Honour Amongst Thieves
Posted: March 15th, 2019, 6:07:58 am
Alethin glanced to the skies, checking the position of the moon to see how much time he had before morning. It was nearing the horizon, and nearly full. Still, he had made good time this trip. He’d visited the Candle Archipelagos early in the month and stopped off at at the Mountains of Me’Chuan on his roundabout way back his loyal customers at the Keep.
He’d sold some eggs in Foenara and Triathe, but his biggest spenders were the students at the oldest magical school in the kingdom.
He sighed, rubbing his snake absently on its head. It seemed like so long ago now that he had been a student at the Keep, playing pranks with Talyn and getting into all sorts of trouble. He clicked his tongue and his self-driving cart followed him onto a small trail leading off the main road. No use travelling during daylight hours, after all. He made his way through the undergrowth that had encroached onto the path.
He was pleasantly surprised that for once he did not have to brush spider webs off his face every two steps he took.
Approaching the ramshackle cabin that served as one of his stops on his journey, he was shocked to see a light coming from under the door. Very few people knew about this place, and of those that did, most were shepherds and goatherds who took shelter during the warmer months. Every previous winter he’d visited it was abandoned, just the way he liked it.
Stopping his cart with a gesture, he paused just before the tree line gave way to the logged area surrounding the cabin. He watched as a shadow moved behind the door, blocking the light as the person inside went about their business. He could hear cutlery clattering against the cookpot he’d left there on his last trip and his stomach rumbled, thinking of the preserves he’d stored for a rainy day.
As he watched, trying to decide what to do, a voice drifted out from the shuttered windows.
“Oh I met a lass in Voltar, her eyes were emerald green. And the smile on her face was the prettiest thing my eyes had ever seen. Her hands were soft, her arms were warm, and her waist was supple, too. But when she came to dally on my knee, I didn’t know what to do.”
Alethin frowned, remembering the second verse of the song. It had been banned in his final year at the Keep, and all because Talyn had insisted on performing it on the short-lived talent night.
His eyes widened. Of course, now that the voice started to dip into the lyrics about the other attributes of the Voltaren lass, he recognised the voice of his old friend. It was harsher than he remembered, but just as carefree as always. What he was doing in Alethin’s hideaway, he had no idea.
He clicked at his cart to make its way around the cabin to the old stable, where it would be able to shelter for the night. Before it started trundling away, he put out an arm for his snake to make its way up onto his shoulders. He approached the door just as Talyn finished the last – and most inappropriate – verse of the song. Perhaps if those lyrics weren’t included, it wouldn’t have caused such an uproar all those years ago.
It felt strange to knock on the door of what had always been his hideaway, yet knock he did. As he tapped on the old wood, a crash sounded from inside. The sounds of a chair scraping against the floorboards followed, along with a series of noises reminiscent of glass bottles clinking against one another. Alethin frowned, hoping his old friend hadn’t gotten into his finest elderberry wine.
The door creaked open a few centimetres, the hinges squealing their protest at this mistreatment. A single eye was visible through the crack. It looked him up and down before the door was pulled open the rest of the way and the eye was joined by a grin, another eye, and a shock of black hair.
“Look at you!” Talyn exclaimed, once more looking his old friend over. “I haven’t seen you in a Direwolf’s age!”
Alethin chuckled. “You’re not the person I would have expected to see either. Least of all in my own hideaway. Are you going to let me in?” Talyn hurriedly stepped aside to welcome Alethin into his own abode. A quick glance around showed his elderberry wine intact, along with most of his preserves. A chair lay on its side next to a large travelling trunk. Alethin raised his eyes at Talyn in question, who chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck.
“Well, you don’t expect visitors’ way out here. And at this time of night!” he explained, shutting the door behind him. As he righted the chair, his eyes darted to the trunk and back to Alethin so quickly that for anybody who didn’t know him, they probably wouldn’t have noticed it. Alethin felt his curiosity pique.
