Everything Winecastle was, Lesser Voir was not. At least, from the outside.387Please respect copyright.PENANA0Wz3GX9lL7
The city walls were magnificent: each of the cut stones of the wall had been painted, displaying an alternating pattern of wine and ivory. Great octagonal towers rose at the corners of the curtain walls. They closed around a hill; on top of it was a keep of dark red stone. Even the city's guards were not without embellishment. The steel of their breastplates had enamel the same wine color of the walls behind them. On their cloaks was the city's seal: a cluster of grapes pierced through by a dripping sword.387Please respect copyright.PENANAlniCMB4tMk
There was a line leading to the gates, though, of carts, horses, and people. It was only getting longer. A weaver's wife sold blankets to those who waited. "Are the bloody gates broken?" Reyen complained to her when she neared, "Not a damn thing is moving."387Please respect copyright.PENANAyCh8dbWsPl
The woman gasped and scowled at him. Her thin lips made a frown. "That tongue of yours needs a wash," she chastised, wagging a finger. "And surely you have heard of the murders."387Please respect copyright.PENANAiV4rDlbi3o
"We haven't, kind lady," grumbled Roy. The man had his hood drawn over his head, a scarf across his mouth.387Please respect copyright.PENANA6qpE9ppzrA
The woman brushed the snow off her blankets. "The house of Bothyn," she began. "The lord had slaughtered his wife and four children."387Please respect copyright.PENANAItmM58jTUw
"How dreadful," Larissa said quietly.387Please respect copyright.PENANAsqXGQjLgRm
The woman exhaled sharply and shook her head. "The man had always been ill of character, always. Aye, but his visiting sister had escaped the bloodshed. God in the Stars bless her! She ran and told her neighbors of her brother's carnage." She jerked her head at the keep on the hill. "Went straight to Lord Wyneblood, she did, but her brother had already escaped. The poor woman is still in the city, fearing her brother." She sighed. "There had been other massacres, to be sure. Lord Bothyn was the first of three." She bowed her head. "God in the Stars, keep us safe from evil," she prayed.387Please respect copyright.PENANAvdikWR6xF0
"That's what this traffic is about?" Roy mused.387Please respect copyright.PENANAxwoIaaHuTj
An ugly old carter twisted in his seat. He nodded and answered Roy instead. "Each man is searched and eyed," he complained, "their histories and their bleedin' mother's father's histories questioned." He scratched under a tired red eye. "Why would those damnable killers come here, I ask you? All of this is a waste of a good day." Some of the travelers ahead who heard him mumbled in agreement. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "At the top of all this, I have to take a shit."387Please respect copyright.PENANAW6zGQneOsI
The weaver's wife wagged her finger at the carter. "Kaleb," she said sharply to him, "watch your tongue for the sake of the child!"387Please respect copyright.PENANAz241di1seP
"For him?" Kaleb the carter threw his head back and looked Reyen up and down. A steel earring weighed heavy on his earlobe. "Bah," he uttered, "boy's nearly fourteen by the looks of him. I've heard it all when I was his age." He guffawed. Reyen stood up straight and grinned. He took it as a compliment when someone mistook him for someone older. Kaleb turned back to the weaver's wife. He tilted his head at the blankets. "I'll take that green one, Mina," he ordered, pointing.387Please respect copyright.PENANAbpSOPcODeX
Mina made a noise of displeasure, took Kaleb's coppers, and handed him the green blanket. Welvyt, the babe, began to cry. It was Reyen's idea to call him that.387Please respect copyright.PENANAB5B92J1mSJ
"The festivities are attracting more people as well," an armorer with a wagon full of his wares complained. "This line will only get longer."387Please respect copyright.PENANAYAFsezdWaj
Larissa cuddled the babe. "Is there no inn nearby, somewhere to stay? The cold must be harsh on the child." Larissa wondered out loud.387Please respect copyright.PENANApdyiW9cyge
Mina came over, admiring the child. "Mismatched eyes," she mused, "a life of good fortune, he'll live. Your son?"387Please respect copyright.PENANA4Jf4g4bZ65
