Read The Lifesaving Power: Goldenfields and Stronghold Online
Authors: Jeffrey Quyle
Alec thought about the amount of time that gave him to visit the bank. “I’ll go into town and be back in a little bit then. Is it sure that I’ll get a bunk on-board?” he called from the quay. He saw Parlton’s nod, and grinned. “See you in a little while.”
He led Walnut to the gate out of the yard, then mounted and rode across town to his bank, feeling pleased to know that Parlton would be onboard the ship with him. Despite having fought the man, Alec liked him and felt he would be a friend among the crew. At the bank Alec spoke to the manager, a woman, the first woman Alec could recollect serving as an officer in the banks he had visited.
“
I have an account that I haven’t used for some time. I need to withdraw a large amount of money,” Alec explained.
“
How much is a large amount?” the woman asked cautiously.
“
Probably fifty golds, if that’s acceptable,” Alec replied. “I’m going on a long trip, and I’ll need money for rooms, food, fodder, supplies, and everything else.”
The blond woman’s round face grew amused. “I think we can handle 50 golds, if you’ll just provide the code entry and sign here. Your account is so large I was afraid you might take out a really large amount and use up all our available cash!”
Alec blinked, and thought about the woman’s words as he completed the papers. He had never imagined a bank running out of money! He wondered how large the account had grown, with all the healing water profits that were regularly deposited in the account for him.
“
Don’t you know?” the banker asked hencredulous tone when Alec asked how much was in the account. “You’re one of the largest depositors the bank has in the whole Dominion.”
“
I just haven’t had much need for money lately,” Alec said lamely. He was shocked by the amount she had told him. “Can I take out fifty more golds?”
With a quiet chuckle the woman deftly altered the paperwork, then left Alec to gather up his funds. When she and an assistant returned with the heavy leather sacks, Alec tried to pick them up, and realized that he wouldn’t be able to carry them far.
“
On second thought, can I redeposit fifty of these? I can’t carry all of this,” he admitted sheepishly. “And could you deliver these for me?” he asked, proffering the bundle of letters he wanted to send on their way across the Dominion to their respective recipients.
Minutes later, when everything was finished and Walnut’s saddlebags were full of heavy coins, Alec led the horse through the streets of the city back to the dockyards.
Consum was standing by the plank to the ship speaking to a short, wiry man and Parlton. “Ah, here’s our security guard now,” the proctor said. “We’d about given up on you.”
“
Things took longer at the bank that I expected,” Alec explained and apologized. “But I’m ready now. Shall I take Walnut on deck?” he asked.
The captain looked at him. “Your horse? We don’t plan on taking your horse.”
Alec felt shock. He loved the horse that had carried him so far. Plus he was going to need Walnut for his long trip home. “How much would it cost to buy passage for Walnut?” he asked directly.
Parlton spoke up. “A half gold, or you perform services on board beyond standard swordsmanship,” he suggested.
Consum scoffed. “This boy had to borrow paper to write letters. He can’t pay a half gold.”
Alec felt goaded by Consum’s dismissive tone. He reached into a saddlebag and pulled out a gold, which he tossed towards the group, for Parlton to catch. The mate grinned, while the captain looked at the proctor.
“
I’ll pay in advance for my horse’s return trip as well,” Alec announced. In an unexpected bout of pride, he felt aware of the fact that he was crown protector of the Dominion, and suddenly he took umbrage at having to barter for his horse to ride on a river freighter!
Parlton motioned to the crew, and extra planks were pushed to the dock. “Have you ever boarded a horse before?” he asked Alec. “You’re best off blindfolding him before he crosses the planks. What provisions have you made for fodder?”
The captain and Consum, who was shaking his head, walked to the cabin while the horse was brought on deck and tied in a location that Parlton said would avoid blocking the crew. Alec remained on shore as he scrambled to acquire oats and fodder and returned to the ship where he brushed and curried Walnut and stayed unobtrusively out of the way as the final preparations were made for departure. Alec idly wondered about his letters that were about to depart from the bank, and how they would be received; he had greater confidence in the bank’s ability than in any of the other options for delivery of messages between cities, but knew that even the banks sometimes sent items astray.
He heard the shouts to indicate preparations were underway for leaving the dock. “Where’s our newest swordsman?” he heard the captain shout. Alec hurriedly rushed around the corner of the superstructure and saw the captain glaring at him balefully as he came into view.
