Chapter 20: Miss Lori's

As soon as we were clear of town I picked up our pace. Unfortunately Orlanth was not the best rider, even with instruction. On top of that, Juniper was fast; I had to make sure that we didn't end up miles ahead of the kids without even trying.

Orlanth's book was wrapped up and packed on an extra horse that the stable master provided me. The new horse seemed to be more of a plow horse than a riding horse. She did occasionally want to move slower than a brisk walk; otherwise she did not have too much difficulty keeping pace with the others. The boy was riding Daisy, my old horse; I had Meri keep an eye on him and give him as many pointers as he could absorb.

At lunch we took an extended break, and I made the kids do their exercises while I made lunch. After the mid-afternoon break, I pushed them again to make better time. We rode around the next village and kept going. I figured that we were moving slower than Grandma Kira was hoping for, so I planned to keep moving faster than we had been.

I'm not sure why but I hadn't felt any urgency in this mission, I thought that I should have, I just didn't.

This pattern we kept up until a few days later, when I could see a castle rise on a hilltop. It had three spires and a walled city surrounding it.

I asked if the kids had any knowledge of this city, the king, or the area, and came up with nothing. Meri was from the principality west of here, and so was the lad.

We approached from the south. I had the kids look around and take turns stating what was different about this city than the towns that we passed through.

First and foremost this town was completely walled, not even the town that the duchy was in was walled, and most of those walls were in the middle of the town. This one, Royal Oak, was about three times larger; it was almost a mile in diameter. The walls were stone, about twenty feet high and two feet thick. The smell of unwashed bodies was stronger, and the roads that led into it were busier. The king's banner, an oak tree against a red field, stood out at each opening.

There was a military presence that was obvious here. The soldiers were wearing steel plate-reinforced boiled leather armor. Something odd to me was the complete lack of shields carried by any of the soldiers. Everyone looked to have a short sword and a parrying dagger around a foot long, with an enlarged cross guard or a cage to protect the hand. The daggers were customized to the user, whereas the sword seemed to be fairly standard.

In a culture where everyone used two weapons, I, using a katana, would stand out to any practiced swordsman. My blade was also a good eight to ten inches longer than the ones that I had seen. Hopefully all the daggers were the parrying type, and not the throwing type. I didn't have much defense against a throwing dagger wielded by a skilled thrower who took me by surprise. I was also six inches taller than most of the male populace; the extra reach would be helpful.

Another thing was that the people did not fear the soldiers; that was Huge. The soldiers that we passed along the way here seemed to be friendly with everyone that they came in contact with, not just me. A kingdom with peaceful inhabitants would make for a safer and happier folk. It also made for a prosperous land, barring any weather calamities.

Everyone, as normal, scrutinized us; but since no one stopped us, we continued on to the main gates. It was just after noon, and we had not stopped for a mid afternoon break. That meant we were tired, sweaty and hungry. There seemed to be two lines, one for the carts and one for everyone else. I chose to bypass the slow walkers and ride straight for the gates.

I halted at the gate guard's upraised hand.

"What be your name and purpose, Milord?" He asked politely.

"I am Lord Charles, and I am here to visit some friends. Would you recommend a good inn for my stay?" I asked politely. If he was going to be polite, I figured that it could not hurt if I was polite also.

"How long would you be staying, Milord?"

"I don't know for sure, it really depends on the friends of mine."

"Very good Milord, the tariff is a silver for visiting nobles. The best inn in the city is The Hawk's Rest, Milord." I paid the man, and then tossed him an extra half silver which he caught. I needed to start carrying lower denomination coins. "If anyone is seeking me, would you let me know?" He nodded. "Now how do I find this Hawk's Rest?"

The soldier gave a sharp whistle and an urchin came scurrying over, "Take the lord to Hawk's Rest, and no foolishness from you." The urchin gawked at me for a second, and then started up hill following the largest through-way.

The first, second and third thing that I noticed upon entering this large medieval city was the stench; I almost gagged. My two retainers were not doing any better. "Take a cloth, soak it, and put it over your mouth; it will make it bearable." They complied and looked all the better for it. I didn't, out of some perverse reason or just pure stubbornness.

All of the streets were circular, and often stopped and turned at right angles. I saw something like this on the Discovery channel and how it made city defenses much stronger. I tried to remember the path, and reminded the kids to do the same for I would quiz them on it later.

The lower level of the city was made up of mainly the poor and simple merchants; the streets were broad and the houses were mostly made of wood with thatch roofs. I did not see any glass in the windows, though there were plenty of small gardens attached to the houses. The shops were mostly attached to a house, and some seemed to be a combination of the two.

There were plenty of people hawking their goods in the street which I avoided like the plague. Come to think of it, illness would be the number one killer of people in this age. I would have to remember that and watch out for bad water and undercooked food. No more medium-rare filet mignon for me.

There was a short wall and a guard post when we came up to the second level, the guards waved us through after giving our guide a chit of some sort. I figured that the urchins were not allowed on this level.