Chapter Five:

In the Tavern

The woman finished her song, and her audience clapped. Some of the people got up and came closer, throwing coins into the basket where the baby still slept. Lief realised that the woman used the basket as a performer would use a cup, hat, or case for their instrument. He found all this very strange, and moved a little closer, the better to speak to the woman. "Don't," she said sharply as Lief tried to throw a coin of his own into the basket. "I don't need your charity, King, nor does my little one. We do just fine on our own, without your help. Keep back now, I don't want you near me or my babe. You're no good."

Lief quickly stepped away from the piano, feeling confused and a little hurt. It was true that just now he would be quite happy not to be acknowledged as the king just for tonight, but this was something else entirely. Not only did this woman not care how she spoke to him, but she seemed to feel as many people had felt about the royal family before the Shadow Lord invaded. This disturbed him.

"Ah, come now, Kay," said a voice behind Lief. He turned and saw that the woman behind the bar was looking sternly at the musician. "He's alright," She continued. "He just wanted to give you some money for little Daphid there, that is all. He's a good king like that, you know." Clearly, this woman did not want the musician to ruin her opportunity to serve the king. The tavern was now completely silent, and Lief did not like this at all. All eyes were on the bar, and the piano beside it.

Lief decided that now would be a good time for him to speak. "It is alright," he said, sounding more confident than he actually felt. "I have only been king for a short time, and I cannot expect everyone to like me. I do not think I am all that special anyway, and besides, I have no official duties just now, I just wanted to hear the music that is all. You play very well, Kay. Perhaps you could play something else?"

At first, Kay seemed shocked by Lief's use of her name, but she recovered quickly, put her hands back onto the piano in front of her, and began to play.

This time, the tune she played was fast, and many of the people at the tables got up and started to dance. Unlike the previous song, this one had no words, just a melody that seemed to repeat itself, but sounded different each time. As the people danced and clapped in time with the music around him, Lief stepped closer to the bar. Fixed to a wall behind the barmaid's head was a board, on which a list of food and drinks that could be bought was written in green chalk.

Lief saw that among these were a local wine, this tavern's specialty ale, and strangely enough, Queen Bee Cider. He decided to purchase a glass of the ale, despite knowing that he would prefer the cider. He had never had ale before, but he felt sorry for causing such a stir with the barmaid and the musician, and buying the tavern's specialty seemed to be the only way he could show them this without saying anything.

"I would like a glass of the ale, if you please." Lief said, digging into his pocket for five silver coins.

"Of course," the barmaid replied, smiling at him in a way that suggested that he could have more than a drink from her if he wanted to. This made Lief feel rather awkward. As he went to hand her the money, the woman shrank back.

"No, no!" She exclaimed. "I can't accept that from you, you're the king." Surprised, Lief drew back his hand.

"Why not?" he asked as she filled the glass and put it on the counter in front of him. "You had no problem with me giving money to the musician, what is the difference?"

The woman leaned closer to Lief, which made him feel a little worried. He did not want to accept this woman's advances, but he did not want to announce his betrothal to Jasmine in this tavern either.

"Well," she began, lowering her voice. "It is different for Kay. She is very poor, you see. Playing here is her only way to get money." Surprised, Lief leaned in closer, the better to hear what she had to say. "Not that I'm complaining, mind, she is an old friend, and having music here is very good for business. But it saddens me to see her having to bring little Daphid here. As you can see, this is no place for a baby."

Lief looked over at the baby, still sleeping in the basket. He wondered how it could do so with all that noise. "Her husband doesn't work," the barmaid continued. "He will not even look after his son, which is why he is here."

Lief realised that the glass of ale she had prepared for him was still on the counter. He picked it up and took a sip. The drink was not bad, but he was still thinking about the woman Kay, who had finished playing and was again being applauded. "Can she not work somewhere else during the day?" He asked.

The woman looked at him, surprised. "Do you not see?" She asked him. Lief shook his head, not understanding. "Kay has very bad eyesight." She explained. "When she was very young, she became ill with a sickness that many children in Del get. It damaged her brain, so now Kay is almost completely blind. She works here during the night, and even after everyone is gone, she stays. She leaves in the morning, when the light is better. She needs it to find her way home. But when the sun becomes too bright, she has to stay at home with the curtains closed, because it hurts her eyes."

Lief looked again at Kay. Some of the things that had puzzled him earlier now made sense. The fact that she did not look around the room, and that she could play so well without music. But how had she known that he was approaching her when he first entered?

Lief placed his coins on the counter. "Please, just accept it." He said softly, taking his glass to one of the tables nearby. He was deeply shaken by everything he had just heard. It seemed that despite his best efforts to rid Deltora of such poverty, it was still there.

