Hey everyone, sadly vacation is over and I have to go back to my hectic
life and contend with homework. Not to worry though, I'll still try to
update as often as possible! Now to answer a few questions. Yes Ally will
be in this fic, I am planning to have a flash to Numair later (you were
reading my mind), and you'll just have to wait to find out why all the raka
have tiny specks of wild magic in them. A hint about that though, if my
memory serves me right, I'm pretty sure you could find the answer in
Trickster's Choice! Here is Chapter 7, my longest yet!
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or places in this story, they belong Tamora Pierce ________________________________________________________________________
The sights and sounds of the bustling city filled Daine. Left, right, up and down, there was life everywhere. Daine had never seen so many two legers in one place before. The narrow mazes of streets were bordered by shops and carts so numerous that it seemed near impossible for a carriage to even squeeze through.
The world was a rainbow of richly colored clothes and fruits, every shop trying to out due its neighbor with beautiful displays winking out of their windows. Precious gems, silver, and gold twinkled as if trying to hypnotize the passersby, but what Daine saw the most of was copper. The Copper Islands were rightfully named. There were copper pots, jewelry, coins, utensils, pipes, and of course sparkling bits of copper colored fire in every raka Daine could see. Some had more than others, but it was always there.
As Daine strolled through the busy streets, she could see every sort of shop imaginable. There were smiths of every kind; blacksmiths, goldsmith, silversmiths, tinsmiths and more. Left and right there were candle stores, tailors, pawnshops, armories, fletchers, healers, fortunetellers, grocers, millers, and carpenters. It seemed to Daine that the entire population of the Copper Isles was squeezed into a city the size of Port Legann.
The People were everywhere too. Their voices rang in Daine's head, calling greetings, wondering who this interesting two leger was who could actually talk! Strays often popped out of seemingly no where to walk and chat with her for a short while before running off to get themselves into some new, but of course exciting, trouble.
Small children ran about, snatching the purses of the unwary and disappearing into the masses before their victims even knew what happened. George had warned her of this. People in Rajamuat would be picked clean even before they could even call 'thief'. The City Patrol, the force who was meant to keep order in the streets, was a joke. You'd be more likely to see them drunk in a tavern than you would in the streets. He had taught Daine the thief's sign, but she'd still have to be careful.
It was well past noon when Daine remembered that she was here for a reason. She needed to scope out the palace on foot and find the best ways that any manner of creature could get in. Finding the palace its self wouldn't be hard. It was easily the biggest structure in the city. As she wandered closer to it, the streets around her changed. This was the wealthier part of the city. The houses here were summer homes to the nobles and wealthy merchants. It was much quieter here, and Daine wondered where all the people had gone. The past two hours had taught her that there was no such thing as quiet here. Up ahead, she finally spotted a crowd. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she went to see what was going on.
The crowd turned out to be watching a slave auction. Here slaves were brought up on a podium and bid on by potential buyers. Daine was surprised to see that it was not only raka for sale, as she would have thought. There were also many luarin. Some, she learned as the auctioneer described each, were sold into slavery for their debts, while others had been captured by pirates.
Like Ally, Daine thought grimly. She had learned from George that Ally had already been sold and was now serving good masters, and for some reason, a reason that George had conveniently left out, she wasn't ready to come home yet. Daine shook her head and continued on.
Up close the palace was a wonderful sight. It was made of white granite rock that seemed older than time its self. Four giant tower, the very same that Daine had seen from the ship, soared into the sky. The palace was surrounded on all four sides by a wall, with the only opening being a giant Iron Gate watched by a least ten guards. Not a problem, Daine thought with a grin. No one would think twice about a stray cat winding its way through the bars.
After seeing this, Daine decided that she had seen enough. It would be child's play to get into and out of the palace. Now all she needed was friends on the inside who were willing to guide her around. She took a seat under a palm tree, welcome for the shade in the scorching heat, and opened her mind. She called out to the People inside of the palace, and soon found a feline friend who would be happy to help her out. Minutes later, a black cat sauntered gingerly over to where Daine sat.
