The wait to get into the township of Manneck was about as boring as anything Eres had ever gone through before. All the varied groups of travellers kept to themselves and slowly edged closer and closer to the gate as each group was taken through, and the queue moved slowly enough that even people watching could only keep him entertained for so long.

  That being said, it took more than an hour before he was bored of inspecting the various people around him. Many of the merchants, who stood huddled around their caravans and conversed in hushed voices, had skin tones that he hadn’t seen since his lifetime as Adrian. Some of them had hair tied in braids, woven with gold and silver thread, and extremely dark skin. Others were clad in silk sashes and had skin tones ranging across the entire spectrum, with strong features and long hair swept back from their faces with more silk bands and sometimes even things that looked similar to the turbans he remembered.

  The other travellers, those that milled around in groups of two or three, now they looked more like the people that had been in his father’s village. Most of them had pale skin turned bronze from the sun, a handful of freckles cast over their faces and various shades of brown as their hair. Realising that he and Myla were the only ones around he could see with light hair, he asked the girl's if they knew anything about it.

  “Oh, well, I don’t know about you. I figured your mum just wasn’t from around here either,” Myla murmured, gazing at the crowd around them as she shifted from foot to foot uneasily. “My mum's family originally comes from down south, all the way in Soldun. The further south you go, the more varied it gets, where families have mixed over the country lines more over the generations, or at least that is how she explained it. Her family came up her years back, so she always sticks out a bit amongst northerners.”

  “I figured you would have read about this,” Freya chuckled, poking Eres in the side, “no books on geography or culture in your study?”

  “I mean… they were there, but so were the magic books, so they quickly got forgotten,” Eres admitted, hands up in defeat. “None of us are exactly worldly, but you probably no more than I do. Give me a rundown on what you know. I’m bored as all hells, and if I don’t entertain myself, I’m going to start practicing magic out of habit and cause chaos.”

  It took dealing with a little more teasing before Freya finally answered his question. “Myla had it right. Most people from Soldun have fairer skin and hair than people up here in Leodas. It is a bit of a simplified view, though; in a city, it won’t be obvious because of how much intermarrying has been done over the years, but you can usually tell in villages. They are a bit more insular.” Freya’s voice dropped into the calming register she had used as a maid, rather than the slightly more excitable range her voice had sat in since she had left. “The merchants over there look like they came from the east, in Arador. Their country gets unbearably hot and even has entire stretches of nothing but sand. That’s why all their clothes are loose; it helps keep them cool.

  “I don’t know much about the country, really. They are super open to visitors, though, and they love it when outsiders bring delicacies or bits of home with them. Something about sharing homes? Maybe we could visit?

  “Anyway, the only other people you are likely to come across are people from Kringard to the west. They look similar to people from the north of Leodas, lots of dark hair and light eyes, but some of them live in the higher reaches of the mountains, I think. Up there, you find more blonde and red hair, and they tend to be taller too.”

  Eres just stared openmouthed at Freya. That was a lot more information than he expected to be given. He wasn’t under any false impression about his companion’s intelligence; both of them were incredibly smart. The problem was that information wasn’t easy to access in this world. There was no internet, no public libraries and no instant communication outside of specialised magic, so most people only knew about their surrounding areas unless they went to an academy or a school in some city.

  Seeing his confusion, Freya blushed a little. “When we realised you were ignoring the world for magic, your mother thought it would be a good idea if I picked up the slack. She tutored me a little and gave me access to her library.”

  Eres laughed and shook his head, giving his friend a quick hug. “She did that for you, and somehow you were still surprised when she slipped you a small fortune? She has been setting us up for success ever since she decided to be honest with me, and clearly, she decided you are going to be the one to navigate us through people and places, so look after us!”

  Freya squeezed him back and smiled, her face still flushed. She had to let go as the crowd shifted and moved them closer to the door, but Eres couldn’t help but notice that she stayed pressed close to him, nearly always in contact with him, even when the press of the crowd eased up.

  A few more questions about the world around them occurred to Eres, but he could see the portcullis ahead of them and a guard waving them forward to his guardpost at the town gates.

  ***

  “It is a completely fair charge,” Freya said, her shoulders shaking as she tried to hold in her laughter.

  “Fair? Fair!? It’s horseshit is what it is!” Myla spat, a scowl etching lines into her face. “Eres can make weapons out of thin air, you can conjure literal miracles, and I am the one who gets charged extra for bringing a large weapon into the town?!”

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  “They did offer for you to leave it at the barracks and pick it up on the way out?” Freya snickered before holding her hands up as Myla whirled to face her. “Alright, alright! Sorry, you are too fun to tease. You never get worked up like this, and I was enjoying myself.

  “They aren't punishing you or favouring us, it is just how it works. A short sword or a dagger or something they handwave as personal protection, but that giant thing is a weapon of war, love. Every town and city is going to tax you coming in with it, and that tax will only go up when we all get into enchanted armour.”

