white pennon that marked the presence of an Assenzi in the city, in this case the very wise Melidofulo.
Dronned sprawled beyond its wall on the northern side, and Thru strode through a suburb of well-built wood-and-stone houses. Within the walls, the buildings were tall and narrow, built of stone and roofed in slate. The streets were paved, well drained, and clean. Travelers always remarked on how clean-smelling Dronned was.
And yet, the street life in the city was frantic by comparison with Warkeen Village. Traders and tradesmen were in constant motion. Dronned was an important center for several crafts and guilds, with weavers, ironworkers, and potters the most heavily represented. Shops and stalls lined the most important streets and were visited by large numbers of customers. There were mors by the hundreds, all out to buy supplies for villages in the surrounding region. While shoppers shopped, others relaxed in the beer gardens in all the important squares, where there were to be found troupes of musicians, jugglers, and mimes.
In the great market by the river, the permanent shops and emporia were all open and filled with early arrivals. The festival brought in folk from far and wide, and they would also attend the market. Then the great space would blossom with dozens of stalls and stands set up by the fiber merchants. In the meantime the merchants got ready, laying in a provision of everything from ornamental tile to brightly colored house mats.
Thru stalked around the market once, peering in the windows at the goods within: fine silk from Mauste, rugs from the Farblow Hills, copper pans from Ajutan. He came across an office that listed lodgings available and realized quite quickly that rents in the Quarters, as the parts inside the walls were called, were too high for him. Rents in the northern suburb were lower, and so he turned back and tried along the leafy roads and lanes.
He passed the Laughing Fish Tavern and the old ball field where he'd played in that memorable championship game. But the memories of that day were mixed, and he shook his head and went on.
He was in luck, and soon found a nice room in a house on Garth Road. He had a view of the ball field and the distant royal park. The roofs of the palace were visible through the trees. Garth Road was lined with tenements, mostly three stories tall. In them lived many of the working folk of the city, most of them young and single.
The house had seven rented rooms, one of which happened to be empty when he called. The owner was a plump mor named Kussha, who lived in the building across the road. She was a cheerful sort, who pressed sweet cakes on him while they discussed his possible tenancy in her house. She was well used to young mots like Thru, come to the city to try their hands at the craft of one thing or another. She took a liking to him at once and showed him the room that she had free.
Thru liked the feel of the house, which was built on timbers of oak and foundations of stone. His small room at the back of the top floor didn't have much floor space, but he had a bed, a chair, and a small table on which to rest a lamp.
He paid Kussha some of his precious hoard of silver for the room then she showed him her lock-up, a storeroom in the cellar with a very stout door and a heavy iron lock. There he left his mats and his bow and the quiver with its dozen steel points.
In the room he hung his cloak on the hook on the back of the door. He put his few books under the bed, except for the Book of the Spirit, from which he read a few short pieces, seeking some kind of blessing for the room and his time in it. Then he meditated while sitting quietly on the cot, trying to let the great Spirit fill him with its wisdom. While in that quiet state he listened to the sounds of the empty house. A breeze rattled the shutters. Outside there came the clop of a donkey's hooves in the street. Later he put up the Spirit sign that Ual had given him on his tenth
Dronned sprawled beyond its wall on the northern side, and Thru strode through a suburb of well-built wood-and-stone houses. Within the walls, the buildings were tall and narrow, built of stone and roofed in slate. The streets were paved, well drained, and clean. Travelers always remarked on how clean-smelling Dronned was.
And yet, the street life in the city was frantic by comparison with Warkeen Village. Traders and tradesmen were in constant motion. Dronned was an important center for several crafts and guilds, with weavers, ironworkers, and potters the most heavily represented. Shops and stalls lined the most important streets and were visited by large numbers of customers. There were mors by the hundreds, all out to buy supplies for villages in the surrounding region. While shoppers shopped, others relaxed in the beer gardens in all the important squares, where there were to be found troupes of musicians, jugglers, and mimes.
In the great market by the river, the permanent shops and emporia were all open and filled with early arrivals. The festival brought in folk from far and wide, and they would also attend the market. Then the great space would blossom with dozens of stalls and stands set up by the fiber merchants. In the meantime the merchants got ready, laying in a provision of everything from ornamental tile to brightly colored house mats.
Thru stalked around the market once, peering in the windows at the goods within: fine silk from Mauste, rugs from the Farblow Hills, copper pans from Ajutan. He came across an office that listed lodgings available and realized quite quickly that rents in the Quarters, as the parts inside the walls were called, were too high for him. Rents in the northern suburb were lower, and so he turned back and tried along the leafy roads and lanes.
He passed the Laughing Fish Tavern and the old ball field where he'd played in that memorable championship game. But the memories of that day were mixed, and he shook his head and went on.
He was in luck, and soon found a nice room in a house on Garth Road. He had a view of the ball field and the distant royal park. The roofs of the palace were visible through the trees. Garth Road was lined with tenements, mostly three stories tall. In them lived many of the working folk of the city, most of them young and single.
The house had seven rented rooms, one of which happened to be empty when he called. The owner was a plump mor named Kussha, who lived in the building across the road. She was a cheerful sort, who pressed sweet cakes on him while they discussed his possible tenancy in her house. She was well used to young mots like Thru, come to the city to try their hands at the craft of one thing or another. She took a liking to him at once and showed him the room that she had free.
Thru liked the feel of the house, which was built on timbers of oak and foundations of stone. His small room at the back of the top floor didn't have much floor space, but he had a bed, a chair, and a small table on which to rest a lamp.
He paid Kussha some of his precious hoard of silver for the room then she showed him her lock-up, a storeroom in the cellar with a very stout door and a heavy iron lock. There he left his mats and his bow and the quiver with its dozen steel points.
In the room he hung his cloak on the hook on the back of the door. He put his few books under the bed, except for the Book of the Spirit, from which he read a few short pieces, seeking some kind of blessing for the room and his time in it. Then he meditated while sitting quietly on the cot, trying to let the great Spirit fill him with its wisdom. While in that quiet state he listened to the sounds of the empty house. A breeze rattled the shutters. Outside there came the clop of a donkey's hooves in the street. Later he put up the Spirit sign that Ual had given him on his tenth
Similar Books