I am Nightwhisker, You called? The tom asked eagerly. He jumped into her lap and squirmed in delight as she scratched his head. He was as black as a moonless night, true to his name, and had a happy go lucky attitude that Daine had only thought possible in a puppy.
Daine grinned again. Yes, I was wondering if you could maybe help me tomorrow, I want to explore the palace a bit. She continued, To be honest, I am trying to get some information about your humans. They are planning to attack my home, and I need to know when and how they're gonna do that. Will you help me?
The cat stopped squirming for a moment and sat still in thought. I like the humans here, he paused for a moment before asking, At your home, do you have kittens?
Yes, I have a little kitten of my own and a Kit of a friend's that I'm raising. She showed him images of Sarra and Kit in his head.
Would the people hurt your kittens? He asked.
Daine nodded grimly, They would try to kill me and their father and probably make the little ones slaves. She held her breath waiting for an answer.
Finally Nightwhisker answered. I will help you protect your kittens. Meet me here tomorrow night, right after the sun sets. See you then! He darted away in chase after a butterfly that had danced in too close.
Daine stood up and stretched, realizing how tired she was when she yawned repeatedly against her will. She needed to find an inn and settle down for a well-deserved rest. She couldn't wait to collapse into a bed that didn't creak with every thrash of a wave. She set out back into the lower city.
~~~~~
The city of Rajmaut seemed to have everything. Everything of course, but the one thing Daine was looking for, an inn. People swirled around her as she paused for a moment. They were hurrying here and there, bumping into each other occasionally before muttering hurried apologies and bustling away.
She saw an idle apple vender and decided to ask for directions.
"Welcome to my apple cart, 'ow many apples will you be buying today miss?" the luarin man asked politely. He spoke with a country drawl, skipping his h's and holding out his vowels.
"Well, I actually was wondering if you might direct me to the closest inn." Daine replied honestly.
"If you t'aint buying, I t'aint wasting my breath." He retorted, much less polite. Reluctantly, Daine reached into her pocket and pulled out one of the coins that Ralphin had rewarded her with.
"Alright, give me as many apples as that'll buy." She said. "Now about that inn,"
The man bit the coin, grinned and returned to his previous polite attitude, happy to have a customer. "Right, one Hanidite will get you one shinny fresh apple. The closest inn is the Parrot's Beak, it's 'ardly a hop, skip, and a jump from 'ere. Just make a left past yonder honey stand and it'll be not more that a 'hundred paces done on the right."
"Thank-ouff!" Daine said, someone had run right into her as she had tried to thank the vender, knocking the wind out of her for a moment.
"Sorry," the man mumbled and he hurried off.
"Thank you," she finished. She was tired and hungry and just wanted to lie down. As she turned away, the vender gripped her shoulder, stopping her from going. Daine tensed, preparing for a fight if necessary.
"'ey miss, "she said, "I don't know 'ow to tell you this, but that fella just stole yer necklace."
Daine's first thought was for the silver badger's claw, which had been with her since she was 13. Her friend and mentor the male god of badgers had chewed off his own claw and gave it to her as a way for him to keep track of the mortal. It had never left her neck since the day ten years ago when she had used it to kill her rival, King Orzone of Carthak. Looking down, she was relieved to find it still hanging around her neck, hidden under her shirt.
"You must be mistaken sir, I have it right here." She showed him the claw to emphasize her point.
"Nay, not that un, the gold un." He replied.
Gold? Daine was puzzled for a moment. The realization of what he meant hit her like a ton of bricks. Numair's locket! She had completely forgotten about it. What if the thief opened it and Numair left Tortall vulnerable to attack? She looked around in a hurry, searching for the thief, but he was long gone.
"It's no use miss, you'll never find 'im. You'd best be 'appy that he took the thing 'anging from your neck and not what's sittin atop it! Thieves round here t'aint to friendly." He made the sign against evil.
"Do you think he'll open it?" she wondered aloud.
"What, you got a picture in that locket you don't want no one to see or something?" the man grinned, then seeing that she was still upset, he tried to comfort her. "Don't worry, he'll probably just melt it down right away for the gold and sell it off to a merchant or the sort. Sorry miss, but you got to watch yer self." Seeing that he had another customer, he left her alone to her thoughts.