“Late indeed, and yet I notice you’re still in your cloak and boots,” he observed as he moved over to the small cupboard where he kept his preserves. Talyn flinched back as Alethin’s snake flicked its tongue at him from Alethin’s shoulder. Alethin bent to rummage among his jars, pulling out a well-sealed jaw of apricot preserve and sighing with contentment.
“I just got in not long ago,” Talyn explained. He sat heavily in the chair with an exaggerated look of exhaustion on his face. “What a journey I’ve had! All the way from Boreus and beyond! I was travelling with a couple of minicorns, but the damn things ran off on me about two days ago. I’ve been on foot ever since. Really, it’s very lucky I found this place. And it’s so well stocked, too! Do you know who uses it?”
“That would be myself,” Alethin answered, not believing half of what Talyn was telling him. He dusted off two bowls before piling them high with apricots and digging two spoons out of one of the drawers. It had started to sag on its runners a little bit since he’d last been here – he must make a note to fix that at some point.
Talyn took the offered bowl with glee. As he shovelled food into his mouth, he spoke around the spoon and between mouthfuls, telling Alethin what a lovely little place he kept. As he ate, his eyes went longingly to the bottles of wine on the shelves above the fireplace. Alethin sighed, taking the hint, and uncorked one for the two of them to share. He reflected that drinking fine wine alone wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as enjoying it with an old friend, even if the old friend did drink far more than their share.
As Talyn’s stream of consciousness started to wind down, Alethin sat on the bed and smiled at him.
“And what are you smuggling today, old friend?”
Talyn started guiltily, his betraying glance returning once again to the trunk in the corner.
“Smuggling? No, I gave that up a long time ago. I’m an honest businessman now, purveyor of useful potions and poultices, for every paltry need.”
Alethin raised an eyebrow, refusing to dignify this claim with an answer.
“It’s true! I have traded in potions to help a person regrow their hair, poultices to cure an unsightly skin blemish, all kinds of different useful items!”
“And your merchandise today, then?” Alethin asked with a smile. He stared at Talyn until the other man visibly wilted under the pressure.
Talyn stood and began to pace in front of the trader. His snake hissed its displeasure at the motion, halting him in his tracks. “You continue to travel with that reptile, then? What did you call it again? Ava, Adelind, Abraham…”
“Adela,” Alethin answered, soothing the snake with a gentle rub along its back. It settled heavily onto his shoulders, a wary eye on Talyn as he sat gingerly back onto the stool. Finally, Talyn’s love of a good story betrayed him.
He refilled his glass with the last of the wine and began talking after wetting his lips once more. “As I told you before, I’ve been travelling a long way. So far past the lands currently mapped out in fact that I doubt you would have even heard of the city name!”
Alethin nodded, knowing that ‘so far out you wouldn’t know it’ was Talyn’s way of cleverly avoiding revealing his sources. He had used it ever since they were in school and had sweets sent to him from his parents that he didn’t want to share.
“I had given up trading in illegal goods – the risk was just no longer worth the profit for me. I merely wanted to find rare ingredients that may give me an edge on my competitors. Of course, while I was asking around, an older fellow took me aside to share his idea for a new kind of love potion-“
“Love potions!” Alethin interjected, ignoring the peeved look on his friends face at having been interrupted. “Those things have been outlawed for nigh on 20 years now, ever since-“
“I know, I know!” Talyn protested. “This recipe was different though. It doesn’t cause any lasting effects – a day of the vic- uh, intended recipient being more likely to notice and appreciate any efforts you may make to woo them, that’s all.”
Alethin was sceptical. “You called it an idea, and now you tell me it ‘doesn’t’ cause any lasting effects. Please tell me you haven’t been trading in this nonsense.”
“Of course not!” Talyn declared, his face the picture of wide eyed innocence. “I’ve not had anywhere to sell it yet!”
Alethin groaned. He waved a hand at the trunk sitting inconspicuously against the wall. “Please tell me you’re not going to bring a batch of a ‘new’ love potion to the keep.”
Talyn looked at him, his mouth opening to protest.
“When I say, ‘please tell me’, I don’t mean lie to me if that’s exactly what you intend to do,” Alethin clarified. Talyn’s jaw snapped shut with an audible sound. He sighed. Talyn stood to stand before his friend, doing his best to ignore the raised head of Adela on his shoulders.
