[Nano novel] Chapter Eight: The City of the King.

I have to apologize up front for this chapter - it's a little rough around the edges (okay, a LOT), and it doesn't feel to me as if it's really done.  But I've got to keep moving in my story or I'll get bogged down by editing stuff.  ;)

The sun was setting low in the sky, bathing the city walls in blood-red light, as the traveling party walked wearily up to the front gate.  The stone of the walls sparkled here and there, leading Ava to believe that it was in fact some kind of quartz rock. The walls were very high, and the only thing that she could see above them was a tall, slender spire that looked like it might be on some beautiful cathedral.  Its shape was graceful, and along with the sparkling rock walls and the colors of the setting sun, she was beginning to have an expectation that the city itself must be very fair to look upon.

The gate itself was actually a gigantic set of doors, carved from a pale ivory wood.  They were wide open, and the closer they got she could see people walking through a paved square, other people riding horses or on wagons, and a few stalls hawking wares.  Two guards began to shut the doors, but Tristan shouted out - "Hold! The king's magician has returned!" - and they stopped immediately and marched out toward the three. 

Tristan and Taliesin stopped walking then, and Ava slid off Taliesin's back and was pleasantly surprised to find that her ankle did not throb nearly as much as it had last time they stopped. 

"Tristan, King's Magician," said the taller of the two guards, as they came to a halt in front of them, "have you now come back after your years away from us?"

Ava sensed old history here, and suspected that these guards were angry, or disappointed, that Tristan had been gone for so long.  She wondered how long he'd been away from them, and why.  They had not spoken to each other for the entire journey to the city, and she was beginning to feel disoriented from such a long trip and the sudden knowledge that she knew nothing of her companions.  A wave of unsettling emotion hit her then, and it took a supreme force of will for her to remain standing and not show what she was feeling.

"I am here now," stated Tristan.  "What reasons I had for leaving have now been fulfilled, as you will all find out soon enough... but for now, we need food, and beds, and I need a page to take me to the Great Library."

Ava was taken aback at his manner; he had become almost regal, a change from the frustrated silence he had exhibited all that day.  He must have been used to ordering people about and being given what he asked for or demanded.  At least he had asked for food and bed, because she was most definitely exhausted and could use both of those, as soon as possible.  Thankfully, the guards did not waste any time getting them into the city; and as they walked through the carved doors, the sun slipped down below the horizon for the day and the air instantly became cooler and the shadows bluer.  The doors slammed shut behind them, which startled her.

The paving of the square caught her eye next: it was a large representation of a dragon, complete with colored scales, fierce ivory teeth, and unfurled wings.  She stood and stared at it for several minutes, then recognition dawned on her.  "That's my dragon!" she exclaimed, which drew confused and worried looks from the guards, who were still beside them. 

"Cernunnos belongs to no man," chuckled Tristan.  He had not even cracked a smile all day, and his change of behavior was almost irritating to Ava.  She suspected that the irritation might be mostly the result of walking all day and having next to no lunch or dinner.  Her stomach growled then, and Taliesin's echoed hers, which sent her into a fit of giggles, which made her stomach hurt.  Taliesin merely looked embarrassed.  He had yet to speak, which Ava thought was odd, but then she didn't know him at all yet, so maybe for him that was normal.

"Take us to the food, please," she begged.  "I am so hungry!"

"Follow me, please," said the shorter guard.  Ava thought he looked nice; he had brown curly hair and brown eyes, and dimples that were obvious even though he was not smiling.  He took them on a route that went directly into the heart of the city and through it. 

Only a little way into their trek, Ava stumbled and fell into Taliesin, who was trudging along beside her.  He caught her and held her up.  Tears sprang to her eyes.  "My ankle," she moaned.  "I think I twisted it again!"  She started to cry.  So close to food and sleeping, yet so far away, and now her feet wouldn't even take her there when she wanted them to. 

"It's okay," said Taliesin gently.  "I can carry you again.  But not on my back this time."  He scooped her up then, one arm under her shoulders and one under her knees, and they started walking again. 

Ava was too miserable to be embarrassed, and laid her head on his shoulder and cried a little bit more, silently.  She hoped he didn't mind too much that she was leaving a wet spot on his sleeve.  The rhythm of his steps lulled her almost to sleep, and she was startled when they arrived at their destination and she was being gently put back on her feet.  "We're here?" she asked in a disoriented voice.  "Where are we?"

"This is Castle Agria," spoke the curly-haired guard.  "You are guests here for the duration of your stay.  Ethelreda will take care of you now that you are at the Castle.  Farewell," and he bowed to all three of them, then left.

"Ethelreda? Who is that?" Ava asked, feeling increasingly stupid with fatigue and hunger. 

"Mistress of the house," said Tristan.  "She is in charge of the servants and everything that they're in charge of.  She will get us our dinner and our beds."  He pushed open the door they had stopped next to, and led them inside. 

The atmosphere changed completely once they were inside the castle.  They had apparently arrived in the kitchens, and the air was heavy with heat and the smell of things baking and broiling and roasting.  The room itself was huge, and it was full of stove tops and ovens and long tables piled with potatoes and other vegetables and loaves of bread.  A large woman, swathed in a red apron, appeared in front of them, and immediately began talking in a very loud voice.  "TRISTAN!! You old fool!  I should have known it wouldn't be long before you showed up in my castle again!"  She looked almost as if she would hit him, but instead she gave him an energetic hug.  Tristan looked as if he was being crushed, and also looked like he was enjoying it.

"Ethelreda, my dear woman, you haven't changed at all!" he said when she had let go of him.  "We are famished and have traveled all day to get here.  What can you give us?"

"I have fresh bread and stew," she said, but sniffed disapprovingly.  "That is hardly a dinner worthy of a Magician of your stature," she said, then turned to inspect Ava and Taliesin.  "Look at these two!"  she exclaimed.  "Near starving to death!  Come in here with me now, sit down, have a drink of this.  ANNA!" she shouted that last in the direction of a woman who was busy over a pot at one of the stove tops.  "Bring three bowls of that stew, and a new loaf of bread, there's a good lass!"

Ava sat at one of the wooden tables, eating piping hot stew with crusty, buttered bread, and felt herself coming a little bit back to life again.  She did not realize just how hungry she had been until she was halfway through her second bowl and was buttering her fourth slice of bread.  Taliesin and Tristan were similarly engaged, the two of them going through their stew at an alarming rate.  Ethelreda had Anna bring them slices of apple pie with hand-whipped cream, and tall silver mugs of hot cider.  They ate and drank until Ava was nearly asleep on the table, and were then ushered off to bed, each in their own guest room.

She was so sleepy that she barely noticed that a maid had to help her out of her clothes and into a nightgown, and then into bed.  She was almost completely asleep before she had a chance to realize that she was even in a bed at all.