Winterfinding (8 page)

Jena stood. She wasn’t going to bury anyone
today. She was going to make a fire in the husk of the house and
sleep. When morning came, then she’d put Reg to rest properly. Back
amid the ruin, she walked through the few tiny rooms not looking
for anything in particular. She paused in what must have been a
bedroom. On a small cabinet was a blacked book, its cover and spine
seemed to be a kind of metal. Jena gingerly lifted the cover to
discover that the book was hollowed out—a solander.

Inside were several burnt cards, when Jena
touched them they fell to ash. She dragged her finger though the
ash and pulled up a thin silver chain and a blackened silver cuff
bracelet. Gathering the jewelry up in her other hand she pocketed
it and looked to see if there was anything remaining—a handful of
copper coins, some colored ash, and a brittle piece of folded
vellum.

She took the vellum and turned back to her
packs; she needed a fire. In the morning, she’d ponder these
objects. In the morning, she’d bury more bodies, but she’d make a
cairn in the Novosar style for Reg.

Arderra

It was getting cooler. Jena could smell it
in the air. The warm months had been over for some time and the
cool highlands had lulled Jena into thinking the mild weather would
just keep rolling on. She knew better but she didn’t want to face
it. As she leaned against a broken fence post gazing at her
handiwork, dark mounds even now were losing their color under the
midday sun, she was suddenly aware of her body’s sweat and ache.
Her muscles burned. It had been building for the past few days.

Jena could smell her tired body; its heat
crept out her collar curling into her nostrils. She stank. Fingers
feeling fat, she tried to stretch them out holding the shovel she
had found in the barn.

“
These men weren’t
soldiers,” she muttered eying each of the two graves, “but they
weren’t innocents.” Her head rose slightly as she looked beyond the
graves to the stone cairn she had built around Reg’s body. She let
the shovel fall as she walked towards the cairn. Pausing above it,
she knelt, lifted a palm-sized stone in the middle, and placed the
jewelry she had found the night before. She tossed the stone up and
down a couple of times as her other hand rubbed the folded vellum
in her belt. The stone covered the bracelet and chain, Jena stood
and turned back to the burnt husk of the cabin.

As she strapped on her pack, her eyes gave
one last appraisal to the cabin. There was nothing more she should
bother to salvage. Already she was more weighed down than she would
have liked, but Arderra wasn’t too far away. Jena bounced a couple
of times on the balls of her feet and swung her arms in big loops
to get her pack to settle in a way that felt right. Looking around
she figured she had a two or three hour walk to the outskirts of
the village, less if she was able to find a wagon on the road.

She pulled the vellum from her belt.
Flicking it open with her thumb, she let the rest of the creases
unfold themselves. The writing was in black ink that seemed to
shimmer; the script was thick but elegant. She read it over again,
the deed granting Reg this land to be added onto his home in
Arderra.

She tucked the deed back into her belt. If
Reg had a house in the village, then that would be a good place for
Jena to hold up. There were people she needed to talk to,
information to be gathered. Hopefully, Reg didn’t have lodgers.
Still, if he did, Jena thought as she bent to pick up her rucksack,
it shouldn’t be too difficult to deal with them.

“
Evictions are easier than
folks think,” Jena whispered to herself as she made her way away
from the property. “At least, let’s hope…”

Arderra wasn’t Anhra. Less people or, at
least, actual villagers for one. There weren’t merchants or sailors
trudging through the streets or wayward soldiers looking for some
sort of sport. Streets were another thing. Everything was dusty,
hard whereas Anhra had always felt muddy and soft. There were no
planks in the street like in Anhra, just the occasional hitching
post rail.

The buildings of Arderra stood lean with
bluish shake siding and, it seemed to Jena, slanted. Nothing was
uniform but none of the architecture seemed ambitious. Jena
couldn’t tell a shop from a home and the people in the wide streets
were painfully plain of dress. There had never been a time when
Jena really stood out due to her clothes but it was clear from the
looks she was attracting that none of these people had ever seen a
free ranger. Or, at least, not often enough to not take note.