“I know why you’re concerned. I was there, remember? But I promise you, this creation is not nearly so dangerous, nor potent, as anything you’ve seen before. Why, it doesn’t even have any illegal ingredients in it!”
Talyn spoke so earnestly, his face the picture of wounded camaraderie, that Alethin had to give in.
“Fine, I’ll drop it. It’s good to see you again after all this time, anyway. When was the last time we even ran into each other?”
“Alveus,” Talyn answered with uncharacteristic shortness. Alethin chuckled, remembering the trouble he’d gotten his friend into.
“That must have been what, seven years ago now? You’re not still annoyed about it, are you?”
Talyn crossed his arms on his chest and shot Alethin an exaggerated pout.
“I got you out after only three days anyway!”
The hurt expression persisted stubbornly on Talyn’s face. Alethin sighed, knowing that he was never going to get his friend back in a good mood without offering something in return. Talyn was so sensitive sometimes.
“What can I do to make it up for you then, old friend?” Alethin offered, dreading to think of what Talyn might ask. Talyn’s face lit up and he straightened in his chair.
“That’s so kind of you to offer!” he exclaimed, pointedly ignoring the resigned expression on the traders’ face. “Why, since my minicorns ran off, I’ve been travelling on foot. Gosh, my feet are so sore, and I don’t think I’ve ever dragged something so heavy in my life. You’re heading to the Keep, right? Could I hitch a ride with you? Pretty please?”
Alethin agreed readily, astounded that Talyn would ask for so simple. In his eagerness to assuage his own guilt over his past actions, he failed to ask how Talyn knew he was headed to the Keep.
“We’ll stay here for the day. The sun should be rising soon and I prefer to travel by night. You can take the bed, I’ll set up my bedroll for the evening near the fireplace. Adela will let me know when it’s time to get up.”
Talyn nodded, happily settling onto the bed as soon as Alethin stood up. In truth, Alethin wasn’t so disappointed to give up the bed, as he doubted that Talyn would have replaced the old straw before he arrived and he didn’t fancy sleeping on mouldering straw from several months ago. His bedroll would be more than adequate.
*
He’d sold some eggs in Foenara and Triathe, but his biggest spenders were the students at the oldest magical school in the kingdom.
He sighed, rubbing his snake absently on its head. It seemed like so long ago now that he had been a student at the Keep, playing pranks with Talyn and getting into all sorts of trouble. He clicked his tongue and his self-driving cart followed him onto a small trail leading off the main road. No use travelling during daylight hours, after all. He made his way through the undergrowth that had encroached onto the path.
He was pleasantly surprised that for once he did not have to brush spider webs off his face every two steps he took.
Approaching the ramshackle cabin that served as one of his stops on his journey, he was shocked to see a light coming from under the door. Very few people knew about this place, and of those that did, most were shepherds and goatherds who took shelter during the warmer months. Every previous winter he’d visited it was abandoned, just the way he liked it.
Stopping his cart with a gesture, he paused just before the tree line gave way to the logged area surrounding the cabin. He watched as a shadow moved behind the door, blocking the light as the person inside went about their business. He could hear cutlery clattering against the cookpot he’d left there on his last trip and his stomach rumbled, thinking of the preserves he’d stored for a rainy day.
As he watched, trying to decide what to do, a voice drifted out from the shuttered windows.
“Oh I met a lass in Voltar, her eyes were emerald green. And the smile on her face was the prettiest thing my eyes had ever seen. Her hands were soft, her arms were warm, and her waist was supple, too. But when she came to dally on my knee, I didn’t know what to do.”
Alethin frowned, remembering the second verse of the song. It had been banned in his final year at the Keep, and all because Talyn had insisted on performing it on the short-lived talent night.
His eyes widened. Of course, now that the voice started to dip into the lyrics about the other attributes of the Voltaren lass, he recognised the voice of his old friend. It was harsher than he remembered, but just as carefree as always. What he was doing in Alethin’s hideaway, he had no idea.
