Dragon rider, p.29
Dragon Rider, page 29
Jai was in no hurry, swivelling slowly with widening eyes. The walls were packed to the rafters with bottles, chests and boxes balanced precariously upon leaning shelves. Leaves, roots, bark, flowers and seeds were stored in baskets or hung in garlands from the ceiling.
Stoppered glass bottles and jars were everywhere, prefilled with liquids, tinctures, resins, salves and unguents, if the labels that adorned them spoke true. But strangest of all were the pills.
Jai had seen pills before, for Leonid’s ailments, real and imagined, had demanded their use on occasion. Even Constantine had been rumoured to use questionable aphrodisiac pills, such that they had become nicknamed ‘little emperors’.
But these . . . they amazed him in their numbers and colours. Some were hard, chalky pellets, hand-moulded and stored in baskets of sawdust. Others came in strange, rice-gum-wrapped capsules, piled high in their jars and urns.
Frida’s knuckles rapped the counter again and Jai finally heard the sound of movement from upstairs. She turned and gave him a forced smile.
‘It’s not the best-stocked, but it will have what we need.’
Jai couldn’t imagine what a well-stocked gallipot looked like, if this was not one. Nor could he imagine what item Frida could want. Looking closer, he could even see animal parts, pickling in yellow-green liquids on the shelves.
‘What do you want?’ a quavering voice called from behind the curtained-off interior.
‘We’ve plenty of denarii and we intend to spend them all,’ Frida called back.
There was a grunt of annoyance; then the curtains parted. A small, wrinkled old woman stepped into view; one so short and hunched that her small, black eyes hardly saw over the counter. It was not the woman who drew Jai’s attention, though, but the beast that lowered itself from the rafters onto her shoulders.
It was monkey-like in some ways, complete with grasping hands, a flat, simian face and bright, intelligent eyes. But in others it was like a squirrel, with an impossibly long and fluffy tail lashing above its tufted ears while somehow avoiding knocking anything over.
The woman took them in at a single glance, then chewed her lip.
‘Gallipots take no sides,’ she said. ‘And true Samarions tell no lies. But a Dansk and a Steppeman . . . means trouble.’
Jai went to protest, but Frida caught his eye and shook her head.
‘You refuse us, that’s taking the Sabines’ side,’ she said. ‘You’re a shopkeep. So keep your shop.’
The old woman said nothing until Frida emptied her purse upon the counter. A coin rolled towards the edge and the old woman slapped down a hand upon it. She lifted it and handed it to her beast.
It sniffed it, then bit it, before letting out an animated chatter. The old woman stared at them for a moment longer, then gave a curt nod.
‘You get caught, you’ve never been here. Understand?’
Jai found his mouth suddenly too dry to speak, so he nodded back.
‘My pithecus here will get what you want if it’s out o’ reach. Just point at it and he’ll bring it tae the counter.’
The vendor punctuated this with a groan as she eased herself onto a tall stool. The pithecus chattered excitedly and leaped into the rafters, watching them closely. It seemed stealing was out of the question. Not that Jai was tempted.
‘We’ve need of soulbreathing pills,’ Frida said, in her usual blunt way.
The old lady smiled at that.
‘I guessed. Nothin’ gets past old Kenna.’
She winked at Jai and waved a gnarled hand.
‘I’ve pills for faster cleansin’. Pills for reachin’ the trance easier. Pills for holding it longer. Pills to ease your breathin’. I’ve even pills that’ll fill you with mana, but that’ll cost more’n you’ve got.’
Jai looked at her curiously. Kenna’s accent was like Rufus’s – another Samarion then. Frida was oblivious, already rummaging through the shop’s shelves, lifting things to the meagre light from the shop’s single transom window for a better look.
Jai stood awkwardly and forced a smile. The old lady smiled back politely.
‘Your beast . . . I’ve never seen its like before,’ Jai said, wincing as Frida’s search sent a pot-lid rolling along the paved floor.
‘Oh, he’s a rare one. Comes from a land across the Silver Seas and far beyond that, tae boot. Cost me half my store for him, truth be told. But when my direwolf died, I couldn’t go without a companion.’
