Servants and Followers (The Legends of Arria, Volume 2) (9 page)

“
Salt?” Oaka asked,
smelling and tasting it too in the air.

“
The ocean, we’re
near it,” Fato said, turning his head. “A couple of miles that
way
,
the salty breeze is what you get when you’re
close.”

“
The
ocean
.
” Basha said wistfully, and then laughed. “We’re not in Coe
Baba anymore!” He cried.

“
Definitely not,”
Oaka said, and then pulled on Joko’s reins as they tried to ride
through the crowd, but then the boys had to dismount and walk their
horses.

By studying some of
the signposts hanging over buildings, Basha spotted the sign shaped
like a duck, The Walking Duck Inn, a name no more unusual than some
of the other inns they had heard about
,
The Baron’s Bed, The Potato
Hovel,
and Tau’s Drink
Inn
,
from some of the guests that had stayed at The Smiling
Stallion inn in the past. Still, Fato kept snickering about the
name as they directed their horses to the stables at the back. The
boys unloaded their packs and handed over the reins of Joko and
Talan to stable boys, a little uncertain about leaving their horses
with complete strangers, but they trusted that the inn was a good
one. They still had their swords strapped on, of course.

Fato alighted on Basha’s shoulder, and
settled down, Basha cringing slightly as if the falcon’s talons
might be sharp. Oaka shook his head, almost glad that the falcon
seemed to be favoring Basha and staying away from him.

As they head towards
the front door of the inn, they realized that
,
apart from the noise
of the crowd outside walking along the streets, there was a
distinct reverberation coming from inside the inn. The front door
opened as they approached, and suddenly another man was hurled out.
The young men were barely able to leap back, out of the way of his
falling glide, and straightened up again as the front door slammed
shut. They watched as the man, who had plopped onto the ground and
rolled up into a ball, got up onto his hands and knees and crawled,
coughing fluidly and vomiting.

“
The pentacle of
monkey balnor,” Fato muttered.

Oaka ignored the raptor. “This does not
seem to be a very good place to stay,” He said, turning towards
Basha.

“
Let’s just
see what it’s like inside,” Basha said, as if he
too would like to leave. “At least it might be better, and
we don’t know what it’s like at the other inns.
For all we know, this could be the very best one.” He laughed
hesitantly. “Come on,” He said, going to the front door
slowly.

Oaka sighed, and went after him, as the
resonance that they had heard before became a clamor when they
entered. The sounds were estranged into bellowing, screaming,
thrashing, clapping, clanging, crashing, clinging, slapping, and
snapping.

The sounds shrank their ears, and their
eyes widened at the scene, unable to focus on the panorama of chaos
taking place in the inn’s common room. For the most part, it seemed
the fighting took place between separate groups. Huddles of
sparring combatants weaved about the room, dodging tables to pursue
opponents in devious styles. Some fellows doggedly stayed in their
seats, drinking ale even as beaten men were heaved onto their
tables.

Oaka gasped, unable
to believe
…
suddenly, he was snatched by a
man’s hand, and dragged off into the melee, as Basha ducked a
dagger flung at him.

“
Basha!” Oaka called,
as he was pulled tight into a hug, and the man started to dance
with him, out into the middle of the floor.

“
Oh, we got it
all...” The man sang drunkenly, as a glass of beer smashed behind
him and Oaka managed to slip out of his embrace.

“
Excuse me,” Oaka
said, trying to back up and find Basha again, but someone standing
on top of a table poured beer all over him instead.

“‘
Oh, we got it
all
…
’” Another group sang and clapped their hands, “‘Right here
in Coe Anji!’” They laughed amongst themselves, as Oaka gasped,
stunned at how soaking wet he was
. H
e stank of beer.

Oaka sighed and
decided to leave instead of looking for Basha
. L
et him fend for
himself, it was all his fault that they were here at all, so he
headed towards the door. But then someone grabbed him and, before
he could protest, started pummeling him against the back wall.
Basha had a lot to answer for, Oaka thought to himself as he
shielded away from the blows and tried to reach his
sword.

When Basha ducked the dagger, which
thudded into the door behind him instead, Fato panicked and flogged
Basha with his wings before the bird flew up into the rafters,
remote from the repercussions. Basha straightened himself, and
shook his head. “That bird is a menace,” He said, brushing away the
only feather that had landed on him, and only then did he realize
that Oaka had vanished.

“
Oaka!” Basha cried,
pressing himself against the wall. There was no way he could
find
…
he crept along the wall, scanning to see if there was any of
sign of Oaka, or any nearby belligerents
. H
e dived underneath a
table.

Basha had been just
as worried as Oaka had been for the past day and a half, only he
had tried to look forward to whatever lied ahead of them, instead
of thinking about what had just past. Poor Sir
Nickleby
…
Basha shuddered, and tried to stay strong, thinking that he
would not lose Oaka now.

From his vantage point, forced to
breathe through his mouth instead of his nose, trying not to look
down at whatever was on the floor, he strained to look up past
boots and the occasional bare feet. As one man sagged against the
table, Basha wiggled his way out, unable to stand it anymore.

Now crouching, Basha suddenly spotted
Oaka at the other end of the room, getting a pummeling from the
figure standing in front of him, and though Basha couldn’t see the
stranger, small enough to be around their age, he winced as the
person wrenched Oaka’s arm behind his back.

He knew that he shouldn’t have insisted
they come in here, into this mess. But now it was too late, and
they both had to get out.

