Inkblots: A Tale of Magic, Adventure, and Romance

XVII. Eastgate

 Low stucco houses glowed golden in the late afternoon light as the man's cart drew up to a stop. Kit popped up, suddenly alert, and Alia was momentarily distracted wishing that she could recover from a nap so easily. The Hero ran a hand through his scruffy hair, which was bright in the sunlight, and only managed to make it messier.

After some polite words to the driver, Kit took off toward the center of Eastgate. Alia was staring around with interested eyes, and he grabbed her elbow to guide her along. For a moment, she let herself be dragged, until a stare from a passing matron made her realize how bizarre it probably looked. Since her guide didn't seem to be letting go of her elbow, the only other option was to move up close to him, as though they were a courting couple out for a stroll. She did so, but reluctantly, and still her eyes roamed over their surroundings.

Eastgate was smaller, and plainer, and lower to the ground than Beldara main—but it was also a new place, and Alia had never traveled. Her blue-gray gaze took in the paving stones on the main street—which were a different color than the Beldaran ones—and the stucco walls of the houses. The trees had grown fewer and fewer as they reached the city, which probably explained the lack of wood, but nonetheless it was startling. Just up the main road stood an imposing stone building, hung with decorative flags. It wasn't as large as the Council hall or the Librum by any means, but it still looked impressive, and Alia's heart sped up when she realized what it must be. The guardhouse! Right there stood a little piece of history: the place where Heroes passed through for questioning. Her mind ran through a quick recollection, trying to sort out whom of the Heroes had crossed through those walls. Volbar Keeneye, and of course Gavin Heartstrike and Mirabelle and Caddock and Kit, and Casen the great warrior during the Bandit Raids... A frisson of excitement ran through her at the thought of those long-ago glories, and she longed to see the guards and the place they occupied, but then it hit her—there was no Book any longer. The guards didn't matter any more. In fact, if they couldn't bring back the magic, in a year or two that building would stand empty.

The thought made her feel cold and sick, and so she walked along cooperatively with Kit instead of staring around. They had entered a square ringed with market stalls that had a statue and some benches in the middle, and he sat Alia down on one of the cool stone platforms.

"Stay here," he said. Kit spun around as though to leave, but then turned back to look over his shoulder, silhouetting his crooked nose. "Wait, you need... woman things."

Alia blushed and nodded, and he reached into his pack and dug around before dropping a silver piece into her hand. "Here. This should be enough. Wait here when you're done."

She though of complaining about being treated like a wayward child, but the Hero was already gone by the time she summoned up the courage to speak. She watched him weave his way through the shoppers in the square and start a distant negotiation at a merchant's stall before sighing and standing up herself. Where would one get cloth? At the Librum, they simply had a cupboard in the laundry that every woman knew the location of.

One of the market stalls had visible bolts of cloth, but it was staffed by a portly man, and Alia didn't think she had the bravery to ask for what she needed. She spun in a slow circle, looking over everything on offer at the market, and at last her eyes caught something. There! At a small house off the corner of the main square, an herbalist's flag hung. It was certainly worth a try.

When Alia swung open the door and peered into a dim, spicy smelling room, she saw a boy of about 14 summers standing behind the counter. She stiffened, dismayed at the sight. A man was one thing, but a boy was even worse. Thankfully, though, when he saw her come in, he turned and passed through a door at the back. "Aunt Danna," he called, "someone's here!"