Jai had heard of direwolves. Larger and more powerful than their more common wolf and dog cousins, they made for excellent totems.
‘Where’s your khiro?’ Kenna asked. ‘The one outside seems a bit old for you.’
She noticed his surprised expression.
‘I can smell it on the both of you,’ she said. ‘I can tell t’isn’t far.’
Jai stopped for a minute, considering her. Could he trust her with the knowledge that he had a dragon?
‘You say you’re a Samarion,’ he said. ‘And you’ve an accent to match. But I hear hardly any of you are religious these days.’
She smiled, then cocked her head to the side, lifting the hair behind her ear. There, he saw the symbol of an open eye, tattooed in black. The same one Rufus had. She let her hair drop.
‘One lie and my soul goes straight tae hellfire. Our word is our bond. ’Tis a dying religion now. But those who follow it thrive.’
Jai nodded politely, but her assurance did little to ease his worries. She could be lying right then for all he knew.
‘I need a satchel,’ Jai said. ‘I know it’s not quite what you sell here, but I’ll pay a fair price if you have one spare.’
Her face split into a smile.
‘I’ve just the thing. It’s not cheap, mind.’
She disappeared behind the curtain once more, and Jai heard her slow stomping up the stairs. Above, the pithecus lowered itself by its tail, its black-and-white banded fur standing on end as it stared at him with large, placid eyes.
‘Frida,’ Jai hissed, unnerved by its gaze. ‘What are you looking for?’
Still Frida rummaged.
‘She has enough ingredients, but the readymade pills she’s got are hardly worth swallowing. Stuff for acolytes still cleansing themselves.’
‘Makes sense,’ Jai said.
He was beginning to feel sick at the smell of the herbs, spices and heaven knew what else mouldering on the shelves. It was no wonder the shopkeeper preferred to stay upstairs.
Jai heard the tinkle of the curtain rings on their rail and turned to see Kenna holding up a leather satchel. It was little more than the same one that legionaries wore, but she opened it wordlessly at his dubious expression to show him the inside, where she had added pockets and netting to hold other items. Best of all, there was plenty of room for Winter, though the little dragon had grown an inch in the space of a few days. Before long, she’d not be so easy to keep out of sight.
‘Five sesterii. And that’s a fair price, before you ask for less,’ she said.
Frida, strangely, did not argue. She counted out the coins, scraping each one across the table with a finger.
‘I need . . .’
Frida began, but already the shopkeeper had placed a single, golden-coloured pill upon the table. Even in the gloom of the shop, it seemed to glow.
‘This what you’re looking for?’
Frida looked like she was practically salivating at the sight of the pill.
‘It’s a third-grade lustration pill, afore you get too excited,’ Kenna said. ‘But you couldn’t afford first-grade quality anyway. This’ll double your soulbreathing speed and purify your mana, for a time. Might even help you advance to the next level. I’ll take ten sesterii for it. And before you ask again, I do think this is a fair price too.’
‘Done,’ Frida said.
Jai let out a small grunt of protest, but it was hardly audible over the jingle of coins as Frida counted them out. While this happened Jai looked hungrily at the pills around the shop.
It was not so much that they looked delicious – they most decidedly did not, especially when he could see the grislier ingredients that might have gone into them sitting on the shelf beside them.
Still, with the paltry remainder of their coins, he hoped they could buy something to help his own soulbound training. Kenna grinned at his expression, and her pithecus swung to a shelf and back. A little black hand opened in front of Jai’s face, showing him a trio of black, encapsulated pills.
‘Soulbreathing pills. Trash-grade. One sesterii. ’Tis a good deal for you. But I can see you need it.’
Chapter 63
Jai stared at the shaking canvas ceiling, trying to get used to the wood floor’s rattling and jostling. They were laying low, for Rufus had seen some of the scout riders in the legion racing past, off to arrange supplies for the coming army. These men were some of the wealthier in the army, paid well to care for their horses, but they would still not hesitate to rob them blind, even if they didn’t know they were fugitives.
