Chapter 18-Blue Eyes in the White City

Count Maxim had been very insistent. No more time was to be lost. Fel and Shibu took turns driving the gobball propelled waggon. The sheep and their "cargo" made the longest leg of the trip overnight without so much as a stop for water or fodder. The three passengers didn't stop to eat, either.

But Shibu did manage a change of clothes. Between shifts with Fel, Shibu ducked into the back of the wagon, and changed from the Formal clothes Babbette had made for him, into his far more comfortable and familiar traveling clothes which were more comfortable for the road. When his turn came again, he found both the Count and Fell sound asleep. Fel slept sitting up, while the Count tumbled into the back of the wagon without a word when Shibu came out again.

Part of Shibu wished he could sleep too, as he saw the long, slow line of traffic barely moving, except for the morning breeze! They might not move for hours, it seemed!

The heavy traffic along narrow roads and paths conspired against their best laid plans. As Bonta grew nearer, so did the multitude of wagons and coaches. Several hours later, hunger and discomfort was swept away, as Shibu caught sight of Bonta as their wagon crested a small hill.

The morning sun was just right, and the White City seemed to glow in the morning light. Shibu's eyes became blue tea saucers, and his jaw dropped, as the boy gasped loudly at the distant vision.

Count Maxim smiled broadly at Shibu's wonderful expression.

Shibu almost stood up and wanted to leap up to the top of the canvas cover of the wagon. Fel took a gentle hold of Shibu's belt, and held fast, but without pulling at or restraining his small friend.

"Careful Blue Eyes." You will not see so much if you are under the wheels." Fel told him.

"Careful, Shibu." Count Maxim echoed. "You'll see it all, I promise."

Shibu collected history books, and many of his favorites were about Bonta. He could recount the basic history of the City down to the smallest detail. But the words, and what Shibu knew so well seemed to become more alive now that the White City gleamed ahead of him like some of his best dreams.

Both Maxim and Fel could feel the gentle, genuine vibration of excitement hum thru Shibu. Part of him calmed down as the traffic on the wide road into Bonta began to slow down. More and more wagons pulled up slowly alongside them. Their were also coaches carrying passengers, and broughams, with ornate seals on their dark wooden doors. Soon,they went from a walking pace toward Bonta, to a slow crawl that seemed to push Bonta farther out of their reach.

After one of the longest hours Shibu had ever known, the road itself began to change. It transformed from a dirt road into brick, and then after a short distance into finely cut white blocks of granite, laid so closely in each course that there was no space between them. Ten courses of stone made up a larger block which was set into a framework of cement and wood, which allowed the stone roadway to expand and contract with temperature and changes of weather as well as the load passing over it. The smooth, absolutely perfect white stone eliminated the jostling from side to side typical of the wagon's normal movement.

But Shibu's attention wasn't fixed on the roads. The white City grew closer and more detailed. The City gate ahead was a pair of massive arches, one beside the other. Each of the twin arches were guarded by a trio of armored guards who worked out of a large wooden guardhouse between the arches.

They divided the work of checking passes to enter the city itself.

The official traffic passed into a narrow third lane which allowed it to move quickly into the City.

"Hold!" one of the guards called out sharply.

Fel pulled the reigns back and the pair of gobballs halted.

"Pass?" The bored soldier in the hot armor droned.

"Count Maxim and retinue. Stand aside Corporal!"

The soldier snapped to attention and gave a quick Salute. "One Moment, Your Excellency." The guard said with a high tone of respect.

Sitting between Maxim and Fel, Shibu was impressed, even as the three guards became a group of one for a whispered conversation. One of the soldiers glanced askance at the wagon.

Shibu waved and smiled. The soldier frowned and turned back to the three-way conversation. It lasted only as long as it took one of the other soldiers to leaf thru some official paperwork.

"We have a Warrant for Your Excellency, Count Maxim." The leader of the guards told the nobleman. "Direct from the Royal Household." The guard explained. "You will be escorted to the Palace at once, by Order of the Royal Guard."

"Very Good, Corporal." Maxim replied. "My retainer shall accompany me. We shall attend the King's Pleasure at once."

"If Your Excellency will dismount, your baggage will be seen to." The Corporal replied.

"Very Good, Corporal. Set a double guard on the sealed chests. If they are tampered with, you shall be held responsible before the King himself." Maxim warned sternly.

Shibu never felt intimidated by the guards. As they approached much closer to the wagon, Shibu hopped down from his place on the bench, and found himself standing in Bonta for the very first time!