“
I’m not sure what game you’re playing at,” the captain said sternly. “Consum described you as a charity case, but Parlton says you’re worth more than your weight in fighting ability and as a healer on board; and I trust Parlton, so I’ll take you, but only as a favor to him. And then you toss aboard enough gold to pay your way; this doesn’t add up, and this crew doesn’t need uncertainty, especially on this cruise. So let’s make everything clear before we leave the dock. I’m the captain -- I give orders, and you obey them. You’re here as crew, you’ll pull your weight and your share of duty, and remember I’m captain of this ship; when we’re on the river, I don’t care if you’re the king of the Dominion, you’re under my command.”
“
What shall I do now, sir?” Alec asked politely. He had no desire to make the captain think he would undermine the chain of command on the ship. He’d learned in the Duke’s Guard the importance of following orders and relying on all members of the command to follow as well.
“
Go help cast off, then take position with the watchman in the bow of the ship and keep an eye on what he does,” the captain seemed slightly mollified by Alec’s quick acquiescence.
Alec took his station, and watched as the gap between the ship and the dock began to grow, and felt the current take control of the ship’s movement. Once they left shore, Alec stayed out of the way, and watched that afternoon as the debris of the river floated along in the water with the
Current Rider
. Occasionally, larger pieces of debris were shoved away from the craft with long poles that Alec and the watchman wielded. Alec listened and watched and paid attention to learn what the job involved.
A day and a half later, the ship pulled into the dock at Three Forks as night fell. “The captain says we’ll leave here at sunrise if the breeze holds, and work our way upriver during daylight sailing,” a crewmember told him. Alec understood the implication that sailing upriver in the dark exposed them to greater risk of piracy, when his skills would be expected to protect the ship, its crew and cargo.
Alec left the ship briefly during its stop at Three Forks to shop for more horse fodder. The next morning the breezes were favorable, and with the sails hoisted, the
Current Rider
began to travel slowly westward against the current. Alec had been up this route once before, many months past, riding on land in a carnival caravan, but had never seen the riverscape in this region. There were many homes and small villages along the river, but Alec knew there were no large cities on the Carmen River between e Forks and Stronghold.
The journey up to Stronghold usually took four weeks, Parlton told Alec. After one week they passed the boundary of lands that were nominally under the control of Three Forks, and entered a stretch of river lands that were unsettled and under no allegiance to any particular city. At that point Alec knew that he was expected to earn his keep as a guard. There was one other man on board who was a long-practiced guard for river-shipping, a man the
Current Rider
had picked up in Three Forks. The captain had spoken not a word to Alec during the trip, pointedly ignoring him at times, but spoke with the older guard, who now set hours and gave advice to Alec.
Alec took the shift from dusk to midnight, staying awake, walking the perimeter of the deck, watching the dark shores and the water for any glimmer of light and listening for any inexplicable sound that might disclose an aggressive move from another boat on the water. Many nights in these less-traveled waters the ship anchored close to shore, and at times when no breeze could push them against the current, they also sat stationary as a potentially easy target.
There came a stretch of three idle days when the
Current Rider
sat at one stream’s mouth while no breeze carried them forward, and many of the men traveled to a small village nearby to visit the tavern. The second night there was a boatload of men whose oars splashed noisily as they approached the ship with a lantern on the prow of their boat. Alec looked closely as they came aboard, making sure that all were faces he recognized as members of the crew.
After the third day standing still the breeze returned and the ship resumed its eastern voyage towards Stronghold. After two more weeks, they entered the territory of that city, and made good time thereafter carrying their goods towards the empty Millershome docks.
Chapter 3 – Messages
Alec’s letters, left in Redwater, departed from the bank two days after he did, when a bank courier began the process of carrying material off to the other bank branches in far-flung cities.
At the same time in Goldenfields, many conversations were occurring simultaneously as the residents of that city still celebrated and reacted to the recent news that the Oyster Bay regime had been restored, and that a seemingly legitimate new leadership had taken command of the city.
In the house on Baker Street, where a crowd of many ingenairii still lived, Bethany was listening to the heated debate about Aristotle’s invitation for them all to return to a safer, honorable Ingenairii Hill. All present, over two dozen, were clearly delighted by the re-ascension of Aristotleleadership, and the demise of the coup leaders. They all loved Ingenairii Hill, and had been ashamed of how it had been misused and mistreated. And they all mourned the loss of so many friends who had been killed in the power struggles on the Hill.
