Age of Kings

by A bag of plums

79 - A Way to Go

The next day, Emerald Edge and her friends got out of bed and made their way downstairs to the tavern. It was empty apart from a mangy dog that was sleeping next to the bar. Lemonina Trotter stood behind the long table, giving the group a smile as they arrived downstairs.

“You sleep well?” Trotter asked cheerfully.

“Very well,” Emerald said. “Your rooms are most comfortable after camping in the desert.”

“How about breakfast?” Trotter came over with plates of hotcakes and mugs of tea. “Mother’s recipe. Honeyed oatcakes.”

The group thanked the bartender and began to tuck into the flat, golden colored oatcakes. Emerald found them to be soft and mildly crunchy on the outside, with a delicious sweet flavor from the honey.

Emerald was taking a bite from her third oatcake when she noticed someone come in through the front door. It was a man dressed in light-colored clothing, with a scruffy beard on his pale blue face. He was holding a wicker basket and there was a bow slung over his shoulder, along with a woven quiver full of arrows. At his belt was a curved Saddle Arabian sword, like the guards at the gate. He went over to Trotter and began to converse rapidly in the Saddle Arabian tongue. Occasionally the newcomer would point at Emerald and her group.

“What do you reckon they’re talking about?” Spectrum whispered.

“Oh, didn’t I tell you?” Jewel Pin swallowed her mouthful of oatcake. “That’s the leader of the trading caravan I stuck a bargain with. His name is Salt Flats. Probably wanted to come see all of us to check how many camels he would have to get.”

“How’d ya manage to talk to him?” Golden Nugget looked impressed. “He speak like us too?”

“Just a tad.” Jewel Pin mimicked with her fingers. “And by that, I mean with… money.”

Trotter and Salt Flats finished talking, seemingly having come to an agreement on something. The two men came over to Emerald’s table. Salt Flats wore a confident, self-assured expression as he viewed the group. He spoke in rapid Saddle Arabian to Trotter.

“Ah. Salt Flats say you are big group. Can defend yourself?”

“We can hold our own in a fight, yes,” Emerald nodded.

Trotter translated this for Salt Flats. His smile grew wider. He said something to Trotter and gestured at Jewel Pin.

“He say you pay him much. More than anyone before, so he more than happy to take you to Masyaf.”

“Great!” Emerald beamed, while at the same time wondering just how much treasure Jewel Pin had given the trader. “So we’re going tomorrow?”

Trotter spoke some more to Salt Flats. He pointed out the door and then at his head.

“Yes, is right. Tomorrow they go. Should get some scarves and cloaks, keeps the sand out of clothes, sun out of face in day, cold away at night. Much variety in the market. Salt Flats will take care of food and water.”

“We will do that,” Emerald promised.

“Good,” Trotter translated. “Then you meet up with Salt Flats tomorrow evening and you go to Masyaf. Salt Flats go to buy supplies and meet with rest of caravan.”

Salt Flats and Emerald exchanged a few more pleasantries, then the merchant went on his way out of the tavern. Trotter returned to his bar to rearrange some of the mugs.

“He is right, you know,” Jewel Pin said at last.

“Abou’ wha’?” Guard Streak asked with a full mouth.

“We should get some cloaks and scarves. Preferably light-colored ones, as they repel heat better.”

“How do you know this?” Posey asked, somewhat impressed. Only somewhat. “Did you learn it last night as well?”

The seamstress shook her head. “I have known about colors and heat dispersion for many years now. There’s a reason why the nobles of Canterlot wear lighter colors during summer.”

Light Speckle nodded in agreement. “I was thinking of visiting the markets for herbs and other reagents, if they have them,” she said. “Why don’t we go together and we can buy the articles of clothing we need while we are at it?”

“That’s a good idea,” Emerald said brightly. “In the meantime, I’ll see about getting to learning as much about our intended route as possible. What to expect and what dangers we might run into.”

With this plan in mind, Emerald’s group split up and went their separate ways, promising to meet back in the inn by sundown.

---

That evening, Jewel Pin and Light Speckle came back into the inn, laden down with various swathes of cloth and textiles, most of them in white.