His head seem to turn in all directions at once. He could not take in the sights of the city quickly enough. The wide-open spaces beckoned to him. Just beyond another archway, Shibu could both see and hear the the Grand Fountain directly before him in the white marble courtyard. Every place he looked and everything Shibu saw seem to him to be a place of wonder, and a thing of beauty!

So hypnotized was he at the site of The White City, that he wandered away from Count Maxim and Fel by a step or two, lingering just long enough to make sure that he saw everything. This place truly was a gateway to all of the wonderful places he had read about so much. But now they were no longer at arms length on the page of a book. Now he could reach out and touch them!

He wandered over much closer to the refreshing spray that came from the public fountain in the square just ahead. It was a white jet of water that looked more like the feather from some great plumed white bird. Yet it was set in a pool of flowing water as blue as his own eyes.

Shibu knew better than to touch the water, or to drink it. But he stopped as close as he could to the marble bowl of the great fountain, and cupping both hands together, Shibu held them out so he could catch the spray from the fountain across his palms. Once his hands were moist with spray, he ran them gently across his face and cheeks, down to the tip of his chin. Hours of sun, and dust from the road seem to evaporate like a cool breeze which now licked across his wet face. It was a cool refreshing feeling that he would remember always, along with his first sight of Bonta.

But the courtyard around him was more than the fountain. There was a stream of people around him that seemed to move like the flow of the water in the fountain. Here and there around the semicircle of white decorative stone, he could see and smell small shops of every description. Most of them sold trinkets, souvenirs, and even maps and guide services for newcomers to the city.

But some of them also sold food. And as fascinated as Shibu was with a new city spread before him like some sort of white tile mosaic, he could not deny his most basic instincts. They had been on the road almost a full day, going without their usual brief stops to water and feed the feral goballs who pulled the wagon all the way from Emelka.

Shibu went up on his toes and sprint three steps ahead, easily catching up to Count Maxim and Fel.

"I realize this is important, Your Excellency." Shibu told the nobleman. "But I don't want my stomach growling when I'm presented to the King."

The absolute simplicity and honesty of Shibu's proclamation stopped Count Maxim where he stood. "Oh my stars!" The black booted nobleman exclaimed in reply. "We have not eaten since yesterday!"

Count Maxim turned a stylish half circle, with his cape flowing behind him in the breeze created under the archways.

"I'm so sorry Shibu! I've been in such a hurry, that I've also become a poor host."

As he spoke, Maxim held out a gloved hand, that was filled almost to overflowing with familiar golden coins.

"Here you are my fine lad, we'll make our way a bit more slowly up toward the castle." Count Maxim told him sympathetically. "Why don't you get something to eat for now, and perhaps a souvenir or two for Felice and Cici, and then catch up with us."

Shibu's expressive blue eyes gleamed like rare sapphires.

"Thank you Your Excellency!" Shibu exclaimed happily, as he took the handful of Kamas and slid them into his pocket. "I won't be long, I promise."

"Take your time to take care of yourself, Shibu. We want to look our best and be on our best behavior once we are at court." Count Maxim replied. "The daily audience usually does not begin until well after lunch." The Count told Shibu. "And then, it usually lasts for at least two hours or so. So you have ample time to amuse yourself until then." The Nobleman told Shibu.

"If we lose touch with one another, I will wait at the top of the stairs near the audience chamber." Shibu told Count Maxim. "Can I bring something for you and Fel, too?" Shibu asked with his usual generous enthusiasm.

Fel winked slyly at Shibu, but shook his head as the Count's eyes met his own.

"Very generous of you I'm sure, my lad." Count Maxim replied. "But I for one can wait until evening time, when we shall have the best meal in all Bonta spread before us."

The prospect itself made Shibu's mouth water so much that he was forced to swallow twice before he could reply.

"Thank you Count, I'll just have a little something for now, and save most of my space for later."

"Do as you will, Shibu. This day, all Bonta is your oyster, my boy. We shall see you soon."

The nobleman repeated his sweeping turn, and with his retainer in tow, Count Maxim was off once again toward the imposing marble Castle, whose gleaming white structure could be seen from anywhere in Bonta.

As Shibu paused to get his first long-distance look at the imposing castle, both his stomach and his appetite conspired to distract him with a loud noise more worthy of a feral beast than a young tourist come to the city for the first time.

The sights of Bonta would wait for him. His stomach was much less patient and far more demanding than his endless curiosity.

