The Lord Son's Travels (61 page)

   
Adrien scooped up the pack
Elenna had dropped in the scuffle.
 
“How do we reach a road leading west?” he demanded.
 

   
San’s expression was
extravagantly mournful in reply.
 
“I would offer you hospitality for the night at least.
 
In the morning we can see you safely to
the road you seek.
 
An evening with
good fare and a warm bed will do you good, I think. “
 
Elenna was trying to unobtrusively study the weapon Doet
still had clasped in his right hand.
 
She whispered to her husband to step away from the men for a little
conference.
 
Their hosts waited
patiently as they conferred.

“Did
you see their weapons?
 
Somehow
these people are more advanced than the rest of the Eastlands.
 
We might find something useful here.”
 
Adrien was still unconvinced, and eager
to move on.
 
He reminded her about
their besieged companions.
  
Elenna accepted his point with a nod, then continued her argument.
 
“Your back is injured.
 
Don’t play it off,” she warned at his
protests.
 
“You need to rest and
they might have a faster way to the mountains then by foot.”
 
He acceded, fast enough to magnify
Elenna’s concerns about the extent of his injuries.
 
They rejoined the other men, who had huddled together in the
morning chill to switch topics to other lighter concerns while they
waited.
 
San greeted their return
with a pleasant smile and inquired about their decision.

Adrien
spoke.
 
“We will accept your
hospitality for the night.
 
Would
you be able to speak to someone to arrange an immediate audience with the king
of this land?”

   
San paused
 
“Why?
 
I thought your business was elsewhere?”
 
His eyes narrowed in suspicion.
 
His companions caught his change of
tone and slipped closer in at his sides.

   
Adrien replied
cautiously,
 
“My business is with
one who lives to the West.
 
Know
you of the Lord of the Southlands and his army?”

San’s
friendly face took on a cold cast.
 
“If you speak of what I think, then you are not welcome in our
land.
 
We have no dealings with
those thieves and butchers of the mountains, nor with any that aid his
atrocities.”
 
Doet and Arn reached
again for the pistols strapped to their hips.
 
Adrien remained as he stood, arms stretched out in the
Allé-dônian symbol of unarmed peacefulness.

“My
business there is to stop the butchery,” he answered.
 
“The armies of the West have come and destroyed many of our
cities, even whole kingdoms have fallen.
 
We mean to find a way to bring down Southlands and end his
aggression."

San’s
expression relaxed back into a grin.
 
“If what you say is the truth, then your damage to my best field will be
gladly forgiven.
 
Come!” he
ordered, as he turned on his heel and started up the march again.
 
“The mayor Rabert lives on my street.
 
I shall take you straight there
tonight; he has plenty of rooms for guests, and I think he should find you
worth the bother of a midnight visit.
 
Not often those of royal blood come to town.
 
I’m sure he’ll find you quite entertaining.”
 

Throughout
the rest of their journey into town the natives interrogated the Allé-dônians
about their land.
 
After the
historic explosions when their territory had been deemed uninhabitable and
abandoned, the rest of the world had lost track of events in the Forgotten
Lands.
 
After the rivers of fire
and clouds of dust had swept through, a few lucky survivors emerged from their
refuges and rebuilt, starting with simple villages, which slowly grew into
larger cities as they improvised technology to eke out a living from the
damaged environment.
 
The city they
were approaching was one of the largest and most successful of the reclaimed
area.
 
As they walked along the
road to the main city, Adrien took moments to distance himself enough from the
conversation to observe the strange changes in their surroundings.
 
The ground below them had started a
familiar beaten dirt path, growing wider and smoother as they passed.
 
Now, as they approached a high hill
backlit by the lights of the city, he could see more clearly and he realized
the surface of the road was now made of light-colored stone-like material
somehow perfectly smoothed with crisp sharp edges at the sides.
 
As they crested the hill, his amazement
continued to grow.
 
The lights they
had noted from the sky spread out before him in a neatly linear pattern,
deviating only when natural objects such as bodies of water or hills forced the
break in the routine.
 
Elenna’s
airborne guess that they were streetlights was true, but something about their
steady light bothered him greatly.
 
He realized what had caught him as strange when they reached the first
light pole.
 
The lights were too
steady with none of the flickering of firelight.
 
He turned to Elenna, who had also noted the quirks in the
lighting.
 
She bit her lip in
bewildered understanding, then smiled broadly.

“Where
does the electricity come from?” she interrupted San, who was conferring with
Arn and Doet.
 
He turned to her,
confused.
 
“Where do you get the
light from?”

“The
river,” he answered with pride.
 
“There is a large waterfall on the other edge of town.
 
Our light mills there create enough
light for all of our citizens.”
 
Adrien was confused but kept quiet, hoping he would have all of this
mystery explained by Elenna before he would be asked to contribute his thoughts
on the process.
 
Elenna only nodded
at the strange information, lost in her own thoughts he doubted he could
comprehend.
 
He was beginning to
understand why she had been so intrigued by the city while they had passed
over.
 
This was far beyond any
magic Evendor had shown him, and he was suddenly sure these people had many
more wonders in store for him tonight.
 
