I was glad the Princess was not in the homewagon because she certainly would have heard my gasp of surprise when I looked at what I held in my hand. It was a small key with intricate designs etched on all of its flat surfaces, the type of designs I was very familiar with. It was made of neither metal nor wood, and I do not think it was made of stone either. I had never seen a material like it. In addition, the minute I closed my fingers on the key to take it out of the Neebing room, the ring on my finger and the two held in the golden pine spider silk pouch around my neck began to warm. Oh my, I thought to myself, why would anyone leave me a key, and just what was it to? Just at that moment, the Princess opened the back door to the homewagon, and I, as nonchalantly as I could, put the key in my pants pocket.
To cover up why I might possibly look anxious or even befuddled, I quickly asked the Princess a question. “Tell me what you know about the fair at the capitol, so I have a better idea of what is ahead.”
“It is a fair unlike any of the ones you have been to so far this summer,” she replied. “It doesn’t take place in the capitol proper itself but rather on a permanent fairgrounds where all of the major guildhalls are located. It would seem that some very astute ruler felt it was best if those crafts that needed to use fire, or produced some less than desirable odors, should be placed away from the residential areas of the capitol and where the prevailing winds would carry the smoke and odors away. They planned accordingly. Since the capitol sits on the shore of a very well defended sea harbor and is flanked on either side by the north and south forks of the Addergoogle River, they built the town out from the harbor in a horseshoe shape. The first ring is the harbor and docks. It holds the warehouses and shipping businesses. The next ring in are the homes of those who are connected to the sea and those who work as domestics. It is on the flats and considered a less desirable place to live. The land then rises, and there are the homes of the merchants with their shops on the ground level. This is a beautifully terraced area, and most of the merchants’ homes have courtyards and gardens. The next ring up is made up of the townhouses of the minor nobles and officials. Higher up are homes of the more well-to-do nobles and merchants and also the town homes of nobles who have estates away from the capitol. It is where they stay when in town attending to business. Scattered throughout each level are shops, inns, pubs, and eateries. The final level is the palace, of course, and it is backed by extensive lawns and a very high sheer cliff. The capitol is very beautiful with its extensive gardens and parks. Many of the larger homes have well-kept lawns and beautiful inner courtyards. Great care is taken to keep the town clean and the roads and lanes safe.”
I had followed the Princess so far with her description. The capitol, in my mind more than any town or village I had visited, certainly divided the ranks and levels of society literally and physically within the town. I could tell that the Princess was very proud of the capitol, and I continued to listen to her description.
“I seem to have gotten off track, for what you wanted to know was about the fairgrounds. There is a well-paved road leading south from the merchant level, across the south branch of the Addergoogle River, and through a section of very well-groomed royal forest to the fairgrounds. The fairgrounds are like a small town in a sense. Each of the major guilds has a guildhall with surrounding grounds. Beyond that section is a large field that will provide an area for those like us who come just for the fair week. It will be set up much like the other summer fairs. It is an early spring wheat field, so it has already been harvested for the year. Beyond that area are the royal farms, and that is where the livestock and other farm exhibits and judging will be held. In the midst of all of this is a natural amphitheater, which is called the Well of Speaking.”
I found it interesting that when the Princess was describing the area where the camping and booths were to be, she included herself as a fair participant. I thought it best not to point that out, so I continued to listen. I asked her to tell me more about the Well of Speaking.
“It is probably one of the most amazing natural wonders of our land. It is a natural amphitheater, but what makes this one special is how sound carries. You can stand at the bottom at the speakers stand and whisper, and the whole of the audience standing on the amphitheater floor or seated in the seats rising up the sides of the amphitheater would be able to hear you clearly. Since it is a quite large amphitheater, a great many folks can assemble and listen to speakers or singers. It would have been where I gave my first address to the folk after becoming named Queen on my birth date. It is probably where the Regent will address the folk concerning my illness, or inability to rule, or demise. Whatever it is he has planned.”