Shibu tried not to take in the grand sights, for they were all around him, but to follow his nose. He caught one scent that made his stomach growl again.

Shibu had grown up on the boar which Cici seemed to comb from the forest like the fleas from a Bow Meow. The large feral pigs were slow roasting on a spit over an open fire, and seasoned with herbs that grew wild in the forest around them. Catching the scent now instantly send Shibu back home, and made his mouth water like nothing else could.

His senses proved keen now that he was on the hunt for any familiar scent. Across the Grand Square where the great water fountain bloomed, there was a small shop which might be taken at first for a blacksmith's forge. But the Smith had been replaced by a quartet of figures who work closely together in the confined space. Working together, they butchered, carved, skewered and cooked the same Boars which Cici had brought down in the forest. The roasting meat was rubbed with Sage, Rosemary, Black pepper, and salt taken from the sea. All these scents led Shibu to the edge of the shop as quickly as the flight of one of Cici's arrows.

The quartet running the shop had come upon a novel way of service, which made the lean roast meat even more filling. While the roaster waited for the meat to cook, he would slice long baguettes of bread into shorter pieces about the size of his hand. Then he would take the pieces of bread and cut them open, but not quite in half all the way. Spreading the bread left an open, soft pocket of air that was quickly filled with the roast meat, and the stems of a plant that Shibu also knew from potion making. Watercress grew wild all around his village, and its subtle flavor complemented the roast meat perfectly.

Shibu needed no more proof of the success of the unique dish then to see the crowd of a dozen which never seemed to reduce in number in front of the small shop. As he drew closer, Shibu saw many of the same customers eat, and then place another order for exactly the same dish.

But as hungry as he was, Shibu resolved to wait there, for his chance at the lean roast boar, and soft freshly baked bread.

Shibu was paying so much attention to his nose, that the rest of him forgot for a moment where it was walking. Just as Shibu was deciding if he wanted gravy on his meat, his reverie was broken when he walked directly into the chest of a boy two heads taller, and almost twice as wide as Shibu himself!

"Be careful, clumsy!" Said a harsh and cutting voice with a disparaging tone.

Shibu looked up, until his blue eyes met the darker eyes of a young Iop. The dark eyes carried a large amount of scorn and disdain as they looked down on the shorter figure.

"Hey, fellas!" The older boy called out overly loudly. "Look what I found!" The older boy continued. "A clumsy waif in a funny hat!"

Right away, three boys on the edge of the crowd in front of the meat roaster turned to face the call of their friend. Quickly, they group themselves in a half circle in front of Shibu, cutting him off from the shop, and from the rest of the crowd as well.

"Well freak?" The leader of the group asked scornfully. "You want to apologize now, or should we just beat it out of you, and you can apologize if you have any teeth afterwards."

Shibu was surprised for a moment, but he was anything but intimidated. He had known Iops all of his life, and knew that if you treated them with honor and respect, the capable fighters could be the best of friends.

"Oh, sorry for bumping into you. I was just going to get breakfast. Would you all like to join me?" Shibu asked the group of four figures who now stood in front of him with glaring eyes and arms folded across their chests.

"How you gonna eat with no teeth, hat boy?" One of the foursome asked in the sneering tone.

As he spoke, the boy made a fast grab for the long tail of Shibu's unusual hat.

Shibu had grown up with his friends making the occasional playful grab at what they jokingly called "Shibu's tail." Not even the quickest players on his Boufball team ever came close, because Shibu seem to have been born with the same reflex that came to him in that moment.

Shibu sidestepped, turning his body slightly with his shoulders forward so his torso was more difficult to touch. All the while, he kept his face forward, so the tail of his hat was protected by the back of his head, his neck and his back.

For the quickest one of the four boys it was as futile as trying to snatch an annoying fly out of the air in front of his nose. The bigger boy not only missed his quick grab, but was thrown off balance by his target moving so quickly. The larger boy almost completely lost his balance, and only the hands of his friends stopped him from falling over in an uncoordinated heap.

Now embarrassed in front of his friends, the older boy regained his balance, and made three more attempts at grabbing Shibu's unusual hat.

These Shibu deflected simply by bobbing his head from one side to the other, wherever the older boys hand was not.

The older boy became more frustrated as his friends began to snicker and giggle at his uncoordinated effort to do something which seems so simple.

The embarrassed older boy began to snatch and grab more quickly, growling with increasing frustration as his feeble fingers met only empty air, and increasing laughter from his friends.

