Elle's Journey (Book I, Foretold Trilogy)

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

The white walls of Iugustin rose to the sky before them. Qala pulled his horse to a halt, exhausted and irritated that the two-day trip had taken them a fortnight. He no longer scoffed at the merchant’s insistence that they take a guide and couldn’t help hearing his mother’s chiding voice. She’d warned him more than once against becoming too arrogant about his skills.

“At last!” Torin breathed.

“You truly are a gift from the gods,” Hina said, pulling his horse to a halt beside Qala.

“And you are too kind. I deserve a beating for this,” Qala replied in irritation.

“No, cousin. None of us knew better. We would’ve wandered the Great Expanse for the rest of our lives.”

It had certainly seemed a possibility as the days grew on. Qala’s skill had been tested. Though he’d succeeded, it had meant staying awake the past three nights to determine which way the plains would change. Exhausted, he could think of nothing more than a hot meal and sleep.

He flung himself off his horse and strode to the man-sized wooden door in the wall before them. Beating on it, he stepped back and looked upward. The walls seemed to meet the sky. The door swung open to reveal an aging man backed by two massive men in hoods.

“What guild?” the smallest of them barked.

“Guild?” Qala repeated. “I am part of no guild. We come from the Five Warring Kingdoms and seek a night of rest, and a guide to take us across the plains.”

“You crossed without a guide?”

“If you would please grant us entry,” Qala pressed, agitated. “It was not an easy journey.”

To his surprise, the man laughed. “Aye, fool, you may enter!”

The two large men stepped aside, and young boys darted from the wall to take the reins of their horses. Qala motioned for his cousins to follow. The aging man stepped aside to reveal a tunnel two horse lengths long through the walls.

“You will find guides at the Nuchan inn. You may wish to stay there. ’Tis marked by a tree, on the outer ring of the city. The Iugustin guilds do not take well to Outsiders,” the man warned.

“For your kindness,” Hina said and tossed him a gold coin.

Qala stepped from the tunnel into a crowded street. His gaze lingered on the colorful cloaks of the men and women walking through the lanes. It took him only a moment to determine each of the Iugustin guilds wore a different color of cloak to mark its members. Blue, green, maroon, brown, and dark orange cloaks filled the street. Several travelers in black cloaks mingled among them.

The city was uneasy. The guild members eyed each other suspiciously as they crossed paths, and he saw no one who wore fewer weapons than he did. The tension in the air was enough to make him reconsider staying for the night.

“This way, lord,” a boy’s voice called out to him. He held the reins of two of their horses. “You seek the treemen, no?”

“We do,” Hina replied.

“Come with me.”

Qala exchanged a look with Hina and followed. The stone dwellings and roads of the city were worn by time yet still told of the wealth that once filled it. His gaze swept over sculptures of animals that lined the roadways, graceful arches over the streets, and columns carved with filigree. Dwellings lined the height of the walls, connected by a smooth, stone walkway large enough for two horses that wound around the walls.