"No," Larissa said sadly, "a foundling. Bandits had slain his parents." The weaver's wife muttered a prayer to herself. "There is no inn," the woman said, "but there is a priory on the other side of the grapevines. There lies a house for orphans." She pointed east. A few miles out, Reyen could see a round bell tower of white stone.387Please respect copyright.PENANA5hmsRDODmS
Pyran stayed behind, holding their place in the line at the gate. The nepher's destrier was absent; the beast was alone in the woods. It was a strange thing to Reyen, the horse wandering without its master. Zamala was not like other horses, he knew. The fyri had said the beast was much like them; he was born in a different world, or a sphere, as they called it. Larissa carried Welvyt; Roy and Reyen followed her. Together, they left the line to head east. Vineyards stretched out far on either side of the beaten path. The cluster of buildings in the priory was surrounded by a three-foot-tall wall of rough-hewn stone.387Please respect copyright.PENANAqEMuClNCGr
Workers puttered around the snowy yard as veiled sisters hurried past each other as if late for something. Only one young sister had a few more seconds than the rest; the girl stopped to greet them. When they asked her where the orphan house was, she pointed at a large wooden structure with two stories. The blue paint on its walls was flaking, and Reyen could hear babies bawling from within. Outside, the older children played, throwing balls of snow at each other.387Please respect copyright.PENANAw6sjDkHOqf
At the foyer, they were met by a stern-faced obedientiary. The man told Larissa they would take Welvyt, though he had a few questions for her. Reyen waited outside the orphan house, sitting on a bench, watching the other children play.387Please respect copyright.PENANAmfS51a8kRl
One boy among them went to see Reyen.387Please respect copyright.PENANATFREyDcPwm
"Your the oldest foundling we've seen join us," said the boy. His hair was reddish-brown with crusts of snow sticking to his locks. He looked to be in his tenth year. He wore a brown, threadbare tunic, its holes patched up with green cuts of cloth. His breeches were too big for him; the bottom of each pant leg was tattered by thousands of dragged steps. His shoes were wooden, their soles thin as flower petals. "Soon, they'll put you and me to hard work."387Please respect copyright.PENANAe6vR9L4los
"I'm not an orphan," Reyen retorted quickly. "I mean … I am. But I'm not one of you. I'm just waiting for Roy and Issa."387Please respect copyright.PENANAcwmFUMXb6b
The boy cocked his head to one side. "Who?" asked the boy.387Please respect copyright.PENANA8lpvPcB4PP
"My companions," said Reyen, "we found a babe." Reyen looked the boy in his eyes. Will Welvyt be all right here? He wondered. "Are you happy here?" Reyen asked as he jerked his head at one of the older sisters. "Are they kind?"387Please respect copyright.PENANAttb2o6HSE0
The boy shrugged, his lips curling downward. "It's boring here," admitted the boy. "All we do is pray with Sister Symantha. She makes me sleep in her lessons, and I get punished for it." The boy yawned. "All the fun is in the city. Tonight is the festival, too."387Please respect copyright.PENANAE9Bz8MynlL
"What festival?" Reyen asked.387Please respect copyright.PENANAsuVqTFLMET
The boy laughed, but when he saw that Reyen was confused, he knew it was not a joke. "The Winter Festival!" Reyen still did not understand, so the boy explained. "The lord of Winecastle holds a festival every winter. It ends with a play. I hear that those who perform use myri!"387Please respect copyright.PENANA4LffszHQvU
Reyen saw the excitement flare in the boy's almond-colored eyes. He imagined how he would react to meeting Tuwa, Pwai, and Caley. "Do the sisters let you go?" he asked him.387Please respect copyright.PENANAiKrh9C7R9X
A short, sad laugh burst from the boy's lips. "We're not even allowed outside the house unless Sister Symantha lets us. After the sun goes down, we're locked in our dorter 'til morning." The boy looked around to make sure no holy women or yard workers were near. "But there is a loose window shutter in our room," he whispered. "Sister Symantha's servants don't know about it." The boy's lips curled upward. "We try not to laugh as we watch 'em lock it."387Please respect copyright.PENANACEa20JBNAU
"You've never been caught?"387Please respect copyright.PENANAjgGavB8IW9
