Chapter Two: The Harbor
(Disclaimer: Most of the characters belong to Tamora Pierce as well as the settings.)
I didn't know how long I stayed in my chambers before Ryan came in and hopped on my bed with much enthusiasm. She smiled at me sweetly, her eyes sparkling with innocence. Her smile presented two dimples that set next to her mouth, making her look even more adorable than before.
"Aunt Aly," she said bouncing a little and balling her fist in an energetic way. "Can I show you around now?" I nodded and got up from the bed. I helped her off because the bed was far larger than she was, though she didn't have a hard time getting on.
Her little hand wrapped around mine as she pulled me away from my room. A delicious smell wafted through the hall. It made my stomach rumbled silently; I had forgotten the last food I consumed. "That smell is inviting," I told Ryan.
"Yeah, the cooks are the best here," she said. "And…" she motioned me closer, "when I go to see them, they give me whatever I ask for, even if mother says no." For someone of the age of four, she sure had a way of speech. I began to wonder if that was really her age. "Oh, here is my room," she said, pointing to a door, distracting me briefly from my thoughts. "Do you want to see it?" I nodded, but I knew that I was loosing time by doing so.
She took me into her room. It was like every other chamber in the house except for the fact that there were things that little girls like to play with, such as dolls and a fairly large doll house. The main color of her room was blue. It was an interesting choice for a little girl, though a smart one. It was a calming color and could have possibly put her to sleep easily at night when the moon bounced off it correctly.
Her bed was a large bed, about the same size as the one I had in my own chambers. A sapphire and forest green quilt was tossed over top the mattress and folded just before the matching pillows. On her night stand sat a book, no doubt filled with made up stories that taught her life lessons. Many children had them in Tortall apparently. The last gift my parents sent my children was identical copies of the same tales.
"This is where I put all of my toys," she said, pointing to a chest at the end of her bed. "Mother says that I'm going to have to get rid of most of them soon because I start learning how to be a proper lady in a few months." I hid my smile. I remember the type of "training" I had to go through. In the end, I only ended up using them in the presence of Queen Dove and her ladies in waiting.
With a sigh, Ryan led me out of her room. "Let's go." We went throughout the entire structure, Ryan looking more depressed as we continued. I could tell that her sudden change in life was crushing down on her.
"Can we go to the town?" I asked her, bending over to meet her eyes. She nodded. I held my hand out for her to take, which she did with a small smile.
We ran down the halls, giggling, just as my children and I used to do when I announced that we were going somewhere. We passed Thom and my parents. I chanced a glance back. They were staring at us with raised eyebrows and confusion. Apparently, they weren't used to such ruckus. With me here, they were going to have to get used to it.
The town was busy as people bustled around. Woman dragged their misbehaving children by the arm as they cried or just looked at the ground with tears dripping down their dirty faces. People stared at me as I walked by. I didn't know if was out of recognition or if it was because they had never seen me before; maybe it was both. I gave them a kind smile then returned with my walk.
My eyes darted out to find anything out of the ordinary. There were some signs of the gift here and there, but there wasn't anything out of the ordinary. People would use their gift, or another mages gift, to make profit off of their merchandise. I frowned upon such trickery. It was deceitful.
"Hello, Aly," a man said with black eyes. The tone in his voice gave Kyprioth away. I put a hand on my hip and pulled my niece closely to my side. Ryan looked at the man with a confused yet frightened look. "It's good to see you again."
"And you," I said, dryly. "Can't you see I'm a little busy?" I asked him, looking down at my niece pointedly.
"I just wanted to greet you that is all," he said. He bent low to Ryan and smiled. "I have something that you might like," he told her. "Hold out your hands." Ryan looked at me for support but I shrugged. Ryan let go of my hand and held her hands together, palms up, toward the God in disguise. Kyprioth reached into his sleeve and pulled out something shiny. It dropped into Ryan's little hands.
A silver chain dribbled through her fingers as a strange pendant sat on her hands. I took a closer look. It looked a lot like a sapphire wrapped in silver tendrils, something expensive, something that Kyprioth shouldn't have.
"Where did you get that?" I asked the God but he was already leaving. I would have ran after him, but something told me that I shouldn't leave Ryan alone. This wasn't like home where everyone knew my children and they had guards when I needed to do something on my own. I stayed behind and grabbed onto my nieces hand. "Hide that," I told her. Something so expensive shouldn't be left out and definitely not in the hands of a little girl.
