It was a week from Uvenallos to Mulvalod, which was the next major port. The city itself was on top of a large cliff and there was nowhere visible to even consider settling the ship to try and climb to the sprawling town, but then we swung around one of the cliff faces and a cavern suddenly appeared with long piers and a second city carved into the cliff.
Mulvalod, Eninald explained to me, was better thought of as two cities. There was Mulvalod, which was the Elven city above and then there was Mulvalod Port, where we were sailing into. The two were connected by a series of stairs and winches to move supplies from one part of the city to the other, but while Mulvalod Port was a transient town full of a wide variety of people and goods, Mulvalod itself was an almost stereotypical elven city. When I confessed I didn’t know what that meant, Eninald insisted that we go up there to explore. Thuvvik, surprisingly, was very supportive.
“Yes, yes. Go. Weatherns agree to stay here for few days so I can trade. Get many resources and perhaps few books to help you practice. Enjoy time! But not too much.”
I didn’t like how he waggled his ears, but I didn’t have time to worry before Eninald all but dragged me off the ship. Unfortunately, we immediately hit a barrier when we found out that passage to the city proper required a permit and we had arrived too late in the day for any to be available. So, we put in papers for the following day, and instead Eninald took me around the port city first.
Mulvalod was fascinating. Without access to the sky, the entire city was instead lit by a small light every few paces. Most were torches or lamps, but there was a sizable chunk that were instead small magic orbs, enchanted to turn ambient Energy and turn it into light. I had nearly taken one off the wall to examine before Eninald very firmly pulled my hand away and nodded to the woman standing angrily nearby.
“Oh, sorry. I was just curious. Never seen one before,” I said sheepishly. Her glare didn’t soften.
“Look with your eyes! Not with your hands!”
I nodded, chastised but amused, before beating a quick retreat with Eninald. Only when we were a decent distance away did we simultaneously burst out giggling. When the giggles finally abated, Eninald gave me one of his wide smiles.
“You’ve never seen a Lightstone before?”
I shook my head.
“Well, then let's go see if we can find one you can look at.”
Eninald led us along a meandering path that wove through the Port town at seeming random. I lost track of where we were after the first dozen turns and instead spent the time looking around instead of trying to figure out where we were or were going.
Unlike Uvenallos, Mulvalod or at least Mulvalod port, was a lot more cosmopolitan. I saw a good chunk of the blue-green Sea Elves I had previously, but there were also a large number of others. Several shorter people that Eninald identified as part of the Menik Confederation, a good smattering of humans, the occasional Dragonborn, and even what seemed to be a different type of Elf. They had the same pointed ears as the Sea elves, but instead of walking around in overly tight clothes that showed off nearly as much skin as it hid, they almost all had armor of some kind. Further, their skin was a pale grey instead of the more vibrant green-blue I had grown used to.
““Dusk elves,” Eninald explained, “mostly keep to the underground areas, one of the few non-Menic people to do so. We should avoid them as much as possible.”
I blinked and gave him a confused look.
“They’re… they're all a bit mad. Live underground, practice magic, claim that their God actually speaks to them directly. I’d call it lunacy if any of them had ever seen the moon.”
“What… what about that is so weird? I c… I’ve seen plenty of magic back in Tsuruga.”
He gave me a look that went from surprised to something else I couldn’t identify.
“Magic isn’t the problem. It’s the claims about the Gods. No one speaks to the Gods directly, at least, not any more. It’s all signs and omens these days. Only the mad and delusional think the Gods talk to them directly.”
“Talking to something claiming to be Death and accepting a deal with an outsider is what most of our histories would consider madness.”
“And practicing magic on top of that? It’s… dangerous. There’s a reason mages live in towers far away form everyone and everything else. I remember when the mage’s tower in Durgo exploded. Took out the tower and the entire surrounding block and left the area barren for years. Nothing could grow, anyone that tried to build something new there died. And all that wizard had been researching was hair coloring reagents. Nothing particularly dangerous.”
My immediate questions and concerns about magic faded away as I tried to figure out how exactly mixing hair dyes resulted in an explosion before ultimately putting those thoughts aside. That was an issue for another day.
“Honestly,” Eninald continued, “It’s probably for the best that you got out of Tsuruga. The Morphkin are all mages which means the entire town is probably one day away from going up in flames. You’re safer out here.”
It took all I had to not laugh at that. There was so much he didn’t know, so much he was missing about why that was so completely and utterly false that it made me want to laugh. And cry. But mostly laugh.
“If you say so,” I eventually managed.
