Chapter 2

Nate sat on his bed in the candlelight reading a manuscript on magic, but his mind kept coming back to the day that he rode through the city that first day with Coria and Dentris.

The view from the hill was magnificent. The city rose like a mountain of gray stone, up to the central keep of the castle. The road from the hill led to a gate with thick wooden doors open at its side, bands of metal wrapping around the thick timbers making them stronger and forming the hinges. Guards stood outside the gate watching for any disturbance that might arise from people coming and going through the gate. Another guard, who Nate guessed was a sergeant, saw the trio coming and sent a young boy running off in to the city. Upon a closer look at the masonry, Nate saw that the stone was not rough and fitted together so that there were no gaps possible.

Just inside the gate stood a small open-air market place with shops and vendors lining both sides of the street peddling different wares to the mass of people that were walking by. The crowd did not part, but they did get out of the way, so that the hooves of the horses did not trample them. The buildings, Nate saw, were only one story and had flat roofs. Looking up towards the castle, the roofs continued to be flat and got taller. One would think that a city this size was laid out better, but the streets were a maze and Nate constantly saw dead ends as they rode by. It took him a few moments to figure out why there were all of these different things then what he expected.

He had to think like a defender to figure it out. The masonry was smooth and fitted together so that no attacker could climb the wall with a rope and grappling hook. The smoothness prevented traction and the lack of gaps denied the attackers any handholds. The doors at the gate could handle a battering ram. However, in the event that the gate breached, the roofs of the buildings doubled as archer platforms while the maze of streets funneled the attackers to dead ends and winding them through the city. It's a city made for defense.

Taking the many twists and turns, they made their way to the gate of the castle. Above the gate hung a banner, a black diagonal line split it in half with blue on the bottom and purple on top. Two symbols displayed on the banner, a white six-pointed star on the field of purple and a white rose on the field of blue. The gate was open and through it, you could see men-at-arms standing at attention in their ranks. Swordsmen, archers, light cavalry, and what looked like scouts/trackers stood at attention. A groomsman came and took the reins of Nate's horse as soon as he dismounted. Coria and Dentris led the way to the central keep.

Walking inside Nate heard Coria say to a servant, "Please show Nate here to some quarters. Once he has cleaned up and has settled, show him to the dining hall."

"Yes, milady," replied the servant, "This way if you please, sir," he said turning to Nate.

Nate followed the servant through the hallways, candles lighting the way. Nate climbed three flights of stairs to another hallway with many doors. The servant stopped at one of them and opened the door. Walking in, Nate saw a huge bed dominating one of the walls, in the middle near the one window was a desk with all sorts of writing tools on it. Opposite the bed, on the other wall, stood a fireplace to heat the room and candles sitting on the mantle. There were animal skin rugs on the floor to protect from the cold stone floor.

"Do you need anything, sir?" asked the servant.

"Yes is there somewhere I can clean up?"

"A tub and wash water will be brought up. If you need anything else please let me know, my name is Jogsan."

"Thank you."

Nate took the time between Jogsan leaving and his wash water coming to figure out what he was going to do. Despite all of his reading, he had no practical knowledge on how to survive in this type of environment. He could not defend himself; if he could use magic, he had no idea how to use it. If it turns out that, the King's Magicians could not get him home he was going to be stuck here.

Nate came out of his thoughts by a knock on the door. Answering the door, he found more servants with a washtub and water to fill it up. When the tub was full, Nate quickly washed so that the water was still warm. After getting dressed, he went back to his thoughts. If he were stuck here, he would have to learn how to defend himself, that would mean learning how to use a sword. Nate also may be on his own for a time, which means he needs to know how to hunt and dress animals. Then there is the fact that he can use magic, he would have to learn how to control it.

Nate was about to leave to find the dining hall when Jogsan came to his room to show him. The dining hall was big. Three long tables formed a U-shaped eating area. The middle table was raised slightly higher than the others were and had a bigger chair in the center. Nate knew that was where Coria sat, as she was the ranking person here, as far as he knew. Jogsan showed him to the chair to the left of Coria, and Nate assumed that Dentris was going to be either on his left or on the right hand side of Coria.

"When Lady Coria comes in, stand and do not sit down until she does," said Jogsan.

"If I have a question will you be near?" asked Nate

"Yes, Lady Coria has asked me to be close to help you with court procedure. If you have a question please just look behind you to me and I will come to answer."

"Jogsan, you are going to be a lifesaver. Thanks, again."

Dentris came in to the hall a few moments later. He took the seat on the other side of Coria. Dentris mentioned that it was just going to be the three of them as they had arrived after the midday meal. Nate heard this and felt better. He was a little nervous about meeting more people and not knowing what to do or say. Even though Jogsan was near, he was nervous. A servant, a little more dressed up then he had seen before, came in and announced Coria. Both Dentris and Nate stood up when she came in but mentioned that for them to sit right back down.

"This is informal, just us friends," she said to them.

Once they began to eat, Nate told them of his fears, that he was stuck here and did not know how to do anything, how to defend himself, how to use his magic, how to survive. It was decided that Nate would begin learn these things. Dentris said he would teach Nate about magic, how to use and control it. Coria would teach him about manners in court. Coria also said that her Swordmaster could teach Nate about swords, archery, and hunting. In the mean time, Coria would send a message to the King about Nate.