Journey of the Messenger Cycle 2 Part 6c
Berri had been sore and tired by the time she made it to the manor. The soreness had surprised her, she must have walked close to fifteen yat throughout the day. Much of it had been on finished roads or wooden decks, many of which tended to sway and bob when she moved across them. The tiredness did not come as a surprise, speaking Maldorn still took effort.
Berri had shown up shortly before the evening meal. Thankfully Darra had been present, as had Elli. She gave them the messages from Ijah. Darra had seemed distracted for the first part of the meal, after having read the message, Elli seemed nice. She did have a few questions for her, but Elli waited until Darra’s attention had returned to the present before asking Berri what she thought of the enclave.
“Oh. Well… it’s different, but you get used to it. Everything is very orderly and everyone seems very focused and disciplined. There are not very many men around the enclave, those that are tend to be well mannered.”
Elli asked another question, Darra translated. Berri took a moment to think about her reply, then said, “Dema Loht has been instructing me, she’s nice, smiles a lot and has helped me considerably. I feel like I’m actually playing the lute, not just making noises. There are plenty of northern women at the enclave, most of the initiates are Maldorn, but there are others… There are other Demas of music as well, though I have not had many interactions with them, Dema Juthutsi seems to be well regarded by the more advanced initiates.”
Darra asked her, “When do you plan on heading back to the enclave?”
“Well, I’ve another three days that I plan to be over here. My friend Moon has invited me to go see the orchestra the day after tomorrow.”
“Well, that should be pleasant. I heard that Stick of the Forest was going to be doing a solo during the show.”
Berri blinked, “Excuse me?”
Darra smiled at her, “Stick of the Forest, he’s supposed to be a big deal, some sort of savant. He plays violin.”
Berri tried to wrap her head around the idea of a servant playing the fiddle being a big deal.
Elli said something to Darra who then translated, “Elli says that such events are usually fancy dress, often only attended by the very well to do.”
“Do the men wear dresses too?”
Darra smiled again, translated and then the two of them had a little laugh. After a moment Darra said, “Fancy dress means fancy clothes, be it a dress or otherwise.”
“Oh, well, I don’t have a dress or any fancy clothes for that matter.”
Elli spoke up, Darra gave Berri a considering look, nodded, then said, “Elli says she has a dress that you could borrow.”
“Ah, maybe. I’ll know better tomorrow, what the plan is.”
“You and your friend, or friends, can stay here, if you want. There’s even a carriage you can use to go to the concert.”
“Wow! That’s really nice, Darra. I’m not sure about the carriage, though. I’ll know more after I talk to Moon.”
“Alright. Was there anything else you needed?”
“Ah, I don’t think so. A place to sleep tonight, if that’s okay.”
Darra laughed, “Of course Berri, you’ll have your own suite.”
Shortly after the meal was done, Berri was taken up to her rooms by Miss Marrilas. Berri was impressed, not only with her rooms, but with the manor in general. It seemed like Darra knew friendly nobles in all the duchies of Maldorn.
Miss Marrilas used simple language and spoke slowly, she also apologized for not speaking better andalee, which surprised Berri. She wanted to know how long Berri and her friends would be staying and if there was a need for her to bring more servants to the house or get special food of any sort.
“Um, maybe a good seamstress?” Was all Berri could think of. She stifled a yawn and looked longingly at the massive bed that was in the sleeping room.
Miss Marrilas left her to retire. Berri kicked off her boots then flopped onto the bed, she marvelled at how comfortable it was and watched the brightly burning fire for a while before falling asleep.
She woke early, washed and had some breakfast in the kitchen with the servants. Then, with her lute slung over her back she headed off to the University of West Port.
The weather was fair, Berri was still having difficulties with there being no snow on the ground, at least the walking was easy. The university was halfway downhill, north of where Darra was staying. Situated on either side of a broad boulevard, it consisted of six largish stone buildings between two and four stories. There was a large fountain, many statues and a lot of people coming and going. In the areas immediately around the university there were numerous cafes, restaurants and a few book dealers.
Moon’s place was a half block further downhill. It was an older building but well maintained and its facilities had been updated recently. Food and board cost nearly fifty marks a month, Berri had negotiated and paid for a year in advance, managing to save close to sixty marks. When she walked in the owner’s oldest daughter was at the desk, she recognized Berri immediately.”Good morning, Miss Bogwalker, how is your day?”
“Pretty good so far.” Berri was happy to be speaking her native tongue, “How is your day, Hallu?”
“About the same. Miss Donasta is not in at the moment, but she did say you might be by. Did you want to wait?”
“I think I’ll wait outside. It’s a beautiful day. I’ll take the opportunity to practice my lute.”
“Well, enjoy. If you need anything, you know where to find me.”
