Chapter 3

It had been days since there were trees within sight of the road, so there was little to obstruct the view of the great city of the desert. From Arrow's vantage point Xin's walls seemed to cut the wide river in half as if it were a chisel thrusting through the ground. Broad domed roofs seemed to bubble over the wall while spires topped with onion shaped domes thrust far above the walls. The road seemed to taper until it hit the massive gates where it turned into a swarming mass of people, carts, and livestock. This street flanked on either side by buildings of all shapes and sizes seemed to point to a large hill that Arrow could see, even from this distance, was covered with lush vegetation. It was a view unlike any she had seen in her life.

By the time the caravan reached the gates the city's walls loomed above them like the deep canyon walls of the raptoran lands. With these humans there was a great deal of bureaucracy to go through just to set up the gnome's carts outside the walls. Arrow was amazed at how well the Glittergnome handled the city guards and officials. He used charm, wit, and smooth talking to get his way, and when that didn't work on a trouble making guard he even managed to intimidate the human, who was twice his size, into better behavior. Arrow helped set up two of the carts as a sort of store front. The sides of the carts swung out perpendicular to the cart, then a canopy was set up on top to create a large covered area so any potential customers could be comfortable. Even though the sun had just dipped below the horizon by the time the gnomes were finished setting up, there were a handful of humans ready to see what treasures the gnomes brought with them.

As soon as it was clear to Arrow that she couldn't be of any more use in setting up the camp she rushed to find Laughingbones. During the journey Laughingbones agreed to accept the ring that was Ruron's parting gift from the flock as collateral for a loan of human money in a sufficient amount to purchase a raptoran slave. Vilkash, the sunspeaker of the flock, handled human money from time to time, so Arrow had seen the metal disks called coins. Copper, silver, and gold were the most widely used coins. These metals were used in a few raptoran crafts, so it was easy for her to get the hang of their values. Although they were pretty she still thought they weren't nearly as useful as the hides, or as pretty as the glass beads that the raptorans usually used for trades. Before they left for the city gates Laughingbones gave Arrow a sizable purse of gold coins for the ring. She also stressed the importance of keeping an eye on it as it was likely to get stolen in the less than reputable city if it was not well minded. With that warning in mind Arrow hurried to the great gates with Laughingbones in tow.

Seeing that they were coming from the gnome camp, the officials waived the odd pair through. Just on the other side of the wall there were great stables. In front of the stables were two sets of mounted warriors. One set sat upon great camels wearing wicked looking curved swords and round shields. The other had smaller scimitars on their belts with strong bows slung across their backs. They were mounted on small white horses that looked like they were built for speed. Arrow knew these were the dragoons of Xin who kept the roads free of bandits and monsters. She had been asleep when patrols passed the caravan, but the gnomes were all abuzz with tales of the great dragoons of Xin every night that they were spotted. After seeing them here where their great mounts were stabled, she could see why they inspired so many stories.

Laughingbones had told Arrow that the slave market was unlikely to be opened this late in the day, but Arrow was eager to see if they had arrived before the slavers that took her brother. The slave market consisted of a squat building with a single gate. There was a guard just on the other side of the gate, but he was hungover and in no mood to answer questions about a particular slave that may or may not have been through the market recently.

After giving up on getting any information from the unpleasant man Arrow said," Well, I guess there's nothing to do except wait here until they open up in the morning."

"Then you don't know Xin my friend," Laughingbones said through a chuckle. "As nice as your ring is I would rather you be able to give me my gold back with interest when I come through here next. Let me show you how to make money in this smelly old place."

Laughingbones took Arrow to the Spitting Camel, which was the nearest tavern. As soon as she squeezed her wings through the narrow door Arrow was bombarded with sights and sounds. The floor of the common room was filled with long tables and every table was filled to capacity with humans. The crowd constantly milled about creating a steady roar. There was a small stage in the corner with a sitar player half heartedly picking out a tune that was meant to be jolly, but could barely be heard over the din. A counter ran along the wall opposite the stage where a pair of men were serving drinks to the rowdy crowd all trying to be the next served. The older of the two men spotted Laughingbones and came around the counter to greet her.

"Yes! It is Laughingbones! You will perform for us tonight, yes? It's a good crowd tonight, yes?" The plump man's head was nearly bald, but his beard was long, bushy, and heavily streaked with gray.

"Ari my friend, I brought you new talent, the lovely Arrow," with that Laughingbones gestured toward her raptoran friend, "A beautiful singer and a raptoran no less. I bet it's been a while since you've had a bird lady on your stage."