Ryan stuffed the necklace in her sash and looked up at me with confused eyes. I smiled down at her. "Let's go back," I told her. A strange feeling was beginning to build up in the pit of my stomach. It was as though someone were watching me. My eyes darted around as subtle as I could make it, but I couldn't see anyone.
It was a long way until we were back into the safety zone. Damn myself for taking Ryan out so far, I would frequently think as we walked quickly back to our dwelling.
A distinguished sound rustled behind me. It sounded like clothes flapping in the wind but there was no wind. Then I heard the rhythmic thumping of boot-clad feet. Someone was running at us. I only knew because the sound was magnifying with every thump.
I turned quickly at where the noise was coming from. A young man was running at us, but he wasn't looking directly ahead of him, where Ryan and I were standing; he had his head turned to see who was following him. I could see a soft glow around his wrist that trailed behind him on the ground like a string. It was a tracking spell.
Was this young man being tracked? I wanted to know. I was suddenly forced to the ground, Ryan was on top of me, with another man on top of her. His hair tickled my nose and made me sneeze. "Get off," I yelled, trying to force him off, but it was hard when a little girl was being held against me.
"Sorry," he said in an accent that I recognized to be from the south. "But that man was about to knock you over."
I sat up, checking Ryan to see if she was okay as I replied, "Just like you did." I was furious at the man. I took a good look at him. He had to be in his mid twenties. His white blonde hair cascaded from his head like a river. There was a couple of darker streaks of hair toward the front. I found it odd. His hair almost looked fake.
Ryan pressed herself against my chest as she looked upon the face of a stranger. His gaunt face looked rather frightening by the way the shadows covered him as he towered over us. He was a scrawny thing yet I could see some muscle working under his threadbare tunic. I was suspicious. I felt Ryan's sash where she had left the necklace.
It was gone.
Out of reflex, I kicked my leg out and tripped him. He fell flat on his back, the necklace trickled out of his sleeve. He tried to get up again, but I planted my heel hard in the sensitive spot of his stomach, right under the ribs where his diaphragm lived. Heard the air wheeze from his mouth. I snatched the necklace, pushing it down in my tunic and stood. Furiously, I dusted off my breeches and lifted Ryan to her feet.
With an angry grunt, I spun on my heel and walked away. "Are you okay, Ryan?" I asked as we got as far away from that man as possible. "He didn't hurt you did he?"
"No," she said innocently.
"He tried to steal that necklace that my old friend gave you," I told her. I reached into my tunic and pulled out the necklace. It sparkled in the light. "I will give it back to you when we return home." She nodded and watched me shove it back into my tunic. It was lumpy against my body.
We made it back safely. I thanked Ryan for a most interesting tour and returned her necklace, then retired to my room until I was called for dinner. The rest of the day, I spent inside, trying to figure out what that necklace was, but Ryan had stored it away safely in her room where I knew I would have to sneak in to find it.
My second day came fast. I rose with the sun, before most of my family. The night before, I had fallen asleep early knowing that I would have to rise before my family did. I needed to get some work done and it wasn't going to work unless everyone was asleep.
I slipped out of the front doors and made my way back to the town. If I wanted to get a start on this, I would have to start listening to the town folk gossip. "Trick," I whispered to my necklace. "I need you to be an extra pair of ears for me. Listen for anything that sounds suspicious."
However, I knew my job needed to take place at the King's Palace but I had no excuse of going there, not yet at least. Besides, there were still some things that I needed to get done here. I needed background and more facts about the strange events that have been occurring.
I felt his head nod as he whispered, "Okay," in my ear. If I hadn't grown my hair out a little, people would have noticed Trick forming lips on his nonexistent face, but my hair had covered his movements well. I touched his body that vibrated against my neck. He was excited. I had never felt him do that since the rebellion.
There wasn't much going on in town, so I made my way into a pub where the fishermen got their early mug of alcohol. The stench burned my nose as it wafted off a man sitting next to me at the bar. I glanced over at him with a disinterested look. He replied with a toothless grin and a wink. It was obvious that the man had been into some trouble. I mean, I could count his teeth with my fingers, which must have meant he had been in a fight. Blood swished in his mouth from his gums.
"What happened?" I asked, looking carefully at his freshly injured mouth.
"Some of the other fishermen have been getting a little rowdy," the man said with a wheezing voice. "I got caught in the middle this morning when I was about to go off to cast my net, but I ended up back here."
"You should probably go back to fishing," I suggested. "You might not be able to get any when you return."
