Chapter 6: Swords

Garc was a little taken aback from by the man's deep voice; he would make a good public speaker. Garc could usually speak with any kind of stranger, be it a nice person or someone looking for a fight, and would end up friends with them. But this man Dave gave him chills. His voice was so commanding that he almost felt compelled to give his own name and the names of his friends in response. Then a thought struck Garc. What was a man dressed as elegantly as Dave was doing in Four Kings? Certainly he couldn't be poor dressed as he was.

"Excuse me… Dave is it? But what would a person dressed as fine as you are be doing in such a filthy city such as this?" Garc inquired. The man's eyes rested on Garc and Garc took a step back unconsciously.

"This filthy town happens to be where I was born, Garc. It wasn't always as poor as it is now." Dave responded with an emphasis on Garc's name. Garc stared in wonder at Dave. I didn't give him my name, how does he know it? Garc thought oddly. "Also," Dave continued saying, "I happened to be visiting my home from when I was a child, not that it's any of your business." Dave said roughly. Then he shook himself visibly and tilted his head in thought. "My apologies, I have been rude, I mean no offense. I get sore thinking about my childhood. I have to be off any way, I have business in Caemlyn. Good bye all." Dave said as he turned to leave.

"Wait, wait." Kalor said holding out his hand. "You cannot make it to Caemlyn before dark, and it would be foolish to be out on the road during the night. We are all heading to Caemlyn anyway, how about you stay the night in Four Kings and we can all leave tomorrow." Kalor said in a cheery voice. Garc sighed. Kalor always thinks of others, any other time I would be mad at him. But it does make sense that Dave stayed with us and we all traveled to Caemlyn tomorrow. But how did he know my name? Dave paused a moment in thought and slowly turned back toward Kalor.

"I suppose I could stay with you all and go to Caemlyn with you together. That is if Garc here doesn't mind." Dave said as he arched an eyebrow to Garc.

"Oh I don't mind, sure thing you can stay with us, but we are in need of an inn for tonight." Garc responded quickly.

"Don't worry about a place to stay; I have connections with people from this town who will give us rooms." Dave responded with a grin. Dan and Flusk both relaxed a bit, well for Dan it was more of a lessening of the grip on his sword, but it was improvement. Dave motioned for them to follow and headed down the alleys. He went from alley to alley out of what must be memorization, because all the alleys looked the same to Garc. Eventually they came out of the alleys onto a street. From where they stood, Garc could see a big inn called The Bard's Song. Dave led them up the stairs and into the font door. Inside was the filthiest run down inn Garc had ever seen. Flusk's father's inn looked better than this, even after it got burned down. In the corner there were a couple of poor people gathered around sharing a loaf of bread and a mug of wine. They looked up upon Dave's arrival and they gaped at him. Dave shot a look at them and then went back to their meal hurriedly. Dave walked across the inn as if he owned the place straight to the back room. He opened the door and announced himself.

"I require five rooms tonight for our guests, Pips." Dave commanded from the doorway. A short man looked up from his book in surprise at their intrusion, then his eyes widened in much more surprise when he laid eyes on Dave.

"Y-yes, rooms immediately, of c-course..." the man trailed off and looked to Dave. When Dave nodded he continued with, "…Dave, yes rooms will be prepared on the double." He said as he scrambled to his feet. He stood there looking at Dave and began dry-washing his hands when Dave said nothing more. "H-hot meals will be prepared also of course, for your g-guests. In fact I will s-see to it my s-self." He said as he darted out of the room.

Dave turned to Garc and said, "Well, there's your room problem solved. If your need anything else, anything at all, don't be shy to ask. Or if I'm not around, just mention my name to anyone who works here, they'll get you anything within their power." Dave said. He then left the room and went up the stairs.

"Well that wasn't too hard, he seems nice. Also we have free rooms and a meal for the night." Kalor said with a grin.

"Yes that does solve a couple of our lodging problems for the night, but there's still plenty of daylight hours left before darkness sets in. I'd suggest we look around the city a bit, in groups of course. We have obviously seen that crime in this city is a common thing." Garc said smugly. "Dan and I will go one way, and you two can go to the other side of the city. Flusk, divide your coins equally between us two, we should restock on supplies and possibly get us some new weaponry." Garc said as Flusk took out his bag of coins and started dividing them into two piles.