"Yes. No raptoran has performed here in at least five years, maybe six. Go wake Jazinka up and see if you can get him to accompany you on that out of tune contraption he's got there, yes." With that Ari waved the pair toward the stage as he went back to tending his custumers behind the counter.

"You should start of with something lively to get them warmed up, maybe 'Ten Gnomes on the Hill'. Then give them a sad one, like that elvish sounding one you sang a couple of nights ago. We'll finish it off with 'All Rivers Flow to the Sea', that's a popular one in this town. You always want to leave them wanting more if you plan on coming back," With that Lughingbones shoved Arrow toward the stage.

Climbing up on the small stage she started to notice that the crowd was starting to give her more and more attention. Everyone seemed to expect her to do some sort of performance, but they seemed to grow even louder. Arrow only really sang in front of people outdoors, and was worried that she wouldn't even be heard over her first human audience. Lauginbones was yelling at Jazinka about what he should play, and how he should play it. Then they both looked at Arrow and motioned for her to start. Feeling a bit overwhelmed she took a deep breath and stretched out her wings which she had been keeping as close to her body as she could in the crowded room. The stage allowed her to extend them above the patrons heads to their full extent. A hush fell over the crowd as the shadow of her beautiful wings was cast over the room. Arrow didn't expect this, but she certainly took advantage of it jumping straight into her first song. After the first song the crowd cheered and threw copper coins at the stage, calling for more. Although her next song was in raptoran, the haunting melody brought a tear to the eyes of many patrons. A few silver coins were tossed to her as well as the copper ones while the last notes still hung in the air. As Laughingbones predicted, 'All Rivers Flow to the Sea', was a crowd pleaser. Every voice in the room was singing loudly with the last chorus. As she left the stage there were many cries for more songs, even some requests. Laughingbones helped gather up the coins on the stage, and gave a few to Jazinka before they made their way through the room that had gone from crowded to absolutely packed. Everyone in the room seemed to want to meet the raptoran with a golden voice. Some wanted to shake her hand, a few wanted to hand her a coin, others wanted to touch her wing.

Just as she made it back to the counter an inebriated patron grabbed a long feather in Arrow's wing and yanked it out. With a yelp of surprise she wheeled around and punched her overeager fan square in the face knocking the drunkard over backward. Ari pushed through the crowed to grab the feather plucker by his belt and the scruff of the neck heaved him off the floor and literally threw him out the door. Arrow and Laughingbones took advantage of the wake the enraged innkeeper left making their exit in half the time

"Yes! And the same to anyone who touches her when she comes back next evening," Ari yelled into his common room. Turning to Arrow he said, "You are coming back tomorrow, yes?"

"We'll see. I'm going to take her around to a few other places tonight, I'd like to see where the good spots are this year," Laughingbones cut in before Arrow had a chance to respond.

"Fine." Ari said as he slipped a coin to the gnome, "Just see that she remembers how to get here, yes?"

Shouts from inside drew Ari back to his work before he got a response. True to her word Laughingbones took Arrow to several other taverns before the crowds started to thin out in the wee hours of the morning. Everywhere she sang she was met with cheers and, more importantly, coins. Most of the coins were copper, but there were quite a few silver ones too. Although she was able to fill a large purse with what she had earned that evening she understood that it was only worth two or three of the gold coins Laughingbones had lent her. It will be a lot of work to get enough money to make good her debt. When the pair made their way back to the main gates they were closed, but there was a door in the gate to allow passage to travelers on foot. Arrow left Laughingbones so she could go back to the slave market to wait for it to open.

Not wanting to deal with the unpleasant guard from earlier Arrow waited for the gates to open on the other side of the main street. Back at Three Spikes this would be one of the busiest times, but here the city seemed all but deserted. She took the time to take in the buildings around her. Each and every structure seemed to be built in a different style. The hill that Arrow could see from miles away dominated the skyline at her current vantage point. From here she could see that there were four deep steps cut into the hill, each one thirty paces higher than the last. The numerous trees and shrubs were arranged in such a way that these steps were hard to make out from a distance. While she was enjoying the first rays of sunlight playing off the top of the hill Arrow realized that the gates to the slave market were being opened.

She wasted no time crossing the increasingly busy street. As she entered she was pleased to note that the guard from last night was replaced with a much more cheerful looking one, even if this one was a head taller. The market itself was an enclosed courtyard with slave merchants set up on each side. Most merchants had little more than tents to shade the slaves, who's shackles made them easy to spot. There were a few more permanent looking brick stalls, but even these had nothing but canvas for roofs.