*******************************************************
The shop where Eninald led me to did in fact have Lightstones for me to look at. He didn’t go into the store himself, which made sense given his discomfort with magic. I spent far more time wandering the shelves and investigating the carvings on the items than I care to admit, mentally evaluating how they were made and how I would do better in making them. The designs were… acceptable, but there was a lot of potential loss and there was no way built in to store energy. If the ambient source was disturbed in any way, say by a mage drawing in energy for their own spell, then the Lightstone would go out. I’m sure to some that was a feature, a simple mage warning system, but to me it seemed like a liability. If I was trying to cast and then suddenly the light source I was using went out, I’d be frustrated that I could see what I was doing, not grateful.
“Interested in buying a globe?” said a light and lilting voice behind me.
I jumped. I had been so consumed by the considerations that I hadn’t heard them coming. Carefully putting the globe back I turned and smiled at the shopkeeper, a younger looking sea elf woman, and shook my head.
“I’m not certain I have enough coin for something… well made.”
“Oh,” the shopkeep said, her eyes falling slightly. “Well, then perhaps we could work something out. I’m sure you’ll find my rates quite… flexible.”
Ah, not falling. Scanning down my body. I felt an absurd need to cover myself up despite wearing a full set of clothes and instead took a step back. “No thank you,” I managed.
“Tsk. Well, if you change your mind, be sure to come back. I’ll make you a deal. Perhaps have us a private underwater ‘adventure’.” Her gills flared at that and I took another step towards the door.
“Is something the matter?” came Eninald’s voice from the doorway.
The shopkeep glared at Eninald, but I quickly scampered over to him and grabbed his arm. There was a moment of tension and then the shopkeep ‘tsk’-ed again and walked away.
“Thanks,” I quietly managed.
“Mages,” he said quietly, “What did I tell you?”
I sighed, unwilling to point out that hadn’t even been close to the most brazen attempt on my dignity. “Let’s just go… somewhere else? Please?”
Eninald’s face grew concerned before nodding. He gently wrapped an arm around me, holding me tight and we walked down the streets. I had no idea where we were, but Eninald had clearly been here before as he confidently turned and navigated us through the labyrinthian mess of streets and buildings. We ended out front of a small shop with a title I didn’t recognize.
“Con…Con-fect-ion-ery? Confectionery?” I asked.
Eninald laughed. “You’ve never been, I take it?”
I shook my head.
“You’re in for a treat. Come on.”
The inside was a small, but there was a notable sweet smell to the air and a charming old elven man sitting behind the counter. Eninald talked in rapid Runna with the man and while I could follow most of the words, I had no idea what half of them meant. So, instead, I stood by his side and waited patiently. It didn’t take long before Eninald fished some silver coins out of his purse and traded them with the man receiving a small bag in return. He quickly navigated us to a small bench and produced a pair of brown rectangles.
“Uh…”
He snorted in laughter. “It’s called ‘fudge.’ It’s something you eat. Go ahead, take a bite.”
A gave him a skeptical eye, but took the square in hand. There was a bit of wrapping around the ‘fudge’, so I gently pulled one of the corners down and gingerly put it into my mouth, bitting the smallest corner possible off.
Winters. Roar. The sweetness was almost overwhelming, I had never had something so powerfully sweet before in my life. But the creamy and soft bit I had torn off was so sweet and smooth that it melted across my tongue, spreading the sweetness out and causing pleasurable tingles to radiate from my mouth outward.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“Mmmmmm,” I said.
Eninald smiled slightly and shifted in his seat. “You, uh, enjoy?”
I nodded and took another bite. It was just as sweet as the last, but this time I could taste the rich almost silken sensation gliding across my tongue.
“Is very good,” I said, pausing to savor the taste.
“Good! Good,” Eninald said before taking a bite of his own. We sat there in relative silence, enjoying the sweets for a bit. It wasn’t long before I went to take another bite and the square of fudge was gone. I almost stood to go back and purchase another square but stopped myself. I didn’t have that much coin and as nice as the fudge had been, it wasn’t something that I needed right now. Wanted? Very much so, but not needed.
Eninald was looking at me with a small smile and I could feel my cheeks reddening slightly under his scrutiny.
“So, uh… what now?”
He paused and thought before nodding. “This way,” he said.
A few more twists and turns until we came to a small theater. I didn’t recognize the play’s title, but Eninald didn’t take me through the front door. Instead, we ducked into the alleyway and then slid through a side door. There wasn’t an audience, but the actors and actresses were on the stage nonetheless performing.
“Practice,” he explained, watching the stage.