  Both Eres and Myla looked at her questioningly at that, so she elaborated. “It is basically an unofficial adventurers' tax. Officially, the tax is to disincentivise people to bring weapons and armour into civilised areas, to lower chances of someone getting gutted in a bar fight. In reality, it is more just a way of making sure people who make a lot of money with violence, usually adventurers and sellswords, pay up to the town.

  “And yes, Myla, I know you aren’t going to cause any trouble. We might be the exception, though. The tax didn’t come out of nowhere; a lot of towns had problems with people drawing blades over the smallest thing. The tax helps them repair damage and reminds those with weapons that they are still required not to be assholes,” Freya shrugged as she thought for a second, “but you are right, them charging you and not Eres is actually kinda stupid. Though that is just because no one is going to outright tell them their Blessing, so they just tax those in weapons and armour. It isn’t flawless, but it is what it is.”

  “Come on Myla,” Eres said, ruffling her hair and bending down to look into the smaller womans blue eyes, “It sucks, but let’s not let it get you down. We have the coin to pay for it, so let's just let it pass and find somewhere to stay tonight. We want to look around the market tomorrow, right?”

  Both of them nodded in response, though Myla’s was more than a little begrudging.

  “So, let's grab some rooms and some food, and then we can have a look at some shops, maybe find an armourer and see if they have a Guildhall here. We aren’t in any rush, but we should try and keep the momentum we have, I think. Obviously, this is just my idea. if you guys think we should do something different…?” Eres trailed off, raising a questioning eyebrow towards his companions.

  “Sounds good to me,” Freya said, stretching her arms above her head. “I could do with a real bed and not carrying this bag around for a few hours. I know the thing is lighter than it should be, but it still causes knots after a few days.”

  Myla nodded, still looking a little sullen. “Fine, but can we prioritise getting us all some armour while we are here? Not cause of the tax or anything; I’m not being petty. It’s just something I want us to get sooner rather than later, before one of us gets hurt.”

  The unspoken words again hung in the air as she looked down at the torn sleeve of Eres's shirt. He had thought about stitching it up or just tearing it down for spare cloth, but the rip wasn’t too bad, and all of the blood had washed out of the cloth easily enough. He had noticed both of his friends looking at it throughout the last leg of their journey, but he hadn’t realised how much it had bothered them.

  “Sure, I think it is a good priority to have. We can ask around for a good one as soon as we find a place to stay, how about that?” Eres said softly, smiling at the worried blonde.

  It didn’t take them too long to find somewhere to stay. As they got nearer to the centre of town, they saw more than a few nice-looking inns. There had been a few near the gates, but they looked to be more bunkhouses, somewhere to stay the night and hurry on about your business, not somewhere to rest and relax.

  It was the sign hanging outside the door that decided for them. It read The Lanced Wyvern - Bed, Breakfast and Baths. Freya turned to Eres with a look in her eyes almost like a child begging their parent, and Eres barely nodded before she took off towards the door at a near run.

  “Hi! Welcome to the Lanced Wyvern. What can I do for you?” Asked the girl behind the desk. She was pretty, with long dark hair and eyes so pale blue they almost looked grey. The inside of the Inn itself was all done in dark wood, every surface looked polished and clean. There were stairs off to the left of the front desk and a bar and taproom off to the right. The smell of cider and roasting meat rolled out from a kitchen hidden somewhere out of sight.

  “We were to find somewhere to stay for a few nights, and hopefully food and a bath too,” Freya said, her face cracked into a friendly smile.

  “Sure, we can do that!” the girl chimed, smiling back as she pulled out a book. She looked over us, and her smile changed a little, to something a little more mischievous. “Is that just one room for the three of you?”

  Myla instantly began to go bright red, but Freya just smiled and shook her head. “Two rooms, please, one for me and Myla, and one for Eres over there,” she said, pointing as she named her friends. “Plus dinner, breakfast and a bath as soon as possible for each of us.”

  “Alright, that is easy enough. For the whole lot, that will be 50 Leons a day, 40 on any day you aren’t using the baths. Dinner is extra, but you pay at the bar, not here. Do you want to pay for a few days in advance?”

  Freya looked back at Eres, cocking her head at the question. He thought for a moment, then nodded. “Call it a week for now. We will need to be here at least that long to get anything fitted and tailored. And as long as you don’t mind us utilising the baths every day, we might as well make use of them until we are back on the road.”

  “Alright, 350 Leons then, right?” Freya asked, fishing into the small pouch at her belt and fishing out a few gold and silver coins. “Mind showing us where to drop our stuff and then to the baths? I want to get all this trail grime off me before we eat dinner and shop around.”

  The girl took the coins and got them to sign into the ledger in front of her with a smile that was back to being simply professional. “Of course, here are your keys. Let me show you to your rooms.”