Chapter 4
The room Emma was led to was part of the wing where Tris stayed. Tris's suites and tower occupied the higher level of the building, while Emma's suite was on the first floor. She had two rooms- a bedroom and a sort of sitting room. A door led out from the sitting room into a small rock garden. The Gyongxian rock garden was well tended with whorls of gravel curving around craggy faces of bare stone boulders. Daja set Emma down so she could walk across the garden on several strategically placed flagstones. Briar appeared from the edge of the small garden. It appeared that the rock garden was attached to Briar's garden, and was only partitioned off by a screen of several cypress trees. It was framed on its other side by a sandy colored wall that took the midday sun and sent it scattering across the rock garden's whorls. A low hedge and gate screened it off from the house's main courtyard.
"Do you like it?" asked Briar. "Evvy works on it when she comes to visit on market days and suchlike. It's wonderful for relaxation and meditation." Emma nodded.
"It looks beautiful. Tell me, how do those stones do that?" She pointed at the wall, where the sandy color seemed to also mingle with a rosy light. Briar rubbed his chin.
"It's a stonemage thing, really. I think Dedicate Catseye profited from this venture. They're bespelled, and they catch and return the light, rather than just blocking it out. But it doesn't shine, which is a blessing to passersby on the street. I'm not quite sure about specifics, though." As Briar spoke, Emma was making her way carefully across the rock garden. Skirting the edge of the gravel, she reached the wall and lay a hand on it.
"Wow," she whispered. The light seemed to pool around her fingertips, and the stone was warm to the touch. She smiled as she dragged a finger across the sandpaper-like surface. It didn't hurt, and she saw a wake of light trail after the path of her finger. After a moment she realized what she was doing and bashfully walked back to Briar.
"Oh, forgive me Briar, I was a little distracted. Could you tell me where else I should go to settle in?" For a moment it seemed as if the young mage was regarding her oddly, but the flicker of scrutiny passed and was replaced by a brilliant smile.
"Why most certainly, madam. If you would follow me inside…" He looped her arm gently through his and took her back into her rooms. Daja was standing within, peering closely at the jammed metal lock on the wooden shutters. She touched a finger to it, and the latch clicked open smoothly. Briar swept one hand out in a grandoise fashion.
"This is the most lovely Daja Kisubo. Here you see her in her natural habitat- a room of Number 6 Cheeseman Street. Don't get too close, though. This girl has quite the reflexes! She dislikes extreme cold and has a penchant for shiny metal things. She feeds on a diet of Trader foods and… well, everything else, really. Daja also-" With a laugh, he ducked out of the way of Daja's incoming "friendly" punch.
"Get out of here, Briar, before I make the buckle of your belt fall apart." Briar huffed.
"Well, why not? Look all you'd like, ladies, but Daja, avert your eyes…" Grinning slightly, he ducked out of the room as the Trader advanced.
"I'll tell Rosethorn on you. Out, out!" He left, and Daja turned to Emma. "I'm sorry about that. He can be insufferable sometimes. But he's paid his debt to all of us, and more-" Emma had covered her smile with her hand.
"It's alright, really, Daja. You four are so interesting to watch together. Of course, I haven't seen much of Trisana lately." Daja shrugged.
"And you won't, if she has her way. It's nothing against you, it's just that she oftentimes loves her books more than her people." Tris's mindvoice drifted into Daja's consciousness.
Well, excuse me. I love all three of you best when you aren't getting in my way. Daja, your body is radiating warm air outwards. I hear you. Daja grinned and responded briefly.
I know that, Tris. I'll see you around dinner?
I should hope not. This treatise needs reading. I'll ask the maid up.
Don't scare her off this time! Daja finished the conversation. Looking back at Emma, Daja found that the other girl was regarding her oddly.
"What are you doing?" she asked. "Is this the mind-speaking that you four always use?" Daja nodded.
"Yes, it is. I'm sorry, I was being rude."
"Oh no! That's fine. I just was wondering if both of these were my rooms…" She trailed off, looking a bit uncertain. Daja nodded.
"Of course they are. You have a sitting room, a bedroom, and your garden outside. I'm sorry the furnishings are a bit bland; this used to be our guest suite." Emma looked around the rooms. The sitting room was simply furnished, with a two-seated cushioned chair and a brightly colored braided rug. A shuttered door opened into the rock garden. She carefully entered her room. A bed stood near a window, and a writing desk and bookshelf were tucked up against the walls. A door to another wall led to a small private washroom, where a metal bathing drain stood next to a wall-mounted pump. A privy was screened off by a thin wooden partition, and a shuttered window gave a view of one of the house's outer walls. Emma carefully went out to where Daja was standing.
