Lunamae (24 page)

The coach bumbled along as Theron continued
with the history of Lermeri, and retelling some tales about it. I
started to doze off and it wasn’t long until Theron prodded me
awake.

He whispered in my ear, “We are here, my
love,” I yawned and stretched. The nice thing about these coaches
was that I didn’t need to stick out my head out a tiny window to
look at my surroundings—I just needed to look up and around.

In truth, the city was quite grand. Where
Midonia was expansive, this was a more vertical city. It wasn’t
quite as large as Theron made it out to be, but it was still
impressive. The stonework on the side facing the Sea of Ayreni was
obviously in need of repairs. There were workers on scaffolds
working to reinforce it with a weird looking material. It looked a
bit like stucco but they were applying it differently. They were
mixing water with a powder and it didn’t make any sense how water
could make it stronger. The walls all towered around us. Instead of
one central keep like in Feyris, there were many buildings scraping
the sky.

We were welcomed into the city with joyful
applause and music, being that we were the son and daughter of
Fanarion, and nobles only visited Lermeri on rare occasions. I was
baffled. It made sense that the rulers of the land would take time
to visit their lands and check up on progress. The king and queen
took great care in who they appointed to govern the cities and
oversee their development. These overseers would bring status
reports to their majesties often. Still, I was not as trusting. I
liked to see things for my own eyes. Of course, I still had no
doubt in the Creator and the Teacher. I had seen their work without
seeing them with my own eyes. I knew they existed.

“I am Lodi,” I heard a man say, who was
running over to greet us as we left the coach. I was helped down by
Theron. He handed me the therasol and turned to acknowledge Lodi.
“I am the overseer of Lermeri.”

“Yes, I recognize you,” Theron said to the
man, shaking Lodi’s hand. He was quite ordinary looking. If one did
not know any better, he could have easily blended into the
crowd.

“You must be the new daughter of Fanarion,”
the man stated, looking me over. “Theron seems to have done well
with you.”

“It was not my intention to obtain her
through the traditional means, Lodi,” Theron tried to explain. “I
fell in love with her.” He put his arm around me protectively.

“Has love brought you children, then?” Lodi
asked Theron, his brow raised in concern.

Theron shrugged him off. I could tell he was
a bit annoyed with the overseer. “It is inevitable Lodi. It is not
something you should be worried about.”

“Indeed Theron, it was not my intention to
cause trouble. Let me divert your attention to the fortification of
our old walls. We discovered this building material entirely by
accident.” I followed the two men as Lodi led Theron over to the
scaffolds. We were kept a safe distance as Lodi explained how they
discovered “concrete”. I was quite bored with the whole
conversation and my mind drifted off to Lunamae. As I twirled my
therasol, I wondered how she was doing. Word hadn’t traveled to
Midonia about any kind of match for her and I hoped, perhaps in my
travels in Aelisonia, I might hear about one.

Eventually, Lodi led us further in to show us
where we would stay. This city was set in a star pattern where each
branch contained something important. One section of the star was
the military wing, one was for living, one was for trades, one was
for the governor, and one was for the mages.

We were directed to the living wing where
there were hundreds of apartments reaching to the sky. With their
concrete, they were quite confident they could go higher but they
didn’t want to until the population got larger. Lodi showed us to
our room and suggested we meet back in a few hours for the
meal.

I was pleasantly surprised to find all my
baggage in the room. Theron and I closed the door for some privacy
and started to unpack a little. We only expected to be in Lermeri
for a few days before heading out to Slievenamon. I decided to
clean up a bit from all the dirt so I looked around the room for a
pitcher of water and a towel. They had a thermapota for us already
prepared as well. We decided to enjoy it while it was hot and
bubbly. It was nice to just be alone.

“How do you like Lermeri so far?” Theron
asked me as we sat in the bath. I think he could tell I was bored
with their previous conversations about concrete. It was no better
than watching grass grow.

“It is quite expansive,” I replied to him,
taking a wet sponge and scrubbing it with the soap provided to get
a lather together. The soap was surprisingly aromatic. It wasn’t
like anything I was used to. I didn’t think they used any ash to
make it.

“You like the soap?” Theron asked with a
chuckle. “They make it with beeswax here and add in fragrant oils.
Midonia sometimes trades with them for it but few people actually
prefer it over the soap they are used to.” He held out his hand for
me to give him the soap for his sponge.

“Perhaps we could buy some?” I asked
tentatively. I added quickly, “If we have time, of course.”

“I do not think they would object,” he said
with a smile.

After we had our bath and were dressed in
fresh, clean clothes, we headed out to find the meal Lodi had
mentioned. We were both quite hungry.

“It is so kind of you to grace us with your
presence,” Lodi called out from one end of the meal hall as we
entered. “Please, sit at the head of the table Theron, son of
Fanarion.”

We did as he offered. I sat next to Theron
and Lodi sat on the other side. It was very strange to be sitting
so far to the head. I wasn’t used to it, being a maiden of the
clan. It was always my father and Lunamae that would flank the
chief dame. It took a while to realize Theron was the ruler while
he was here. While the wife in Fanarion did not typically share a
status, I knew I was being treated differently. Perhaps while my
thoughts had been occupied earlier in the day, Theron had mentioned
something to Lodi. I was the niece of the chief dame. I wasn’t just
“a” woman he married.