Daine hoped that he was right. She should just be glad that she had only lost a locket and not her life. She sighed. It had been nice to have something from Numair. The locket had made her feel as though he were here with her. Now she was really alone.
It was beginning to get dark and Daine knew that she didn't want to stick around and see what surprises the streets of Rajmaut held for a traveler alone at night. She munched on her apple and began to make her way wearily to the Parrot's Beak Inn.
~~~~~~~
As soon as Daine opened the door to the Inn, her nose was greeted by the smell of freshly roasting chicken mixed with the scent of fruit juice and ale. Her stomach protested loudly that it was ready to be filled.
A plump raka woman hurried over to Daine and relieved her of her cloak.
"Welcome to the Parrot's Beak. Are you here for the food or for a room?" she asked.
"Both," Daine said wearily.
The woman's face lit up. "Very good miss. I'll take your bag up to Room 5 where you will be staying. Here," she motioned to a table, "take a seat and I'll serve you up something nice. Tonight we are having chicken and rice with carrots and onions on top."
Daine could only nod as the women led her over to the table and sat her down. Her mouth watered in anticipation of a good meal. She was lucky that they were serving chicken, one of the few meats that Daine still had the stomach to each. As a wild mage, she could talk to animals and even become them. After a few close calls of her own with hunters, Daine had given up eating all meat except chicken and fish. They were just too stupid to really give off emotion, and anyway, Daine hated chickens. She was looking forward to this super.
As she waited for her meal, she looked around the common room of the Parrot's Beak. It was filled with all sorts of folks, having their food and ale, resting after a long day of work. Daine had noticed when she first stepped of the Peerless that most of the common raka and luarin seemed to hold no grudge against each other. Race didn't seem to mater except to nobles. They looked down on common luarin, but more so on raka and slaves. This was an awfully strange place. Perhaps the Tortallians could make allies of the commoners here and help them to rebel. She would have to tell George and Myles about this idea.
"You're not from around here, are you?" a man's voice interrupted her thoughts. It belonged to an old raka man sitting alone at the table next to her. His eyes were coal black and his hair was salt and pepper colored, the black strands losing the battle against age and the white ones.
Daine smiled, "Is it that obvious?" she asked laughing.
"Well," he said, "you got that bewildered look that people get when they first walk through the streets of Rajmaut. Where are you from, anyhow?"
"I'm from Galla," she said.
"Galla! Hah! What're you doing this far south?" he exclaimed.
"I'm looking for my niece," Daine answered as the innkeeper returned with a plate heaping full of food and a tall glass of fruit juice.
"Eh, we get a lot of people coming here looking for someone. Sorry to say that they hardly ever find who they're looking for. There are just too many islands and too few people willing to help a person out," he said.
"Well, I'm not gonna give up until I find her." Daine said firmly, not adding that she already knew where Ally was. She was determined to get Alanna's message to her daughter and try to convince her to come home.
"Right, right," he said, "Ah, don't let an old duffer like me keep you from your meal." He grinned, "Have you had any of the food here yet?" he asked with a twinkle in his eye.
"Not yet, but I'm starving," Daine answered, picking up her fork and shoveling a load of rice into her mouth. Delicious was her first thought, then the food seemed to explode with spices. Her tongue was on fire! Daine grabbed her juice quickly, trying to cool down her flaming mouth. The man next to her hooted with laughter.
"You put extra spices on it!" she accused him.
He was barley able to talk, but he squeaked out, 'Nah, nah, I didn't, I swear to the Godess!" After he had calmed down he continued, "You should have seen the look on your face! I didn't touch ye food, that's just how we like it down here. Nice and hot!"
He was still chuckling as the innkeeper placed a plate of his own in front of him. He dug in right away and it didn't even seem to bother him that his food was hotter than it was outside.
Daine shook her head and slowly cleaned her plate, making good use of her fruit juice. When she finally finished, she couldn't seem to scrape the taste of fire out of her mouth. Now she knew why the innkeeper had given her such a large drink!
