Full Dark

Chapter XI: Splendor at the Gates

In which Columbus delivers a cruel lesson and  Amalia gets a little revenge. 

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A towering shape appeared on the horizon early the next morning, taller than Tobias' thought Dryhill had any right to be.

"That can't be the city, can it?" he asked.

"You better believe it," replied Columbus. "The fact that we can already see the hill means we are making good time. I suspect we will arrive at the gates a couple of hours before sundown, Bask willing."

"More like a mountain than a hill," exclaimed Amalia. "I had no idea it was so big."

"The world is bigger and more astonishing than you can imagine," stated Columbus. "But you need to be careful it does not bedazzle you blind. Quiet now, the both of you. I need to concentrate on driving. The last thing we want is to become stranded so close to our destination."

***

As the wagon traveled farther west, the shape on the horizon began to resolve itself. It was a hill, but bigger than any of the ones around Palewind, sticking out of the flat landscape like an act of defiance. Surrounding the city were fens, and as they drew closer, Tobias could hear the distinct rushing of the river that ran underneath the mountain. Tobias was worried that the way forward would soon prove to be unnavigable, but to his relief, the ground began to grow more solid. He soon saw why, when a grey snake of paved cobblestone rose out of the marsh to greet them. The carriage had reunited with the road.

"While I dislike how this road meanders, it will not do to approach from the swamp," explained Columbus. "Dryhill is a trade-town, and as such demands proper procedure. Its people have little tolerance for shifty business, and doing it in the open attracts the wrong kind of attention." Columbus' lip curled. "Although you would be surprised at how much a bag of silver can bend the rules."

When the road heading south from Palewind had little traffic, this one couldn't have been more different. It seemed to Tobias that every quarter of an hour they passed a carriage heading the other direction. Several times they overtook pilgrims, all their belongings stuffed into sacks on their backs. Columbus mentioned that many were departing farms and villages, to seek their fortunes in the cities. When Amalia asked why, Columbus shrugged and said that supposedly Thatch had stopped blessing crops, and people were looking to try their luck in the cities.

Soon the road met up with Silt River, and those traveling on foot were joined by the great trading ships heading up and down the river. Most were larger in size than the whaling ships around Palewind, and all were more extravagant. In fact, Tobias believed there was an unspoken competition to see what merchant had the most spectacular vessel. Each figurehead was more intricate and majestic than the last, from saber-toothed helskies to stern gladiators, eye sockets and sword pommels alight with precious stones. The hulls were painted in glaring vermillion, opulent gold, regal purple, or sometimes a mix of all three, and it was all Tobias could do to keep his mouth from hanging open.

"Amazing what money can get, is it not?" asked Columbus, a wry smile on his face. "I suppose conquering and enslaving the foreigners that you 'trade' with helps too."

"Weren't you kind of helping by serving on the merchant ships?" asked Tobias, somewhat against his better judgement.

Columbus scowled. "Sometimes making a living trumps morals. Need I remind you that your father and mother did the same."

That shut Tobias up.

Dryhill grew closer, and its features became more clear. At the base of the mountain, miners had widened the natural tunnel that Silt River traveled through, expanding it so the merchant ships could fit, and outfitting the space with docks and customs booths. Tobias' gaze traveled upward. The rock was ancient, its stone sides composed of bald, bone-colored slabs that looked like they had been in an eternal battle with time and weather. Further skyward, the mountain terminated in a flat top, and it was there that the city of Dryhill began.