"Last year, I did. 'Wanted to see the summer festival. When my friends and I came back at midnight, they found us in the vines. We got the stick for it, but I didn't tell 'em about the shutter. None of us did."387Please respect copyright.PENANAf43harsJFN
Roy and Issa came out of the orphan house, a white-clad servant going before them. She held Welvyt in her arms.387Please respect copyright.PENANAtkFZz5QHiA
"We thought you'd want to say your farewells," said Roy.387Please respect copyright.PENANAiJ3vvOX2rR
Reyen did so and promised that he would come to visit little Welvyt after he found his own mother. After hearing his words, the babe smiled and fell asleep. When the servant went back inside, Reyen turned to the boy.387Please respect copyright.PENANAK17nZSZqdN
"Name's Elbert," informed the orphan boy.387Please respect copyright.PENANATO8ENuIfG7
"Reyen." He clapped Elbert on his back. "Perhaps I'll see you tonight at the festival," Reyen said quietly.387Please respect copyright.PENANAIgVa4sBENF
"Perhaps you will," said Elbert with a grin.387Please respect copyright.PENANAi1vbcXtyi1
Reyen remembered the line, though, and he felt it would be near impossible to find him in the sea of celebrants. The three took their leave and headed back to the gates of Winecastle. Halfway through the path between the grapevines, Caley poked her head out from Larissa's hood.387Please respect copyright.PENANAd4mrHHr36N
"This festival," she began, guiltless about eavesdropping, "is there something you would like to tell us?"387Please respect copyright.PENANAooifMRJ3AQ
It was the purple fyri's turn outside, it seemed. Issa's staff had a big crystal at one end; only one fyri could take residence in it at a time. It was an odd spectacle, watching them half-melt into light, wash over the stone's facets, and change it in hue. The wood of the staff possessed a wonder of its own. When Issa needed it to be, it would curl up like a whip, the hard bone-white wood becoming as soft as green vines. It hung on a cord tied to her belt.387Please respect copyright.PENANA9eQ3rkAdNz
Tuwa slept in an empty sack they found on the road that a farmer may have dropped. Issa threaded a cord through it so she could sling the bag over her chest.387Please respect copyright.PENANAcXhOOwQVrH
"I don't know anything about," admitted Reyen, "Elbert didn't get to tell me much."387Please respect copyright.PENANADOqlkxqbav
Roy, who was listening, stroked his beard. "Aye," he muttered, "I know about it." He made a small smile as if he remembered a fond memory. "The winter festival. Ah, how the wine flowed with no end. The best food in the realm, you can be sure, was served there. And the women … the lovely women of Winecastle …"387Please respect copyright.PENANAxYOf6DdcRX
"What about the play?" Reyen asked, half-irritated and half-excited.387Please respect copyright.PENANAyn567Vc12n
"Oh, that?" Roy chortled. "I don't remember much, Reyen. 'Was too bloody drunk to follow." He shrugged. "I do remember the performances before the play. Aye, you'll love it. Men breathed fire and painted women with the heads of birds flew over our heads. I saw a man slice his own head off and start singing. A strange display, it is, but it's all trickery." He jerked a thumb at Caley. "Unlike this one here."387Please respect copyright.PENANA1A1NT7qXKO
Caley took it as a compliment. "We'll try not to steal all the attention," she said coyly.387Please respect copyright.PENANAxIJ24llRce
Larissa giggled at the fyri's words.387Please respect copyright.PENANAjifA0WWkdU
"Can we go?" Reyen found himself asking Roy, though he knew not why he needed the man's permission.387Please respect copyright.PENANAUHj2t6xjQm
Roy twisted his face. "I don't see why not," he said, scratching the back of his thick neck. "Would be nice to sleep out of the snow for once. We'll be safer behind those walls as well." He grinned. "Aye, you and the lady love stories," he said to Reyen, nodding his head at Larissa. "you'll have to tell me how the play goes the next morning if my head doesn't pain me too much." He threw his head back and laughed.387Please respect copyright.PENANAXIRBuLNKx6
Larissa made a small smile and a noise of agreement without looking at Roy. She was slowly finding comfort with the man's presence. The man insulted and intimidated her and Vyncent, after all. He tried to drag her to Ashferth so the gang lord could question her about a man named Ebernathy. Roy was drunk then, Reyen knew. The man was horribly uncouth when he was in his cups.387Please respect copyright.PENANAEHSB159bIf