But many of this group, a coalition of young and dynamic individuals who had each chosen to stay in Goldenfields during the last, false reconciliation, had grown committed to staying and fighting for the Duke and his Guard in the battle with the lacertii. A number of them now rode horses with the cavalry, while others swung blades when they weren’t using their ingenairii abilities to carry out productive duties for the Duke.
Merle, the Duke’s ingenairii advisor, had left the palace to come to the Baker Street home, and Bethany felt sorry for the double loyalty that was clearly weighing on him. Merle was friend to both Aristotle and the Duke of Goldenfields, both of whom wanted these ingenairii. Merle was attempting to impartially lead the group in discussion on what was right.
“
Of course we should all go back,” Allisma, Bethany’s water friend was saying. “We can help rebuild the Hill more quickly, and make it an ally for the Duke. A whole and unified Hill can do more good for Goldenfields that a few here and a few there.”
For Bethany, the whole conversation was pointless, because she had already made up her mind. She’d known what she would do from the first moments of hearing the whole story about the radical change in fortunes at Oyster Bay.
When she’d fled to Goldenfields as a refuge from the first wave of violence in Oyster Bay, she’d come for safety, and especially because Goldenfields was where Alec was. She’d gone on to Bondell because he had asked her to, and she’d returned to Goldenfields without him because he’d asked her to. She hadn’t seen him since. He hadn’t ever told her he loved her, though she had told him the truth that her heart felt love for him. Alec had disappeared for many months, then apparently reappeared in Bondell when everyone thought he was dead. After which, he’d disappeared again.
Now she had learned that he had turned up again in Oyster Bay of all places, changed everything there for the better, but apparently blown himself up at the end of his adventure. She had always thought he felt genuine affection for her, but never the kind of devoted love that she had felt for him. He was gone now for good, permanently gone. She’d thought that once before, but he’d reappeared. Her hopes had risen, but then steadily fallen when she received no word from him.
Without Alec to wait for, and without any acknowledgement of love on his part even if he was alive, Bethany was ready to leave Goldenfields. If she got back to Oyster Bay, she could restart her life among the memories and places she had known before Alec arrived.
“
I’ve learned a lot about how to work with the Duke’s Guard, and I want to support the Guard and the Duke,” Appel spoke up next. He was an air ingenaire, and a close friend of Alec’s. More importantly these days, he was the paramour of Cassie, Alec’s healer protégé. Cassie had told Bethany plainly that she had no intentions of returning to Oyster Bay, where her home fishing village had ignored and abandoned her. She felt at home in Alec’s healer shop, she was gaining confidence in her emerging healer skills, and her personality was growing strong enough to make a major decision about her own life, such as this. Appel would stay in Goldenfields to be with Cassie and to work with the Guard cavalry.
Merle sat serenely in front of the room as various comments were made by many of those in attendance. He glanced at Bethany, and to her it felt as though he read her mind while their eyes were briefly locked. “There will be no consensus here among us tonight -- that is the first thing that is evident to me,” he began as the room fell silent to listen to him. “And there is no reason to expect anyone to change their opinion. You all have proper values to support your personal decisions, and I respect that.
“
I will remain here in Goldenfields as is my duty, even though a large part of my heart wants to travel to Oyster Bay. Appel, I know you will remain here as well,” the respected senior ingenaire continued. “And a couple of others as well, which is the right thing for them. The rest of you plan to go back to Oyster Bay, and I am pleased for all of you. I will arrange for a Millershome ship to carry you home. Come by my quarters in the next two days to confirm that you plan to return, and we’ll arrange a berth for you.”
With that, Merle stood up and started walking towards the door. Bethany also stood, and edged through the crowd, reaching Merle as he stepped out into the street. “I’ll go back to Oyster Bay, Merle,” she said as she closed the door behind her.
“
I knew you would, child,” he said gently, patting her shoulder. “When you return, you will be just as sad as you are here, but you will find other diversions to help you pay less attention to your broken heart.”
Bethany looked at him, and asked him the question she had never asked anyone else during all the comforting and consoling she had received. “Why didn’t he love me? Why couldn’t he see how much I loved him? I could have made him happy,” she felt her voice crack.
Merle continued to pat her shoulder. “Don’t give up on Alec; perhaps you will still find out that he really does love you, but never knew how to say it.