I nodded and found myself smiling as well. Unlike the rest of the trip where Eninald’s eyes had been on me most of the time, here his eyes were completely transfixed on the stage before him.
Honestly, it had been amusing watching him try and hide where his eyes went. I had been concerned at first, but since it had stayed at only looks that had at least attempted discretion it had been a lot more tolerable than the blatancy I had been dealing with throughout the ports. As subtle as Eninald thought he was, he just hadn’t mastered looking with his eyes and not his head yet.
But now? Now we sat in companionable silence watching the performers put on a show they probably didn’t realize they were giving, with me only sparing the occasional glance in Eninald’s direction for a change.
“Enjoying yourself?” I delicately asked during one of the scene changes.
He blushed, “Yeah. I always wanted to be an actor, but I was born in the Runnan Colonies on Dargat.”
I blinked twice, not sure what that meant. He smiled and shook his head sadly, “Right, orphan. You wouldn’t know. The holdings are Elven claimed territories, which means Elven government, Elven customs, and Elven entertainment standards. All the big theaters and shows are done in the Amphitheater, but since it’s primarily for elves, all the famous and well-paid actors are either elves or enslaved Morphkin on loan.” I was lucky he was too focused on the stage to notice my wince, “Not a lot of room for a human who hasn’t had any formal training to get on stage and definitely not enough money to make a life. So, I joined up with a merchant crew. Better money and a better life.”
I put a hand on his back delicately, “You’re not too old to do that now.”
He shrugged noncommittally, “Too old for the Elven ones at least. Train you from the age of six. Still, you’re not wrong. I have enough coin saved up that I probably could. Hell, my contract was up in Uvenallos. I’m just day-to-day for now.”
I blinked in confusion, “Oh, then why are you staying with us?”
He looked at me with a disbelieving look.
I might have missed some things, but even I couldn’t miss the implications there. “Oh.” I said in a very small voice.
He smiled warmly at me, “I was hoping that when you got off the boat in Freeport, I could come with? Not sure what we would do, but … I’d be willing to find out?”
I nodded, lips pursing and uncomfortable with the shift. It wasn’t… bad. Just different. Nice, but still new enough that I didn’t know what to say.
“Perhaps,” I eventually managed.
Eninald smiled, his eyes turning back to the stage.
“If it makes you feel better, you’re not the only reason I’m still on the ship. Captain won’t be able to pick up much new crew until Freeport, so staying on helps him out too. I’m sure there are plenty of people doing the same. Weatherns has been good to us. Going an extra port or two isn’t that much of an ask. Especially since it’s to Freeport, where most of us would want to be anyways.”
What I wanted to ask was if him leaving the ship would hurt the ship itself. If he was certain he wanted to leave. If … what he would do if I had to go on. Instead what I asked was, “Are… are a lot of people going to leave the ship?”
“We inevitably lose people in Freeport. There are a few who will just leave because their contract is done, a few who will leave because they think can get more elsewhere. Not many, given how good Weatherns is the crew, but a few. And a few who, like me, were only doing this because they needed a coin. Freeport’s a good place for folks like that. Plenty of good theater troupes in Freeport. Gotta be one who’d take on someone like me.”
I nodded quietly, not sure what to make of the entire situation
*******************************************************************************************************
The next day our passes were approved and we hiked up to the upper city. There were lifts and magical carts, but those were reserved for nobles, which ultimately meant elves, and cargo. Still, it wasn’t a bad walk, less than half a bell. We stopped at food stands and minor oases having conversations with other travelers along the way. And sure, there was some flirting and propositions, but it was far more spaced out and less blatant than the sea elves had been, so I welcomed the reprieve and learned the gossip of the land.
Weather, taxes, and the harvest was the main theme, but the occasional odd rumor crept through. Apparently, a group of assassins had claimed credit for the death of a notable governor recently. As a result, the Empire was cracking down on trade and ships looking for those who had smuggled the assassins into the land. Eninald was unconcerned, given that Weatherns ran an honest merchant ship, but I couldn’t help but shake the well of dread that rumor inspired. I might not be an assassin, but I was certainly being moved under false pretenses.
Still I managed to push the thoughts far enough out of my mind by the time we broke into the sunlight. Mulvalod was as different from the port as day was from night. Where the lower city was tight but lived; the upper city was open, picturesque, but horribly stale. Every building an artistic wonder, but so pristine it was hard to believe anyone lived there. The streets were open and cobbled with paved stone, but there was so much room that you felt awkward passing by someone else with any degree of closeness. The gardens were immaculately shaped to form intricate geometric patterns with their walkways and the semblance of birds with their bushes. However, the grass was shorn, untrampled, and all the same color. It was… wrong. There was nothing harmonic or natural about the place.