"The rooms are lovely, thank you. What are the plans for today?"
"Well, what today is an in-day. Tomorrow is a market day, so we'll be bringing things down to the marketplace to sell. Even though we all have our own shops we contribute to, it's nice to spend a day outdoors, talking to people. If you feel rested enough, you're welcome to come along." Emma smiled.
"That would be great! I feel better already." Daja nodded.
"Today I just planned on working in the smithy. I have a few minor projects. Tris is upstairs, studying. It's best not to disturb her. Briar is… well, either off making slaves and poultices, tending a garden, or flirting with the housemaid… again. Sandry's at the Palace, working with the Duke at his Court. Feel free to spend the time exploring the house, getting used to everything, and resting. Market day can be tasking, so perhaps you'd like to spend the day on-grounds, relaxing. We'll be waking early to get our wares together." Emma nodded, and Daja withdrew.
The girl spent the rest of the day exploring the house and resting in her rock garden. She perched atop one of the rugged boulders, relaxing her muscles as she felt the sun's warmth and the brief chills of passing clouds. When the bell rang for dinner, she got up and headed off to the dining room.
Dinner was a tired affair, with Briar, Daja, and Sandry subdued after a day of work. Tris was "holed up" in her room, as Briar put it. The food was delicious; chicken cooked in a marmalade sauce was served over steamed white rice. Dessert was berry pie, cooked from fruits grown in Briar's garden. Everyone headed off to bed early, as market day promised an early-morning wake-up call. Emma sat in her room, deep in thought. She began to compartmentalize what had happened to her in the past few hours. The burden of what she had endured weighed heavily on her mind, and as she struggled to fend off the waking nightmares, she fell into the dreaming ones.
Midnight found Emma drenched in a cold sweat, shivering in her bed. Shakily getting up, she staggered into her sitting area, where she pulled on her pair of boots and a linen robe. After a few moments of deep breathing to calm her heart rate, she made her way out to the rock garden. Trying not to disturb the pattern of pebbles, she tiptoed out to what she now thought of as her "sitting rock." Instead of sitting atop it, she settled onto the gravel beside it, staring up at the moon. The light from the moon was the only thing she could see by, as it seemed that electric street lights had still not been discovered in this strange country. Clouds drifted across the shining face of the moon's visible half, and Emma fell asleep gazing up at the stars.
Emma jolted awake when she felt a hand shaking her leg. Blearily she kicked out, wincing as her stiffened muscles complained the sudden movement. Rubbing her eyes, she looked up at the bemused face of Lady Sandry.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Sandry. I don't know what I was thinking…" Slowly getting to her feet, Emma found that she was covered in a layer of dew that sparkled like stars on her dark hair. Rubbing her suddenly-chilly arms, she coughed and followed Sandry inside. It was still a dark purple-gray, the sun not yet up.
"It's alright, Emma. We're going to start setting up for heading out to market. Daja sent me to wake you, if you're still interested in coming." Emma nodded, and Sandry continued. "There's a change of clothes on your bed. What were you doing outside, anyhow? You're absolutely frozen!" She began to fuss about, rubbing Emma's arms and checking her for a temperature. Emma gently pushed away Sandry's hands.
"Sandry, it's alright. I just couldn't sleep last night, and I must have dozed off when I went to get some fresh air. I'm fine, really. I'm going to change. Should I meet all of you in the courtyard?" She smiled at Sandry to soften the dismissal. Sandry smiled back.
"Yes, that's right. We'll see you in the courtyard in fifteen minutes."
After she washed and changed into her new set of clothes, Emma headed out to the courtyard. It was a flurry of activity. Two carts stood in the courtyard. Briar was loading all manner of greenery into his, while Daja's cart was filled with metal and living metal creations. Sandry's wares were tucked in both carts. Emma helped with lifting some of the rolls of cloth, then aided Briar in loading up several crates of plant-based balms and salves. Once everything was put into the carts, Emma took a seat beside Briar on his cart. He motioned to a basket full of hot sausage rolls.
"Even though Tris doesn't care for waking this early, she still sends us off well." Emma nodded and took one, then waved to the head of red hair that disappeared back into the kitchen. With a rustle of the reins, Briar got their horse moving. Sandry and Daja drove the other cart, leading the way out of the courtyard and down the street. After a while, she clambered into the back to doze a bit.