The party made it back to the line at the gates. It had grown little and was moving at a faster pace. After searching, they found where Pyran was. As they rejoined him, though, a large force came from the south.387Please respect copyright.PENANAcgqJirUWXQ
A grand cavalcade, they were. Reyen felt joy when he saw the magnificent knights in their red enameled armor. Even some of their horses were armed splendidly. On their breastplates and pauldrons bore polished, four-pointed silver stars. The standards they held had the same design: silver stars on a scarlet sky. True knights, thought Reyen with his eyes wide with excitement. He bristled, trying to look tall and brave for when they saw him.387Please respect copyright.PENANAzPXAcaLIUM
A man in thick blood-red woolens shouted at the people in the line. "Make way!" he said with a thunderous voice. "Make way! Make way for the House of Snowvale."387Please respect copyright.PENANAg1bt1Zs5le
Another announcer made himself known, bellowing: "Lord Wyneblood expects us," he said, waving a scroll around in the cold air. "Move your carts, peasants, and make way!"387Please respect copyright.PENANAtUKvudESV0
Kaleb the carter, unimpressed, spat on the dirt as he urged his drays to move. "Pompous Virterans," he muttered.387Please respect copyright.PENANAdU3iNBBnDS
One man wrapped in a tattered blanket snorted derisively. "Oh, look at brilliant refugees," said the man drily. "Now they deign to settle here in Roum." His words raised laughter among the peasants. The Snowvale party did not deign to notice to them.387Please respect copyright.PENANAI061dBLAuq
Mina was speaking lowly to another woman. "A sailor told me the vicar was hanged, and Aventyne was put to the torch."387Please respect copyright.PENANAjJAveshwd3
"Aye," responded the other woman, "the four royal families have scattered like rats." She pointed at the leader of the procession. "Who is that lady? Is she the Snowvale Queen?"387Please respect copyright.PENANAMlsome4m0Z
"Don't be a fool, Geradaine," chastised Mina. "Have you ever seen a queen wear armor and a swordbelt? Hmph!"387Please respect copyright.PENANAhsdIOXdpLf
Larissa tried to hide her face, quickly drawing up her hood. She had forgotten about Caley, so when she poured out, Larissa caught the fyri. "Sorry," Larissa murmured; she tried to conceal Caley the best she could; the fyri hopped into the sack.387Please respect copyright.PENANAaQuLImZyNX
"Something wrong, mistress?" asked Caley.387Please respect copyright.PENANAkp8culg8q0
"I must not be seen," she answered. "They'll take me back."387Please respect copyright.PENANARae8oWYonB
It was too late, though, for a knight halted and fixed his eyes on Larissa. He shouted something to his column, and the woman at the head heard him. They all stopped at her behest. "Cousin?" he called out as he spurred his barded horse towards her. The young knight had short silver hair and eyes of gold. He undid his scarf, revealing a handsome, clean-shaven face. Behind the knight, a young woman and another man followed. The woman's auburn hair was bound into a long tail. Unlike her royal pack, she did not wear red or decorate herself with stars. She wore a simple tunic and a dark green surcoat over it. She held her black cloak closed with one hand as she rode up to Larissa. The other man wore boiled leather and chainmail, and on his surcoat, he bore the stars and scarlet. Unlike the young knight, his face was not as handsome. His lower lip appeared to be fatter than the upper; his eyes—which seemed to be too close together—were more like muddy brass than gold. Snowflakes fell and settled on the white fuzz of his pate. He glowered at all the peasants as he rode until he found one worthy of his gaze. He stared at a young peasant girl, making an ugly, lascivious grin that made her hide behind her father's wagon.387Please respect copyright.PENANA6areI409Wp
"Larissa, is that you?" asked the young knight politely. "I am happy to see that you are safe, cousin," he said to her as she turned demurely. He was everything a knight ought to be, thought Reyen: strong, gallant, and amiable. "It is I, Lyndon." Larissa lowered her hood, and her eyes met his. "You remember me, don't you?" Lyndon asked playfully, smiling with polished teeth.
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