Secrets of the Swords, Book 1

Chapter 4: Wanted Crooks and Recipe Books

Alaera Ellersong, as it turned out, was the daughter of a Sylterran diplomat. She herself worked at the International Office in Choraport's Imperial Quarter, and-she whispered this next bit to Suthe conspiratorially-would probably be able to come up with a few blank travel documents that she could fill out with Suthe's name, to use until the "lost" luggage and passport were found.

Suthe felt a bit bad about lying, but then, she wasn't sure what else to do at this point but to go along with her made-up story. If Alaera suddenly found out that Suthe had druith traits and was wanted by the Montese government, wouldn't she find herself in trouble with the Sylterrans on top of everything else? There was no telling if this country was as wary of druith craft as Montmyth was, and Suthe wasn't willing to take any risks.

"Almost there," Alaera said, interrupting Suthe's internal debate. She pointed to a rather old building at the end of the street they were on. "It's that one, there."

"What do those posters say?" Suthe asked as they walked toward the apartment, pointing at the wrinkled parchment pasted to some of the walls. The lettering was in a bold print, and in the center of every page was a sketch of a Sylterran man with curly hair and a crooked nose, wearing a devilish grin. Suthe had seen a few different variations of the posters now, and was too curious not to ask.

"Oh, those?" Alaera said, stopping to look more closely at one. "That's Zephirik Nothword. He's a pretty famous musician here in Shoreshire. Apparently he has a show next week."

Suthe took one more look at the poster before moving on. "I thought we were in Choraport?" she asked.

Alaera chuckled. "Choraport is divided into four distinct areas-the Imperial Quarter, the Rust District, Forgeborough, and Shoreshire. We're in Shoreshire now."

"Oh," Suthe said, mulling over this new information. "Are there a lot of musicians in Shoreshire?"

Alaera shrugged. "The neighborhood tends to attract the dreamers and more artistically-talented folk," she explained, "and the other half of it is made up of fishermen. The rent is cheap though, so it works for me even though I don't fall into either of those two categories."

They had finally reached the end of the street, and Suthe looked at another poster plastered to the front of Alaera's apartment. "So this man is a musician too?" she asked. The poster was a bit different from the others she had seen-there were fewer embellishments, and instead of a smiling profile, the man looked out from the paper with a solemn gaze. Even if he didn't have much musical talent, Suthe figured that his looks would compensate in accounting for his popularity-any love struck young woman would find the dark unruly hair, sharp cheekbones, and smoldering eyes of the man attractive. In fact, if he had a performance coming up soon, maybe Suthe could-

"No, no, no," Alaera hastily interjected, pulling Suthe away from the poster. "That one is not an advertisement."

"What is it, then?" Suthe cast a last glance over her shoulder before she was ushered inside.

"That is the face of the Sylterran military's most talented and dangerous spy, plastered to the front of a wanted poster," Alaera answered. Suthe was unable to stop a shiver from going down her spine. "If you see that man anywhere, or even hear the name Ulsper Speroware, you need to come right home or notify the constable. If you run into him on your own, there's no telling what he'll do."

Suthe bit her lip and started to climb the stairs, feeling more worries add on to her already existing ones. Not only did she have to worry about being discovered as a druith, but now she had to look out for a rogue spy in a foreign country as well? Had she done something wrong in a past life to deserve any of this?

Alaera's home, by some cruel twist of fate, was on the third floor of the apartment building. Although Suthe offered to help her up the stairs, Alaera stubbornly refused and lurched up to the top floor by herself. When her staff finally struck the top landing with a thump, one of the tenants on the floor below shouted up at them in what Suthe could only assume was a complaint at the noise.

Alaera replied with a second, vindictive bang of her stick against the hardwood floor. Then she turned to Suthe with a smile.

"It's the door at the end of the hall," she said sweetly, fishing out the keys from the pocket of her faded blue jacket.

"Thank you again for letting me stay here," Suthe said as Alaera opened the door and held it for Suthe to enter the apartment first. The smell of pine polish and lavender incense lingered in the entryway and grew stronger as she moved into the living room.

"No worries!" Alaera replied cheerfully, stepping over the threshold and shutting the door behind her. "Though, if you don't mind me asking, what brings you to Choraport?"

Suthe, with her back to Alaera, grimaced. "The library!" she blurted, turning around to face her hostess. "Uh...I've heard about the Choraport Grand Library. It's supposed to have the largest collection in the four regions, right?"

Alaera cast a glance at the recipe book in Suthe's hands. "I take it you like to read a lot?"

"Uh, yes," Suthe said, which wasn't untrue. Then an idea came to her. "But it's more specific than that. I'm actually trying to research Montmyth's history."

Alaera limped over to an embroidered blue armchair and sat down. "What time period? Before the Pretian Split, or after?"

"Er...before, I think." Suthe realized she didn't quite know when the druith peoples had abandoned their nomadic ways and lost their culture to the dominant Montese society. Perhaps there was something in their history that alluded to why the country thought they were so dangerous? It was such a taboo topic, she hardly knew anything about druith history, let alone about her own abilities.

Alaera quirked an eyebrow. "You think?"

Suthe hesitantly sat down on the sofa across from her. "Have you heard of the druiths before?"

"Yes, though I wouldn't go around talking about them too much. Did you hear how the Montese government has ordered the arrest of anyone exhibiting skills of their craft?"

Suthe bit her lip. "Yes, well...After hearing so much about them, I'm curious just what they can do, and why they're so different from everyone else."

Alaera, much to Suthe's concern, did not look like she was buying the excuse. "And so you came all the way to Choraport?"

"W-well, I had already planned a vacation to begin with," Suthe hastily added. "But this is a side project, apart from all the sight-seeing." She crossed her fingers and hoped the Sylterran wouldn't push the matter.

With a sigh, Alaera stood up and limped over to the kitchen area. "Well, I can arrange a tour of the city for you tomorrow if you'd like. And after I get off work, I can take you to the library and help you research."

Suthe allowed herself a small smile. "That would be wonderful, thank you."

"No problem." Alaera fished a kettle out of a cabinet. "Tea? Then I can show you the spare room and find you some extra clothes."

Suthe's stomach grumbled at the mention of food-it was well past lunchtime and she hadn't eaten since midmorning. "Yes, tea would be great."

This chapter has been in draft form for a long time--in celebration of my grand return to Wattpad, I decided to just post it and worry about fixing the little details later. Hope you enjoy!

I also realized after my absence that I had forgotten to dedicate chapters so far (shame on me). I've got a lot of people to thank, too. This one's for you, Amanda! Thank you so much for your support! Check out her amazingly detailed, incredibly addicting Twisted Kingdoms (that I definitely need to catch up on!).