CHAPTER NINE

I had chosen to pursue the blotch as a destination to spite Mallow. Thankfully, the signs of other life became obvious as we continued. A trail of horse poop was left by those who were riding ahead of us. The trail of dung marked the distance to civilization. It started with only hints of dry and discolored feces and progressed to fresher specimens. Mallow was so busy dodging one pile that she stepped into another, which was still warm. Shortly after that, from a hilltop higher than the rest, we saw other carriages on the winding road ahead.

"Awful lot of carriages on this road to nowhere." I said, tilting my head back and grinning up at Mallow smugly. She rolled her eyes.

"Big deal, you're right this time. It makes it the first time out of like a hundred."

As we ascended another hill, the traffic now slowed to a steady grind. We heard music streaming through the air. Not near, but not distant. Not a single instrument, either, but rather, a medley of instruments blending in harmony. Mallow and I rarely got to enjoy music, being on the move so often. And if we ever did, it was usually a lone musician picking up some spare coin. This was a band. Out of curiosity, she went to find it. She couldn't find where it was coming from, even when she ran ahead a few carriages. She came back, winded.

"I don't know, it's just as loud no matter what direction I go in. I can't track it."

"Well, let's enjoy it," I said.

We relaxed and took in the sights around us. Not much to see, just rolling grasslands, as we went over the hills. Mallow had a huge grin on her face and she kept asking me what instrument this or that was. My mind wandered back to the best years of my childhood. During that period of more than enough I would often listen to music with my parents.

I would fish, often unsuccessfully, for the name of the instrument. I remembered note by note hearing their melodies. There was nothing to distract us. We had hardly ever ridden so slow. Yet the consistent and sweet music kept us from becoming bored.

We reached the top of the last hill, and I was stunned for a second by the view. A massive city glutted with people stood proud in the late afternoon sun. I guided Flatchert and Gourd as we rode down. The start and stop traffic gave me enough time to analyze what my eyes saw. It certainly wasn't burnt to the ground.

How had the map maker not included such an imposing city? A formidable, sorcerer-quality stone wall circled around it, rising high and cutting off the view of most of the city. The weather tower and an odd, blocky wooden structure that peaked over the top of the wall was visible from our vantage point. Farms and ranches sprawled around the outside of the wall facing the road. In the far distance, forest reached all the way to the unseen section of the stone wall.

Three competing stables, all with multiple levels that rose up to the height of the defensive wall, were taking in horses. I'd never seen anything like it – outside ramps being used by stablehands to guide horses up to their stalls. It was odd, but it was necessary, because a regular stable would never be able to handle this multitude.

In addition to the traffic on our own road, there were two other roads leading toward the city that were both choked with people. I was confused. I examined the map. The capital city of Majikast was in the direction of the most congested road. The other road was connected to a massive port city, Cikine, that was essentially the intake for the entire continent. Two capitals, if you will: one of finance and one of magic. Still, they were so far away, many weeks' journey from here. I double-checked to make sure that was in fact what was in those directions and it was accurate. I lowered the map and scanned the scene again. The musicians were still not visible, but their music continued as a faint whisper on the air. I think a choir had joined in.

Thunder struck, fast and violent. I jumped. I had been focusing on the serene music so intently that I shook for a few seconds afterward. The sky was clear; I had seen no dark cloud.

I spotted the tail of lightning vanishing into a heat-darkened metal spire located on top of a metal-caged gazebo. It was only one story tall, but the lightning had definitely favored it over the much taller weather tower and city wall. A smaller gazebo sat inside of it, further details blurred by the distance. The metal spire of the roof split into pillars that spun in tight spirals until they were embedded in the ground. There was a break in this action near the front, where a small, raised walkway had one Avalon. A handful of men in black tunics stood around it.

Some figures came stumbling out of the gazebo. They were guided down the platform and into a waiting carriage. It hurried them to the town gate cutting in front of all of those who had been waiting to enter. More thunder rolled, interrupting the music. More people came out of the gazebo. There couldn't be room for both the people that left earlier and these people to fit at once, and no one had gone in since the last group had left.