"You want that hat?" The leader of the group said, as he put out an arm, pushing his friend back slightly. "Skinny here is going to give us that hat, after he fills it with every Kama he has, aren't you, skinny?"

Nothing bothered Shibu quite so much as being called names. Especially names that were mean sounding and hurtful.

The Iop boys only saw Shibu's slightly longer arms and legs, and had completely missed his broad chest and heavy shoulders. They were already underestimating him.

That's when Shibu knew he had the advantage. And he wasn't about to let it go.

"In your dreams, hard head!" Replied Shibu quickly. "The seasons move faster than you guys ever will!"

The four friends were pretty much used to having their own way. That showed in the way that they acted, even toward strangers. But they clearly weren't used to having their victims fight back with words, rather than fists. Shibu's defiance caught all four of them by surprise, and before any of them could react with their usual physical violence, Shibu had ducked down and away, moving in a half circle behind the group of four older boys.

"If you won't be nice, I guess I'll eat by myself." Shibu retorted evenly, from behind the confused group of four boys who were still standing still, trying to figure out what had become of the boy with a funny hat.

Shibu sidestepped again, tucking himself in behind one of the taller people in the crowd, hiding behind him in the same way he had learned to hide behind the tall trees around the village green back home.

The quartet of Iop boys had split up, and each of them was now making slow progress through the crowd in an effort to spot Shibu once again.

Shibu kept moving, ducking and dodging while weaving his way through the thick crowds, as if the people were no more than a new type of tree in a new stand of forest. This time, he was attentive, and watchful, so as not to bump into another stranger again.

It took him only a moment it seemed to reach the other side of the crowd leaving the four Iop's lost and confused at the other end of the courtyard in a vain search for Shibu.

When he arrived at the window, the proprietor was shaving long thin pieces of succulent meat on two large slices of warm bread set on a plate.

"Hey there!" Shibu piped up happily. "Your wonderful meat and soft bread remind me of home. May I have a sandwich please?"

The Proprietor set his carving knife down carefully near the end of the slowly turning spit over the crackling grill.

He was in Enutrof, with big, dark eyes. He could have been Aris' cousin.

"My pleasure, Sonny. We gotta keep you kids fed good, so you can grow up good. And at only two Kamas, you won't find a better breakfast or snack in all of Bonta." The treasure hunter prompted.

Shibu smiled. "Oh yeah!" As he thrust his hand gently into his pocket and came out with two gold coins. "Best Kamas I've spent all day!" The young boy said to the treasure hunter turned cook.

That made the older Enutrof smile even more broadly than he did when he happily pocketed the pair of coins from Shibu.

The cook handed Shibu his plate, but then paused, to put some extra meat, and a large ladle of gravy over Shibu's portion. "No charge, kid!" The cook said with a wink. "When you're done, just take the plate to one of the smaller windows, please." Said the cook.

"Will do, Sir!" Shibu said brightly.

But just as he was turning away from the window with his plate, a familiar set of shadows fell across his snack.

"Hey hat boy!" One of the four boys said with a familiar sneering tone. "I see you bought us lunch." The leader of the four boys interjected. "Give it to us, and maybe you can keep that hat after all!"

No sooner was the threat spoken then help came to Shibu from an unexpected quarter. He had been at a momentary disadvantage, pressed as he was right up against the ordering window. But no sooner had the older boy spoken, then, there was an odd whooshing sound, followed by a solid and heavy sound of an iron gravy ladle thumping on the top of a slightly less hard head!

The leader of the group of four boys slowly sank to his knees, his arms crossed over the top of his head in pain.

"You hooligans go away, and quit bothering my customers, or you'll get more than that across your thick heads!" The old cook said sternly, as the leader of the group of four boys massaged his head trying to get rid of the pain and dizziness that doubled his vision.

"Go away now, or you'll be trying to steal from the Royal Guard next!" The Enutrof cook said to them sounding raspy and cross.

The cantankerous old man was more than the four boys wanted or could handle. Slowly, the four of them faded back into the crowd and disappeared.

"Hay kid!" The old cook called out. "How's the food?"

Shibu looked back at the Enutrof cook with a happy smile, and a sly wink. "Fantastic!" Shibu replied enthusiastically. "As good as home cooking, in the big city!"

The complement made the cook smile. "You and your hat are welcome back here anytime kid!" People like you are my best advertisement!"

Shibu finished his bread and meat snack, along with two more servings of thick gravy served out of a new, clean, ladle. By the time he was finished mopping up the gravy from his plate, and turning it into be washed at one of the smaller windows, he was filled with something besides good food.