The roads to the marketplace were crowded with people, even this early in the morning. The pair of carts slowly made its way down the street, navigating the narrow streets with admirable ease. Briar and Emma made small talk as they drove, but mostly shared a comfortable silence until they reached their destination- a pair of booths set up in a courtyard. They were two in a number of stalls that ringed the circular courtyard, rather than creating a maze in them. This was the area of the marketplace reserved for merchants who sold magical goods, or for mages who sold mixed wares. The extra space provided an area to demonstrate the legitimacy of the products.
Without fuss, the four began to set up their shelves of objects. Emma helped Briar, laughing as he told stories of the market-days he had been a part of. As Daja paused in her work to glance over, she heard Emma exclaim,
"A waterspout? Oh, ha, now I know you're crazy. That could never happen!" When Sandry grunted with surprise at the weight of one of Daja's boxes, the taller girl whipped around.
"Sandry, let me take that, you'll hurt yourself." The noblewoman huffed.
"I'm not going to fall over like some weakling, Daja Kisubo." With a grunt, Daja put the box down behind her selling-counter.
"I know you won't, Sandry-saati," she said placatingly as she opened the heavy box that contained her ironwork. She glanced over at Briar and Emma again. Suddenly, the pattern of a white-on-green embroidery superimposed itself over her view of the two. Straightening, Daja looked into Sandry's slightly amused expression.
And what do you find so funny, pray? Sandry cocked an eyebrow at Daja. With her arms on her hips, the young noblewoman looked like a force to be reckoned with.
The way you're looking over at Briar. Calm down- the heat of your less-than-friendly gaze might scorch Briar's shakkans. Daja continued unpacking her wares, shrugging off what Sandry seemed to be implicating.
I'm not glaring. I'm just worried about what might happen. Emma's not seen a mind-healer yet, and she's just been around a few people at a time. I'm wondering if something might happen today that would set her off. We don't know what she's able to do yet. Sandry busied herself with unrolling one of her tapestries to hang on a display.
Well, I've scheduled a mind-healer to come for a visit tomorrow, and as for her magic, well, I was going to take Emma during the lunch break to get her residential paperwork in order. I've a hand with the clerks in the Citizenry Office, and intend to make sure that Emma has some nice, legal proof of residence for as long as she's here. Daja nodded.
"I'll let her know. By noontime things will definitely be getting hectic, and it might be good to get her out of the press." Seeing Emma approach over Sandry's shoulder, she nodded. "You can ask her now, if you'd like. I'm going to finish setting up." As Sandry and Emma struck up a conversation, Daja unloaded her final objects from the bed of the cart- a pair of ironwork door handles that were ordered by another merchant. As long as her arm, the handles seemed to be designed for a stately mansion door or a government office of some sort. Settling the huge pieces of metal behind the counter, Daja handed the reins of the cart-horse over to a porter. He would go and stable the horse with others of its kind in the city's large set of stables near the palace. Daja took the tag he offered, then handed the boy a tip before he walked off. With that business finished, she turned to finish clearing up the displays and working with the first few customers already browsing.
By this time the sun had risen, and business began to pick up. For a while Emma meandered through the stalls, looking at all of the wares. This portion of the marketplace sold fairly high-end goods, and she felt a bit intimidated by all of the foreign and magical goods. Eventually she made her way back to the stalls of Briar and Daja, where both were hard at work. Emma sat behind Briar's counter, watching as he sold anything from potted herbs to eye-itch salve. When he asked, she handed him different bottles to be sold from his box of potions. She watched with amusement as he flirted with young and old women alike. When a blushing elderly lady in a maroon dress walked away with her purchase of hand cream, she turned to ask Briar a question about the way he organized his selling shelves. When she looked, she caught him staring across the courtyard.
"Briar, what are you doing?" Coming up from behind him, she looked around his shoulder to follow his line of vision. Her movement caught his eye, and he began to organize the things on the counter.
"Nothing, Emma-cat." He had nicknamed her that when he saw her curled up on the cart bed, dozing on the way to market. "Just checking my jar of change coins," he mumbled. Finally seeing what she thought he was looking at, Emma laughed.
"Oh hardly! I doubt that very much, Mister Moss. I see you checking something else out, though." Flushing slightly, Briar almost clapped a hand over Emma's mouth. Pulling her farther away from the counter and his customers, he shook a finger at her.
"Quiet, woman!" he demanded softly, a look of amusement and embarrassment on his face. "No words on this, see? I'm in an odd situation, but I can handle it myself. I'm no Temple-boy, inexperienced in the ways of the world." Emma laughed.
"Oh, I can tell you're not inexperienced. That's why it's amusing. And you're certainly acting like a young boy. What is this, you pining over someone a courtyard away? I'd have pegged you for the kind who'd have introduced himself already." She enunciated the word so that Briar knew that she wasn't talking about the simple hand-shaking introduction. Briar turned away.