I had the urge to investigate further, but the odd, lightning-attracting structure was off the main path leading into the city. I wanted to examine it, but I wouldn't be allowed within ten yards of it. I'd heard of them, thunder teleporter cages. Only for the elite.

The line seemed infinite, but of course was exhausted gradually as all lines are, and so we were at the front. I instructed Mallow to act as nonthreatening as possible. We were guided up the sloping planks on the outside of the odd, tiered stables. Mallow made the attendants nervous, but no one dared to tell her she couldn't accompany me. The horses were unhitched and placed in their stalls, and the carriage was parked beside it. I paid the attendant and thought that would be all there was to it, when he spoke.

"Bringing presents for Master Reglar's Age Day?" the attendant asked.

"Oh, of course." I went with it. If he expected me to be bringing someone something, it was best to I investigate. "Though, what do you get for the—" Was Reglar a man or a woman? Master Reglar. Probably a man. "-man who has everything?" I ran my hands through my hair. "I mean, I hope what I got him was all right."

Mallow opened her mouth to speak but stopped. The hand that was carving an arc through the air to argue instead came to rest on her lips as her chin tilted down. She went to petting Gourd. We'd been working together too long for her to embarrass me while I was mid-deception even if she was confused.

"I think she'll do fine," he said. Mallow gawked at him.

"What? No, the horses are ours," she said.

"Eh, of course they are. I meant you," he replied. "And she can talk." The attendant smirked at me, as if he had something to do with how marvelous Mallow was. "I didn't know they could do that."

"What?" she asked, taking a step forward that made the floorboards shudder. I reached out and grabbed her wrist. She shot the attendant a warning scowl. "He said I'd make a good present!"

"You will, I think." The attendant scratched his head. "Well I know no one else has come to the city with a Giant. I've seen four people bring Giant snakeskins. Someone brought some Cave Elf weapons, though I hear gossip that anyone who has ever been on a Proving has a few lying around. Others who don't know him at all brought gold. I've seen many 'rare' herbs and mushrooms..." He admired Mallow from head to toe. "But you're definitely the only one bringing a Moon Giant."

"I'm not-!" Mallow began. I cleared my throat. She groaned but went silent. I smirked at the stable attendant and pulled out a few extra coins from my coin pocket inside my boot.

"I'm glad to hear it. I was hoping the extra effort that went into acquiring this specimen would not be wasted." I counted them into the stall attendant's palm. "But of course, the thing about gifts, is that they are so much more fun when they're a surprise, are they not?" I asked.

"Well I won't be talking to Master Reglar." The attendant's eyes went wide as I counted the coins..

"Oh, I know that," I said. "It's ... well we obviously can't keep the Giant a secret, but we can mislead... for example, let's say she's my daughter."

"Your daughter?" he asked. He tried to pull his hands back, and I clasped my free one on top, holding him in place. I locked eyes with him.

"Yes, if you must tell others who may or may not be privy to Reglar's ear about a Giant being in town, and I hope you will not, but tongues do fly... well... it would be much more satisfying for everyone involved if Reglar believed that she was my daughter. Think how envious he will be, until the moment she is revealed to be his! And then... his rapture! His joy!"

"That'd be much more exciting," he said in agreement.

"So then... we have a deal?" I asked. My fingers tightened on top of his hand.

"Definitely. And quite a lovely daughter you have too." He bowed his head a little bit toward Mallow. Mallow cleared her throat and spat on the ground in response. Smiling my most ingratiating grin, I left the horses in his care and made for the town gate with Mallow.

The experience of walking down the ramps on the other side of the stable was novel. Deja vu struck me as we crossed the gate leading into the town. We'd entered dozens of towns like this one, though none quite so busy. Things moved faster now that we were parked and settled. The guards let everyone pass indiscriminately as the waves of people came in and out. There were too many to check papers and verify purposes.

The flag stone street was wide, easily three times the walking space that the recent burgs we'd visited had. Yet the gray of the stones was hardly visible beneath the constant shuffling of the feet, swirling of dress hemlines, and darting children pushing through the crowds.

"You're not going to sell me to that guy are you?' Mallow asked suspiciously.

