When I turned around Aydine was just sitting up.
"Is it storming?"
I shook my head. "Just bad wind."
"Oh, good. I'd hate it if today got ruined by the weather. You'll love Beacoupe!" he said, excitedly. I was glad that he seemed to be warming up to me. I'd tried hard to get his friendship, even if it was only going to be for a short time.
"You fell asleep pretty fast last night. I, ah, pulled the covers over you," Aydine said, a little shyly.
He got off the bed and began to cram his feet into his boots.
My clothes weren't quite dry yet, so I left them hanging and wore his, although they didn't look quite right with my Converses.
We ran out into the hall, which was already crowded. We almost escaped out the door when we heard a familiar voice. I thought I saw Aydine cringe.
"Yoo-hoo! Aydine!" called Mr. Amontine.
We walked over. "Monsouir! Your evening was satisfactory I hope," he said, bowing dramatically as I expected.
Aydine nodded in reply.
"And where are you travelling today?" he asked
Sure is nosey, I thought to myself.
"I'm showing Alice the city," Aydine informed him.
"Oh!" he exclaimed, far too enthusiastically. "She will love it! You show her the Fountain of Dreams, no?"
Aydine nodded.
"I shall not keep you, off with you two!" he said, shooing us away.
Once we were outside, I made a gagging noise. "Nosey and obnoxious!" I exclaimed, biting my lip after I said it. I thought I'd seen Aydine cringe, but I wasn't sure how he felt about Mr. Amontine, and I didn't want to insult him.
To my relief, he laughed. "He's alot to put up with, but if you stay on his good side, you can get his good side. He's very generous. Maybe we'll get another free dinner tonight for enduring him this morning," Aydine joked.
"So where do we go first?" I asked looking around in the crowded street.
"The hotel's stables," he said. "Horses."
I blushed and nodded. I'd forgotten the horses.
We walked around the back through a way that reminded me of an ally. There was a small, but nice pasture with a barn directly behind it.
We entered it, and I was nearly shocked. The place was clean as a house!
A groom rushed up to us. "What room?" he asked.
"Four fifty-nine," Aydine said.
The groom bowed, and led us to the horses. "Which horses should I tack?" he inquired.
"The black and grey stallions, please." Aydine told him.
"Yes, sir!" the groom said, and rushed off.
When he returned a moment later, he looked puzzled.
"I apologize sir, you seem to have only bridles, and I see no saddles for these horses," he said, looking quite worried. Apparently he'd had some bad reactions to unfound tack before.
"No need to apologize," Aydine said. "That's all we ride these horses in."
"Oh," the groom said. "I shall bridle them for you then!"
Well, it was more then bridling. The groom spent some time brushing and polishing them. They nearly sparked when he finally bridled them!
"Which is the lady's horse, sir?" he asked politely.
"The black one," Aydine replied.
"You are sure sir? He is very large and spirited looking!" the groom said, surprised.
"She is a skilled rider. She can handle him," Aydine said.
"Very good, sir," the groom replied. He handed the reins to me and I patted Cobalt, who seemed happy to see me.
He handed Thunderhead's reins to Aydine and we led them outside.
The groom insisted to help me mount, so I let him. Aydine mounted himself while the groom was helping me. I had a feeling Aydine didn't want the groom helping him!
We thanked the groom, and rode out into the busy street.
"The first place we will go is the market. In Beacoupe, they raise the prices as the day goes on. What's selling the most is priced higher. The merchants here are very sly," Aydine said.
We rode up the main road a bit, and took a left turn onto a road that for as far as I could see, was tents and stands.
We rode down.
Aydine suddenly got a funny look on his face.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I forgot to make a list," he said rolling his eyes.
"We need food," I pointed out.
He smiled. "Food...I guess we'll just visit all the stands and figure out everything we need."
It seemed overwhelming to me at first. The first stand we visited was selling food. The one item we knew we needed.
We picked out some cured meats, more rolls, rice, potatos, and grits. A small jar of salt to serve us seasoning, and another roll of cheese. He packed all this in a sack he'd brought. He bought a couple of apples, and handed me one. "Breakfast," he said, biting into his.
We travelled over to another promising looking stand, which was selling knives and swords. I wondered why he was here, he had a large collection of knives.
He purchased a very beautiful daggar, with a white-gold looking handle, and a sword with the same white-gold sheen, except the white-gold was on the blade as well.
He handed me the daggar. "Protection," he said smiling. "If I should ever fail you, and not be near you in danger."
I smiled. He put the sword on by it's leather strap.