The cart certainly protected them from the eyes of passing legionaries and sheltered them at night, but it came with its own dangers, too. There were the dreaded tax and excise officials of the empire, small men with sticky fingers who patrolled the road with legionaries in tow. Or at least, that was how Leonid had described them. Now that Jai and Frida were in a vehicle, there was a chance it would be searched on the road, or at one of the many tollgates ahead.
It had now been six nights since he and Frida had escaped the massacre. It would take another few weeks on this busy stretch to reach the point in the Kashmere Road where they would turn north, taking the dirt paths until those ended too and they would be forced to go on foot. In all, the journey might take them two months. Anything could happen.
The wagon was cramped, little more than a fruit cart with steam-bent spars and a canvas above it. He and Frida could just about fit laying side by side, top to tail of course. In that position, there was enough additional room for a single person, even one as large as Rufus, to sit cross-legged at the wagon’s entrance . . . though they’d have to put up with garlands of garlic dangling in their face.
Since someone would need to keep watch through the night, this arrangement seemed like it would work well, and Jai had been glad to see Rufus had purchased supplies for their comfort too. These included a battered stew pot, water flasks, a small hanging lantern and even some horsehair blankets.
Realising the morning nap he so desired was not forthcoming, Jai sat up. He rummaged through his new pack, smiling to himself. Winter had taken no time at all to settle into the warm, fur-lined compartment within, though she kept the end of her snout poking out, to allow herself fresh air . . . such as she could get in the musty interior of the wagon.
Beside him, Frida sat cross-legged in the corner, the golden pill perched upon the centre of her palm. She stared at it, brow furrowed.
‘Think she poisoned it?’ Jai joked. ‘She’s a practising Samarion, you know. You needn’t worry.’
He was only speaking to comfort her, but Frida cast him a withering look. Blue eyes full of disdain and pity.
‘Samarions tell no lies . . . if they are true followers of the faith. The tattoo looked genuine, but some only pretend. Though if a true Samarion catches them, their religion permits them to kill the imposter in cold blood. For some scoundrels, the risk is worth it.’
Jai was confused. ‘Why would anyone fake it?’
Frida shook her head. ‘You know so little of this world, Jai. There are few true Samarions, but even in the Tundra they are known as trustworthy emissaries and messengers. Good traders too. You can rely on the quality of an anointed Samarion’s goods and prices, most of the time. A conman might use the tattoo to trick you though.’
‘Most of the time?’ Jai asked.
In truth, he had met few anointed Samarions beyond Rufus, for the royals disdained their religion. If the few emissaries he had met were so, they had not announced it.
‘Yes. Even a true Samarion can find ways to twist the truth. Kenna might tell me, for example, that this pill cost a fair price. But what if she has only convinced herself of that fact by inflating its value in her mind. Samarions become good at lying to themselves, so that they can do so to others. Still, she cannot blatantly rip us off, for even she cannot trick herself of that. And we had no other choice. These gallipots are rare. And if I cannot refill my mana quickly we’ll have little protection when Rufus leaves us. No offence.’
Jai felt only a little sad at that, but realised he’d done little to show her otherwise. Though, he did think his little standoff in the Phoenix had been going pretty well until Rufus had stepped in.
‘Take it, then,’ he said. ‘The time to doubt it was in the gallipot. Not now.’
Frida sniffed and pocketed the pill.
‘Pills such as these are rare, and one of such a low grade will only work for a few hours. I should only soulbreathe under its influence when we settle for the night and the distractions of the road are gone. I suggest you do the same.’
Jai could practically feel the three pills burning a hole in his pocket, but he understood her logic.
‘Now, soulbreathe or sleep, but leave me in peace. I need time to . . . think.’
‘Jai,’ Rufus called out. ‘Come up here, lad. I’ll not be your coachman the whole week, nor after. Best you learn how to handle her now, afore the road gets treacherous.’
Jai’s teeth rattled as he scrambled to his feet, swaying slightly at the juddering of the wagon. He wondered if Rufus had been listening to them. Almost certainly. He was probably listening to the conversations of the wagon a dozen yards ahead of them too. Such was the advantage of being soulbound. No wonder Leonid had placed so many wards and charms in the walls of his room.
