Chapter 11

From my discussions with Birgit, I knew how traveling with boats worked. I also knew where to start my journey so that we wouldn’t be spending the night in the town where I was known as Arne. Our stop there was long enough to make me feel uncomfortable. Not because of Birgit, but because of the other people whom I had learned to know during my visits. It was enough that Birgit was a bit unhappy because of my coming years of absence, I didn’t want to give any excuses to other people I might know.

“Son, why don’t you go to see the town. You have time; we don’t continue until after noon.”

I shook my head at the old boatman.

“My mother warned me about harbors. She said that I’d better stay in the boat while we stop since there are all kinds of dangers lurking in places like this.”

The man burst out laughing.

“Son, if I were your age and got your looks, I’d be out there in a blink of an eye. Some women out there would probably make a queue and do you for free!”

I looked away and did my best to look embarrassed which made him laugh even more.

“You should really try it out here, son. Once we get to the coast, the women there will eat you alive and just spit out the bones. At the capital you won’t even know what hit you. I can only suggest that you enjoy the ride!”

I looked at the man, making sure that I kept the embarrassed took on my face while shaking my head.

“I shouldn’t. It’s not that I wouldn’t like it to happen but...”

“Well, your loss, son.”

Luckily the man didn’t push things any further but turned towards another male passenger who listened to him with interest. Once we were farther downstream we were taken to a boarding house for the night - and that man was shown a different place to sleep than the rest of us. I shrugged, slept and dreamed about Bellcauniel, Fainauriel and Hantaliel. Just as I should.

It was mid-afternoon the following day when we docked at the river-mouth. I thanked the boatman for the trip and I also asked him for a recommendation of a place to spend the night and a ship for the rest of the journey. The man thought for a moment.

“There’s a place just outside the dock area which should be fine if you just want to sleep. Going there might also help you keep your money until you reach the capital.”

“That’s all I want for now. I mean, the experience you offered me last night would certainly have been nice but I’m much more afraid that something might happen that will ruin my plans.”

The old man looked at me for a moment before smiling and nodding.

“Son, maybe you are smart enough to survive out there. Maybe. Keep that line of thinking - but don’t swear off women if they come after you for free and want nothing of value from you. At least that way, you may save some money - unless you end up marrying one of them.”

After laughing at his own joke, the man started telling me about the differences between the companies sailing between here and the capital. I listened very carefully since this was the sort of information I wanted to get. What kind of ships there were, how they sailed - and, of course, the prices.

“ ... so, taking one of those bulky coastal ships doing the cargo trade will maybe make your trip a day, maybe two, longer, but the price is one fourth compared to those fancy ones that are faster and carry those important folks. You being a country boy, you’ll do well in those trade boats, I’m sure. Besides, those few companies are honest ones. They care so much about their reputation that they don’t want to rob occasional passengers. Or, if they do, they make sure to dump your body to the sea.”

From his grin I was sure that he was joking. Or, I was almost sure that he was joking. I hoped so. For the first time, I was a bit worried that I’d had to leave both my crossbows and my sword behind but especially because my sword was too easily recognizable - and there should not be much need for a crossbow in the capital. So, I only had two knives with me - and my new skills in unarmed fighting. I wasn’t really anxious to test those skills.

I found the small boarding house the boat owner had told me about - and it was exactly what he said it would be. Not a fancy one and the room was small - but clean. Once I had agreed the price for one night and left most of my stuff there, I returned to the harbor and started looking for the trade office. All the ship captains visited the office if they had any extra room in their boats - or ships. That extra room would be used for goods - or passengers.

In the last year and a half, I had managed to make myself much more tolerant of crowds. I still didn’t like crowded places since I needed to ‘dull’ my sensing abilities and that was constant effort, even if it had become easier and easier with time. Most likely I’d never really become a ‘townie’, never.

While looking for the trade office I also checked the market and the shops for the things they sold here. From my discussions with Birgit, I knew that the Crown collected tax for every purchase and they had recently raised the basic tax from one tenth of the price of the purchase to two tenths. Not only that, there were boxes into which the seller needed to pay the tax immediately after the purchase. If you failed to do so and got caught, you had to pay half of your sales as taxes for the next six months. If you got caught twice you did that for a year. Nobody had ever heard of anyone who had been caught three times.

Birgit had heard about those boxes, but they hadn’t found their way to the smaller towns, yet. I had heard that some people were envious of those living in the Northwest coast since there was no such tax collected there. Too few people and not so much trade - and even less money used. Just how would you pay your tax with deer skins or with beef?

The tax increase was still a common cause of complaints. To me the prices looked quite reasonable - most groceries were still cheaper than in my old home villages, even if some of the basic things, like potatoes, were more expensive. In general, I could probably live here quite comfortably for some time with the money I got from my Bonds. However, eventually the money would run out - and what then? There would not be much work for a hunter around here.

After some searching and questioning I found the trade office I was looking for. The people at the office weren’t really surprised at my question, once I had mentioned the recommendation had come from a boat operator. The trade people had their own opinion about the operators doing almost purely passenger transport and hearing that opinion allowed me to increase my vocabulary in Anglon.

In the end, all of us were sort of happy. The boat captain got one paying customer, the office got their commission, the Crown got some taxes - and I got my ride to Aston! Cheaply.

Once I had the boat trip figured out, the evening was still young and I wondered what I should do. This was by far the biggest town I had visited in my life and I still had some issues in staying a longer time close to big groups of people. I had been somewhat worried about finding my way around the town but it seemed that I’d be able to find my way here, at least. After all, all, the basic rules were the same: The Sun or the Moon was in the sky and buildings could be used as landmarks as well as hills or special trees. Then there was the fact that I also seemed to have some magical ‘knack’ in finding my way. Once I had been some place I’d probably be able to find it again if I needed to. If I remembered correctly, my father had been like that, too. That was something to think about.

Since I had some time, I decided to examine the town some more. I had my spare clothes and some books in the boarding house, but I carried my money with me in a few special pockets that had been made in my clothes. Even if I had never been in a town like this before, I didn’t quite think of myself as a naïve country boy. First there had been my mother’s stories - or teachings - and then I had also had some lengthy discussions with Hantaliel. She had visited several towns multiple times in disguise, both good and bad areas. From her I had learned about the things to be aware of: Groups of young men ready to move quickly and surround their victim, women who could come and hug you and empty all your pockets in a blink of an eye, corrupt town guards ... the list was long. The most dangerous ones were the ones you couldn’t really predict; like a man with a knife ready to kill and rob anybody so that he could get some more drugs.

All those things were a good reason to not totally shut off my magical skills. I wasn’t at all sure that this ability would give me any forewarning about something threatening, but at least it would warn me about approaching people. Besides, this might be a good opportunity to learn to fine tune my skills.

I ate - or tasted - some small things that were being made and sold in stands along the streets as the day progressed. Some of those things were good and some not so good. Some, being fried, were probably not that healthy and I decided not to take habit of eating them. However, right now I could use all the help that would make it easier for me to get comfortable in town. Inside town walls. I tried not to think about the idea of being closed behind walls too much.

Once I had decided that I had seen enough, I turned in the direction where I knew my boarding house would be. Now it was getting dark and behind the doors that had been closed were now bars and some other businesses. Only when I saw the red lights I really understood what the area was. I hadn’t yet walked through there but I remembered seeing the street before. Back then it hadn’t provoked any interest but now there was light and some voices. Not to mention two sturdy looking guys at the beginning of the street. In a way, those guys oozed authority just like the Guardians had done, but it was clear that they didn’t were a part of any official organization.