As she came to an intersection, the street
narrowed and splayed out into five different slender lanes. Jena
strained to see if there were some kind of marker or sign letting
her know where she was heading. In Anhra, there were signposts in
the center of street intersections that couldn’t be missed—tall and
crudely constructed. Here though, it seemed as though everyone knew
where to go without looking up from what they were doing.

“
Not exactly convenient
for visitors,” Jena mumbled as she drew the vellum.

“
New to town.” Jena turn
quickly around and saw a man standing not more than a few feet from
her. She wasn’t startled though surprised.

“
You could say that,” Jena
replied, angry with herself for letting the man sneak up on
her.

The man held out his hand, “Addison.” His
voice was even and friendly. Jena hesitated, holding the vellum
tighter.

“
I’m the local constable.”
Addison smiled, “So, I think I could point you in the right
direction.”

Setting down her rucksack, Jena held out her
hand, “Is that on out of town?”

Addison smirked, “I wouldn’t say that but
you are going to attract some attention. We tend to keep to
ourselves here and there’s rarely a draw for…” He eyed her up and
down.

“
I’m a free ranger.” Jena
said matter of fact. Addison didn’t miss a beat but nodded, “So
long as you’re not looking to cause trouble you can claim to be
anything.”

Jena grimaced but Addison held up his hands
apologetically, “So then, how can I help?”

“
I need to find Tolland
Road.”

“
Looking for the
Archway?”

Jena wasn’t sure. However, if saying so
would get her directions, what could it hurt? She nodded
slightly.

Addison gave a sigh of relief, his body
visibly relaxed, “I wouldn’t have pegged you as a gifter.”

“
Gifter?” Jena had never
heard the term before.

“
No offense
meant.”

“
None taken because I have
no idea what you’re talking about.”

Addison chuckled, “A gifter, one of the
noble born youths who’ve grown bored and are slumming it. Playing
at being traders, tinkers, rangers, or corsairs. Most are out of
Ardavass and Elixem; they come through here thinking we’re Anhra.
But they know things here are quieter.”

“
That sounds ridiculous.”
Jena couldn’t hide her contempt.

“
No, it’s true. Arderra is
a quiet place, more disciplined.” Addison walked around Jena to
stand a little further in the road looking at the
crossroads.

Jena shook her head, “I didn’t mean…”

“
I know what you meant.
Most gifters have had everything given to them and they expect a
certain level of comfort.”

“
I earn my
way.”

Addison nodded, “So long as you don’t take
it.”

Jena flushed with anger, she knew Addison’s
type and this little dance between them was getting on her nerves,
“You don’t have to worry about me constable. I won’t be here long,
and I won’t be causing any trouble.”

Turning Addison’s face had hardened, he
nodded, “The Archway isn’t just some nit infested hostel; it’s a
proper inn. Tends to attract…”

“
Gifters.” Jena said
flatly. “Well, constable Addison, if you could point me in the
right direction…”

“
The sooner you’ll be
off,” he raised a hand gesturing to the lane on the far left, “Down
that lane, then turn left. It’ll be on your right, you can’t miss
it.”

“
Because of the archway.”
Jena shrugged.

Addison nodded; Jena picked her rucksack up
again and headed off. She didn’t look back at the constable but if
she had, she would have seen him not move until she turned the
corner out of his sight. Even then, Addison lingered. He knew he’d
have to keep an eye on that one and Jena was cursing herself for
drawing down attention that would just make her tasks that much
more difficult.

It didn’t take long before she found Tolland
Road and The Archway just as Addison had said. The hostel had a
large veranda built in front of a fat grey stone archway. There
were only a few people sitting outside and the lane was practically
empty.

Jena looked at the vellum one more time. It
didn’t name the property, instead giving a lane number. She
squinted, her eyes scanning the building fronts for hint of a
number. Finally, she spied it at the bottom corner of every
building. The Archway didn’t have a visible number but it was
sandwiched in the correct space. This was Reg’s property.