"What?" I asked. "No, of course not. If I were going to sell you, I would have done it before now." I had, actually, almost sold Mallow once; years ago, but I never told her about it. "Now we're partners! There's no business without you around!" I laughed. People were giving us a wide berth so we weren't crowded, craning their necks upwards to cautiously stare at Mallow.

"Oh." She hugged her arms over her chest, as she gauged the attention coming in from all directions.

"I told that guy that so he wouldn't alert the guards. It's actually a pretty good cover so that we don't get harassed for your... you-ness." I waved at her. She scowled at me. Children churned in and out from behind outfits to stare at her.

"Is that the only reason you're not going to sell me?"

"Gift you."

"What?"

"Gift you." I corrected. "I would be gifting you, if I had been telling the truth. Pay attention."

She swung a massive arm for my head, and I dodged. She chuckled, her anger defeated by my goofiness. I was grinning like a fool too. We passed the musicians. The music should have been growing louder as we approached, and yet this time the volume was steady. It defied logic, and then I remembered the stable hands words. This was a sorcerer family's city, a proper institution in the Arcanacracy's population.

Using Mallow's amazing ability to part a crowd, I shuffled over to the musicians. Their instruments sparkled with tell-tale enchantment. It was easier to have one band playing and sharing its music across the entire entrance to the city then to sprinkle bands every few hundred feet and hope their music somehow cut through the chaos of the crowds. A small, sleek black dog sat on the low stone fence beside the band, its happy tail swinging in rhythm with the music by sheer coincidence. It pointed its face at me and Mallow and tilted its head curiously. Many of the people in the city were having that reaction to Mallow, though with a hint more fear as they kept several feet of distance and wouldn't stare openly if too close. The dog slipped off the fence and approached tentatively. Mallow, still bitter about the shadow slink incidents, shooed it away and it scampered off, tail between its legs.

Really, though, the dog was the least of Mallow's unwanted attention problems. There was such a sense of energy that the crowds were moving around her. A young woman in a black and white checkered vest barreled through the mass, snapping at anyone that touched the satchel clasped at her side. One hand was protectively pressed against the flap, the other held down the cap on her head which bobbed with each barked hostility at the people pressing in around her. A messenger. Messengers worked for ungifted as well as sorcerers, as not every town had a teleportation cage like this one seemed to, but their services were still too expensive for the common man. I had used them to send messages in the past, though never to receive them as I was on the move too often.

"How do they expect me to find anyone in this anarchy?" she grumbled, pressing against the edges of the void that radiated out from Mallow, eager to exploit the unobstructed path. She shot a wary glance up at Mallow, who only cocked her head curiously in return. The messenger faced the ground again and grumbled, though more shakily now, "pure chaos." She hurried off, disappearing into the throngs of people.

"Mallow, do you know what this is?"

"Crowded?" she replied, moving to avoid stepping on a rat scurrying on the ground to gather debris. She crashed into a fairy a second later. She sputtered, swatting at her face while the fairy laughed in dizzy circles. Its brightly glowing body and hummingbird wings zipped off a second later.

"A festival! A celebration! And you know what celebrations have?"

"According to the stable guy, snakeskins, mushrooms, and herbs..."

"You missed the most important one!" I declared.

"Me?" she asked teasingly.

"Ah, all right, the second most important thing then. Coin!" I said. "We should set up shop right now! This sort of foot volume—" I petered off as I saw gloom overcome her features. She stared down her broad nose at me. "Well, it's just so many potential customers..."

"We agreed to wait until after I got some shoes."

"Yes, well, we did..." I had not forgotten our previous verbal arrangement. "But, Mallow, there was no way to know when I made that agreement that there would be a festival here!" I threw my arms out grandly. "Mallow, this is a boon! This is amazing! How could you want to pass up an opportunity like this? I mean, who even knows how long these people will be here?"

My mind had been wondering how they were going to house all these people. Maybe the festival was just for the afternoon and everyone would be filtering out by the end of the day.