“Thanks. I’m sure I’ll see you later.”
Berri went out the front door, finding an empty bench nearby. She set her pack down and took out her lute, carefully tuned the instrument to a northern tuning, which was in a major key, while the Kereshi tuning was a minor key. As she did this she also looked around the area. There were a lot of people out and about, many of the benches were in use, the majority of folks were fairly young, around her age. The university’s autumn semester was winding down and while there were a few who were obviously studying, most seemed to be relaxing and enjoying their free time.
Berri played. Not anything in particular, she watch folks going about their day as she strummed through a number of simple cord progressions, periodically switching to picking her way up and down the scales. People smiled as they passed and to her surprise some would periodically drop bits into her instrument case, a couple times they even dropped marks.
A blond woman with a stack of leaflets stopped to listen for a while. When Berri paused from playing the girl stepped forward and offered one of the leaflets, “There’s a march today. Starting at high sun, from Prosker’s Square.”
Berri took the piece of paper, “Thank you.”
The woman gave her an odd look and moved on. Berri watched her walk away, thinking the woman had good posture. She put the leaflet in her case and resumed playing, for a while she tried to play through a few of the local songs she had heard from some of the other initiates. After a while she spotted Moon coming down the street, it was getting warmer. She set her instrument down, stood, waved to Moon then took off her coat.
Moon called out to her and came bounding over with a couple other student-looking folks following. Moon crashed into her with an enthusiastic hug. Berri returned the hug, enjoying the smell and softness of her friend. “Hey Berri. This is Tonn and Kalitta Briney. Guys, this is my friend Berri. She does not speak much Maldorn.”
“I’m getting better.” Berri said.
Tonn had the coppery skin of the Hapanni, he was nearly a head shorter than Berri and his hair was styled in a way she had not seen before, short on the sides, braided across the top and down the back. He smiled and offered a hand in the Maldorn way but spoke andalee with a modest accent, “Nice to meet you.”
Berri shook his hand, “Likewise.”
Kalitta Briney looked at Berri intently, “Hi Berri. I heard you killed three bandits who had tried to rob you. Shot them dead with a fancy crossbow?”
“Ah…?”
Moon translated a bit self consciously, then added, “Sorry, I’ve been talking you up to my new friends. Kalitta has the room across from me, she’s studying mathematics. Tonn is also studying languages, he’s in the north wing of the house.” She indicated the building where they all lived.
Berri smiled at the other woman, “I sure did kill those bastards.” She confirmed in her best Maldorn. “I like your vest.”
Moon’s friend smiled and tugged at the bottom of the brightly coloured vest, it was tight and she wore nothing underneath, leaving her navel, arms and a fair amount of breast exposed. She also wore three quarter length britches that were a size too small, sandals and a number of bangles around her wrists and ankles. Her head appeared to be shaved and she wore a soft cap that Berri had only seen men wearing, until now. She watched as Berri looked her over, “Thank you.”
Moon put an arm around Berri’s waist, “What did you want to do?”
Berri took a breath, “Well… what are the plans for tomorrow?”
Moon shrugged, “Other than the concert, we’ve made no plans. What do you want to do?”
“How would you feel about staying in a manor, up the hill, tonight? My friend Darra has invited us and she’ll let us use the household’s carriage to go to the orchestra.”
“That sounds interesting.” Moon asked the other two what they thought of the idea.
“Keen.” Kalitta said.
“Sure, that sound wonderful. Though I’ll have to bring my suit with me.”
Moon translated and then pointed out, “We’d likely all need to bring what we’re wearing to the performance.”
“I really don’t have anything to wear. In fact, getting a couple changes of clothing is something I should do for day to day wear, as well.”
Tonn said, “Sounds like we need to go to a market or a seamstress.”
“Prosker’s Square is the closest market.” Moon suggested.
Kalitta made a face, “We could go to Walleron Peer, via Queen Neely’s Boulevard. That would take as past a number of the better tailors in town.”
Moon explained, then asked Berri, “Did you want to drop anything in my room?”
“No, I’ll carry this stuff for now.”
Moon looked to the other two, “Anything you need to get?”
Kalitta replied, “Keen, I’ll be right back.”
“Are we coming back before going to Berri’s friend’s place?”
“We probably should.”
“Good, I don’t feel like carrying my suit with me all day. So, I’m fine for now.”
Berri asked Moon, “Is there a bank or a money lender along the way?”
“A couple of them, at least. It’s where all the good shops and the best importers have their business. Where there’s money, there’ll be bankers.”
Kalitta returned a few moments later, she now had a small day pack. She pulled out a bottle of Hollen’s Port Gin. “I’m told it’s your favourite?”
“Yum. This should be fun.”
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