Avarein: Vant

Chapter 21: Ingenuity

"You have ten gold."

"What?"

"We'll be here for three days and two nights. You had your idea and I want to see it."

Before Fiara could even rub the sleep out of her eyes, Carte was already crouching down next to her, placed ten golden coins into her hand and made his way back towards the front of the carriage. Nervously, not wanting to accidentally wake anyone up, she carefully pushed herself up from the floor, almost stepping on Greva accidentally. She followed Carte, poking her head out of the curtain to see the town before her.

Before her was the town of Lemn. Not particularly large, yet not particularly small; something quite average. The town itself was very far from average, however. Instead of the standard stone or marble castles or the basic wooden houses, the town stood on massive wooden supports that most would call 'trees'. Platforms wrapped themselves around the bark like snakes, homes built into the hollowed insides of the massive, thick wooden bases. Between the walkways were bridges made of vine and planks, connecting the village in a way that reminded her of the constellations in the night sky. The sun peered in from between the leaves, beams of light shining a light through their mostly dark surroundings, as if angels were peeking in on them. Although Fiara assumed it was early morning from her sleeping schedule, without context she couldn't be entirely sure; it was doubtful she'd be able to tell morning or noon apart, perhaps even evening. A few people stirred above them, making their way along between walkways or staring down at the new arrivals. Fiara swore that a few of those who looked down upon them from the trees looked down at them with suspicion, a few eyebrows raised. Despite the somewhat cold reception, Lemn definitely piqued her interest, not that she could mull on it for too long.

"Wait, so... idea?"

"You were complaining about my food. Muttering about something called 'nutrients'."

The memory almost immediately came back to Fiara; Carte had a hunch that she wasn't enjoying their food and thought something was wrong, waking her during his night shift to see what was happening. She still was a little embarrassed about her response, which was breaking into a passionate rant about vitamins and healthy eating, but she shook it off and played it cool.

"How much is ten gold?"

"We spend around two gold a night at an inn for the five of us."

His answer wasn't exactly what she was looking for; compared to back home, the prices mageborns used were incredibly lopsided. Food was incredibly cheap compared to the price of any sort of jewel, one of which could easily pay for the living costs of generations. What she was actually looking for was the price of wood, but she shook it off and decided she would roll with it.

"10 copper for a silver, 100 silver for a gold and 1000 gold for a platinum?"

Carte nodded to confirm her basic knowledge, still looking forwards toward his destination; a cosy little inn where he could shake off the sleepless night and relax with a nice book. On the other hand, Fiara was a little more energetic, casually preparing jumping off of the carriage, only being stopped by an outstretched arm from Carte.

"Take the cloak."

She quickly stopped herself and went back into the carriage, grabbing the oversized cloth and draping it over herself, making sure to cover her arms and legs. After a few days of not having to hide herself, she had gotten used to being out in the open. Giving Carte a thankful nod, she hopped off the carriage with a small pouch of money in hand. She ran off into the winding forest, weaving her way between the tree trunks and trying to find a way to get up to the town above her, a strange passion flowing through her veins.