Stepping onto the veranda, she collected
gazes from those sitting there. One a rather fat man draped in
garish, billowing clothing. He had before him a large platter of
what looked like various vegetables. Giving a cursory glance Jena’s
way, he returned to slicing up the food before him. Two women,
barely out of their girlhood, sat not very far away from the fat
man but were clearly not associated with him. They seemed intent on
giggling secrets to each other, which only prompted Jena to role
her eyes.

The lone man at the far end of the deck that
worried her. He sat leaning back in his chair with is feet crossed
on the table. Smug, young but homely, he wore rather dark leathers
that were in a bit too nice of condition for the attitude he was
evincing. Jena felt his eyes on her from the moment she moved
towards the inn. She didn’t return the gaze but made a mental
note.

Stepping into The Archway the light from the
lane died and for a moment Jena was blind but her eyes adjusted
quickly enough. The interior was dark due to the deep, red wood
that made the tables, chairs, should height room dividers, and bar.
There were oil lamps burning giving a soft, yellow glow to
everything.

Unlike the veranda, the interior had a good
number of folk in it. Many were dining in groups of three or four.
Jena made her way to the bar. She was intercepted before she had
taken more than a couple of steps.

“
Ere for da meal?” A mousy
girl stood before her speaking with a thick Novosar
accent.

Jena looked passed the girl to the woman
behind the bar who seemed more in command, “No, thank you, I’m
fine…”

She tried to step around the girl but the
mousy girl simply stepped back in front of Jena, “So a room
then?”

Jena sighed, “Yes, I need…”

“
How many
days?”

“
At least…I’m not sure…”
Jena was put off. Stumbling for words, she was getting pissed at
herself.

“
Indefinite is fine. We’ve
rooms for tha. One bed, I assume.”

“
Yes, that’s fine. I don’t
need anything extravagant. How…”

“
It’s seven a day but if
you pay for a week ahead of time it’s half.”

“
Seven aurei? A
night!”

The girl clucked in surprise, “No, silly,
obol. A grasp for a day, half an aureus for a week paid in
advance.”

Jena felt suddenly more provincial than the
girl. She dug into her hip pocket and fished out an aurei, holding
it out to the girl she asked, “That’s with meals?”

“
Course.” The girl took
the coin, “A week then.” She smiled at Jena, “I’m Jej.”

Jena could barely make out what the girl
said, it just sounded like a slur of zeds. She shook her head and
gestured Jej, “Go on, I’d like to get settled.”

“
Course, sorry.” Jej
smiled. As they walked through the inn Jena didn’t catch anyone
looking her way. Most seemed engrossed in their conversations or
food, it seemed as though she had arrived during a village-wide
mealtime. She shrugged; it wasn’t much beyond midday so that made
sense. Still, it struck Jena as odd that so many people would be
here to have food prepared for them rather than at home.

What Jena did notice was the woman behind
the bar. The moment Jej began to speak to her, the woman behind the
bar had been eying Jena. Now her eyes followed Jena as she moved
across the room. The look on the barkeep’s face was grim, nearly
sour. As Jej turned a corner leading the way up some stairs, Jena
paused and looked right at the barkeep. The woman didn’t turn away
or break her stare; she pursed her lips and nodded for Jena to
follow Jej.

“
We’re in the midst of a
rush now, but iffa want something I canna bring id up.” Jej said
good-natured.

“
Just some bread, cheese,
and…what do you have to drink here? Raki?” Jena asked and Jej
nodded. “That then. And I don’t want to be pestered.”

Jej opened a thick door to a modest room.
Jena nodded satisfied dropping her rucksack and beginning to
unfasten her pack. She turned to Jej who was standing in the
doorway, “Go on then, before your mistress takes it out of your
hide.”

Jej seemed to snap out of some trance,
“Right, yeah,” she smiled stepping back and turning around a couple
of times not knowing which way she was going to go, “sorry, right.
Sorry.” She finally left back down the stairs.

Jena kicked the door closed and tossed her
pack on the squat bed. She arched her back and stretched side to
side making her way to the thin window. Peering through the thick,
wavy glass of the latticed window, she saw the alley below littered
with trash and crossed from above with linen lines.