aesthyr.

chapter four

When they woke up early in the morning, Rhiannon got into her white blouse, her dark brown leather corset, and her leather brown pants. Before she slipped out the door she pulled her black knee-high boots on. Charlie stared at her, gaping. "What, do I look weird?" Rhia asked; "No, you look like a pirate!" Charlie laughed. Stella walked over to the two other girls standing by the doorway. "Ready?" She asked with a soft smile on her face. The girls walked out of their room and into the lobby of the Inn. He's not here, thank Leaz for taking him. Rhiannon thought as she glanced at the empty desk facing the doorway of the Inn. They strode down the cobblestone road, heading Southwest towards the rogue grasslands and soon into the city of Kalnar.

It was the middle of the day, and Charlie and Stella were complaining about not having any water, whilst Rhia was battling the sharp pain of hunger. They reached a small village in the middle of the Starlands to stop for food and water to pack in their bags. "We can't just keep on traveling on foot" Rhiannon mused, staring at a merchant selling horses. "I agree with Rhia, let's go talk to the merchant over there," Stella said, pointing towards the horses. They all started walking over to the man with the horses, and he gave them a warm greeting. "How much for three Saddlebreds?" Stella asked the man; "About 300 copper pieces and one silver piece" He replied. Rhia cursed under her breath I only have one more bag of copper pieces, which is about 200, and I have about five silver pieces, it should be enough for- Her thoughts were cut short by Stella's voice "We'll take them, 20 more copper pieces for saddles for each horse." The man agreed, and then he led the three horses out of the stalls, already saddled. Rhia took 100 copper pieces out of her purse along with one silver piece, and Charlie and Stella took out 200 more from their purses. Working for people in the Boho Villages was like having a real job, and they paid you well.

The three girls had been traveling for hours now, and it was nearing nightfall. There were no villages or marketplaces nearby, nor were there Inns, so they decided it was best to travel through the night instead of sleeping in the middle of nowhere, which could lead to bandit raids in the middle of the night. They rode across the hills of the starlands until the terrain changed from green grassy fields to fields of tall grass and small forests. Rhiannon gazed across the bushy fields and spotted a herd of Lanaps grazing on the wheat and oats that grew in the Wild Grasslands. Lanaps were deer-like spirits that only came out at sundown to roam Aesthyr, and disappear when the sun rises. Stella and Charlie gazed at the creatures in awe. They were truly beautiful if you took the time to study them. Their antlers were a shimmering deep blue, and patterns of silver and gold-coated their soft light blue fur. The spirits seemed as if they were made of glowing stars. The three girls continued riding through the fields until they found themselves by the sea. "That must be the middle of Crystal Cove." Rhia mused, gazing at the deep blue water, the light of the full moon reflecting on the smooth waves as it was nearing the horizon. "We must be close to the border of Malsar," Stella replied in a tired voice. The three of them had been traveling all day and all through the night, and it was getting close to sun-up.

As they journeyed along the coast, they noticed that the area started getting rockier. When they reached the top of a tall grassed hill, they looked over to the beautiful terrain below them. Mazes of rivers and creeks took over the rocky ground, there were tall mountains in the distance, and Rhia knew that at the base of those mountains was the large city of Kalnar. It would take one more day and night of traveling non-stop to get there, but they had already been traveling for too long and the horses were slowing down. They spotted a small village Southeast of them, it would take about 20 minutes to reach there, so they mounted the horses and made their way towards the village.

When they arrived, Charlie spotted the same young dancer that she was so intrigued by just a few nights before in the Night Marketplace. She started walking over to her after the girl waved. Rhia thought that at the previous market they had become friends, otherwise Charlie wouldn't be talking to her. Stella and Rhiannon strode over to a small Inn that was in between a flower shop and a bookstore. They paid the woman at the front desk 20 coppers and walked to their room after settling their horses down in the stables attached to the Inn. "I'm going to go find Charlie, you go and see if you can find any small jobs to get a bit of coin," Stella said as she made her way out of the door. Rhia followed her and when they walked out of the Inn they took off in separate directions. Rhiannon walked through the marketplace and saw a man who was working alone in a pottery stand. She studied him as he painted a large vase, his hand steadily moving the paintbrush with ease. She noticed a small parchment nailed to the side of the wooden stand "Help Needed, 5 Coppers For Every Parchment Hung" It read in bold writing. She walked over to the man and questioned him about the sign. "You can hang these pieces of parchment around the marketplace, their fliers for- well that's none of your business. We got a deal?" He said in a low, grumbling voice, not looking up from his work. "How many are there?" "20" He replied, handing a small pile of parchment to Rhia with no expression on his face. She took them and the man pointed to a small hammer and a little pile of nails sitting on the wooden table by the stand. She grabbed them, the parchments in one arm and the hammer and nails in the other.

When she was done nailing the pieces of parchment, she returned to the man and he gave her the coin, a small purse filled with 100 coppers. She walked away without a word after setting the small mallet down on the table. Rhia spotted Charlie, Stella, and the young gypsy girl all talking in a corner of the market. She strode over to them and smiled. "Rhiannon, this is Ivale Lenak." Charlie said, pointing to the girl. Ivale was beautiful. She was about 13 or 14- Charlie's age and had long straight red hair flowing down her back, ivory skin that glistened in the sun shining down on her, her brown eyes twinkling as she studied Rhia. "Hello, Ivale." Rhia said with a soft smile. "She's from Masan and is traveling with her family across Aesthyr, isn't that cool?" Charlie said with a wide smile on her face. "Oh, for the gods' sake, Charlie, let Ivale talk," Stella said sarcastically, nudging Charlie in the shoulder. "Oh, it's quite fine. Charlie and I met at the Night Market a few nights ago in the Starlands, and she told me all about how you three left the Boho Villages to explore Aesthyr." Ivale told Rhia and Stella. "We're traveling to Kalnar tomorrow, and then making our way to the Janak Grasslands," Stella stated. "Oh, I'm going to Kalnar tomorrow too! I've been quite a few times, but it never gets old, there's just so many things to do there." Ivale smiled, she seemed excited about the three girls going to Kalnar. "Well, I should really get going, my family and I are camping outside of the village for the night," Ivale said as she started to walk away. "Maybe we'll see you in Kalnar!" She yelled from across the road and disappeared into the crowd. "Rhia, do you think she can come with us to Janak?" Charlie asked, still gazing at the crowd where Ivale disappeared. "We can't just take strangers in to travel with us, Charlie, you know that." Stella interrupted. "But Ivale isn't a stranger, you just met her! Besides, she's really sweet once you get to know her." Charlie blushed. Rhiannon and Stella noticed her blushing at the thought of Ivale, but said nothing. "Ok maybe we can work something out, Charlie, but for now we need to rest, we've been up for too long without sleep."

Then the three of them walked towards the Inn and to their room.