It looked...well, natural on him!
We travelled a few tables down. Here they were selling fabrics and cloth and such. He talked to the clerk a moment, and returned to I and the horses with a brown package. I figured it was blankets, because it was thick and bulky, and we were supposed to be headed to a frozen beach soon.
We looked at some more shops, not seeing anything of real interest.
As we were about to leave, we heard a commotion just a little farther down the street.
"Kill it!" we heard a man's voice ring out.
We rode down through a mass of curious people to see what was going on.
A Great Dane sized, grey and black wolf-type dog was standing in front of a mass of police aiming swords at him. He growled, but cowered in fear.
"Stop!" Aydine yelled, jumping off Thunderhead.
"Why are you killing him?" he asked.
The policemen laughed. One spoke up. "He is the biggest theif in town young man! He is a stray and has caused nothing but trouble ever since he was sighted around here."
"Don't kill him! I will take him!" Aydine offered.
The policeman raised an eyebrow. "He has commited crimes that a dog cannot repay, boy. He will die for them, too!"
Aydine shook his head. "It's not right. I will pay you for his life," he said. The crowd buzzed at this.
The policeman laughed in a cruel way. "You will have to offer me a great sum of money for his life!"
"A hundred pounds!" said Aydine. The crowd buzzed loudly at this.
"A hundred pounds for the life of a theif?" another policeman exclaimed. Aydine nodded.
"I will take that offer," said the other policeman. "As long as you keep him out of trouble, away from these shops, otherwise, your money is wasted and we will take his life from him next time!"
Aydine nodded, paid the man, and tied a rope to the dog, who growled and reguarded Aydine suspiciously.
Once out of earshot of the crowd and policemen, I turned and looked at him.
"Where do you get all this money you spend?" I questioned him.
"I save it," he replied. "I breed my stallions every year, and people pay alot for it. I have nowhere to really spend it. So it piles up."
I nodded. "That was nice, what you did for that dog," I said.
Aydine smiled. "A life is a life, human, animal, divine, or creature. Some deserve to die, but most deserve a second chance."
We rode on in silence. Suddenly, Aydine said, "Oh! I haven't even begun to show you the city yet!" he said, blushing.
He turned back out on to the main road, left, and headed deeper into the city.
Atop Cobalt, I could see above the people, and I could just make out what looked like a fountain. This must be the Fountain of Dreams, I thought.
Shortly, we reached it. It didn't just glow like the city. Whatever the white-gold substance was, this was the solid form of it I could tell. It was encrested in jewels of all sorts. The water seemed to radiate the same white-gold glow.
"They say," Aydine said, noticing my gaze, "that all dreams ever had become trapped in this water. They say, without the fountain, all dreams would cease. If you throw a coin into it, a dream will come true," he said, placing a coin in my hand.
I smiled. I rode Cobalt up to the side of it. I tossed the coin, which landed with a splash.
"Don't people try to steal the coins? I asked.
"No. It is also said, that anyone who steals from the fountain will have nightmares for the rest of his life, and those nightmares will come true. Nobody wants to find out, so they leave them."
I smiled. We rode on. We toured the entire city, looking into the windows of expensive looking shops, and just as the sun was setting, saw the sight of the city as it glowed in the sun's dying light. It was beautiful.
Heading back to the hotel, the groom took our horses soon as we arrived, so we went inside with our bags, and the big dog.
"I'm not sure what Amontine will say about him," said Aydine. "You make a run with him upstairs while I distract him!"
We slipped in the door, and I made a bolt for the stairs. The big dog kept pace with me easily, and with a few disapproving looks from some guests, we made it into the room safely.
In about fifteen minutes, Aydine came in, looking flustered.
He shook his head. "I made the mistake of asking him about last year's foals. Now I've got him talking about next year's!"
We looked at each other for a moment, then burst out laughing.
The big dog eyed us suspicously. "What will we call him?" I asked.
Aydine inspected him. "Lucky?" he said.
"That's so classic!" I said rolling my eyes.
Aydine shrugged. "He was found in a golden city, and he's pretty lucky we were there. I'd say hes very Lucky!" he said
I laughed. "Lucky," I said. The big dog didn't pay me much attention, but I figured he'd learn it in time.
Aydine put down the bags, and turned on the oil lamp.
"We're getting free dinner again," he said with a grin.
"I'm starved!" I said, making a face.
"So am I," Aydine said.
We headed for the door. The dog looked after us with curiosity.
We headed down the crowded hall again, and made our way to the dining room. Tonight, a waiter hurried over just like the last, and bowed and seated us.
