Servants and Followers (The Legends of Arria, Volume 2) (36 page)

“
No, I don’t think
so,” Lapo said, shaking his head. “Third time in a month? Why even
stand for it one time? People deserve better than this.” He said,
already giving a campaign speech to his wife. “Might be time for a
change.” He smiled.

“
Oh, my dear Lapo!”
Mawen laughed, clapping her hands. “I knew you would have it in
you! People deserve better than this, and you’re the best that
they’re going to get in a town like this! You deserve to win, and
you will. No one will stand against you.”

“
I can think of a few
people who might,” Lapo said, staring after Geda racing to catch up
with the mayor.

“
Oh, him? No, he’s
nothing.” Mawen said, nodding. “No one will vote for him except for
a couple of drunks. You’re going to win, my dear. The majority
loves you, they respect you, and you’ve earned that love and
respect. You’re going to win.” She said as Geda caught up with the
mayor, and managed to grab him, though gingerly to avoid touching
any private areas.

“
Thank you, my dear
Mawen,” Lapo said, kissing his wife. “I will be certain to give you
that inn you’ve always wanted once I’m elected.”

“
We’re going to win,
and crush The Smiling Stallion inn!” Mawen laughed, and kissed him
hard with a foot raised behind her. The mayor was escorted by Geda
back to town hall.

“‘
So away with ye,
away with ye, do-we-do-we-do-we!’” The mayor sang, “To the land
flowing with’
…
uh, what goes there, Geda?” The
mayor asked, “What finishes the song?”

“
Uh, sounds like
something with
…
milk and honey, although that
doesn’t make much sense.” Geda said, shaking his head. “Where does
milk flow like water, and honey? Preposterous, I say, it doesn’t
seem right.”

“
It’s a song, it
doesn’t have to mean anything.” The mayour said. “Something’s got
to flow, might as well be
…
beer!
Beer
and
milk
, does that sound
better?” The mayor asked. “Or…wine! Wine, women, and
song
! Now
that does sound better, doesn’t it?”

“
Whatever makes you
happy.” Geda sighed. He was used to dealing with drunkards at the
bar inside his common room, he had spent almost 30 years of his
life dealing with their messes, tirades, and rages, but Geda didn’t
want to have to deal with their drunkenness in the morning as well.
He was getting a little tired of it. The trick was to keep them
happy until they departed, full of beer until they passed out,
sober enough that they would stop drinking after awhile, or just to
cut them off entirely. The third and fourth options were perhaps
the easiest, and sometimes the least taken options by
the
innkeeper
with
the real drunks, especially when it meant less
beer sold to the
m
. On the other hand, it did mean
less drunkenness for him to deal with as well.

“‘
Away with ye, away
with ye, where are we going
,
Geda
?’
” The mayor asked in
song.

“
Back to the town
hall, mayor, I don’t know where you live.” Geda said, thinking it
was a real question.

“
Balderdash balnor! I
don’t want to go back there
!
I’m bored, sick, and tired of
being straight-laced, white as a feather, clean
and
…
blah. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth.” The mayor stuck out
his tongue. “Sick and tired, plagued by every problem that this
town has got to offer, and then some, with the factory owners, the
baron, and Lapo’s influences
.
I want to be let loose, and run
free!” The mayor cried, nearly running off again before Geda
grabbed him. “Let someone else take care of these problems!” The
mayor said.

“
Someone else will!
Mayor, I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to learn how to control
yourself, or else we’ll
…
I don’t think you’ll like being
forced to step down from office.” Geda said as the mayor stopped
walking. “I know that you’re complaining about it right now, but
you’re drunk and crazy, and deep down inside, I know that you still
must like being the mayor of Coe Baba, or else why would you keep
running for the office?” He asked.

“
Because no one else
would take it!” The mayor cried. “But this is just perfect! Someone
else can take the office right now and deal with the mess and
balnor that I once had to! It’s off my plate, I can run
free
…
”

“
No, you can’t,
mayor, not just yet!” Geda said, restraining the mayor from running
yet again. “You’re not out of office yet, you’re still mayor until
someone else is elected. And then you have to abide by the rules
like an ordinary citizen, and that means no running naked through
the streets of Coe Baba, not out in public! But you can still run
free inside the privacy of your own home, or in the woods where no
one can see you.” Geda said, where he couldn’t see the mayor’s
‘glory’.

“
Good to know.” The
mayor said. “By the way, are you considering running for mayor
yourself?”

“
I
don’t
.
” Geda said.

“
Don’t do it!” The
mayor cried. “Worst mistake I ever made in all my life. I got
saddled with all of these problems, and then I had to roll over for
the baron and Lapo and the factory owners
. T
hey chewed me up and spit
me out! I wasn’t strong enough to handle everything, too fragile to
resist their pull on me back and forth, and then I broke, it all
just fell apart. Don’t do it, Geda, you may regret it.”

“
I won’t.” Geda said,
hesitating. “But mayor, surely you would miss it, won’t you? Being
in office, you’ve been there so long, surely there is something you
might miss?” He asked.

“
Geda
,
” The mayor sighed, and then
stopped a moment to think. “I’ll tell you something, Geda, if you
do consider running for mayor. You have got to be strong and tough,
flexible and relenting
.
P
repared to bend the knee, and not yield
at all to those who would prevail against you. You have got to
struggle with the worst, kindest, happiest, best, meanest,
toughest, nastiest, strongest, luckiest, highest, lowest,
wealthiest, poorest, bravest, smartest, fastest, slowest, dumbest,
smallest, largest, gentlest, roughest, most gallant, fiendish,
courteous, energetic and daring people you have ever met, and they
are all your people! All of them! Even those didn’t vote for you!
You have to accommodate them as well as yourself! You have to give
them everything that they need and want, and don’t give them
anything at all. You have to give them what they deserve and what
they don’t deserve, or nothing at all. You have to decide who is
lying and cheating on you and your people, and sometimes you have
to lie and cheat your people as well. You have
to
…
”

“
I get it, I get it,”
Geda said, holding up his hands as they approached the town hall
near the edge of the park. “I do enough of that already.” He
muttered.