I could hear the anger and the sadness in the Princess’ voice and felt helpless not to be able to offer a solution that would fix the predicament we found ourselves in. I could offer an apology, but what good was saying I was sorry going to do, and then again, just what was I sorry for: her, me, or the predicament we both found ourselves in?
“Well,” the Princess said. “Did that help you understand the capitol and the fairgrounds any better?”
“Yes,” I replied. “Your capitol sounds beautiful and thoughtfully laid out. It’s helpful to know a little bit about what lies ahead. I was either unaware, or did not remember, that the fair lay outside the capitol proper. That could be a good thing or a complication, depending on what we need to do once we get to the capitol. It’s not as if we have a master plan in place as to what’s going to happen next. Hopefully the Regent and his followers are unaware that you are traveling as a rover. I’m hoping it would not even occur to the Regent, since he holds us in such disdain.”
“I wish I understood why that is,” the Princess said. “It feels like there is more to it than trying to create a scapegoat. I would sometimes hear him talking about rovers, and once I felt I detected a sense of fear in the Regent concerning you folks. I wish I could have put my finger on the why of that.”
Now that was an interesting piece of information. The Regent was afraid of rovers. I wished Da were here so I could ask him about that, but it was just a nugget of information I was going to tuck away, along with the key I had found that morning, to be looked at more closely later. Perhaps I would have the opportunity to talk to either Oscar or Bertram about that.
Much as it would have been nice to continue just sitting at the table and talking, there was much to be done this day, and the day was not getting any longer with us sitting here. Any further conversation was interrupted when a soft, tentative knock came on the door.
“I think that knocking is for you,” I suggested with a smile. “One of your legions of many loyal fans, Kiaya, awaits without.”
It had turned out that the future Queen of our land is a very good storyteller, and had made the mistake of telling a fine tale around the cook fire one night. Now the small rover children of our group had taken to begging her for more stories after the morning chores were done. The “once upon a time” stories she told while knitting, with the children gathered at her feet, were quite intriguing, and I noticed a number of the older children and adults would stop talking and listen also. It certainly helped pass the time as we all worked on, or polished up, our entries for the judging.
The rest of the day passed without incident. While our campsite was tucked back off the main road, sound carries in the woods, and we could hear the increase of traffic moving through the forest. Several times, wagons stopped at the end of the winding cart path that led to our campsite, and someone walked down to check it out, only to learn that there really was only room for one more wagon, and we were expecting someone any day now. Others, it would seem, had the same idea we did, to get near the capitol early to have a chance to rest up prior to the fair. It was the one fair of the summer where folks came from all over Sommerhjem, some traveling great distances.
It was late in the afternoon when we heard the sound of another wagon slowly making its way down the cart path towards our site, and I saw Oscar get up and go up the path to maybe head them off. I could hear him talking to someone, but the voices were muffled, so I could not make out the words. Moments later, a rover homewagon entered the clearing, and I could see Oscar sitting next to the driver. It was Tannar. I am sure all of us breathed a collective sigh of relief. Bertram, upon seeing his son, jumped up so fast he tipped his chair over, but he was beaten to the side of the homewagon by his wife, Petrine, who practically pulled her son down from the homewagon when he reached down to squeeze her hand. It surprised me how swiftly she had moved, for Petrine was the one who was always as steady as a rock in whatever she did.
Everyone pitched in to get the homewagon settled in its spot and to get the horses out to pasture. Tannar was a quiet solid lad like his father and withstood the huge commotion from his family before quietly reminding us that he was not traveling alone. Most of us had the good grace to look chagrinned.
He then turned to me and said, “Shueller would like you to visit with him, if you would, Nissa.”
I nodded my acquiescence to Tannar, and as I mounted the steps to Shueller’s homewagon, I could hear Tannar telling his parents about his adventure. I was sure the story would be told again, so I lightly knocked on the homewagon door.