"Are you sure we'll be ok with only us two and you two separated." Flusk said nervously.

"Sure, we'll be fine. Dan's always got my back and from what I know, Kalor's got yours. We will be fine, as long as someone keeps their coins well hidden." Garc said with a grin.

"Yea don't worry Flusk," Kalor said as he slapped Flusk on the back, "we'll be fine. Besides, I feel sorry for the people who try to take us on." Apparently Kalor was more confident in his own abilities than everyone else was in their own. Flusk nodded and he and Kalor headed out of the inn and to the left. Garc and Dan made their way out of the inn too, but took a right instead of a left. As they were walking Garc thought of ways to cheer Dan up and get him out of this emotional slum. Just talking wouldn't work, because Dan would ignore him. A joke maybe? No, Dan's sense of humor was always dry when he was in a bad mood. Garc couldn't blame him; after all he had just lost his parents the week before. Garc decided it would be best to let time heal this wound, and hopefully it would be soon. He hated seeing Dan sad, ever since they were both little, it always brought Garc's mood down when someone around him wasn't having a good day. They walked on in silence and Garc took the opportunity to study the city. It was as rundown as he remembered, not changed a bit. Last time he was here, he was a mere child, but his memory was fresh enough to tell him that the city hadn't changed much over the years. People milled about the streets as usual, most of them in ragged clothes that scurried on there way as to not attract attension. Peddlers tried to interest Dan in fireworks, but shied away at Dan's stern gaze. Garc had to smile at that, if Dan's bad mood was good for anything, it was good for parting the crowd. Garc had to smile at that, if Dan's bad mood was good for anything, it was good for parting the crowd. You'd think entourages of nobles were coming through by the way they parted. Garc spotted a sign and his smile widened. It was a weapons shop, swords always cheered Dan up.

Garc led Dan into the weapons shop, which was lined wall to wall with all sorts of weapons. All bolted in place at both ends of the weapon so only a key could take it off its spot on the wall. Dan broke away from Garc and started scanning the wall. He walked along side sliding his fingers along each of the blades of the swords, axes, and spears. Suddenly he stopped at one of the swords and ran his finger along the flat edge again.

"What's the matter, Dan?" Garc said as he joined Dan by the blade.

"Ah, I see you've noticed Rencher. You have a good eye in good blades, yes?" A man said as he joined them by the wall. He was a short man, of maybe 5'8" height yet he was stocky. His hair was slightly grayed with age and he had the look of a veteran. Garc looked at the man, then at the sword. It didn't look any different than the other swords to his eyes.

"Rencher here was my finest creation. Well," he said stroking the sword at his waist, "second finest." He had a proud look all of a sudden. When Dan didn't say anything, he added, "Been in my shop for well over thirty years now, much longer than you been around. It's quite pricey, but well worth it." He looked at Dan for a response and when Dan remained silently studying the sword the man frowned. "Not much of a talker are ya?" He said wryly.

"Please forgive him, he's recently suffered the loss of two family members and he's not been in the best of moods." Garc explained.

"Oh, well I'm sorry to hear that lad." The man said consolingly. Dan's eyes darkened at Garc's comment, if that was even possible. "My name is Torg." He said as he extended his hand. Garc shook his hand and surprisingly Dan did as well.

"I'm Garc and he's Dan" Garc said as he nodded his head toward Dan.

"Well, seems the lad has some life in him after all." Torg said with a chuckle. There was something about Torg, a feeling that made you feel better almost. In the little time Garc has been in the man's presence he wondered if it's possible to be entirely miserable around him. "You two look travel worn, where you coming from?" Torg asked curiously.

"From Whitebridge," Garc responded immediately, "on our way to Caemlyn." Usually Garc would be more cautious about letting out information to a stranger, but Torg looked like a nice person and Garc doubted that any harm could come from telling him their travel path.

"Ah, Whitebridge, a magnificent town that is. Its white bridges draw people from around the world to see. Oh it's no comparison to the stonework you'd see in Tar Valon, but it's very well made. Most things made with the One Power are." Torg said as if recalling past memories.