“It’s probably the point,” Rin commented. “They have mastered even the most unruly of things. They own and command all.”
That seemed disturbingly likely. Objectively, I could appreciate the beauty and the statement of power, but to one who grew up in a civilization that built around the natural world and admired the beauty inherent to it, the entire city felt like an abomination; it was wrong in every way. Despite my best efforts at a pleasant public presentation, the disgust I felt spread to both my stomach and my face.
“It’s not for everyone,” Eninald agreed looking at my face, “But it’s damn pretty.”
“It’s impressive the same way a shipwreck is. Disgusting and harrowing, but you can’t pry your eyes away, all the while feeling a profound sense of loss.”
There was a pause as I could see his eyes shifting, looking through this world through the lens I had just painted for him, my disgust taking root and welling within him. I was impressed with how quickly he came around to my view point, but was too grateful to not be argued with to really pay it any mind.
“Oh,” he managed.
I nodded numbly. It hadn’t even been a quarter-bell, but the wrongness of the city itched at my soul and made me long for somewhere else. “Can we go back?” I asked plaintively.
He nodded quickly, motioning me to move towards the lift. We hadn’t gone a hundred paces when we were intercepted by a group of guards in gilded armor. They were unlike any elf I had seen thus far, stern faced and golden skin, with a hum of magic radiating strong enough that it made my teeth hurt.
“This is problematic,” Rin stated, “we don’t know how our disguise will withstand magical scrutiny. Be prepared for if this goes poorly.”
I gulped, suddenly twice as panicked.
“This panic is counterproductive to being prepared.”
Mentally yelling at myself, I pulled myself forward and smiled as pleasantly as I could at the guards.
“Good day.”
“Sun’s blessings visitor,” the guard with the most impressive armor responded. “What is your business in the city of Mulvalod?” Runna might lack signifiers about status in speech, but the guard's belief about his inherent superiority clearly bled through.
“Sightseeing,” Eninald responded, producing the passes we had procured below. “Though it seems my companion has taken ill, so we are returning to the Port now.”
That, if anything, set the guards on edge. Which was an odd response…. Oh, no. I spared the pathway another look and found a pattern subtly laid in the bricks. There was a magical effect going on here, passive, but still potent. The stones were wicking magic away from anything that walked on it. A small amount, but enough that it was upsetting to me.
“The patterns seem to be keyed to cause a minor effect to magical creatures and peoples. I’d imagine those who live here have long since learned to ignore it, but if there was an infiltrator, say from the people?”
They’d stand out since they hadn’t adjusted. How much of a fear must’ve the People been that the Elves had structured their entire city around making sure that we couldn’t just walk around safely? Why? It wasn’t like we left our island, right?
“The only documented case of a Kitsune leaving the island is Kimiko Blackheart.”
Who would certainly have made a bad impression on anyone, but that didn’t seem like enough of an explanation here. Questions for another day. For now, I held my stomach slightly and gave the guards a pained smile, “I think I had some bad eggs this morning at the inn and it’s catching up to me.”
Eninald, bless him, didn’t say a word about how we had bread for breakfast and put his hand soothingly on my back.
“Right,” the guard said mollified, “Get down below before you relieve yourself lest you ruin the road.”
We quickly as we could while not agitating my ‘stomach’ made our way back to the portward path. Once we were safely on the ramp back down and my stomach had calmed, we burst into laughter.
“Ruin the road? Seriously, that’s what they were worried about?”
“Right?” he laughed, “as if it wouldn’t just wipe up.”
I laughed again, “I don’t know. It’s been touched by an undesirable. Best to just get rid of it.”
There was another burst of laughter before we continued down the ramp.
**********************************************************
The return walk was easier and the farther we got from the upper city, the further the malaise diminished, never quite leaving but certainly easy to walk with.
“Say,” Eninald offered, “There’s a very good tavern that most of the crew attends. We might be able to get a drink there, help settle that stomach.”
I laughed and gave him a good-natured shove, “You just want me to be next to you longer.”
He smiled slightly, “That is, I admit, a rather nice bonus.”
There was part of me that wanted to say no, to stick to the propriety from home. But then I remembered how he had helped me in the shop and the support in the city above and I realized that spending time being close to Eninald actually sounded nice. So instead, I laughed and swung my hand wide, in desperate need of some relaxation, “Lead the way.”