“White was the easiest color to get,” Jewel Pin explained as she laid them out on the second floor’s dining table. “No expensive dyes involved.”

“These are worn like a mage’s robes,” Light Speckle demonstrated with one of the garments, pulling it around herself. “They keep the sun off your skin and the cold at night, and the sand out of your clothes. These Saddle Arabians certainly are adaptable.”

“The cloth is made from plant fibers, so it will be light and airy even in the desert heat, and at night they make decent blankets.”

“Wow,” Emerald said, picking up one of the robes. “You definitely outdid yourselves. How much did this cost?”

Light Speckle shrugged. “Not a whole lot, actually. Like Jewel Pin said, the undyed articles were a lot cheaper, and we have plenty of money and treasure to pay for anything we might need so far.”

“What about you, Em?” Honeygold swung her legs under the padded bench that she was sitting on. “Did ya learn anything about our route?”

Emerald nodded. She had spent most of the day with Trotter and another member of the trading caravan, a woman called Baharat Anise, who was the caravan’s navigator. They had pored over maps of the desert, taking note of the path that would take them to Masyaf as quickly as possible, while still stopping at various oases on the way. Through Trotter’s translation skills, Emerald was able to learn that they would take at least a dozen days to get from here to Masyaf, and that was if they didn’t encounter anything like a sandstorm along the way.

It had been a sobering experience, and Emerald Edge had learned a great deal about desert travel and navigation. For one thing, maps were almost useless out there unless they were close to a landmark, and this being a desert, there would not be very many. Instead Anise used the positions of the stars at night to tell where they were, as well as using a strange little device she called a bawsala. It somehow always pointed north, allowing Anise to determine their position based on which way it was pointing. When Emerald had asked if it was magic, the navigator had laughed and said something that Trotter couldn’t quite translate.

“We’re not going straight to Masyaf,” Emerald announced. “The caravan will be taking a roundabout route so that we stop by an oasis every few days, so we don’t run out of water.”

“Probably wise,” Nightfall noted duly.

“Did they tell you what kind of things we might run into out there?” Spectrum asked, tapping the top of the table with her finger.

Emerald nodded. “Anise said the main danger is bandits, but the chances of running into those are very small. Still, the caravan has four armed escorts along with it, and everyone on the journey knows how to fight in some way. There was also mentions of ghouls, but Anise assured me that in all her years of doing the trade routes, she has never encountered one before.”

“Ghouls?” Honeygold asked nervously. “What’re those?”

“I think, based on the translated description, that they are some kind of monster that eats human flesh. But Trotter and Anise both seem to think they’re either very rare, or don’t exist at all.”

“We have fought monsters before,” Spectrum said confidently. “Wasn’t that bad.”

“And we got a lot of treasure from doing it,” Jewel Pin added.

Emerald was less sure. “Anyway, Salt Flats is letting us travel with them on their trade route. I just hope we can find a guide once we get to Masyaf.”

“Ah hope so, too.” Golden Nugget sighed. “Well, we’re leavin’ tomorrow evenin’ already, so we’d better get a good night’s sleep. Jewel Pin, how ‘bout going down and getting Trotter to whip up some dinner? Ah’m starved.”

---

The moon was a slim, silver crescent over the city of Canterlot when Moon Tide slipped inside the walls. Having left all but one of the horses at Avalon with the apple farmers, the mage had ridden the one remaining horse at breakneck speed back to the city in order to meet with someone very important. She had already spent many days journeying back and she even had to take a detour when she was in Prance because of the presence of Canterlot guards. It seemed they were making more progress than she thought they would.

Even from just being in Canterlot, she could tell things had changed. Larger groups of armed guards patrolled the streets, and there were no sounds of revelry coming from any of the taverns. The whole city reeked of fear and depression.

Moon Tide kept to the shadows and crept up the hill toward Canterlot Castle. By all signs, Morn Dread was not at home, and his mother had no intention of running into him this early.

Skulking past a trio of guards, Moon Tide hurried up to the castle gates and composed herself. It should be just fine, she was allowed to be here as a mage and healer. There should be nothing to worry about, right?