Again he was very grateful he had allowed Elenna to stay with him.

   
They entered the town
proper.
 
At that hour of the night,
the houses and businesses they passed were dark and silent.
 
Elenna studied everything they passed,
commenting mainly to San about the strange objects she noted using words Adrien
did not recognize.
 
The men were
clearly amused by her interest, pointing out the few sights she didn’t note in
her own studies.
 
Though she tried
to hide her growing enthusiasm, Adrien could tell she was nearly bursting at
their new discoveries.
 
They
entered a new sector of town with houses similar to the ones they had
previously passed, but larger and newer with more artistic facades.
 
The men fell a few steps ahead of them
as Adrien and Elenna paused to examine a wagon parked in the street that had no
place to harness horses or other methods to pull it.
 
Elenna took advantage of this lag to grab at Adrien’s sleeve
and exclaim excitedly about her finds.

   
“This place, is it like your
home?” Adrien asked softly, his eyes on the men ahead.
 
They were waiting a few feet away,
sensing the need for a marital conference.

   
She shook her head.
 
“They’re like my home maybe a hundred
years before I was born.
 
But you
saw their weapons – better then what I made!
 
And I bet they have even more good stuff.
 
And they can travel fast with these!”
she motioned to the horseless carriage.

   
He cautioned her to patience
in her hopes, but he was beginning to feel that perhaps their delay in their
journey could become worthwhile.
 
He kept his face impassive as he stepped back to find San smiling
brightly at his wife.
 
They
continued on their way, first staying to the side of the road, then when the
density of houses rose enough to become the city proper, they moved to a
smaller paved path to the side of the road, which Elenna told Adrien was called
a sidewalk.
 
She was radiant with
discovery, chatting excitedly and gaping in glee as they passed by a myriad of
wonders.
 
Once Adrien whirled
around at the approach of a loud roar from behind.
 
He jumped back in shock as one of the strange wagons sped by
all by itself, faster than a racing horse but with no method of propulsion he
could see.
 
The driver waved gaily
at San, who waved back good-naturedly.
 

Finally
they stopped in front of one of the many similar brick two-story houses that
lined the street.
 
San knocked
softly at first, then more vehemently as no one answered.
 
Finally a sleep-disheveled man threw
open the door.
 
He patted down his
ruffled white hair as he upbraided San for the rude awakening.
 
San let him finish, then calmly
introduced his guests.
 
The mayor
looked them up and down, first in skepticism, then in interest, then invited
them in.

   
“The wife will be quite
pleased to find such distinguished company in her home in the morning,” the
mayor commented as he lead them into the dark, silent entryway.
 
“Cookery to the right; we can find you
some kind of meal if you wish before you go to your beds.
 
And I’ve medicine for your aches if you
need.”
 
He pressed a small button
as they entered the cookery; Adrien covered his eyes at the sudden unexpected
appearance of harsh white light.
 
He recovered slowly, having never experienced in his life any other
light as bright as the sun but confined to a small space indoors.
  
Elenna oohed audibly as she noted
some type of oven.
 
She glanced
shyly at their host, and motioned to a large cabinet.
 
He nodded with bemusement at her glee.
 
She opened the door to a welcomed blast
of cold air.
 

   
“Rian!! Come check this
out!!” she crowed.
 
He peeked into
the frigid box, studying the array of chilled foods inside.
 
He didn’t know how they managed to
capture gusts of winter wind in boxes here; but now he allowed himself to hope
they could do so much more than that.
 

   
The mayor started setting out
plates of cold cheeses and meats and drinks.
 
San and his men helped; pouring cold beers from the bottles
in the refrigerator.
 
Elenna
couldn’t sit down at the table; she floated around the room, peeking and poking
at the appliances and muttering eagerly to herself.
 
Adrien remained silent in a blessedly familiar wooden chair,
waiting for his host to finish his preparations and sit down at the table for a
proper introduction.

   
The mayor set a bowl of small
fruit on the table and nodded quickly at his royal guest.
 
“I am Rabert.
 
I am the mayor of the city.
 
You are Adrien?”

   
“Adrien Lord Son of Allè-dôn,
emissary of
Andrüe
Lord King,”
he replied properly.
 
"In my
father's name I offer your King our greetings in hopes of the reestablishment
of our long-ago alliance.
 
It has
been a long time since we've had contact with any men from the Forgotten
Lands."

   
"Forgotten Lands?
 
Is that how we are known now?” Rabert
shrugged as he wiped his hands on a towel.
 
“We have no royalty here; but I remember the stories I’ve
been told about the kingdoms to the east.
 
San says you travel west for good reasons.
 
How can I help you?”

   
“Are you one of the
legend-seekers?” San demanded suddenly.
 
He blushed slightly at the knowing smiles of his
countrymen.
 
He had a reputation
for an obsession on the topic. “My grandmother used to tell me of the men who
would sometimes come from Allè-dôn to seek the traveler’s stone.”

   
“The traveler’s stone?”
Adrien muttered, involuntarily glancing towards Elenna.
 
San's question had brought her
attention away from seemed to be a rudimentary toaster on the shelf to her
left.