“Come,” said a quiet voice in answer to my knock.
I entered the dimly lit homewagon, for the curtains were drawn, and I saw a small lump in the bed. An arm beckoned me from the lump, so I stepped across the threshold and walked to the side of the bed.
Shueller patted the side of the bed and said, “Come, keep an old man company for a while and tell me what has happened since we last met. Tannar has been a great traveling companion, and it is my hope, if we all survive the next few weeks, that he will stay on with me, for he shows remarkable talent for leatherwork, but he was not very forthcoming with what was going on.”
“Don’t blame him, for as with all of Bertram’s and Oscar’s youngsters, we have felt it was more prudent to give them as little information as possible. You never know when a youngster might inadvertently say something within the wrong hearing. While I know that Tannar is older even than Evan, Master Clarisse’s apprentice, in many ways he is younger.”
“And you are so old yourself,” Shueller said, with a wry humor in his voice.
“Some days I feel a lot older than my years,” I responded back.
“Part of that comes with the circumstances you find yourself in and part comes with the territory of being Neebing blessed.”
Shueller and others had mentioned that I was Neebing blessed before, but I was not sure just what that meant, nor how someone would know, and was about to ask when there came a knock on the door, and Petrine stuck her head in.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I brought a couple mugs of hot tea and some biscuits that should tide you over until supper.”
I went to the door and took the tray from her. When I turned back, Shueller had sat himself up and was propped against pillows. He appeared even smaller than I remembered, and I could see the yellowish discoloration of fading bruises on his face and hands. I handed him a steaming mug of tea and pulled a table bench over to sit on. Before I could ask about being Neebing blessed, Shueller again asked that I catch him up on what had happened since he had been captured. I obliged.
The time passed quickly, and soon it was time for supper. Tannar came in and told me he would help Shueller to get up and get out to the cook fire. I could see a bond had formed between the young rover and the old Günnary. With so many rovers sitting around the cook fire of all ages and heights, if someone were to look in on our group, I am not sure Shueller would be all that noticeable, which was a good thing. When all the evening chores had been done and the last cup of tea had been drunk, the group began to drift back to their own homewagons.
Tannar came over to Shueller to help him back to his homewagon, but Shueller gently waved him away saying, “This is the first night it has been safe for me to sit outside and just look at the stars since I was dragged off by the Raven’s men, and I want to savor it a little longer. Spend some time with your family, but later I wouldn’t mind if you continued to stay in my homewagon. Would be nice knowing someone was there if I needed anything. Nissa, are you going to stay out a little longer?”
“I certainly can,” I answered.
“I am feeling a bit tired myself,” Kiaya stated, “so I am going to excuse myself. Shueller, I don’t think I will ever be able to express how very thankful I am to you for your part in helping me get away, and for all the suffering you have endured keeping my whereabouts secret. I am truly grateful.”
To my surprise, I would swear Shueller blushed, but that may only have been a reflection of the firelight. Soon, however, everyone was gone, and it was just Shueller and I sitting in a comfortable silence, listening to the night sounds and the crackle of the fire.
“I sense you are carrying something that needs to be better protected, Nissa, but I didn’t want to mention it before now. I wasn’t quite sure when we were in my homewagon, but now sitting here close to you, I can feel it,” Shueller said.
At first I could not figure out what he might be talking about. The rings Da and Mistress Fern had given me were safely wrapped in golden pine spider silk, and Shueller had seen the ring from the Huntress before. Then it dawned on me that the key I had found in the Neebing room was still in my pocket where I had put it this morning. I reached into my pocket and was relieved that the key was still there. I do not know how I had forgotten about it or been so careless concerning it.
“I think this is what you might be sensing,” I said, wondering how he could sense it in the first place. I extended my hand towards Shueller with the key in the palm of my hand. He leaned forward to take a good look at what I held and exclaimed, “Oh my!”