The night went on. Kay played many more tunes and songs, most of which Lief had never heard before in his life. He went back to the bar and bought several more drinks, paying for each one. After two more glasses of the tavern's specialty ale, Lief found that despite everything that had been happening, he was rather enjoying himself. As Kay broke into song once more, he decided to purchase a glass of Queen Bee Cider, as he had originally wanted to do. He no longer felt a need to please the barmaid. At one gold coin, the cider was more expensive than the ale, but Lief did not care. When he had drunk four glasses of it, he decided that his mother had been right, and that he really did have nothing to worry about. Jasmine was indeed capable of taking care of herself, and she had always done what she wanted. Why should she stop now that she was marrying him?

Gradually, people began leaving for the night. As they did so, they thanked the barmaid in loud voices, and gave what was left of their money to Kay. Lief noticed that she thanked each person in turn, and that some of them she even thanked by name. It seemed that there were many frequent customers here, and as he took his fifth glass of cider back to the table where he sat, he thought he understood why. All the people were so friendly here. Many of them had talked to Lief as he sat there, as though he was just an ordinary young man, and not their king. He also noticed that the barmaid had been slipping out from behind the counter, and putting the money Lief gave her into the baby Daphid's basket as she cooed over him.

Now, it was just Lief, Kay and the barmaid left in the tavern. Looking out of the window, Lief realised that it was very late. Kay had stopped playing, and had gone to the lavatory to feed and change her child. When she returned, Lief took his chance to speak to her.

"I am s-s-sorry," he said, finding that it was now more difficult to talk than it had been before. "I did no' mean to make you feel bad. I know you don' need my help, but I like how you play, but you made me feel sad with your song 'bout the 'ills. Made me think of Jasmine." To Lief's surprise, Kay came and sat in the chair beside his, with her baby in her arms.

"So," she said, smiling slightly. "Even you can have too much to drink. It seems you are human after all. That is good to know."

"What d'you mean?" Lief slurred.

"I mean, that you're almost just like the rest of us." She replied. Lief suddenly noticed that she was not looking at his face, but at the belt of Deltora. The baby was though. He was smiling at Lief, and waving one little hand, as if he was saying hello. Glancing down at the belt, he saw that the ruby and the emerald were both undimmed, which meant there was no danger. But still, he was curious.

"Why you looking at the belt?" He asked, waving back at the child, who giggled with delight. He lifted his other hand, and began waving it as well. Lief did the same.

"Because before you started waving your hands like an idiot just now, that was about the only part of you that I could see well. My eyes are poor, but that belt of yours is very shiny. So I decided to focus on that instead of trying to make out your face. It's probably better to look at than your face anyway."

Lief grinned. "I was waving at the baby," he said. "He likes it.

"I'm sure he does," she replied.

"Wha's his name?" Lief was sure he had been told before, but he could not remember just now. The room seemed to be spinning.

"His name is Daphid." She answered. "Didn't you hear the lady calling him that?"

"Oh, yes!" Lief suddenly remembered. "Hello, Daphid!" Again, the child giggled. The sound made Lief laugh also. But then he remembered something else the barmaid had said, and he stopped laughing.

"I know about your eyes." He said, suddenly feeling extremely sad. "You got sick when you were little."

"Yes," Kay said flatly. "it got me when I was eight. That's usually quite old for a child to get it, but I supposed I was just unlucky. Actually, no. I wasn't. I got it, but I didn't die. Many children do. It kills within hours."

Lief was horrified.

"How many chil'ren get it?" He asked, coming back to himself a little. It seemed that this illness really was a problem in Del. He had to do something, he was the king after all.

"Do you want one last drink, your majesty?"

Lief looked up, and saw that it was the barmaid who had called to him. "Yes," he said, getting up from the table with quite some difficulty. He was finding it very hard to walk to the bar, though it was only a short distance away.

"Cider again?" she asked. Lief nodded, and handed her a gold coin.

"you're not going to feel good in the morning," Kay said as he returned to the table. Daphid was smiling at him again. "Oh." Lief said, drinking deeply.

Lief finished his glass quickly, and put it down on the table.

"As for how many children get sick," Kay continued. "I don't really know. I know the number is very great, but that is all. I don't have many fears for Daphid, but I do worry about that. I worry that if he gets this sickness that he will be even worse off than me if he lives. Many people are. Sometimes, they lose all their limbs. It can rot the blood as well as the brain."

"Daphid will not get it!" Lief said quickly, seeing that her face was growing sadder by the moment. "I am the king, I can stop it."

"Can you?" Kay asked, sounding almost amused by what Lief had said.

"Yes." Lief said, nodding his head to show that he meant it.

"I promise you, that Daphid will not get it. If he plays music like you, he'll do it because he enjoys it, not because he must. I will make it a priority to stop the chil'ren of this city getting sick. I swear it."

Kay got up from the table, and gently put Daphid down in his basket. His eyes closed, and he fell back to sleep. Making sure that he was securely wrapped in his blanket and that it would not cover his face, she went behind the bar to talk to the barmaid, who was washing glasses.

As carefully as he could, Lief walked to the piano. Knowing that he was taking a risk, he took out his money bag, and gently placed it among the other coins in the basket. But as one little hand closed over one corner of the leather bag, the tavern door opened, and into the room walked Barda.