"Nah," he said waving his drunken hand at me. "There are plenty of fish in that water that I can catch." He took a swig of his alcohol and grimaced. I was positive the drink had made his wound sting. "But, I guess you are right," he said setting his glace down. "I should get back to the ship. My son is on board and there's no telling what he'll do." The fisherman paid the barkeeper and left.
"What would you like," he asked. "Water," I told him, looking around the room. "I'm not much of a drinking this early in the morning."
"Anything else?" he asked, his muddy eyes winking in the light. I shook my head and tilted my head to the side so that my hair would fall, exposing the nap of my neck. It was a flirting method that I used on men often.
The pub ended up to be dull and uneventful. Not many people came inside, nor did that say anything about weird happenings. I was rather disappointed that my first plan failed. I decided to start over, walking down the street where people where finally starting to pour into them.
I looked down at the ground a lot as I walked. The skirts of my dress wrapped around my legs when the wind blew. It annoyed me. I knew I should have worn breeches, but I wanted to act lady-like at my parent's home, dresses were required.
A glowing red string appeared under my feet. I looked closely at it and realized it was the same tracking spell that I saw yesterday. I looked back to see if it lead back anywhere but there were too many people bustling around in the town. With a shrug, I began following the red string. I knew that I should be getting back to work, but it was hard when I was curious.
I followed it as it weaved through buildings until I reached the sea, which was neighboring the port. Interesting, I thought. It was the second thing that had led me to the port. I continued on with my tracking but it stopped in the water. That was the only way to hide a tracking spell thoroughly, through water.
If I remembered correctly, someone could only be tracked on solid ground. If there is too much distance or water in the way, then the tracking spell eliminates itself. It seemed like the victim knew that too, but it was strange. That discovery was recent. If it were by accident then the man would have been worried.
I walked along the coast and the waves licked my covered feet. After being touched by the first wave, I decided that going barefoot would be the best way. The water was cold against my naked feet and the sand squished between my toes. I watched the ships leave the docks slowly as others were still nestled against the wooden planks, tied down by thick rope. I grew closer to the harbor and decided that it was time to do some more investigating when I saw something moving under the docks.
Slightly unnerved by the way the thing was moving, I ran to where I knew I would be remotely safe. I hadn't an idea what was dwelling under the docks. I made it to where civilization was, but curiosity struck again. I crawled over the dock and peeked through the cracks.
I saw it again.
It moved under the dock I was kneeling on.
The thing looked up, from the moment we made eye contact, I knew that it wasn't human. Trick shivered on my neck, but it wasn't an excited shiver. I could tell by the tightening of his body. Suddenly the eyes flashed a blood red as the morning sun slipped through the dock. I caught a glimpse of it's face that almost resembled a human boy, except for the fact that he had red eyes and his skin was a strange shade of pale green.
Something touched my shoulder; I jumped in surprise and looked to see who or what it was. It was a fisherman. I put a hand to my heart and let out a relieved breath. It was the same fisherman that I had meet in the pub. "Young lass, what are you doing here?" he asked. "I don't think this is the safest place for a lass such like yourself to be middling around in. The men here get a little rough." He put a kind hand on my shoulder. "I'll have my son take you to the market. He's usually a good boy and he will be for you if I tell him so." He looked over my head and barked, "Peter! Come here, will ya?" I turned to look.
The young man that tried to steal something from Ryan ran up. A look of complete terror crossed his face. I crossed my arms at him and glared. "Yes, father," he said glancing at me nervously.
"Will you escort this lass back to the town so no one will target her," the man said, not realizing the tension between the two of us. "When you are finished, you'd better return."
"Yes, father," he said, his voice was unsure. His father left for the ship. "What do you want?" he asked in a whisper, glancing at his father. "You didn't tell him did you?"
"No," I said flatly. "I didn't know he was your father, Peter." I looked up to the gaunt man and glared. "Now if you please, I have to go back home. My brother should be home any moment." It could have been true. In all honesty, I didn't know when he was going to be there.
"Wait," Peter said, though I was only three steps away from him. "I have to escort you back to town don't I?"
"I think I'd rather take my chances alone," I snapped. "You tried to steal from a little girl."
"I didn't mean to," he said. I looked over at him and rolled my eyes. "I'm serious. I have never stolen anything in my life but I had the strangest urge to snatch that necklace and get some money from it. You have to believe me, it hasn't just happened to me. It's happened to everyone at the port." Now that was something that caught my attention.