Abhorrent Practices - Book 1

Chapter 5.5 - Brael (Scene 5: The Mission and the Inn)

Canto's main market square was on the east side of the city, largely untouched by the devastation elsewhere. It was similar in size to that in Tremayne, but there the similarity ended. Twice a week, produce farmers would travel in from the farmsteads north of the city and set up their stalls, but there were few foreign merchants here; no fluttering of flags and pennants indicating exotic wares; no stalls piled high with brightly coloured trinkets from faraway lands with mysterious names. It was very much a local affair.

The shops on the north and west sides of the square were equally mundane: an ironmongers with its own smithy; a couple of small apothecaries; one or two shops selling local produce. The Great Conflagration had been stopped before it could inflict any significant damage on the buildings here and, like those at the docks, the few which had suffered had been quickly repaired.

There were only two buildings of note. The west side of the square was dominated by the ancient mission established by the Knights of Endurance some five hundred years earlier. In contrast to the modest, wooden buildings on either side, the mission boasted a grand façade, fronted by a huge portico supported by four columns. Built of the grey-blue stone quarried in the west of Brael, the columns were ornamented with statues personifying Resilience, Fortitude, Hope and Dignity, the four pillars on which the Knights of Endurance had been founded.

Perrick took note of two men chatting beneath the portico. Neither seemed interested in his presence there, but he couldn't quite shake the suspicion that the Endurites were aware of Sandrine's arrival in Brael. He took some comfort from the fact that there was no sign of the man in the plum-coloured frock coat who, he was sure, had been following him ever since he'd left the docks that morning.

He ushered Alyss towards the only other building which was in any way remarkable, a triple-fronted inn which occupied most of the south side of the square. It claimed to have been a feature of Brael for more than a century, although it had been renamed after the war. Like most of the buildings here in the market square, the inn had been completely untouched by the Great Conflagration and yet, within a week of that catastrophe, its owners had opportunistically decided to rechristen it the Flames of Defiance.

"The landlord, Burrel, is a good sort," Perrick assured Alyss. "He knows when not to pry, and he's no friend of Tremayne."

Alyss nodded. The inn may not have been damaged by the war, but it was looking its age. The paintwork was flaking around the curving bowed windows, and several panes of glass were cracked. Still, she'd stayed in worse.

She entered through the double doors and stood for a second or two, taking stock of the interior. She stood in a large entrance hall, a counter jutting out towards her from the centre of the far wall. The stone floor was covered in a light dusting of sawdust, and a number of mismatched chairs and stools clustered around a dozen or more tables, their surfaces worn and covered in initials carved over many decades. Two serving maids flitted between the tables, bringing drinks to the few patrons who sat at the tables: three men and two women debating a yellowed parchment in preparation for a business meeting; a couple leaning in towards each other, apparently engaged in romantic sweet talk; and a small group over in the far corner playing a card game Alyss didn't recognise.

To the left of the counter was a large brick chimney; to the right, a broad open staircase ascended to a gallery which overlooked the room on three sides. Behind the counter, a grey-haired man sat precariously balanced on a stool, the brown and cream striped apron of his trade stretched taut over the bulge of his paunch. With one elbow resting on the counter, he propped up his red, blotchy face with his fist.

Perrick followed Alyss into the inn and allowed the door to swing closed behind him. The innkeeper lazily raised his eyes.

"Perrick?" he said, brightening instantly. He ran his eyes over Alyss appreciatively. "I suppose you'll be wanting your usual room?"