Seanfram Manor

VII

Manganese walked under the ruthless sun of the afternoon, the brightest time of day had passed but she was not any less exhausted, a sneeze interrupted her thoughts in the boredom of the arid land, desolate but beautiful, she readjusted her long black hair, stood up straight with her shoulders back and continued her journey. She had turned around and was walking back. Three days of endless wandering across the plain bare of trees and grass in the company of the sky and the sun in the clouds discouraged her from reaching Alamor, and her bag of provisions was empty. She would be deep within Denebian borders by now, her first grand travel was to the Olivine Palace, where she arrived with the first map she grabbed from her mother's studio and half of her food remaining, she was not made to wait and saw King Osorio within minutes of requesting it, six months she worked at a construction site that would become a minaret of her design covered in tiles of every shade of green in the chromatic scale, the life she lead for that brief period was enviable, she was allowed to explore different locations inside and around the palace as appointed staff, even discovering a mausoleum that seemed like another minaret, it was more modestly decorated, dark and empty on the inside, only illuminated by a single ray through the skyline, she accidentally bumped into the embalmed body of Wolframium XIIth, which made her heart jump, she immediately felt the air-tight glass sarcophagus and blindly calculated where to push it, and once she covered her tracks she stood next to the glass and looked at the leader in the face, barely visible under the skyline, the man's face was exhibited in portraits, statues, flags, currency, inside and outside of every building she had hitherto seen in the kingdom and it looked more real than in the flesh, she stared for a few minutes before walking out and deciding to quit when her construction was finished, that is how easy navigating Deneb had been and how foolish she was for expecting the same of the untamed South. With her feet aching and a knee sprained, she could not continue her journey on foot, so she sat on the ground, waiting, hoping to raise her spirits. The wind blew in the Northern direction, Manga dug her face in her knees to avoid the dirt that flew past her, but when she raised her head again a new sound was heard amidst the stillness of the great outdoors, it was a wheel turning at an absolute bearing of ninety degrees, a cart pulled by three burly Arabian horses, she stood up as she dusted her dress and picked up her bag of provisions, which contained only her book, and began walking opposite to the cart, once nearby she clinged to the cart's tailgate and with all the strength in her arms climbed over it, noisily dropping her book on the wagon by accident, but she fetched it and soon made herself comfortable in between barrels and unlabeled boxes. She intended to read it, it was a small but fat book that contained a novel, a manual of bubble architecture, a guide of spiritual doctrine and blank pages filled with personal writings and notes, but she was so tired that she ended up falling asleep, and when she woke she was near civilization again, but not at Seanfram Manor nor anywhere she recognized, she quickly glanced at the sun to estimate the time of day and prepared to jump off the moving cart, she tossed the book on the floor and followed thereafter, she landed on her heels, bounced and rolled over to lessen the impact. Around her were tents, a tavern and a few trees.

"Approach, approach! The solution for all your problems, coming right up! Suffering from melancholy, paleness, furor, stupidity, leprosy, black bile excess, nightmares, delirium, wandering attention, barrel chest, muscular ache, cavities, jaundice, fatigue, histeria, empty head, irritable nose, neurosis, lung blockage, internal voices, fragile bones, gout, shivers, chills, liver flukes, bark skin, smallpox, fluoridation, psychosis, rabies, dysentery, gangrene, mumps, measles, dengue, uncommon cold, better days, haunting visions, nausea, tetanus, oceanic hearing, polio, perversion, hib, pink fever, fractures, styes, swollen eyelids, sleep apnea, spider bites, acne, abdominal pain, meningitis, creaky joints, dehydration, long tongue, dance mania, congestion, hardened tissue, flying attempts, rage, paranoia, fear of drowning, abnormal movements, anemia, clots, criminal thinking, sensible hair, fat lip, excess teeth, tapeworms, old hands, malaria, negligence, magnetic jaw, pre-traumatic stress disorder, desperate infatuation, emotional disarray, polyps, unquenchable thirst, premonitions, war memories, animal behaviour, uncontrollable salivation, disinterest, mucus, empathitis, sugary bleeding, frozen heart, brain cramps, ghostly disturbances, bitter taste, unwashable stench, kidney stones, numbness, back pain, leakage, facial misidentification, confusion, arrhythmia, permanent smile, halitosis, vertigo, mysterious spots, greencough, whooping cough, nerves, electrical discharge, silence, diphtheria, sore throat, runny nostrils, heat stroke, vanity, homeopathic urges, inebriation, hangover, violent spasm, sudden contractions, microbial life, loud mouth, deprecation instinct, repulsive cravings, spontaneous combustion, third eye, earwigs, sinus infection, trouble performing, height loss, oil in blood, lack of love, iron deficiency, I am not a healer, I am a dealer! Potions and body appliances for every ailment mentioned and more! Do not miss out! Buy it!"

Manganese approached the man in the apron who announced loudly to no one.

"Good time of day, fair lady, what is it going to be?" he said quickly, extending a hand.

"Just a bit of water."

"Water? Alright, have mine."

She received a large cubic bottle that weighed on her hands.

"I do not have any money."

"Eh, that is all right."

She drank enough for him not to complain and returned the bottle.

"And what is a lady like you doing here?"

"I travel North."

"We travel North as well. Maybe you could come along."

"Pardon? We?"

"Yes, we will reunite soon at the tavern, but everyone is selling in the streets right now."

"I will wait, then."

"You speak beautifully. What have you got there?"

"It is my book."

"What do you mean, your book? May I see?"

He reached out for it and held it open above him, observing upwards, he then brought it down to his face and turned some pages.

"These are multiple books into one. This is a marvel. Do you like architecture?"

"I am interested in it."

"You will get along with us just fine. Name is Phosphorus."

"You can call me Manga."