He clicked at his cart to make its way around the cabin to the old stable, where it would be able to shelter for the night. Before it started trundling away, he put out an arm for his snake to make its way up onto his shoulders. He approached the door just as Talyn finished the last – and most inappropriate – verse of the song. Perhaps if those lyrics weren’t included, it wouldn’t have caused such an uproar all those years ago.
It felt strange to knock on the door of what had always been his hideaway, yet knock he did. As he tapped on the old wood, a crash sounded from inside. The sounds of a chair scraping against the floorboards followed, along with a series of noises reminiscent of glass bottles clinking against one another. Alethin frowned, hoping his old friend hadn’t gotten into his finest elderberry wine.
The door creaked open a few centimetres, the hinges squealing their protest at this mistreatment. A single eye was visible through the crack. It looked him up and down before the door was pulled open the rest of the way and the eye was joined by a grin, another eye, and a shock of black hair.
“Look at you!” Talyn exclaimed, once more looking his old friend over. “I haven’t seen you in a Direwolf’s age!”
Alethin chuckled. “You’re not the person I would have expected to see either. Least of all in my own hideaway. Are you going to let me in?” Talyn hurriedly stepped aside to welcome Alethin into his own abode. A quick glance around showed his elderberry wine intact, along with most of his preserves. A chair lay on its side next to a large travelling trunk. Alethin raised his eyes at Talyn in question, who chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck.
“Well, you don’t expect visitors’ way out here. And at this time of night!” he explained, shutting the door behind him. As he righted the chair, his eyes darted to the trunk and back to Alethin so quickly that for anybody who didn’t know him, they probably wouldn’t have noticed it. Alethin felt his curiosity pique.
“Late indeed, and yet I notice you’re still in your cloak and boots,” he observed as he moved over to the small cupboard where he kept his preserves. Talyn flinched back as Alethin’s snake flicked its tongue at him from Alethin’s shoulder. Alethin bent to rummage among his jars, pulling out a well-sealed jaw of apricot preserve and sighing with contentment.
“I just got in not long ago,” Talyn explained. He sat heavily in the chair with an exaggerated look of exhaustion on his face. “What a journey I’ve had! All the way from Boreus and beyond! I was travelling with a couple of minicorns, but the damn things ran off on me about two days ago. I’ve been on foot ever since. Really, it’s very lucky I found this place. And it’s so well stocked, too! Do you know who uses it?”
“That would be myself,” Alethin answered, not believing half of what Talyn was telling him. He dusted off two bowls before piling them high with apricots and digging two spoons out of one of the drawers. It had started to sag on its runners a little bit since he’d last been here – he must make a note to fix that at some point.
Talyn took the offered bowl with glee. As he shovelled food into his mouth, he spoke around the spoon and between mouthfuls, telling Alethin what a lovely little place he kept. As he ate, his eyes went longingly to the bottles of wine on the shelves above the fireplace. Alethin sighed, taking the hint, and uncorked one for the two of them to share. He reflected that drinking fine wine alone wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as enjoying it with an old friend, even if the old friend did drink far more than their share.
As Talyn’s stream of consciousness started to wind down, Alethin sat on the bed and smiled at him.
“And what are you smuggling today, old friend?”
Talyn started guiltily, his betraying glance returning once again to the trunk in the corner.
“Smuggling? No, I gave that up a long time ago. I’m an honest businessman now, purveyor of useful potions and poultices, for every paltry need.”
Alethin raised an eyebrow, refusing to dignify this claim with an answer.
“It’s true! I have traded in potions to help a person regrow their hair, poultices to cure an unsightly skin blemish, all kinds of different useful items!”
“And your merchandise today, then?” Alethin asked with a smile. He stared at Talyn until the other man visibly wilted under the pressure.
Talyn stood and began to pace in front of the trader. His snake hissed its displeasure at the motion, halting him in his tracks. “You continue to travel with that reptile, then? What did you call it again? Ava, Adelind, Abraham…”
“Adela,” Alethin answered, soothing the snake with a gentle rub along its back. It settled heavily onto his shoulders, a wary eye on Talyn as he sat gingerly back onto the stool. Finally, Talyn’s love of a good story betrayed him.