Exhausted, she said goodnight to her dining partner and trudged upstairs to her room and fell asleep the moment her face hit the pillow.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------- Reviews = brain power, which helps me to update faster ;) Go on, you know you want to.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or places in this story, they belong Tamora Pierce ________________________________________________________________________
The sights and sounds of the bustling city filled Daine. Left, right, up and down, there was life everywhere. Daine had never seen so many two legers in one place before. The narrow mazes of streets were bordered by shops and carts so numerous that it seemed near impossible for a carriage to even squeeze through.
The world was a rainbow of richly colored clothes and fruits, every shop trying to out due its neighbor with beautiful displays winking out of their windows. Precious gems, silver, and gold twinkled as if trying to hypnotize the passersby, but what Daine saw the most of was copper. The Copper Islands were rightfully named. There were copper pots, jewelry, coins, utensils, pipes, and of course sparkling bits of copper colored fire in every raka Daine could see. Some had more than others, but it was always there.
As Daine strolled through the busy streets, she could see every sort of shop imaginable. There were smiths of every kind; blacksmiths, goldsmith, silversmiths, tinsmiths and more. Left and right there were candle stores, tailors, pawnshops, armories, fletchers, healers, fortunetellers, grocers, millers, and carpenters. It seemed to Daine that the entire population of the Copper Isles was squeezed into a city the size of Port Legann.
The People were everywhere too. Their voices rang in Daine's head, calling greetings, wondering who this interesting two leger was who could actually talk! Strays often popped out of seemingly no where to walk and chat with her for a short while before running off to get themselves into some new, but of course exciting, trouble.
Small children ran about, snatching the purses of the unwary and disappearing into the masses before their victims even knew what happened. George had warned her of this. People in Rajamuat would be picked clean even before they could even call 'thief'. The City Patrol, the force who was meant to keep order in the streets, was a joke. You'd be more likely to see them drunk in a tavern than you would in the streets. He had taught Daine the thief's sign, but she'd still have to be careful.
It was well past noon when Daine remembered that she was here for a reason. She needed to scope out the palace on foot and find the best ways that any manner of creature could get in. Finding the palace its self wouldn't be hard. It was easily the biggest structure in the city. As she wandered closer to it, the streets around her changed. This was the wealthier part of the city. The houses here were summer homes to the nobles and wealthy merchants. It was much quieter here, and Daine wondered where all the people had gone. The past two hours had taught her that there was no such thing as quiet here. Up ahead, she finally spotted a crowd. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she went to see what was going on.
The crowd turned out to be watching a slave auction. Here slaves were brought up on a podium and bid on by potential buyers. Daine was surprised to see that it was not only raka for sale, as she would have thought. There were also many luarin. Some, she learned as the auctioneer described each, were sold into slavery for their debts, while others had been captured by pirates.
Like Ally, Daine thought grimly. She had learned from George that Ally had already been sold and was now serving good masters, and for some reason, a reason that George had conveniently left out, she wasn't ready to come home yet. Daine shook her head and continued on.
Up close the palace was a wonderful sight. It was made of white granite rock that seemed older than time its self. Four giant tower, the very same that Daine had seen from the ship, soared into the sky. The palace was surrounded on all four sides by a wall, with the only opening being a giant Iron Gate watched by a least ten guards. Not a problem, Daine thought with a grin. No one would think twice about a stray cat winding its way through the bars.
After seeing this, Daine decided that she had seen enough. It would be child's play to get into and out of the palace. Now all she needed was friends on the inside who were willing to guide her around. She took a seat under a palm tree, welcome for the shade in the scorching heat, and opened her mind. She called out to the People inside of the palace, and soon found a feline friend who would be happy to help her out. Minutes later, a black cat sauntered gingerly over to where Daine sat.
I am Nightwhisker, You called? The tom asked eagerly. He jumped into her lap and squirmed in delight as she scratched his head. He was as black as a moonless night, true to his name, and had a happy go lucky attitude that Daine had only thought possible in a puppy.