“
Don’t look at me like that,” he continued. “We both know Alec is an extraordinary person. I know the story we’ve been told is that he vanished in an explosion, but I don’t believe he perished. He has too much of his special history to live, and I believe he will spend it with someone who will be his partner, perhaps with you. He really does care about you, even if he doesn’t know how to tell you,” Merle finished after a slight pause.
Three days later Bethany stood on the Millershome dock, hugging Cassie ferociously. “I will write you, and come back to visit you someday,” Bethany told her friend. “I love you,” she added as they broke their clinch. “Appel, take good care of her or else,” Bethany mock-threatened.
“
Or else what?” Appel replied with a grin, moments before a drenching wave of water fell out of the sky and left his hair and shirt dripping.
“
Or else that, for a start,” Bethany said simply.
“
“
Oh Cassie!” Bethany gushed. “Why didn’t you tell me before? I would have stayed here for you!”
“
I know you would have stayed, and you would have been the best friend I could count on. But you need to leave here. I know you need to give yourself a break from this place and a change of scenery,” the healer replied.
“
Tell me when you set a date! Send me a letter and I’ll come back. Please, promise me?!” Bethany wheedled.
“
Time to board, miss,” a crew man called from the deck.
“
Please promise!” Bethany repeated.
“
I promise,” Cassie agreed. “If you promise to be happy and find hope again.”
“
I will hope for the best for you and to see you soon again,” Bethany managed to say under Cassie’s disapproving eye.
“
Miss, we need to go!” the voice from the deck called behind Bethany.
“
Bethany, I want you to be happy,” Cassie said as they broke their clinch. She watched her friend walk up the plank, “And I want Alec to come back and make you happy,” she said softly under breath. Two days later, Bethany and the shipload of returning ingenairii passed by Redwater, where Alec’s letter addressed to Bethany in Goldenfields awaited delivery in a bank bag lying on the docks.
Chapter 4 – Arrival at Stronghold
The great city of Stronghold was built around a waterfall on the Carmen River, and all goods going to or from the northern cities had to be transferred from one set of docks above the waterfall to another set below. It provided an opportunity for a lucrative trans-shipment business that had provided the ancient basis of the wealth that accumulated there.
On the day before the
Current Rider
arrived at Stronghold, Alec asked Francis, the senior swordsman on the ship, about the arrangement of the city.
“
Stronghold straddles the hills on both sides of the river, and many of the successful traders and businessmen have villas built on top of hills that give them a view down the river for miles. The Locksforts can watch their ships coming and going; their home we palace, really a compound of structures, including the largest building in the entire territory of Stronghold. We’ll see it before we see almost anything else of the city,” Francis told him, answering the question that Alec had been preparing to ask. Alec felt a strange sense of unease as he stood with the arms man and listened.
“
We’ve had a good voyage,” the older man told him. “No trouble so far, and there’ll be no pirates on the water from here to the city. It’ll only be after we dock and see what we’re facing that we’ll know what troubles to expect.
“
That light there,” Francis said later that night, as the ship rounded a bend in the river near midnight. “That light is at the top of the Locksfort compound. Their ships let off a shout when the compound comes into view. We need to anchor now and resume sailing after dawn so that we arrive during daylight.
“
Your shift is over; go to bed and sleep well. There’ll be plenty of work from here if we’re going to restore control over the Millershome docks and warehouse. I hope your sword is up to it.”
“
It will be, and so will I,” Alec assured his companion, and left for his hammock near Walnut. He lay awake, listening to the sounds of the water, and felt the ship’s movement stop as the sails were lowered and the anchor let overboard. Life was about to change after a month of relative idleness. He’d not had to fight any battles; in fact, he’d not even exercised or practiced his sword work with Francis or anyone.
Parlton had told Alec that the story of his gold coin for Walnut’s shipment had spread through the crew, and Alec was now widely viewed as an unworthy dandy who had bought his way on-board. In a situation where sword work was likely to be needed, the crew felt little liking for someone they thought would let them down. His claims to know how to swing a sword were not believed by anyone but Parlton himself.
Alec awoke the next morning to the sounds of the ship getting underway. He came to the fore of the ship and saw the city of Stronghold stretching up both banks of the river, one side bright and the other still dark in the morning shadows of nearby hills. In the distance was a wide white ribbon rising majestically from the end of the river, the falls of the Carmen that had given rise to Stronghold’s location. Climbing on the northern bank of the falls was the tallest and steepest hill of the range of hills that gave Stronghold its shape, and a bright white collection of structures on the sides of the hill could only be the Locksfort compound. Alec felt his chest monetarily grow tight at the realization of how close he was to Noranda’s resting place.