So he steeled himself, and tramped out
into the mob. He bounded over fallen man, swerved to miss the swing
of a bludgeon, and dashed round another table, topped by broken
glass and ripped playing cards. Later, remembering how he had
grabbed and spun about Oaka’s attacker, he could have sworn he had
heard Fato the falcon cackling at him.

For there, at that moment, as Basha
balled up his hand into a fist, and contorted his arm back, his
eyes widened at the realization that his other hand was griping the
shoulder of a young woman.

And he recognized her. “Monika?” He
exclaimed.

“
Basha?” She
said.

Oaka was trying to
reach for his sword again, but Basha waved him off. “What are you
doing here?”
Basha
cried.

“
Same to you!” Monika
said, tugging herself out of his grip.
She
crossed her arms, and
blew away the sable tresses from her tan face
.

“
I
was
…
you were beating up my brother!” He said.

Monika paused, and
glanced down at his brother. “Oh, this is
…
what is his name?” Monika
asked, turning back to Basha as Oaka glared at them
both.

“
Oaka.” He
said.

“
Oaka
,
sorry about that,” She said, as Oaka slowly
started to get up, still wary.

“
Did
you
…did you
get to see
…?
” Basha started to
ask.

“
What, Basha?”
Monika
asked.

“
Did you get to
see
…
” Suddenly, someone slammed into him, and everything went
dark.

Chapter 4: The Warehouse

I see the problem here. She has left me
to pick up the

Million different pieces of my heart
and soul, cut up

And tossed onto the floor. What am I to
do with myself?

Just wait until she comes around
again.

--
Love song,
Mirandor

“
Basha!” Oaka cried
when Basha had been hit, and Monika ran off, disappearing into the
crowd instead of staying.

Oaka grumbled about
her ‘disappearing act’, and rushed over to Basha’s side, checking
to see if his brother was all right
,
unconscious
,
as Fato came down,
also concerned. The innkeeper finally intervened, breaking up the
brawl with a desperate and menacing ploy, and those few brawlers
left standing were made to clean up the mess, and go see the
constable. Oaka managed to convince the innkeeper that he was not
involved, and that he had to go tend to his brother.

Oaka had never seen
such a brawl as this
.
T
here had been a few fights at The Smiling
Stallion inn in the past
.
M
aybe some pints had been thrown
and a little beer was spilled, but Geda, Basha, Oaka and even
Habala had always been able to break up those fights in the end
before they ever escalated. And apparently this brawl started
because of a card game, one that the Zarien girl Monika had been
involved in, and
Oaka huffed over the
whole episode, carrying Basha upstairs with some help from the
innkeeper of The Walking Duck, as he thought to himself that this
whole thing would not have happened if Basha had not gotten
involved, walking in, and if this innkeeper had done a better job
protecting and serving his guests. His father Geda was much better
than
…
he stopped himself before he got to thinking of home too
much.

Oh, Coe
Baba
,
he was not even 200 miles away from it, and yet he already
missed it so much. His parents, Habala and Geda
,
never had he imagined
that he would miss them. Oaka shook his head, sitting by Basha’s
bed. Sisila was the one he thought most of all about. He had found
and read her letter the first night out of Coe Baba, and he had
read it
over
again and again, dying to hear her voice again as
he wanted to so much tell her what he was suffering without her.
They were in a cramped room, much smaller than the ones in Coe
Baba, and the floorboards creaked too much. Oaka remembered his
first impression of Coe Anji, a leaning town about ready to topple
over with all of the buildings poorly constructed, and he was
almost afraid to walk across the floorboards, in case they might
collapse beneath him.

Fato, perched on a knob at the end of
Basha’s bed, looked at the young man and then turned to Oaka. “So,
um...how are you doing, Oaka?”

“
Fine, thanks.” Oaka
said, not really looking at the bird.

Fato sighed, and turned back to
Basha.

“
Urrum...” Basha
said, starting to wake up as Fato and Oaka leaned forward. “Ugh...I
see...someone who should really thank me,” Basha said to
Oaka.

“
Thank you? For
what?” Oaka asked.

“
I got you out of
that fight with Monika.” Basha said.

“
Basha,
you
…
”

Fato laughed. “Boy,
that girl, she sure was something! You couldn’t see yourself, Oaka,
but it was quite an event for me! First off, right, I hear you
yelling
,
then I see Basha running off through the crowd, off to rescue
his brother in distress!” Fato gasped. “You should have seen
yourself. Honestly, I could have been malakeled at that moment
when
…
gasp! It was a little girl who had been beating you up all
along! Oh, you were a quivering heap of nerves by the time Basha
reached you! But she was just as calm as
anything
,
even when she was caught in the act!”

“
Fato.” Basha and
Oaka both said, glaring at the bird.

“
All right, all
right. Mind you, there is a plaque in Coe Kiki, dedicated to the
goddess
…‘
She is a woman not to be scorned,’” The falcon recited,
“‘Tyrant and yet merciful to the meek; Goddess queen and mother of
all, Quela rules in these halls of law.’” Fato sighed to himself.
“She reminds me of that.”

Oaka shook his head.
“I wouldn’t even have been in that fight if Basha
hadn’t
…
why did we stay?” Oaka asked. The bird was strange, and he
couldn’t trust it, but Basha, he should be able to trust his
adopted brother.

“
I did not want to
leave without
…
I did not know what else we were
supposed to do,” Basha sighed. “We can leave now if you
want.”

“
Can’t
,
I already paid for this room tonight,”
Oaka
moaned
.