Daine grinned again. Yes, I was wondering if you could maybe help me tomorrow, I want to explore the palace a bit. She continued, To be honest, I am trying to get some information about your humans. They are planning to attack my home, and I need to know when and how they're gonna do that. Will you help me?
The cat stopped squirming for a moment and sat still in thought. I like the humans here, he paused for a moment before asking, At your home, do you have kittens?
Yes, I have a little kitten of my own and a Kit of a friend's that I'm raising. She showed him images of Sarra and Kit in his head.
Would the people hurt your kittens? He asked.
Daine nodded grimly, They would try to kill me and their father and probably make the little ones slaves. She held her breath waiting for an answer.
Finally Nightwhisker answered. I will help you protect your kittens. Meet me here tomorrow night, right after the sun sets. See you then! He darted away in chase after a butterfly that had danced in too close.
Daine stood up and stretched, realizing how tired she was when she yawned repeatedly against her will. She needed to find an inn and settle down for a well-deserved rest. She couldn't wait to collapse into a bed that didn't creak with every thrash of a wave. She set out back into the lower city.
~~~~~
The city of Rajmaut seemed to have everything. Everything of course, but the one thing Daine was looking for, an inn. People swirled around her as she paused for a moment. They were hurrying here and there, bumping into each other occasionally before muttering hurried apologies and bustling away.
She saw an idle apple vender and decided to ask for directions.
"Welcome to my apple cart, 'ow many apples will you be buying today miss?" the luarin man asked politely. He spoke with a country drawl, skipping his h's and holding out his vowels.
"Well, I actually was wondering if you might direct me to the closest inn." Daine replied honestly.
"If you t'aint buying, I t'aint wasting my breath." He retorted, much less polite. Reluctantly, Daine reached into her pocket and pulled out one of the coins that Ralphin had rewarded her with.
"Alright, give me as many apples as that'll buy." She said. "Now about that inn,"
The man bit the coin, grinned and returned to his previous polite attitude, happy to have a customer. "Right, one Hanidite will get you one shinny fresh apple. The closest inn is the Parrot's Beak, it's 'ardly a hop, skip, and a jump from 'ere. Just make a left past yonder honey stand and it'll be not more that a 'hundred paces done on the right."
"Thank-ouff!" Daine said, someone had run right into her as she had tried to thank the vender, knocking the wind out of her for a moment.
"Sorry," the man mumbled and he hurried off.
"Thank you," she finished. She was tired and hungry and just wanted to lie down. As she turned away, the vender gripped her shoulder, stopping her from going. Daine tensed, preparing for a fight if necessary.
"'ey miss, "she said, "I don't know 'ow to tell you this, but that fella just stole yer necklace."
Daine's first thought was for the silver badger's claw, which had been with her since she was 13. Her friend and mentor the male god of badgers had chewed off his own claw and gave it to her as a way for him to keep track of the mortal. It had never left her neck since the day ten years ago when she had used it to kill her rival, King Orzone of Carthak. Looking down, she was relieved to find it still hanging around her neck, hidden under her shirt.
"You must be mistaken sir, I have it right here." She showed him the claw to emphasize her point.
"Nay, not that un, the gold un." He replied.
Gold? Daine was puzzled for a moment. The realization of what he meant hit her like a ton of bricks. Numair's locket! She had completely forgotten about it. What if the thief opened it and Numair left Tortall vulnerable to attack? She looked around in a hurry, searching for the thief, but he was long gone.
"It's no use miss, you'll never find 'im. You'd best be 'appy that he took the thing 'anging from your neck and not what's sittin atop it! Thieves round here t'aint to friendly." He made the sign against evil.
"Do you think he'll open it?" she wondered aloud.
"What, you got a picture in that locket you don't want no one to see or something?" the man grinned, then seeing that she was still upset, he tried to comfort her. "Don't worry, he'll probably just melt it down right away for the gold and sell it off to a merchant or the sort. Sorry miss, but you got to watch yer self." Seeing that he had another customer, he left her alone to her thoughts.
Daine hoped that he was right. She should just be glad that she had only lost a locket and not her life. She sighed. It had been nice to have something from Numair. The locket had made her feel as though he were here with her. Now she was really alone.