I noticed the people of Lermeri giving me
looks. I truly was not one of them, nor did I look as one of them.
My skin was so much paler. I felt a bit out of place, sequestered
even. I felt Theron’s hand under the table, grasping for mine. His
touch made me feel more at ease. We were offered some wine and a
few appetizers to start. There were some cheeses from the goats
that scaled the rocky outcrops. I noticed some pieces of bread
which had what smelled like ground-up fish on them. I nibbled on
some of the cheese as I scanned the room.

In general, women were not seated close to us
at the end. They were grouped near the end of the table. The
governor, Lodi, did have his wife next to him. She snatched the
opportunity to ease my quiet suffering by breaking into
conversation while Lodi and Theron were talking to each other.

“How were your travels, my dear?” she asked
sweetly. I looked up at her and noticed how well fed she looked.
Previously I had only been skimming the room. I never took any time
to look over people carefully. She had a sweet demeanor, though. I
could tell she was a very friendly person. The creases on the sides
of her mouth told me she smiled a lot.

“They were very nice, thank you,” I replied
to her. “I am not used to the heat and solislight here. It’s not as
mild as in Feyris.”

“The therasol has been working for you, I
would imagine,” she commented. “Your face is still very peachy.”
She giggled and took a sip of her wine.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I ever caught
your name,” I told her, apologetically.

“Quite all right,” she started. “Lodi has a
tendency to boast about his accomplishments and always forgets the
woman behind them. I’m Pierina.”

“You are behind the concrete discovery?” I
asked her, intently waiting for a reply.

“Oh my, yes!” She snickered and then drew me
in with her hushed tone. “You know, the reason why they came across
it was because of a leak in my thermapota. The water would keep
draining out from a crack in the floor and Lodi wouldn’t listen to
me when I told him it needed fixing. I found one of the contractors
who had been repairing some of the other places here and suggested
he grind up some limestone and some fire rock and ash from the
island off the coast to fill it with. My reasoning behind the fire
elements was the lovely effects the ash has on my skin in our
soaps. Of course, I hardly prefer that over the scented soaps. At
any rate, when all that mixed with the little bit of water still
remaining in the thermapota, you can imagine what happened.”

“So this ‘accident’ Lodi was speaking of was
actually directed by you?” I asked curiously.

“Indeed it was, daughter of Fanarion,”
Pierina said, using my title. “It’s in my best interest to let him
go on about it being some other miraculous creation by the
mages.”

We paused for a bit as some people (I am not
sure if they were servants) brought out food for the day. I noticed
some more fish dishes. One fish was quite large with a long
rod-like appendage coming from what should have been a nose. I was
told it was a Zipheas fish. As they served us the Zipheas, I
noticed the meat was grilled. In Midonia the fish I had ever seen
were much too delicate for grilling. Usually they would put them on
a plate and stick them in a wood fire.

“Would Theron and I be able to buy some of
your fragrant soaps?” I asked Pierina when we had started to resume
eating and I had washed down my first bite with a sip of wine.

“You don’t need to buy them, dear. We would
be more than happy to give you some. Perhaps you can convince the
Aelisonians to use them. I’ll give you a bundle and you can give
that king in Slievenamon some. Don’t let him on that he smells -
even though he does,” Pierina said. She was quite generous and I
was impressed. I wondered though, how you would give soap to
someone without implying that they needed it. I supposed I would
find out soon enough.

I was surprised at how little time it took to
reach Slievenamon. I came out of my coach, following after Theron.
Since it was getting colder, I also grabbed a wrap to put around
myself. I had a few pieces of clothing packed from my home of
Feyris and I was so glad I had them. I planned to change after I
entered the city.

The city of Slievenamon did look a bit
similar to Lermeri. Since Lermeri was increasing fortifications
with their concrete the colors differed. Slievenamon was all stone
and looked partly encased in mountain. King Aeomon did not come to
greet us when we arrived. Nor did anyone offer to help with our
luggage. It was almost as though the entire city was unprepared for
our arrival. It was not until about a half an hour later as we
wandered aimlessly through the city that someone came up behind us,
wildly yelling in a language I did not quite understand.

“Ayreni, friend,” Theron said, raising a hand
to calm the man. I knew enough about the Fanarion language and
geography to know ayreni meant peace (which was why the calm sea
was named so).

“Seenomi, Theron.” The man glanced my way and
noticed the confusion on my face and the color of my skin. “I
didn’t realize Princess Muirenn was going to be with you. Your
Highness, Muirenn, I am sorry I did not speak in the common tongue.
Your clothes are so similar to the ones worn by women here so I
thought you were one of the servants I sent to attend to your
bags.”

“Why weren’t you using Common to begin with?”
I asked him, ignoring the title he addressed me with and his
confusing me with a servant.

“My apologies, I didn’t realize Theron could
speak it. I have only conversed with the Lermeri people and they
are so close.” The man paused and frustration and embarrassment
spread across his face. He wasn’t that old, and he looked more like
a scholar than anything else. Maybe he was one of the king’s
advisors.