“
What?” The mayor
asked, staring at him.

“
As the innkeeper.”
Geda said.

“
Oh. Right, Geda,”
The mayor said, still not quite certain what he meant by that as
Geda pushed him inside town hall. He could be mayor, Geda thought
slowly to himself, not quite believing everything that the mayor
had to say, but what he had heard
…
he could manage that, right? It
might not be so hard on him, considering his past experience, and
certainly he could be a better mayor than this fellow here
was.

The Old Man couldn’t
stop laughing as he crouched in the corner of an alleyway, not far
from where Geda and the mayor were, though he managed to suppress
the sound of it. That was one good thing about being immortal, and
furtive to boot—you could see a lot more of the people and the
world around you, and you could learn everything about them, and
see the humorous side of life as well. He had a lot to write about
these days with everything that he had observed and heard about in
his long, long lifespan.

He
finally stopped
laughing when he heard someone approach from the direction of the
forest, and then he tried to shield himself as best he could with
what little surrounded him, mostly trash and such left in the
alleyway, until he heard a voice hiss, “Old Man.”

The Old Man paused, and lifted his head. “Iibala?”
He asked.

“
That’s
me,” Iibala said, coming towards him.

“
You’re
almost as good as
my daughter
Nisa when it comes to sneaking around.” He remarked.

“
I made too much noise again,
didn’t I? Nisa commented on that.” Iibala said, stopping a short
distance away from him.

“
Yes,
you did. How did you know that I was here?” The Old Man asked. “You
could not have spotted me like you have spotted Nisa before.” He
said.

“
You are
right about that
, clever. I
have this sense,” Iibala remarked, hesitating a moment, “Where I
can feel death coming, and most of the time it’s strongest around
those who are going to die or are dying. But sometimes I feel it
like a faint, constant background noise, because everything and
everyone is going to die eventually. It’s natural and it’s only a
matter of time. But with you, and to a significantly lesser extent,
Nisa, it’s like a void.” Iibala said. “I cannot sense death around
you, Old Man, because you do not die. And though there is some
death surrounding Nisa, as she is part mortal, it’s hardly as much
as it is with others. She carries a smaller void with her, but it
is a void nonetheless.”

“
A void.” The Old Man sighed, and
shook his head. “I guess you can say that. What is it that you
want, Iibala?” He asked.

“
You
were there the other night, when Kala came,” Iibala cleared her
throat, “And you were not really sleeping.” She said. “I know that
you were awake
then, but I
was so stunned with what Kala was saying, and that she was there at
all…I could not stay to speak with you, but I still want to speak
with you.” She said.

The Old Man sighed.
“What more is there to speak about?” He asked, making a move to
leave. “You already know so much more about what is happening here,
more so than others, that I cannot say anything more to you that
you do not already know about…”

“
No!”
Iibala cried, trying to block him from leaving. “I might know that
Basha is the tiger, I might know that Kala is a ghost who haunts us
still, I might know
some of
Kala’s story, but I still don’t know enough about you. What are
your secrets, Old Man? What else are you hiding from us? And…”
Iibala inhaled, and quickly asked, “Is there any way that I can
help you protect Basha from here, or do whatever else needs to be
done in his absence?”

The Old Man stopped, staring at her. “You are
serious?” He asked.

“
I am
serious. I want to help.” Iibala told him. “Not that long ago, I
despised both you and Nisa after I learned that you both were
putting Basha in danger, or at least letting him walk into it
without interference.”

“
That’s…” The Old Man said, and
then hesitated. “Partly true, but not entirely, not always,” He
added.

“
But then I heard what Kala had to
say, and I realized that part of what you do is for Basha’s
benefit, to prevent him from knowing too much as you watch over him
from afar.” Iibala said. “I do not agree with everything that you
and Nisa do, but I can see that it is somewhat necessary for his
survival and sanity.”

“
It’s nice to know that we are
being appreciated.” The Old Man remarked.

“
I’ve
been talking to Mirari the healer about training me and Sisila to
use our powers, but I haven’t told her anything about you.” Iibala
added, just in case the Old Man got the wrong idea. “I want to be
ready to help you, if my powers are useful to you in any way,
especially since Nisa is gone now, following after Basha and Oaka.
You did send her after them, right?” Iibala asked.

“
Right,”
The Old Man said, nodding slightly, still too stunned to say
anything else.

“
Good to know.” Iibala said,
nodding. “And you still have a way to contact her?”

“
Yes, although we don’t do it that
often.” The Old Man remarked. “It takes a lot of magical
power.”

“
You
need magical powers?” Iibala asked. “Sisila and I have got some to
spare!” She cried. “When do you need us?”

“
Iibala,
listen, I will contact you when I need your help, I promise,” The
Old Man said, holding his hands up, “But for now
, everything is fine. My advice…-”

“
My
father is not well.” Iibala said, frowning. “He got attacked
by…”

“
I know,
I know, but currently, Basha and Oaka are well.” The Old Man
sighed. “It was unfortunate, what happened with your father, but
currently, I do not need your help. If I need your help, and
Sisila’s help, I will contact you both. For now, I suggest that the
best thing you
two can do is
to take care of your father, help him get well, and train. Improve
your abilities with your powers.”