It was beginning to get dark and Daine knew that she didn't want to stick around and see what surprises the streets of Rajmaut held for a traveler alone at night. She munched on her apple and began to make her way wearily to the Parrot's Beak Inn.
~~~~~~~
As soon as Daine opened the door to the Inn, her nose was greeted by the smell of freshly roasting chicken mixed with the scent of fruit juice and ale. Her stomach protested loudly that it was ready to be filled.
A plump raka woman hurried over to Daine and relieved her of her cloak.
"Welcome to the Parrot's Beak. Are you here for the food or for a room?" she asked.
"Both," Daine said wearily.
The woman's face lit up. "Very good miss. I'll take your bag up to Room 5 where you will be staying. Here," she motioned to a table, "take a seat and I'll serve you up something nice. Tonight we are having chicken and rice with carrots and onions on top."
Daine could only nod as the women led her over to the table and sat her down. Her mouth watered in anticipation of a good meal. She was lucky that they were serving chicken, one of the few meats that Daine still had the stomach to each. As a wild mage, she could talk to animals and even become them. After a few close calls of her own with hunters, Daine had given up eating all meat except chicken and fish. They were just too stupid to really give off emotion, and anyway, Daine hated chickens. She was looking forward to this super.
As she waited for her meal, she looked around the common room of the Parrot's Beak. It was filled with all sorts of folks, having their food and ale, resting after a long day of work. Daine had noticed when she first stepped of the Peerless that most of the common raka and luarin seemed to hold no grudge against each other. Race didn't seem to mater except to nobles. They looked down on common luarin, but more so on raka and slaves. This was an awfully strange place. Perhaps the Tortallians could make allies of the commoners here and help them to rebel. She would have to tell George and Myles about this idea.
"You're not from around here, are you?" a man's voice interrupted her thoughts. It belonged to an old raka man sitting alone at the table next to her. His eyes were coal black and his hair was salt and pepper colored, the black strands losing the battle against age and the white ones.
Daine smiled, "Is it that obvious?" she asked laughing.
"Well," he said, "you got that bewildered look that people get when they first walk through the streets of Rajmaut. Where are you from, anyhow?"
"I'm from Galla," she said.
"Galla! Hah! What're you doing this far south?" he exclaimed.
"I'm looking for my niece," Daine answered as the innkeeper returned with a plate heaping full of food and a tall glass of fruit juice.
"Eh, we get a lot of people coming here looking for someone. Sorry to say that they hardly ever find who they're looking for. There are just too many islands and too few people willing to help a person out," he said.
"Well, I'm not gonna give up until I find her." Daine said firmly, not adding that she already knew where Ally was. She was determined to get Alanna's message to her daughter and try to convince her to come home.
"Right, right," he said, "Ah, don't let an old duffer like me keep you from your meal." He grinned, "Have you had any of the food here yet?" he asked with a twinkle in his eye.
"Not yet, but I'm starving," Daine answered, picking up her fork and shoveling a load of rice into her mouth. Delicious was her first thought, then the food seemed to explode with spices. Her tongue was on fire! Daine grabbed her juice quickly, trying to cool down her flaming mouth. The man next to her hooted with laughter.
"You put extra spices on it!" she accused him.
He was barley able to talk, but he squeaked out, 'Nah, nah, I didn't, I swear to the Godess!" After he had calmed down he continued, "You should have seen the look on your face! I didn't touch ye food, that's just how we like it down here. Nice and hot!"
He was still chuckling as the innkeeper placed a plate of his own in front of him. He dug in right away and it didn't even seem to bother him that his food was hotter than it was outside.
Daine shook her head and slowly cleaned her plate, making good use of her fruit juice. When she finally finished, she couldn't seem to scrape the taste of fire out of her mouth. Now she knew why the innkeeper had given her such a large drink!
Exhausted, she said goodnight to her dining partner and trudged upstairs to her room and fell asleep the moment her face hit the pillow.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------- Reviews = brain power, which helps me to update faster ;) Go on, you know you want to.