Child of the Tomb#JustWriteIt

Another Survivor

Chapter Four

        Lamial’s capital city of Agkara was bustling, the morning mass complete with echoing bell chimes. The streets were full of marketers, once Marriah and Kirian rode out from the palace’s walls, the atmosphere shifted.

        “It’s very lively.” Marriah noted as she sat behind the knight astride Moramair, “A few hours changed much.”

        “Religion is quite important for Lamial. The Cardinal is quite an interesting speaker.”

        Marriah nodded and loosened her hold on him, looking around thoughtfully, “I haven’t seen this many people in a long time.”

        “You’ve had a hard life.” 

        “It seems I have,” Marriah stopped his line of thought, “Let’s just get there and meet Nannali.”

        “You’ll like her,” Kirian smiled, “Artie found her when he was an a naval ship near your home. She was born in Isage too.”

        “Really?” She sounded excited, and she peeked over his shoulder, looking at the plane of his face that she could see, “She’s a Child of the Tomb?”

        “I suppose, she was found after it fell, but it was a Isagian ship.”

        “Then she married Foern?”

        “Yes,” The knight nudged Moramair through the streets, around people and kept his eyes peeled for obstructions, “She married him six years ago, we all thought she’d end up with Artie, but she was only sixteen when he found her and she kind of attached to him like a baby chick, like you did.”

        “He has a fatherly aura.”

        “Is that what it is?”

        Marriah confirmed and she stared at a small child racing through the streets. She tilted her head, fixing her hood and watched the blond cherub disappear behind a market stall.

        “Must be a girl thing.”

        “What is?” Marriah asked, having been lost in her thoughts, “The fatherly feeling? I guess, but it is there.”

        Kirian huffed unhappily, grumbling about Artie getting all the attention.  

        “You have a different aura to you, arrogant, perhaps?” Marriah explained, not meaning any disrespect.

        “Arrogance?” He sputtered and Moramair pranced uneasily with the shift of reins.

        Marriah blinked as he struggled to look at her over his shoulder, “Yes, you’re only twenty-three and yet you’re highly praised and a close aid to the King.”

        “That’s successful and well connected, not arrogant.”

        “You basically seep superiority.” Marriah noted dryly, loosening her hold on his waist and peering around them.

        She ignored his squabbling as she inspected the city of Agkara. It was large, spanning further than she’d been able to see from the palace gates which rose higher than the markets. Everything was very similar to how she remembered Carthage, the capital of Isage. Sprawling, busy, kindly, warm. The stalls sold trinkets and produce, and she watched small children paying with thin silver coins. The currency was similar to the southern part of the continent, and she wasn’t particularly familiar with the denominations compared to the Ruppee of the North. They mostly dealt in precious metals and gems, instead of a regulated pressed coin. The economy of the Northern kingdoms was primarily based on trade and survival, here it was uniformity and efficiency.