It took an hour for us to reach the outskirts of the city and another hour more to get to the town the queen mentioned. Along the way, the concrete road turned into flattened soil, houses giving way to hills and farmlands. The trees became thicker, little animals skittering into bushes and shrubs the moment they sense our horses coming.
A wooden post rose into view, bearing the sign that said: Welcome visitors to the town of Cerdin.
I tugged the reins and the horse slowed to a trot. So did Niko's horse behind me. We led the horses to the town gates, made of wood and iron hinges. The guards waved us along after considering our clothes. We offered them the barest of nods and continued on our way.
The town was big, complete with a descent market place surrounding a square. There were big houses, rooves made of tiles, their walls painted white. People scattered along the pavements, beneath awnings and beside stalls. The voices of vendors selling their wares resonated in the air, with patrons inquiring their merchandise. All in all, the town seemed very alive.
It seemed almost impossible for trouble to be sneaking along the cracks. But we shouldn't be complacent yet. We've only just arrived.
Niko and I left the horses outside an inn, where we had to pay a stable hand to take care of the horses.
We started walking, with no clear destination in mind.
I stretched my limbs, sore from travel. It had been a while since I rode a horse this long. "Let's go get lunch. It'll be my treat."
I tapped the skirt's pocket. I discovered that the queen had put pouches of gold here for us to spend. There was more than enough left to buy us some food. And if we couldn't produce some results by the end of the day, I might consider bribing some townsfolk to spit out information.
"I thought the loser had to pay," Niko said. He was acting weird still, his words and expressions restrained.
I shrugged. "Come on, it obviously ended in a draw. Anyway, if I pay I get to choose where we'll eat."
A hint of a smile, just barely, showed on his face. "Fine, you're the boss."
It was an effort to keep knocking my head back to look at him. He was so tall, and the sun behind his head was blinding me. It made me laugh, "You make people blind when you're walking with them, don't you?"
It took him a while to get it, his silver brows connected in confusion. So I continued walking, finally spotting a good place to eat.
"What does that mean?" Niko called out, catching up to me.
"I thought you were smart," I said. "Here, let's have lunch here."
Niko tore his gaze from me, eyeing the sign above the medium-sized building. The paint had faded and soot stained the letters.
"But why?" Nikolas gawked.
"My Father says the best meat in Carnelia are found in decrepit taverns such as this," I said, already drooling at the scent wafting from the window.
"Inside we go," I said, marching in.
What seemed like merchants and local businessmen were the ones occupying most of the tables. The tavern smelled of cider and smoke.
Niko and I chose vacant seats at the far right corner of the tavern, the floorboard creaking at each step.
Three seconds after we settled, a waitress came to us with the menu. She then jotted down our orders.
"Hmm, we'll have savory bacon, cream soup, turkey leg and oh—you have strawberry tart? One of that please." My chest felt light. This experience was completely new to me. I suppose it was exciting to choose food for yourself. Here, in a town far from home with no servants to attend to my every need, I should feel scared. But instead, I felt freer than I ever had.
"Coming right up, girlie." The waitress winked and headed for the kitchen.
Once the food was served, Niko and I ate our fill wholeheartedly. And Father was right. The meat was unlike any other I'd tasted in the manor or in banquets.
"It's juicy," Nikolas said, his head bobbing. "But also sweet. The meat back at the Varemont estate is delicious. But it seemed like the cook was holding back or something. This… this has no limitations at all. In a good way."
I had to laugh. He seemed so serious while giving comments.
Once we were done eating, Nikolas had the idea to visit stores. Even if we wouldn't actually buy anything.
"We should keep up our acts as academy students that are here on an errand. We're going to have to make the most of it," he advised.
"Okay, but what kind of stores do you suggest we go?" I asked.
"We'll start with the ones selling alchemy goods. We mostly use those stuff in our class."
"All right."
We went from store to store. And even got to a shop that sold books. It even felt as though we'd already scoured the whole town. We went close to people, in case there were weird rumors. But all they talked about were petty gossip and annoying neighbors. There were no results. We couldn't find any sign of trouble.
We eventually found ourselves back to the square. In the middle stood a fountain, where we decided to sit and watch as patrons and market-goers slowly went home.
"Not a single one," I huffed.
"Perhaps the queen was mistaken," Niko said softly. I almost couldn't hear him through the splashing of water at his back.
"Right, perhaps she was."
Outside the town gates, I watched as the sky deepen into a bruised purple, the sun dipping low beneath he hills we passed. The coming evening breeze ruffled my half cloak, the ends of my hair swishing against my neck. The lampposts flickered on, a bright yellow against the shadows brought by night. I heard the clicking of flint and the stalls glowed, the shop owners preparing their dinner.
Amidst all these, I couldn't rub off the feeling that we were being watched.