The
Current Rider
spent a slow morning approaching the city on a light breeze, and three hours after sunrise Alec watched the captain command the crew to bring the ship about to reach the Millershome docks. Francis was pacing the full length of the ship, restlessly looking at all angles of potential trouble, consulting with the captain.
The Millershome yard was deserted, which was the beginning of positive news. At least they wouldn’t have to contest their right to land and begin doing business. The yard and structures had clearly been vandalized and abused in the absence of any Millershome staff, though. A verticalskeleton of charred timbers was all that was left from one building, and others had broken windows, smashed doors, and scrawled obscenities.
Francis and a handful of crew jumped onto the quay as the ship pulled up alongside. The crew bound the ropes fast to the moorings. The captain detailed many members of the crew to follow Francis in inspecting the buildings, the fences and the gate to the city so that a secure perimeter could be established before anything else. Alec stood unmentioned as assignments were made, and wondered what he should do, but the captain’s brusque manner made him shy away from doing anything other than observing.
Reports quickly came back. “The structures of the buildings were all in good shape, other than the one that was burnt -- it was the home of the former proctor. The damage elsewhere is only cosmetic,” Francis reported. “The exterior perimeter walls are in good condition, but the gates are gone. I’ve stationed half a dozen men with pikes there, and I recommend it as our first priority for repair. I know where a lumberyard is in the city, and I’ll go get a load of timbers delivered this afternoon if you’d like,” he told the captain.
The captain readily dispatched Francis to arrange the delivery, then ordered Parlton to clean up the closest warehouse and begin off-loading the ship’s goods to the building. Alec fumbled with Walnut and took him off the ship, delighting the horse with his first steps on solid ground in a month. Alec found the empty stables and set Walnut up in the most spacious stall, with his own bedroll in the next one.
That afternoon a cartload of timber arrived, and the ship’s carpenters went to work building a new gate to secure the Millershome yard. Soon thereafter the captain was called to the gate to meet a group of city officials.
“
Here are my papers, denoting that Natha Millershome, owner of this property, has delegated me to restore his business here and prepare the yard for the resumption of business,” the captain explained. Despite the clear displeasure on the faces of the visitors, all the papers were in order, and the crew was able to continue in its duties.
“
The next shipment of goods will arrive here in a week, and after their arrival we’ll go to the upriver yard and restore it so we’ll be ready to transship around the falls,” the captain told the crew. “Within a month we should have everything re-established so that Natha will be able to give the Locksforts some competition in these lands again. One of the family will likely be here on the next ship so they can make the rest of the decisions and sign contracts with merchants.”
Curious citizens of Stronghold passed the yard throughout the day to see the return of the Millershome forces to their city, and many unkind jeers were directed at the men working at the gate. That night Francis took the first watch and assigned Alec to the second, his first work duty since their arrival. As he had the night before, Alec again felt a strong sense of unease while talking to Francis, a disturbance without any observable reason. Nothing occurred as Alec walked the grounds and the ship deck, especially keeping an eye on the gate, where a sailor was separately detailed to provide security. Alec slept the next morning when his duty was over, and awoke before noon. He saddled up Walnut and decided to take the animal out for a ride through the city, his first chance to see reconnoiter his new surroundings.
“
Be careful lad,” Parlton warned him. “And here are some things we’d like you to get from the market,” he told Alec, handing him a list of items, especially food stuffs. Alec was aware of the eyes outside scrutinizing him as he left the makeshift gate of Natha’s dockyard.
He found the city streets like the streets of any other bustling community, full of commerce and conversations. Walnut slowly navigated the gaps between wagons, people, and curbside vendors, eventually coming to the bare rocky wall at the base of the great cliff that created the waterfall. Colored bands of stone showed stark contrasts with one another as they mounted upward behind the row of buildings that abutted them to a height of forty feet or so.
At that point in his journey Alec reversed course and went down to the water’s edge, where he found a ferry that carried a busy commerce across the river to the north side. Alec joined the line waiting for the boat to return, and stared at the high hill with the white buildings that rose across the horizon in front of him. Natha’s home was large and luxurious, he remembered, but it didn’t convey the same single-minded fortress mentality that the Locksfort compound displayed. This spoke of a family that ostentatiously protected its privilege. And it was the place he had traveled so far to visit, driven by a compulsion to act.
