Water's Reflection or Hero's Guilt

Chapter Five

          The morning passed by quickly; as they set out to travel onwards, following the trail of Sir Byzantine and his men to Bigwaters, none said much. The weather was a lot better than it had been yesterday, and only a few small clouds obstructed the view of a completely blue and endless sky. They were in a good mood because of it. Maya and June played in the back of the cart while Terrance sat on the driver's box, steering the horses towards Redthorns. Adam rode Thunder, the black stallion. He did not went up ahead to make sure the path was safe, but instead stayed by the wagon. After all, the city had already appeared on the horizon, it wouldn't be long before they got there. And, as the knight had traveled this route, there was little chance of any ambush.

          Lupine did trot up and down the path with an excess amount of energy. The dog barked happily at them as if to tell them to hurry up. Perhaps she smelled something, June considered, only to be proven right not long after: Maya suddenly stopped in her tracks, forgetting to attack June who had previously tickled her, and sniffed.

          “What do you smell?” asked June.

          A huge smile spread across her face as she said, “Meat. And other foods as well. It smells delicious!”

          It took a while before they were close enough to Redthorns for June to smell it too. The wind brought it with him: the smells of all kinds of savory meals, good stews and roasted game.

          “Market day,” Terrance muttered and he was correct. There were plenty of stalls out on the streets, and vendors crying out loudly to sell their wares. What surprised June, though, was the stunning amount of food stalls, while little other things were sold. Sir Byzantine was right, she figured: with little new supplies coming in from over the sea, merchants were forced to only sell what they got in the Seaside Province itself. Wheat and all kinds of different berries were sold left and right, fruits, but fish and game more than anything.

          The market did not extend very far into the city though. Only a few streets they came across were filled with the stalls. The rest seemed plain empty. There was no one there, though the homes were most certainly inhabited. Redthorns was not a small town, but instead nearly as big as Dew, June suspected. However, due to the lack of merchandise, it seemed so much littler.

          They did not stop to buy breakfast. Even though June would have liked it—some very appealing apples were displayed in a stall with a vendor not afraid of telling the whole street about their flavor—and Maya nearly fell out of the wagon as she leaned over to smell all of the different meats, both knew Terrance wanted to continue onwards. They had enough provisions with them to last them several days, they did not need to buy more.

          However, just before they left the last few streets of the market, Terrance chuckled. “Go on,” he told them. “Hop off the wagon and get us something good, okay? I'll continue slowly, so you can easily catch up.”

          Neither June nor Maya hesitated for but a single second: as the first grabbed a few coins out of the duffel, the latter had already plunged herself into the busy street. June had to run to catch her. Maya went from stall to stall, licking her lips as she stared at all the delicious meals.

          When they came back and climbed the wagon, the both of them carried smiles that ran from ear to ear. They were giggling and laughing and singing songs, and all of them enjoyed their loot immensely. Different kinds of sweet, juicy fruits, and as many roasted chicken legs as they could carry. They had to be quick about dividing the legs though, since Maya would not wait to attack them. Adam got his share too, though he did not eat them yet. He put them away safely in a pocket in the saddle, where Maya could not reach. Even Lupine got her fill. Not from the chicken legs, but from some other piece of meat she had managed to snatch on the streets. No one knew exactly what it was, but it must have been good, since Maya too, eyed the meal like prey.