"I don't want anything to do with anything involving the One Power" Garc said with a shudder. "It scares me."

"Well of course, it scares most people. I personally don't mind it too much, probably because I'm used to being around it." Torg said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"What do you mean you're used to being around it.?" Garc asked curiously.

"Oh, I just mean that back when I was in the Queen's Guards in Caemlyn, I'd get to see many Aes Sedai first hand. I even escorted some of them to see the Queen. So the Power doesn't scare me like it scares most people." Torg said. Garc nodded.

"You mentioned before that you've seen stonework in Tar Valon, does that mean you've been there before?" Garc said with a tilt of his head.

"You ask quite a lot of questions for a young man don't ya?" Torg responded.

"Well you're pretty friendly for a complete stranger." Garc rebutted.

"Touché." Torg said. "Well I guess that's a fair question. Yes I've been to Tar Valon before, the grandest city in the world." Torg said proudly as if talking of a son. "I stopped by once when escorting an Aes Sedai back to the White Tower. Didn't go into the White Tower of course, I'm not that comfortable with the One Power, but I did observe the grand stonework of the city. Once you've seen the city of Tar Valon, nothing else quite impresses you much. So I see your friend here is a man of little words and a lover of swords." Torg said as he turned towards Dan who had been studying the wall of weapons while Garc and Torg talked.

"Yes, he and I often practiced on his parent's farm before…" Garc lowered his voice to a whisper. "Before it burned down with them in it." Torg nodded and walked over to Dan who had resumed his study of the sword called Rencher.

"So lad, you like that sword eh?" Torg said questioningly. He seemed to be studying Dan. Dan merely nodded and stroked the flat edge again.

"You may like that sword Dan, but you know we can't afford it. Let's not waste Torg's time thinking he will make a sale." Garc said to Dan. A flash of- was it disappointment? –crossed Dan's face for a second and then was replaced by the expressionless stare again. Dan took his hand from the sword's edge and stood back. "We really must get going Torg, it was nice meeting you." Garc said as he shook Torg's hand once more.

"A pleasure meeting you as well, perhaps I'll see you again sometime." Torg responded. "And you too Dan, it's a shame you're leaving tomorrow. Not many people are friendly in this town, and not many people have enough gold to buy weapons." Torg said sadly. Garc nodded with another good bye and led Dan out of the shop. At least Dan's mood lifted slightly. Garc thought to himself as they walked through the crowd. They spent the rest of the day just looking around the town at the various shops. Dan still didn't speak a word; he hadn't since the night his parents died. The sun slanted down toward the horizon and before long it was halfway sunk under it. Garc's stomach growled and Dan's echoed it.

"Perhaps we should head back," Garc said, "I think we could both use some dinner. I also want to meet up with Flusk and Kalor and see what they've been doing."

Garc and Dan entered the crowded inn by nightfall. The room was practically full of patrons, and there were serving girls moving about at a busy pace. For a filthy inn, it sure attracted a lot of people. Garc could have sworn there were at least two other inns that were better looking than this one. His eyes searched the inn for a moment and he found who he was seeking. Flusk sat at one of the middle tables yet he was not alone. Five serving girls stood around him smiling and giggling flirtatiously while Flusk sat looking like a man who had just found out his meal was on the house. Garc rolled his eyes and walked to the table with Dan.

"Excuse me ladies, may I speak with my friend for a moment in private?" Garc said as charmingly as he could. Dan gave him a hopeless look and Garc blushed. Well they're not bad looking, not bad at all, Garc thought to himself. The serving girls pouted and left, but not without giving Flusk goodbyes and assurances of return. Flusk watched them go and slowly put his hands in a relaxed position behind his head and leaned back in his chair. "What is that all about?" Garc asked with a nod towards the leaving women.

"I don't know," Flusk said with a smile, "I just have a way with women I guess. It's the darndest thing, I don't even do anything, and they just come to me."

"Ok, well women aside, where's Kalor?" Garc asked.

"Oh he went upstairs to have a talk with Dave. It turns out that Dave is a very well known person in these parts." Flusk said with a shrug.

