her weapons belt across her shoulder and followed the edge of the orchard to the brook. It had been further away than she thought, coaches moved more quickly than she thought.
The grey of predawn seeped into the world as she made her way down to the fast moving water, she found some bait under an old dead tree and set a line to float along the edge of the large pool under the bridge. She then made her way upstream, found a suitable sapling and attached another line to it, dropping the hook into the water periodically as she followed the bank of the brook generally southward. She managed to catch a couple of fish, smaller than what she had been expecting but big enough to make it worth keeping them for breakfast. She came to a bend in the river where the water pooled deeply. A pair of deer ran off at her approach, the air heavy with the scent of apples and the flies were pretty thick. Distantly she heard a cock calling the start of the new day. She turned back, retracing her steps, catching another fish before the bridge came into sight again. When she checked her other line there were two more fish, both decently sized. She cleaned the fish then headed back at a fair pace.
Moon was just returning from having used the facilities. She was impressed with the fish Berri had caught and soon they had a small fire going. Once there was a decent bed of coals Berri set the fish to cook, using a few sticks and some rocks to hold them in place above the fire. It did not take long for them to cook. They ate as they watched the other folks in line for their turn in the dinning hall.
Berri pulled the camp down, bundled her gear tightly together, knotting it excessively, then stashed it further into the orchard. She put on her clothes, put her weapons in her pack and then the two of them walked towards the fields beside the town, where much of the festivals activities were to take place.
There were vendors, craftspeople, prized livestock, crops, musicians and other performers. Most were finely dressed, though the styles of clothing we generally unfamiliar to her. There were going to be numerous competitions throughout the two days of the festival, as well, dancing and plenty of drinking. Berri was glad Moon was with her, both for her ability to translate and her understanding of the social necessities. She had learned that most of the competitions were open to anyone who had proper equipment. She thought she might participate in a few of them, though Moon seemed disinclined to do so.
When Berri spotted an armourer who specialized in crossbows she was very impressed with his wares and with Moon’s help she asked a few questions. The man was fairly old, or so Berri thought, and his wares included styles of weapons she had never seen before of many different sizes. There were mechanical cocking levers on a large number of the crossbows, a couple of compound ones as well, though Berri felt such a weapon had too many strings. One of them was nearly two thirds her height in its length and the bolts were nearly as long as her arm. A number of the other weapons were smaller, some even folded in on themselves, collapsing down into a small box shape that could be tucked away just about anywhere. There were even a couple of mechanical repeating crossbows, they appeared rather unwieldy.
The one that really caught her attention was a bit bigger than her old crossbow and had two crows or ravens carved onto the stock of dark wood. She asked if she could pick it up. The old man watched as she tenderly inspected the weapon. The cocking lever was smooth, much easier than pulling the string back by hand. Intensely desirous of acquiring the weapon, she asked, “How much is it?”
Moon translated and then told her the price, “Five hundred marks. It comes with storage case, maintenance kit, a hip quiver and bolts or ten.”
Roddarra had said she had given Berri one hundred and ten marks, more than enough to see to her needs as she travelled to West Port. Far from what she needed to purchase the weapon. She thought about her situation, then asked, “Does he have any interest in a magical bow? It’s Elquinian, likely Second Kingdom.”
Moon translated, then informed her, “He says he would take a look it. Though if it is as you say, then you would get a nicer price selling it up in Duchy Els’Roxx.”
“Yeah, I don’t know where that is, other than east of here. Can you stay here and make sure no one buys this?” She asked Moon.
“Sure, I guess so.”
“Great, I’ll be right back.” Berri took off at a sprint, heading for the station house.
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