Chapter XXIII: Dras-Leona
For days, we had ridden south along Leona Lake's vast shore. Our initial enthusiasm had started fading. However, we were heartened when we met men who said that Dras-Leona was an easy day's ride ahead.
The newxt the road was clogged with framers taking their goods to market in Dras-Leona. The three of us, Brom, Eragon, and I were forced to slow our horsesto wait for wagons that blocked the way.
It was noon when the city became visible, although before then we could see smoke in the distance. Dras-Leona was different from Teirm, which was a planned city. It was a tangled mess that sprawled out next to Leona Lake. Ramshackle buildings sat on crooked streets, and the heart of the city was surrounded by a dirty pale yellow wall of daubed mud.
Several kilometres east, a mountain of bare rock speared the sky with spires and columns, a tenebrous nightmare ship. Near-vertical sides rose out of the ground like a jagged piece of the earth's bone. Brom pointed at it.
"That is Helgrind. It's the reason Dras-Leona was originally built. People are fascinated by it, even though it's an unhealthy and malebolent thing." He gestured at the buildings inside the city. "We should go to the center of the city first."
As we crept along the road to Dras-Leona, I could see that the highest building within the city was a cathedral that loomed behind the walls. It was strikingly similar to Helgrind, especially when its arches and flanged spires caught the light. "Who do they worship?" Eragon asked.
"Their prayers go to Helgrind." Brom said, grimacing in distaste. "It's a cruel, barbaric religion they practise. They drink human blood and make flesh offerings." I frowned in thought, thinking that everything Brom was saying sounded familiar. "Their priests often lack body parts because they believe that the more bone and sinew you give up, the less you're attached to the mortal world. They spend so much of their time arguing about which of Helgrind's three peaks is the highest and most important and whether the fourth – and lowester – should be included in their worship."
"That's horrible," Eragon said with a shudder.
"Yes," Brom said grimily, "but don't say that to a believer. You'll quickly lose a hand in 'penance'."
At Dras-Leona's enormous gates, we led the horses through the crushing throng of people. There were ten guards stationed on either side of the gates casually scanning the ground. We passed into the city without incident.
The houses inside the city wall were tall and thin to compensate for the lake of space. Those next to the wall were braced against it. Most of the houses hung over the narrow, winding streets, covering the sky so it was hard to tell if it was night or day. Nearly all the buildings were constructed of the same rough brown wood, which darkened the city even more. The air reeked like a sewer; the streets were filthy.
A group of ragged children ran between the houses, fighting over scraps of bread. Deformed beggars crouched next to the entrance gates, pleading for money. I shivered. Their cries for help were like a chorus of the damned. "I won't stay here," Eragon said angrily.
Istal nodded his head in agreement. "It gets better farther in," Brom promised. "Right now we need to find an inn and form a strategy. Dras-Leona can be a dangerous place to even the most cautious. I don't want to remain on the streets any longer than necessary.
We forged deeper into Dras-Leona, leaving the squalid entrance behind. As we entered the wealthier parts of the city, I looked around in confusion. How do the people here live in ease when the suffering that's surrounds them is so obvious? I asked myself.
We found lodging at the Golden Globe, which was cheap but not decrepit. A narrow bed was crammed against one wall of the room, with a rickety table and a basin alongside it. I glanced at the matress before dropping my bags on the floor.
"The floor looks quite comfortable here," I said in response to Brom and Eragon's gazes. "Besides, I do believe the bgus in the mattress don't deserve that meal."
Eragon looked at the mattress, and dumped his stuff next to mine. "I'm sleeping on the flor as well. There are probably enough bugs in that thing to eat me alive."
"Well, I wouldn't want to deprive them of a meal," Brom said, dropping his bags on the floor. Eragon pulled off his bow and I set Ren and my bow down softly.
"What now?" I asked.
"We find food and beer. After that, sleep. Tomorrow we can start looking for the Ra'zac." Before we left the room, Brom warned, "No matter what happens, make sure that your tongue doesn't loosen. We'll have to leave immediately if we're given away. In fact, it may be best you two don't drink."
"Eragon can drink," I said, "I'll stay clean and keep a careful eye on him."
The inn's food was barely adequate, but according to Eragon, 'I should really try the beer, its great!' When the pair finally stumbled back to the room, I was quick to follow them. I unrolled my blanket and mat onto the floor and qickly feel asleep.
The next morning, Brom and Eragon awoke with grumbles. I smiled at them smugly, glad that I had decided not to drink. Brom rolled out of bed, doused his head in cold water from the basin, and then left the room. "What are you going?" I asked from my position on the floor still gazing up at the ceiling, blasé.
"To recover," Brom replied sullenly.
"I'll come," Eragon said, pushing himself up and exciting the room.
"I suppose I might as well get food," I muttered to myself before leaving the room and entering the hallway.
At the bar, it turned out Brom's way of recovering involved imbining copious amounts of hot tear and ice water and washing it all down with brandy. I got a small meal that wasn't worth the price asked. The bland taste in my mouth urged me to spit it out. I swallowed the last bit with some water before entering the room again.
When Brom and Eragon returned to the room neither were grumbling and stumbling around the room. Taking it that they had recovered, I looked at Brom, silently questioning what we were to do. Brom belted on his sword and smoothed the wrinkles out of his robe. "The first thing we need to do is ask some discreet questions. I want to find out where the Seithr oil was delievered in Dras-Leona and where it was taken from there. Most likely, soldiers or workmen were involved in transporting it. We have to find those men and get one to talk."