"Well what did you two do all day? We just looked around the city and went into a weapons shop. The owner was pretty nice; he's been to Tar Valon you know." Garc said. As if sound had been turned off, the entire room went dead silent and stared at Garc. Garc just blinked and looked around before ducking his head down embarrassingly. "Guess I shouldn't mention Tar… that city?" Garc whispered.

"Yea I made the same mistake before while talking to Kalor. These people don't like mention of it for some reason. Perhaps it's best to not talk about it until after we're gone tomorrow." Flusk advised.

"So what did you two do all day?" Garc asked again,

"Well, we started out by getting ourselves lost and let me tell you right now that these people aren't very friendly or helpful." Flusk said with a frown. "So we wandered about and found ourselves at another inn." Flusk lowered his voice and leaned forward. "And it's a lot better looking than this one; it had polished wooden tables and chairs. Tapestries were hung on the walls as if it were a bloody castle. Finely dressed people were eating there as well; some may have been Lords or Ladies. Kalor and I got some mutton there and it was to die for!" Flusk said with the smile returning. "The food makes me want to live there."

"How much did it cost though? Good food comes at a price." Garc insisted.

"See that's the odd thing, it should have cost us a lot but Kalor had the idea to try telling them we were friends of Dave and see if that got us a free meal. And guess what? It worked like a charm! The inn keeper looked shocked for a moment but then put a big smile on and told us we'd get the best that the inn had to offer for no charge. Isn't that amazing?" Flusk said cheerily.

"Don't you feel the slightest bit guilty that you used the name of someone you just met to dupe this inn out of profits?" Garc asked.

"Kind of, but you would've done the same thing and you know it so don't try to lie to me." Flusk retorted. Garc just shrugged his shoulders. I probably would've if it would score me a free meal, Garc thought to himself. It was then that Kalor came down the stairs, followed by Dave. Dave was dressed in the same white shirt and breeches as before, and his boots had taken a new shine to then so that they glistened in the lights of the room. Kalor had a frown on his face as a stubborn four year old would after being denied some dessert. He spotted Garc, Dan, and Flusk and walked over with a perfect smile on his face.

"How's it going Garc? Done anything noteworthy today?" Kalor said with interest.

"Not much. We looked around the city, visited some shops, nothing much. Flusk tells me you guys found yourselves a nice free meal at another inn." Garc responded.

"Yeah, my ideas always work." Kalor said concededly.

"Let's hope your ideas continue working." Garc said. Garc noticed that Flusk's medallion was hanging out of his shirt. "You might want to tuck that away, Flusk. We don't want people knowing our names, let alone asking questions. I have a feeling that your medallion is worth a pretty penny, and I don't suppose you plan to sell it. So put it away before a cutpurse decides your medallion is worth more than your life." Garc advised.

"What'd you and Dave talk about, Kalor?" Flusk asked suddenly.

"Oh, you know, trivial matters. Nothing really important, just like when we're leaving tomorrow and stuff." Kalor responded casually.

"So what time are we leaving tomorrow?" Flusk asked.

"At first light, to get an early start on the days trip. I say we enjoy the night instead of just sitting around. I don't know about you, but I plan to have some fun tonight." Kalor said as he walked off toward some serving girls.

"Why don't you give the flirting a shot, Flusk? If you actually flirt back you'd score for sure." Garc said encouragingly.

"Yeah… it's not that simple, Garc. Women are a puzzle I don't know how to solve." Flusk said embarrassingly. He'd never even kissed a woman before and Garc was implying that he could score! "How about Dan here gives it a shot. Come on Dan old buddy, don't ya wanna test out those swordsman-like flirtation skills?" Flusk said as he nudged Dan jokingly. Dan just glared at him with a promise of pain in his immediate future. "Or not. Well I can see when I've killed the mood, I'll be going now." Flusk said as he slipped from his chair and went upstairs. A few seconds later, two serving girls followed him upstairs giggling. Garc envied Flusk in that matter. Garc's strong point laid in swords, not women. Garc suppressed a yawn and saw Dan do the same. Kalor may want to live up the night, but Garc knew that all he wanted to do right then was sleep, and from the looks of it, so did Dan. Garc and Dan went upstairs to their respective bedrooms. As Garc pulled the sheets up to his chin he remembered that this room was not costing him a cent. Dave may creep him out, but at least he was hospitable.