Mallow and I walked from the beaming sunlight into a cool purple shadow being cast by a tall, unsteady wooden building. At the top of the second floor was a sign that read 'True Heir Inn'. It was at least ten floors tall, and when it was tall enough to pass over the roofs of the other buildings, it spread out. Like branches from a tree, rooms jutted off to the left and the right. There was no way that it could handle being that tall, much less support the stress from the rooms adjoined to the side. They would break off normally.

I hurried to get out from under the shadow of the inn. It wasn't swaying or creaking or giving any other sign of breaking. Yet it was unnatural. If something unseen snapped, the entire thing could come tumbling down on top of us.

"A city this big probably has an amazing shoemaker!" Mallow shouted, which snapped me out of analyzing the looming inn. She pointed at one of the sturdy, permanent shops, barely visible behind the wall of temporary festival stalls. It was perfectly average. But Mallow was focused, she knew what she wanted. "And he probably makes amazing shoes!" She held up her foot, wiggling the dirt encrusted toes. "And if he makes amazing shoes, then I want a pair!" She lost balance and people scattered behind her as she threw out her arm to catch herself.

"And we'll be able to buy ten with the money I can make in the next hour! All of these people are opportunities!" I jerked a finger toward a couple. It took me a second to realize they were sorcerers, so unused to seeing them mingling with common people. I knew they had to be sorcerers and not Avalons because their magic continued to spark even when they were being rude.

They were neighbor elves, though the one closest to me was harder to tell because her left ear had been melted off and replaced with scar tissue. Somehow, she still heard her kids causing problems, and trilled lightly over her shoulder to bring them into line. Six children, all with intact pointed ears, lined up and followed her grumbling. Behind them, three or four women, also unscarred, were well dressed but acted as sheep dogs, herding the sorcerer's children into order so that their mother didn't have to exert herself. True sorcerer Assistants, the thing I only claimed to be. It took me a second to find my voice again. "Well, not them, they don't need my potions, but everyone else.. I've never seen so many people!"

"Yes, maybe you could do that..." Mallow rolled her eyes. I was amazed by how we were still in the cool purple shadow of the towering structure above us despite keeping a steady pace. The True Heir Inn had rooms growing from it as more and more people stepped across it's threshold. I even heard wood creaking, and from nothing, a square emerging from the wall like a bubble from a swamp. "Except someone will get suspicious, report your potions, and we'll be run out of town before the shoemaker is even done taking my measurements." Her voice trailed off as she stared at the inn. "I've never seen Avalons do that..." she said. The fortune in gems passed by us attached to snot-nosed elven children tumbling about.

My ears perked up.

"So... you get measured, and then we can set up?" I asked.

"No! Not until the shoes are in my hand." She uncrossed her arms and stomped further in town. "Help me, dad."

"Aw, Mallow! That could take a whole week! Think about all the potions I could sell!"

"Nope." She replied, flitting left and right as she searched for her desired store. "You keep an eye on the signs, you know I can't read."

"Why are you even looking at the signs?" I asked obstinately. I tried not to fall too far behind her though, I didn't want to get separated. With this crowd, I alone wouldn't be able to clear a path back to her.

"They'll have a carving of a shoe on it, duh."

"Mallow, what if I promise to buy you a pretty dress with the money if you let me set up right after we pay for the shoes?" I asked. "I might make enough to buy four dresses!" Each jostle and bump by the crowd may have been a potential pick pocket, but was also a potential person I could sell my wares too. This was infuriating!

"Uh-huh. And lose it to an angry mob," she said. Deeper and deeper into town we went. We finally emerged out from under the shadow of the inn, although we had left behind its base many minutes ago.

I wondered about the rank of the sorcerer in charge of this town. Was he a Magester? No, I hadn't seen any sort of army, and the farms outside had been humble. Perhaps a Wishid? No, the trick with the True Heir Inn required at least a Whimsight's level of magic. I tried to muse to keep my mind off my worries, but each moment passing was lost profit. As I calculated, my mood became desolate.

I was so far into my own brooding, I hardly heard Mallow when she declared, "Ah-hah! There it is."

Mallow pointed at a store. But unlike the ones we'd been passing, it was not forgettable or normal. It was one of the most breath-taking stores I'd ever seen. And like Mallow said, a carving of a shoe was on the sign out front.

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