"Well, I tried." Trailing off, he focused his attention on trimming the leaves of a shakkan for sale. His air of nonchalance seemed a bit forced."She just wasn't interested." Emma laughed, a clear sound that sailed over the clatter and bustle of the marketplace courtyard. Several people turned to look. Several young men continued to look. Emma glanced away from the crowds and patted Briar on the back.
"It's alright, we all have our off-days." Briar raised an eyebrow.
"Oh really, miss Emma-cat? I'll have you know that plenty of women play difficult to get. This is not an off-day. Besides, how many off-days have you-" He stopped, then continued cutting in silence.
"Ah, hah. Well, one or two, Briar, one or two." She tried to cover the sudden freezing chill she felt with humor. After a few moments, she pushed herself up from her stool. "I'm off, Briar. I see Sandry coming, and we're off for an appointment at the Citizenry Office. Once you see me again, I'll be an Emelanian! Emelani? Emelanist?" She swooped in and gave Briar a kiss on the cheek. "See you later, Briar." He grinned.
"Lakik's teeth! You're a vixen, miss Emma-cat! Be back soon, okay?" She waved at him from across the courtyard. He waved back, then went back to work.
Sandry led Emma through a maze of market-day-crowded streets. After several minutes of maneuvering through crowds at a fast pace, they reached a long street crowded with government buildings. Ahead the palace could be seen. Emma trotted behind Sandry, and almost crashed into her when the other girl stopped. The building they stood in front of did not have the same white-washed façade of the buildings around it- instead, its dingy paint seemed to be peeling around the door- and window-frames. It was sandwiched between a huge temple-like structure housing the Judicial Offices and Courts and another building that was the Post Center. A sign over the door read, in elaborate lettering, "Citizenry Office of the Great State of Emelan." Under the sign was a faded painting of the Emelani flag.
"Here we are!" Sandry declared, and led Emma into the office. A combination of weak lantern light and sunlight lit the dingy room. Several rows of benches sat, unoccupied and covered in dust. At the end of the main rectangular room a long counter stood, behind which stood a man with a tired expression on his face. Sandry approached the desk with purpose.
"Good morning, sir-" The tired-looking man barely glanced up from his paper. Emma peered over the counter and saw him filling out what looked like a resignation form.
"It's afternoon." Sandry's cheerful expression didn't change for a moment.
"Well, then, sir, good afternoon. My name is Sandrilene fa Toren, and I'm here on business with Clerk Mathisson." Barely moving from his letter, the elderly man hollered into a back room.
"Mathisson, it's for you!" A young man rushed out of the back, clutching a stack of papers.
"Lady Sandrilene! My apologies, I was just getting your things together. Mr. Weaver, I can handle things in here now." With a shrug, the older man shuffled off to the back room. Clerk Mathison turned to the two women with a smile.
"I'm sorry about Clerk Weaver. He was quite the Citizenry Officer in his day, but since we started the visa system several years ago, work here has decreased drastically. I don't mind telling you that this Office is on the verge of shut-down." Sandry smiled politely.
"Do I hear a hint of excitement on your part, Clerk Mathison?"
"Oh, call me Jordan. If the Office closes down, the Duke has promised me a place as an inspections Officer on the border. I have to say, the idea of a promotion is quite exciting." He winked at her, and Sandry smiled almost coquettishly back.
"Well, that is quite exciting. I'm happy for you! Now, you said you had paperwork for me and my friend?"
"Oh, yes. Here it is. Citizenry paperwork… Forms A, B, C, F, and…K." Sandry took the forms.
"Now, where should we fill this out?" The clerk pointed out a row of cubicles running the length of one wall.
"Feel free to take one of those, Lady Sandrilene. Here's a bottle of fresh ink, and a quill." Emma took the things, then the two of them took a seat at a box-like stall. The sheets were covered with fine print and boxes and lines to fill out. Emma began with Form A. It seemed like a simple sort of filling in the blanks.
An hour and a half later, Emma rubbed her temples tiredly.
"Is there any more?" Sandry shook her head.
"No, there isn't. It's amazing, really. I didn't think that many people could name their medical history from memory. Emma tried to smile.
"Just something I needed recently." Seeing the look that flickered behind the other girl's eyes, Sandry wisely chose not to remark on the comment.
"Well, let's hand in this paperwork. Wait, let me see something on Form… F, I think it was." Emma handed over the paper, and Sandry skimmed it quickly. "You marked "No" under the question, 'Are you a mage, or have you ever exhibited magical tendencies?'"