Tonight the special was a chicken dish which I didn't totally understand the name of, but I got it because I knew I liked chicken.
Aydine ordered the same. We chatted over the golden apple juice. It was just as good, if not better than I remembered it.
The night was going relativly peaceful, and we had just finished our chicken dishes, when Amontine came hurrying through the resturant towards us.
He didn't look happy. My stomache twisted in knot. Somehow I knew that he'd found out about Lucky, and I had a feeling he didn't like dogs.
"Monsouir," he said, curtly. "I have received complaints from various guests that you bring dog into hotel! Big dog! Is this true?" he said, hands on hips.
"I, uh," Aydine stuttered. "The police were going to kill him, so I bought him to save his life," he explained.
"Well," Amontine said, "you will put him out! Or I will put you out! You hear?"
Aydine blushed.
I felt bad for Aydine, and angry at Amontine. Without thinking, I jumped up from my seat.
"You arrogant French bastard! How dare you treat him like that? How many times have you bred your mares to his stallions, and received great profit from the foals? How many times has he held his tongue and put up with your obnoxious personallity? How dare you threaten to throw him out of your hotel! It's stuffy and stuck up, and we'd be better off out on the grass anyway!" I yelled at him. I picked up my glass, half full of juice, and threw the remains in his face.
We had attracted quite a bit of attention from the resturants waiters and customers.
I started to leave. "Let's go Aydine," I said. Aydine's mouth gaped open as he involuntarily stood to leave. Monsouir Amontine looked like he might explode any moment.
When we got up to the room, we quickly gathered our belongings, and figuring we wouldn't get any help with the luggage this time, we took it down stairs, and tried to sneak out quietly.
Fortunately, Amontine was still washing up from the juice incident. We left and went out back to get the horses. The grooms disappeared quickly when they saw us coming - word got around fast here, apparently.
I wasn't sure about what I'd gotten myself into, because Aydine hadn't yet spoken to me. We got the horse's bridles, and loaded up Ember. As we left, Aydine smiled. "You're very brave, Alice. I've been around him for ages and been scared to even breathe wrong. Thank you for standing up for me," he said.
I laid a hand on his shoulder. "It was nothing!"
We rode out of the city, and rode off into the field a ways before stopping for the night.
Aydine built a fire, and rummaged in his sack and produced a bottle.
"We got something out of that hotel at least!" he said.
"What's that?" I asked.
"Golden apple cider," he said smiling.
"What? Where...how did you get those?" I said, jaw dropping.
"They were in a tub of ice near the entrance to the resturant. I grabbed them when Amontine and the waiters weren't looking when we walked out."
I smiled. He was sly, and very observant.
He got up and started to get out the bedroll, so I helped him.
He brought the thick package over to where I was sitting, and opened it.
"I thought you might want some different clothes...you're not exactly dressed like folks here dress," he said, blushing. "No offense."
"None taken," I said. "You don't dress like we do either!"
He produced a maroon color shirt with a few small close-together buttons at the top of my chest. It was long sleeved but light and comfortable. The pants were much like Aydine's, perhaps a little darker. He also had purchased some boots for me - knee high and furry. They were laced with rawhide strings. There was also a dark purple, almost black cape with a hood. It was thick and heavy and looked expensive.
I felt bad for Aydine spending so much of his money on me, but I supposed if he never used it anyway, he probably enjoyed spending it on something, even me.
But also, he had a thick, knee-long, dark red coat, which had black and white fur around the hood, sleeves and tail.
"I know it looks like a lot, but you'll be glad you're dressed in all this when we reach the beach," he said.
"Turn your back, and I'll try it on," I said.
He turned away, and I changed into the outfit. There was one tie left, and I wasn't sure what he meant it for.
"Okay!" I said.
He smiled. "That's different," he said. "I like it better." He looked me over a moment. "Come here a second," he said.
I sat beside him. He ran his fingers through my hair, and tied it into a loose ponytail, and then tied the strip of cloth around my head like a headband.
I felt a bit like a ninja!
"It will keep most of the hair out of your face...well, aside from a few pieces. So you won't look too slicked back...but it still looks pretty, and it's not too tight so it's comfortable," he explained.
I smiled. "So you think it looks pretty?"
He shrugged and blushed. "Well, I," he said hesitating. "You know...it doesn't make you look unattractive."
I laughed. I felt bad for laughing at him, but I couldn't help it.
Lucky eyed us untrustingly still, but wasn't growling.
We eventually fell asleep in the grass, not even bothering with the bedroll. Dead tired.