Sure enough, the guards did not even bat an eye at her arrival, though that may have been because there was golden light shining from their irises.

Following the queen’s scent, Moon Tide went up a spiral staircase and found herself in the royal quarters. The halls had seen better days. Scorch marks dotted the tapestries and any depictions of Dawn Saber had been crudely hacked apart.

He needs to be stopped before he brings the entire kingdom crashing down around us. Moon Tide thought grimly. If he hasn’t already.

Finding the door to Queen Sunlight’s quarters, Moon Tide pushed it open and entered.

Sunlight was sitting on her bed, reading a book. She barely even looked up as Moon Tide entered.

“Well?” Sunlight asked. “What have you been up to these past few weeks? I can tell you things have taken a turn for the worse here in Canterlot. Have you killed my rebellious nephew yet?”

Moon Tide bit her lip and swallowed a retort.

“No. No, I haven’t.”

“I thought not,” Sunlight sniffed. “I assume if you had, all the guards keeping me in here would have stopped having eyes like bonfires. You are carrying out my orders, are you not?”

“Yes, I am,” Moon Tide said resolutely. “But there are other ways of doing it. Not just walking up to him and stabbing him.”

Sunlight closed her book and put it on her bedside table. “And you are staking the fate of the kingdom, a kingdom that we rightfully own, on that Emerald Edge and her group of friends? The same Emerald Edge that Morn Dread is now relentlessly chasing across the face of the earth?”

“They should be in Saddle Arabia by now,” Moon Tide said, sitting down. She looked tired and worn out. “Emerald thinks there is an artifact in the desert lands that will help her overpower Morn Dread and win back the throne.”

“Oh, now Emerald wants to be the ruler?” Sunlight spat. “If she wants to contend with me, I’ll…”

“She doesn’t want the throne, sister,” Moon Tide sighed. “She just wants everything back to the way it was. Speaking of that, what changed in the weeks that I was gone?”

Sunlight walked over to her balcony and peered down at the sleeping city. Scores of little bobbing fires crawled through the city streets, like small luminous insects.

“Guard patrols have tripled. Entertainers like the court jesters and mages have more or less been run out of the job. Nobody wants to hear jokes or watch magic tricks with such an oppressive atmosphere. Gatherings of more than ten people have been outlawed. The entire kingdom is on edge, so I need you to get rid of Morn Dread as soon as possible, before we run out of food to feed on!”

“I’m doing the best I can, all right?” Moon Tide snapped. In the lamplight, she looked on the verge of tears. “Emerald will find the artifact and stop Morn. You can trust her, your majesty. She’s never let us down yet.”

“And rumor has spread about Morn taking his knights to conquer other kingdoms,” Sunlight continued. “We do not want to be at war with everybody. Wars make for poor food sources, as I’m sure you know. And if Emerald should fail...”

“She won’t,” Moon Tide said, straightening her spine. “I believe in her.”

“Well, unfortunately for you, I don’t. If she is to go up against our kind, she needs the smarts and support of one of us. I cannot leave the castle, so it must be you.”

Moon Tide blinked and stared at the floor. She knew her queen was right. Morn had most, if not all the advantages of their kind. They might give him enough of an edge to defeat Emerald, and that could not happen, for a myriad of reasons. There was only one thing to do.

“I will ride out to Saddle Arabia tomorrow, then,” Moon Tide promised. “I will help Emerald win this battle, for both her and you. And maybe for Morn, too. Just let me say goodbye to the sirens before I go.”

“Permission granted,” Sunlight yawned. “Just make sure that by the end of this, Canterlot is left standing and Morn is no more. That is all I ask.”

Standing up again, Moon Tide bowed to Sunlight Radiance and let herself out of the room. There were things she needed to prepare before she followed Emerald into the uncharted East.

---

Comments

[Marcthelightspark2004]

That evening, Jewel Pin and Light Speckle came back into the inn, laden down with various swathes of cloth and textiles, most of them in white.

Add some red. Its a light color. Goes EXCELLENTLY with white

[MoonlightRift]

Good chapter. Just 40 left to go including the one today 👀👀