As she went from slaver to slaver she learned that most slaves were humans who would be the best workers for the planting season, which was to start as soon as the river waters start to recede. It was hard to get the merchants, who all spoke very fast with an odd accent, to understand that she was looking for a particular raptoran. Each tried to sell her a slave that was "just as good" as any raptoran. A few even had exotic races she had never heard of, from the insect like dromite to the ape like hadozee, all from far away lands and all as good as any raptoran could ever be. It was midday before Arrow was certain she had talked to every merchant without finding one raptoran, let alone Bow.

Not looking forward to the long walk back to the main gate and her gnome friends, she took a moment to sit along the wall near the entrance and rest. The guard started to saunter over, keeping a hand on his huge falchion to keep it from baning against his thigh. His head was as clean shaved as his face, and his clothes were well kept if simple. Although his smile was broad Arrow was certain she was about to be shooed away, so she started to get up from her short respite.

"You did not find what you were looking for?" the guard asked just as Arrow go to her feet.

"I wasn't looking for a what, I was looking for a who," Arrow surprised herself at her own curtness.

"I thought you might be. You certainly stand out in this crowd, with your wings. My guess is that you are looking to buy a slave, to free a slave," the guard said with a self assured air about him.

"Yes. My brother. He was captured by raiders a few weeks ago. Have there been any raptoran slaves through here recently?"

"No, but we haven't seen any slave raiders in over a month. We've been having border disputes with the Theanic empire to the east, and with every victory we get more slaves. Wars make bad business for raiders. In case you were wondering my name is Shazzir," with that he raised his hand, elbow bent at a right angle, giving a common Xinnish greeting.

Arrow decided to return the Xinnish greeting rather than giving the raptoran bow. "My name is Nuyn Faslysa. I apologize for my shortness with you, I'm afraid it has been a long night and I'm very tired."

"That's right raptorans sleep most of the day, and are active in the night. I can help you get you're full day's sleep in the future if you want. Just come by and ask me if I've seen any raptorans come through here and I'll let you know. I see every slave that comes through, and a raptoran would stand out. That will save you the time of going to all the booths," Shazzir said with a broad grin.

"That would help me out quite a bit," Arrow found this suspiciously convenient. "What would you want in return for this?"

"A favor."

"What type of favor?" Arrow asked, still wary.

"The one I have in mind could be easy or hard depending on you. What do you know of the Gardens of Learning?"

"I'm afraid I've never heard of them."

"You have seen them. They are those." Shazzir pointed to the top of the hill which was peaking over the tops of the surrounding buildings. "There are many scholars and wizards there who are hungry for knowledge. The more knowledge you have the more they like you. If you can cast spells they may even accept you as a student. Even if you can't it would be good if you had some sort of raptoran lore."

"I can cast a few spells, nothing fancy yet, but I'm getting better. If by lore you mean songs and stories, I know more than anyone else who hasn't returned from their walk," She was proud of her abilities, but she still wondered at his motives. "Why can't you just go in yourself, and do what you want me to do in there? Will it be bad, what you want me to do?"

"I may as well tell you what I have planned," with that he looked around to see if anyone was within earshot. "I have recently fallen in love, "The large man's grin widened even more and his ears started to turn a bit red as he continued. "We met by chance at the solstice festival. She is beautiful and brilliant and for some reason I can't fathom, she likes me as well. But alas she is a student of the sublime and I am a mere slave. My master would never consent to our relationship, though she is free to do as she wills."

"You're a slave?" Arrow couldn't hide the surprise in her voice.

"Ha! You sound so shocked. You will find that nearly half of the people who live within the walls of Xin are slaves. Only the ones for sale here in the market have to be shackled. Once they have earned the trust of their masters the shackles are removed. It is not so bad being a slave. Unless of course you are in love. I cannot see my dearest Desinia at the Gardens because I have no knowledge other than how to swing a sword, even if I did my master would grow suspicious soon. What I need is a messenger to take notes to my love so we can arrange trysts. Are you willing?"

"How romantic. It would be an honor to take your notes, for as long as I can." Arrow didn't really think it was that romantic. Humans were renowned for proclaiming their undying love for each other without really meaning it. However, she thought carrying notes around was a small price to pay for the hours Shazzir would save her.

"Excellent! I will see you here tomorrow with a note for you to deliver. I should look like I was worth the price my master paid for me now," With that he casually strolled back to the gate he was suppose to be guarding.

Arrow left the Slave market with a sense of self assurance. She had only been in Xin for a day and she already had a plan to solve all her problems.