Alec paid his change and led his horse onto the flatboat that was winched along a long, taunt rope. He walked Walnut off the boat, then mounted and rode again. The road climbed the hill beside the river, switching back and forth at a steep angle, and Walnut climbed slowly, until Alec dismounted at one switchback and walked up the road with his horse, constantly dodging downward bound traffic.
After almost an hour’s climb, Alec crested the top, and stepped to the side to catch his breath and observe the Locksfort hill. Two rings of large walls were visible, separating the hill into concentric sections. Buildings were scattered about the hill connected by a network of paths. Those structures in the uppermost portion of the hill were busiest, judging by the number of people Alec could see moving among the buildings, walking briskly or toting crates from site to site, apparently carrying out the business functions of the Locksfort clan. Below that ring were the buildings that Alec guessed might be the residential portion of the compound, which left the lowest area of the hill for workers quarters, storage, stables, and other functional needs.
Turning away from the Locksfort compound, Alec saw the great waterfall beside him, and for the first time he saw the upper river, the Carmen that flowed from the far away Great Inland Sea, the enormous lake upon which Sturgeon and other cities sat.
Alec realized as he watched the flow of traffic that the road on the north side of the river mostly accommodated traffic flowing downriver. He had climbed up the road that mostly carried freight going down to be trans-shipped to eastbound boats on the lower river; across the river he suspected the traffic on the road was likely to be reversed for goods heading further inland.
Alec wondered about the strange sense of unease he had twice felt. It had come over him like a premonition of disaster, but passed without reason. As he stood here so close to the Locksfort enclave, he felt no such feelings, where he would have expected them to be strongest. He knew that Noranda lay somewhere in a tomb inside the hill, but had no clue about how to enter the compound and find her. The apparent hostility of the city residents towards Natha’s trade in their city made him suspect he’d have a hard time getting information from local gossip.
As he stood there beside his horse, lost in thought, a jostling by a passing group of stevedores made him realize that he still needed to purchase goods and return to the compound. “Do you have your papers?” a voice asked.
Alec realized a man in a black and yellow striped tunic was speaking to him. “Son, I’d like to see your papers,” the heavyset man repeated.
“
What papers do you mean?” Alec asked.
“
Where are you from?” the officer, as Alec imagined him to be, responded.
After only a moment’s hesitation, Alec replied, “Oyster Bay. I’m from Oyster Bay.”
“
Well, here in Stronghold, the north bank is for residents of the city only. If you don’t have the papers to prove you belong here, I need for you to cross the river. Tell me first though, why have you been studying the Locksfort compound for so long, and then tell me why you’ve come here from Oyster Bay,” the man asked in a businesslike tone of voice. He wasn’t too upset by Alec’s presence it seemed, just doing his duty.
Alec was completely unprepared for such a line of questioning and worried that the wrong answer on his part might bring trouble. He stammered and stuttered momentarily. “I met a member of the Locksforts in Oyster Bay, and that made me curious to see the home of such a great family. I didn’t realize I was staring so long; there were other things on my mind, I suppose.”
“
And why are you here now? Why did you leave Oyster Bay?” the officer responded.
“
Well, things are changing in Oyster Bay, and it didn’t seem like a good place for me to plan my future,” Alec said as vaguely as possible.
“
So you made a career decision to move on? Is this your stopping place or are you just passing through?”
“
I don’t expect to stay here very long,” Alec said truthfully, feeling very nervous about the length of the interrogation.
“
Well, move along then and don’t let me catch you over here again,” the officer dismissed him.
Alec led his horse directly down the steep descent, astonished at the notion that citizens in Stronghold had to carry papers to justify their presence in the city. Was it something of longstanding tradition he wondered, or had it just begun in response to the war in the Dominion? Such security posed an even greater challenge to his need to search for Noranda in the Locksfort catacombs.
He returned to the ferry and crossed the river again. The ferryman gave him direct ano a market, where he purchased the items Parlton had requested and placed a large bundle of fodder for Walnut upon the horse’s back. Alec had been gone for hours now, wandering the city, and the sun was setting as he headed towards the reddened sky to his west, squinting as he faced the bright horizon.