Abbalar Tales ~ 7 Mandrell
By Len Morgan
A
veiled woman, accompanied by nine mounted dog soldiers, entered the sleepy town
of
Wizomi took in the motley band at a
glance. The men were mercenaries, but
the woman was from a different mould.
Her cape was of fine black velvet, the delicate black gauze of her veil
sheer silk. Her hand made sandals were
of calf leather finely jewelled and chased in gold thread, the soles showed
little wear, he doubted she’d walked any distance in them. Her nails were finely manicured and painted
blood red. The silken texture of her
chocca honey skin was too perfect to be living tissue. Finally, he looked into her wide brown eyes, which she'd expertly accentuated with a fine black kohl stick. Her profile revealed a tantalising
suggestion of her true form, as she rode past, the cape was taut at her breasts
and hips accentuating the curves. She
was certainly a fine horsewoman full of poise, passion and bearing: qualities
that cried out breeding; highlighting her superiority over those accompanying
her. The men were so obviously common
that he wondered what their connection might be. He would not have to wait long for an
answer. They were asking about other
new arrivals over the past six to eight weeks.
At the Inns, nobody would speak openly to strangers but later would seek
them out. They were certainly free with
their money making no secret of the fact they were prepared to pay well for
information. It would be just a matter
of time before somebody mentioned Aldor and Genna…
His priority was to warn his friends, and that
he did without further delay. He knew
he would probably be quizzed as would Genna, but he did not believe she was the
object of their search. Unlike her, he
was a relatively high profile member of the community. He would have to ensure her standing in the
community was enhanced, and quickly. He
would get her to tell stories in place of Aldor, she certainly knew most of
them.
.-…-.
When Wizomi
entered their quarters, he was agitated, a look of concern on his face.
"Friends, it may be of no concern, but you should
know. There are Huren horsemen, in
town, enquiring after new arrivals.
Knowing the circumstances of your arrival I thought it prudent to warn
you immediately."
"Thank you Wizomi, you are a true friend," Aldor
began…
"Perhaps if you were to confide in me, as to the true
nature of your situation, I could suggest an appropriate course of
action?"
Aldor looked at Genna, she nodded assent.
"It is not a story I am particularly proud
of." He began…
.-…-.
Wizomi removed a sheaf of papers from his pouch. "I fear we will be parting company
sooner than I had hoped." He shook
his head sadly as he began to write on the first sheet. "How much gold do you have?" he
asked.
"Less what I owe to Genna?" he answered, asking
her silently with his eyes.
"Around 820 Okes, I've deducted the price of a new
horse," she explained with a smile.
"Take 10 with you, on your person and I will supply
you with a promissory note for 500…"
"No! Make
that 100 the rest Genna will invest for me she is after all, my partner,"
he said.
Wizomi nodded "100 Okes payable on demand at any
money lenders where the icon at the head of this promissory note is
displayed."
Aldor looked at the 'Sun & two Crescents' sigil. There was also some writing, repeated in
several languages, and a set of glyphs he didn't understand.
Wizomi explained, "It is a simple method of moving
sums of money from city to city, or country to country, without actually taking
it with you. It works like this, I put
up a sum say 1000 Okes, upon which a member of the 'Sun&Crescents'
syndicate can draw. In return, I can go
to another city and draw on a similar sum put up by a member there. If I have a debt to settle, I provide a
note, to the person I owe it too, and they can draw on the syndicate, there is
a recconing every six months. There is , of course, a charge for drawings, currently 5% which will be…" he paused to
calculate.
"5 Okes." Said Genna at once.
"But, the advantage is you do not have to carry heavy
gold or risk being robbed on route. Please
sign this note immediately below my signature, the syndicate will only pay the
sum to you when you sign in their presence and your signature is
validated. Here is a map," he
continued, spreading it out on the table.
Head sou-east towards Hartwell, it is a walled city in the Meyam
states. There is a small mountain
outcrop about two-thirds of the way, about here,” he said "you will feel
an urge to avoid them, resist it and head for the tallest of the three
peaks. The Huren will almost certainly
follow you, but I have a good friend who lives on the slopes of that mountain,
he will aid you. Do not be put off by
his appearance…"
"Put off?"
"He is - a little different from other men, but he
will be looking out for you. He will
know you are on your way and will aid in your future quest."
"My quest is as it always has been, to fulfil my
birthright by becoming Caliph of Corvalen!"
"His name is Orden, he will aid you in what is to
come," Wizomi repeated.
"Different?
In what way different," he asked a puzzled look on his face.
"I cannot say more, I am sworn, you will just have to
trust me! Now take the map and
promissory note."
"It is a good
plan," Genna assured him. You can
move fast a'horse and light, with a small sum in your pouch.”
Something in her voice made him stop her. "You are coming with me of
course?" He said, gazing hopefully
into her eyes, he didn't want to leave her.
She smiled wistfully, "I cannot ride a horse and so
will slow you down. You have to go
partner, and I have to look after our interests here."
He looked away, suddenly overwhelmed with sadness, tears
starting in the corners of his eyes. He
had only just found her - he knew if he stayed he might get himself killed but,
he would almost certainly put her life in danger and that was unacceptable.
"You have to go, there is no choice." She added, reading his mind, though it
wasn't her own safety uppermost in her thoughts, as she surreptitiously wiped
tears from her own eyes.
They gazed at each other and suddenly they were close,
their arms were entwined.
"I'll see you before you depart with some final
details" Wizomi said tactfully withdrawing from the apartment.
(To be
continued)
Copyright
Len Morgan
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