We left the Golden Globe and searched for warehouses where the Seithr oil might have been delivered. Near the center of Dras-Leona, the streets began to slant upward toward a palace of polished granite. It was built on a rise so that it towered above every building except the cathedral.
The courtyard was a mosaic of mother-of-pearl, and parts of the walls were inlaid with gold. Black statues stood in alcoves, with sticks of incense smoking in their cold hands. Soldiers stationed every four yards watched passersby keenly.
"Who lives there?" asked Eragon in awe.
"Marcus Tábor, ruler of this city. He answers only to the king and his own conscience, which hasn't been very active recently," said Brom. We walked around the palace, looking at the gated, ornate houses that surrounded it.
By midday, we had learned nothing useful, so we stopped for lunch. "This city is too vast for us to comb it together," said Brom. "Search on your own. Meet me at the Golden Globe by dusk." He glowered at Eragon and me from under his bushy eyebrows. "I trust the both of you not to do anything stupid."
I nodded with a small grin, "Us? In trouble? Don't make jokes like that." Brom glared at me and raised an eyebrow. "I won't." I promised.
Eragon promised the same and Brom handed him some coins before striding away in the opposite direction. "Eragon, I'm going to go find some work at a stable. I can work for some money pretty quickly there, and the other worker's tongues will loosen. Plus I won't be too suspicious."
Eragon nodded, "You sure that'll work?"
I nodded, "It's worked before when I was trying to learn about stuff in other towns." I said before heading towards the Golden Globe.
Arriving at the Golden Globe, I went to the front desk. "Do you know where I could get some work for the day? Preferably, with horses, I can work with those animals pretty well. I just thought it'd be a good idea to make some money."
The man at the desk gazed at me with bored eyes. "Go back out to the main street, turn right travel two blocks, turn left, and around there will be the stable."
"Don't you have a stable here?" I asked, thinking of where Istal had been stabled in the courtyard.
"Yes, but no business," the man replied, turning his gaze elsewhere.
I walked out with a mutter to myself. I followed the man's directions and soon came to a stop outside a large stable. Entering the stable, I asked one of the workers where I could speak about having a job for a few hours.
I was directed to a large man in the courtyard holding a dapple-grey horse being hooked up to a carriage. "What is it?" He asked gruffly looking at me.
"I need a job for a few hours, I was told to stay out of trouble for a while and I'm good with horses. You don't have to pay me either if you don't want." I said trying to appear as earnest as I could.
"Have you worked with horses before?" The man asked sternly.
"Yes, I have my own stallion."
"Bob!" The man called, a thinner man came over. "Take care of the carriage and see that they pay and get out of here, I'm going to see if this skinny rat can actually handle a horse." The thin man, presumably Bob, nodded. "Come," the man commanded. I followed him to a large stall. "Get this horse and led 'im out to the courtyard. Manage to get him hitched to the next carriage that already has a chestnut hithced and you can stay. If you can't then you can go," the man told me.
"Bob!" The man called, a thinner man came over. "Take care of the carriage and see that they pay and get out of here, I'm going to see if this skinny rat can actually handle a horse." The thin man, presumably Bob, nodded. "Come," the man commanded. I followed him to a large stall. "Get this horse and led 'im out to the courtyard. Manage to get him hitched to the next carriage that already has a chestnut hithced and you can stay. If you can't then you can go," the man told me.
I nodded and took the headcollar from the man. The horse was a pinto, brown with splashes of white – a skewbald – with a patch of black in his mane. The horse tossed his head and neighed, "Stop it." I said to the horse sternly as he lifted his head as high as he could. "Really?" I questioned, I reached up and just managed to slip the headcollar on. I quickly tied the horse up. "Where's the gear?" I asked.
The man silently pointed to a pile of leather and buckles on the ground in front of the stall and a bridle hanging up. I easily and quickly fitted the bridle over the headcollar, tying the reins in a knot to rest on the gelding's neck. I quickly fitted the rest of the harness over the gelding's body, every so often giving the horse a slap on the neck as he turned to bite me. When I was done, I led the gelding out into the laneway between stalls and headed to the courtyard.
The gelding pulled and yanked as I walked him out, at one point he bit my finger. The chestnut gelding was waiting patiently in a harness attached to a two-horse carriage. I backed the gelding and quickly attached him to the carriage and fixed the reins so they could be used for a two-horse carriage. When I was done, I stepped back and let the man check over everything.
"Welcome to Greenyard Stables," the man said holding out his hand for a handshake.
I shook his hand, "Name's Umaroth, so it's all right if I pop around the next few days?"
The man laughed, "Name's Jalf and I'm the stablemaster here if you couldn't already tell. You can obviously work with horses pretty damn well. You'd be welcomed back anytime. Come see me at the end of the day for pay. Just stick around here and if someone brings in a new horse take and and put it in a stall. Someone else will write down where the horse goes so we can locate them." Jalf said before walking off. I nodded, pleased with my efforts, before getting out of the way.
"Horse over here!" Someone shouted, I sighed. It was going to be a long day, but hopefully I would get a lot of information.
Horse is the pinto gelding