It was chilly outside the wagon, so Jai drew one of the itchy horsehair blankets around himself as he joined Rufus on the driver’s perch. He blinked in the blue-grey light of the winter morning and gazed at the wilderness surrounding them.
So much land there. Untamed, yet ripe with trees and fertile soil. It seemed an impossibility, that the Sabines wanted more, and more again. Taking for the sake of taking, to move lines on a map. They had no need for the Huddite’s farmlands. They had enough land here to triple their population, if they would just tame it. But the Huddite farms were already there.
Now, the legions would strike deep into Jai’s peoples’ heartlands. And for what? Steppefolk kept few treasures and bartered more than they used coin – he knew that much. There were no riches to be found in the slaughter of his people. Only fettered . . . and supposed glory. The Sabines had more than enough of those to spare too.
‘Bet you’re glad you don’t have to wade through that, eh lad?’ Rufus said, distracting Jai from his thoughts.
The bearded old warrior clicked his tongue and twitched the reins. Navi edged to the right beneath her yoke in front of them, avoiding a large pothole in the road ahead.
‘Flick the reins to start her off and pull on them to slow her. Tug on it to stop. Pull right to go right . . . and pull left to go . . .’
He let the words hang in the air.
‘Left,’ Jai said.
‘And that’s all there is tae it lad,’ Rufus chuckled richly, slapping Jai on the back. ‘You’re a natural. Now ridin’s not too different, save for stayin’ on top of course. Not as easy as you’d think. I tell you, there’s some whores back at the Phoenix could break a buckin’ . . .’
A cleared throat from within the wagon cut his words short.
‘Later I’ll show you how to tie her up and hitch her to the wagon. Khiroi like tae roam. ’Tis in their blood. Bit like you Steppefolk, eh. You like being on the road?’
Jai grinned, suddenly noting Rufus’s shallow breaths. The man was cultivating mana with such ease, he could talk at the same time.
‘Did you read the journal?’ Jai asked.
Rufus stared out at the road ahead, silent. There was little to look at, and after a while Jai thought the man would not answer. But finally he spoke.
‘I have started it. But . . . I needed sleep.’
The man pulled a metal flask from inside his jacket and took a swig. Jai didn’t need to be soulbound to smell the scent of hard liquor. Not wine this time. Something stronger.
Catching Jai’s eye, Rufus cleared his throat and offered the flask to Jai, with a somewhat guilty expression.
‘Put hair on your chest,’ Rufus said.
‘Plenty of that to come, if my older brothers were anything to go by,’ Jai said. He took a sip, and grimaced. Handed it back like a hot ember.
Jai felt a pang of loss, remembering his brothers, and had the sudden urge to cry. He allowed himself a tear but forced the rest back. Not from shame. But because he’d remembered his deal with Rufus. He had traded away a lot to allow himself this training. It was time to take advantage.
Chapter 64
Frida wanted to keep on through lunch and set a fire in a cooking pot inside the wagon itself. But Rufus insisted they stop by the side of a road to cook their midday meal, claiming he needed to stretch.
Jai did not mind the break for, as Frida prodded at the coals and watched the food bubble, Rufus led him further off the path and armed himself with a long stick, teaching as he went.
Jai was still losing nearly as much mana as he was soulbreathing, even with the hummingbird technique. Certainly not enough to burn his mana doing anything but using his heightened soulbound senses. Until he learned to contain enough of it to use as a weapon, some skill with a blade would not go amiss. Not to mention that if Frida saw him able to swing a sword, it wouldn’t hurt. Might even help.
‘Stand ready, lad,’ Rufus said. ‘I’ve the advantage.’
Jai scoffed a little at that. Rufus might be a powerful, soulbound warrior, but the stick he held in front of him was more like a riding crop than a club. Jai, on the other hand, held his rusted sword. Rusted, but sharp enough to chop through a carrot without too much effort. A soulbound’s skin might be tough, but he could skewer Rufus with it if he wasn’t careful.