He refilled his glass with the last of the wine and began talking after wetting his lips once more. “As I told you before, I’ve been travelling a long way. So far past the lands currently mapped out in fact that I doubt you would have even heard of the city name!”
Alethin nodded, knowing that ‘so far out you wouldn’t know it’ was Talyn’s way of cleverly avoiding revealing his sources. He had used it ever since they were in school and had sweets sent to him from his parents that he didn’t want to share.
“I had given up trading in illegal goods – the risk was just no longer worth the profit for me. I merely wanted to find rare ingredients that may give me an edge on my competitors. Of course, while I was asking around, an older fellow took me aside to share his idea for a new kind of love potion-“
“Love potions!” Alethin interjected, ignoring the peeved look on his friends face at having been interrupted. “Those things have been outlawed for nigh on 20 years now, ever since-“
“I know, I know!” Talyn protested. “This recipe was different though. It doesn’t cause any lasting effects – a day of the vic- uh, intended recipient being more likely to notice and appreciate any efforts you may make to woo them, that’s all.”
Alethin was sceptical. “You called it an idea, and now you tell me it ‘doesn’t’ cause any lasting effects. Please tell me you haven’t been trading in this nonsense.”
“Of course not!” Talyn declared, his face the picture of wide eyed innocence. “I’ve not had anywhere to sell it yet!”
Alethin groaned. He waved a hand at the trunk sitting inconspicuously against the wall. “Please tell me you’re not going to bring a batch of a ‘new’ love potion to the keep.”
Talyn looked at him, his mouth opening to protest.
“When I say, ‘please tell me’, I don’t mean lie to me if that’s exactly what you intend to do,” Alethin clarified. Talyn’s jaw snapped shut with an audible sound. He sighed. Talyn stood to stand before his friend, doing his best to ignore the raised head of Adela on his shoulders.
“I know why you’re concerned. I was there, remember? But I promise you, this creation is not nearly so dangerous, nor potent, as anything you’ve seen before. Why, it doesn’t even have any illegal ingredients in it!”
Talyn spoke so earnestly, his face the picture of wounded camaraderie, that Alethin had to give in.
“Fine, I’ll drop it. It’s good to see you again after all this time, anyway. When was the last time we even ran into each other?”
“Alveus,” Talyn answered with uncharacteristic shortness. Alethin chuckled, remembering the trouble he’d gotten his friend into.
“That must have been what, seven years ago now? You’re not still annoyed about it, are you?”
Talyn crossed his arms on his chest and shot Alethin an exaggerated pout.
“I got you out after only three days anyway!”
The hurt expression persisted stubbornly on Talyn’s face. Alethin sighed, knowing that he was never going to get his friend back in a good mood without offering something in return. Talyn was so sensitive sometimes.
“What can I do to make it up for you then, old friend?” Alethin offered, dreading to think of what Talyn might ask. Talyn’s face lit up and he straightened in his chair.
“That’s so kind of you to offer!” he exclaimed, pointedly ignoring the resigned expression on the traders’ face. “Why, since my minicorns ran off, I’ve been travelling on foot. Gosh, my feet are so sore, and I don’t think I’ve ever dragged something so heavy in my life. You’re heading to the Keep, right? Could I hitch a ride with you? Pretty please?”
Alethin agreed readily, astounded that Talyn would ask for so simple. In his eagerness to assuage his own guilt over his past actions, he failed to ask how Talyn knew he was headed to the Keep.
“We’ll stay here for the day. The sun should be rising soon and I prefer to travel by night. You can take the bed, I’ll set up my bedroll for the evening near the fireplace. Adela will let me know when it’s time to get up.”
Talyn nodded, happily settling onto the bed as soon as Alethin stood up. In truth, Alethin wasn’t so disappointed to give up the bed, as he doubted that Talyn would have replaced the old straw before he arrived and he didn’t fancy sleeping on mouldering straw from several months ago. His bedroll would be more than adequate.
*