"Well, of course. I think it's pretty obvious that I'm not like you four." Sandry touched her chin briefly, the gesture betraying a moment of hesitation.
"Actually, one or two people I've spoken to believe you are. That is, you have power. We just don't know what kind yet. We were hoping to speak to you about it later, but…" Emma rubbed her eyes tiredly.
"I really don't want to deal with this right now, no offense meant Lady Sandry. If this has to do with how I got here, okay. My eyes are killing me from reading in this dim light." In truth, Emma just wanted to skip away from the weird topic of magic. Magic was impossible. Well, it was on Earth. It was easier to just… forget about everything before waking up with Daja beside her.
"That's fine, Emma. Let's see. Full name, check. Medical history, check. Magical history… well, that's iffy. It's alright, I'm sure they have a form for changing that later. Let's see if this is enough."
They presented the papers to Clerk Mathisson, who scanned over them quickly.
"Seems like everything's in order. Now we have to do the physical evaluation. Just to make sure you're not plague-ridden, of course. I've called for Healer Ivysides to come over once you're ready in our back room." Emma flinched backwards. Pulling Sandry a bit to the side, she whispered,
"Sandry- an exam? I really don't think… I don't think that would be a good idea. I'm not ready for something like that from a stranger…" Sandry smiled reassuringly.
"Don't worry, I have this handled." Sandry walked back to the desk, then had a quick conversation with the clerk. She cheerfully returned to Emma, carrying a few sheets of paper.
"And here are your papers, Miss Emmaliane. Everything you'll need to make large purchases and travel abroad is in these papers. Of course, the Office has a copy. You are now a citizen of the Emelanese government. Normally this process is quite a bit longer, but we've shortened things a bit." Emma regarded the papers with a dubious look.
"How exactly did you shorten things?" With an enigmatic smile, Sandry led the way out of the building and down the street.
"Diplomacy, Emma. It's all in the diplomacy."
Sandry led Emma back to the marketplace, then departed for court business unknown. Emma sat a bit more with Briar, then wandered over to Daja's stall. The Trader had accumulated a good amount of coin for her goods, and was displaying the use of her living-metal hearing aids.
"I was inspired to make these after I was faced with a magical problem similar to modern deafness. In the case of my friend, he heard too much. So my colleagues and I fashioned a pair of ear-buds to filter sounds from the winds. Here we have a more common use for them- that is, the amplification of sound. You set the ear-aids' amplification level before you put them in, or you may control the level by speaking the name of a certain rune. Every once in a while a sound may clash with the amplification runes on the buds. If this happens, you simply lower the amplification level until the feedback stops. Any more extensive problems with your ear-aids can be brought to me, and I'll look after fixing them personally." The merchant she was bargaining with was nodding appreciatively.
"I like the sound of these ear-aids. Make me fifty pair, and we'll see how they sell. I have the feeling that people will like these. A man makes a one-time payment instead of visiting the Healers every few months? I think this will be a success." Daja handed him a contract to sign, and the deal was concluded with a handshake and the exchange of a bag of coins. Emma sidled up to Daja, poking her on the shoulder. The other girl looked over, and smiled a greeting.
"How are you? Enjoying market-day? Have you purchased anything?"
"Oh, I'm having a wonderful time. Sandry bought me a great lunch of fried fish, and it's been interesting people-watching." Daja nodded.
"How do you like the wares? Wait- did I give you your coin?" Emma shook her head, and Daja smacked herself on the forehead with an open palm.
"Ah, I'm such a… Here, let's go look around, I have spending coin right here. Do you barter?" The expression on Emma's face gave Daja all she needed to know.
"Alright, I'll come with you. Tris will mind shop, won't you, Tris?" she called over her shoulder.
"Yes, yes, I'm coming around. Don't be so impatient." Tris came out from behind the back wall of the stall, placing a marker in her book. "I'll mind the shop, and probably get a bit more silver than you'd normally get. Sometimes even you can be a bit of a pushover, Trader." She perched upon the stool that Daja had vacated, and immediately proceeded to scowl at several scruffy-looking older men. They shuffled off, looking warily over their shoulders.
"What was that for, Tris?" Emma asked.
"Ah, they were whispering amongst themselves. Not kind things, mind you. Better to scare off the riffraff then have them come thieving." Daja raised an eyebrow, then took her Trader staff from where it rested against the wall.
"See, Emma, the store will be fine. Tris is almost as good as a Trader with her bargaining skills." With a wave, she and Emma left the stores and headed into the marketplace to shop.