noticed that the dragon seemed to leach light from the sky, although not nearly as much as the one in his dreams.
“That was an Iumenta Dragon, wasn’t it?” Keither asked. There was fear in his voice but also interest.
“Yes, it was. Now let’s go.” Arkin started forward to Salez, seemingly unfazed by the monster.
* * * * *
Keither marveled at the dragon that was now just a small dot in the sky. There wasn’t a lot of information available on Dragons, mostly because the Iumenta controlled what information was available to the public. Keither did know that they were a key part in the Queen’s takeover and subsequent reign.
Salez was beautiful, with its whitewashed walls and the way the main city was contained within the barrier. That was real security. As they drew closer, Keither could see that they were easily forty feet high. As they joined the large group of people entering the main gate, he saw that it was roughly as thick as it was tall. That seemed odd.
“Arkin, why is the wall so thick? Isn’t that way too much stone?”
“It’s not solid stone. Most of it is earth and timber. It makes the wall extremely strong. Men can patrol the top and keep ballista and catapults up there with their supplies.”
There was something else that was odd about Salez as well. As they entered they were not greeted by beggars. There should have been lots of them in a city this big, but there was no one out asking for offerings. Sasha noticed this as well. “Where are the people begging for food and money?” she asked.
“They’re in the Queen’s care. There are no beggars in the empire, or at least not in any city big enough to be called a city,” said a man that was next to them leading a donkey laden with parcels. “There hasn’t been in about five years now. If you lose your home you are taken into the Queen’s care”.
“How could the Iumenta be bad if they got rid of homelessness?” Keither thought. Arkin was off base; he needed to figure out what was wrong with the man.
“For how long does one stay in the care of the Queen?” Kovos asked.
“For the rest of your life, of course. If they left her care they would be back to clogging the streets in a week,” the man said with derision.
Well maybe it wasn’t so good. If the Iumenta took care of the poor until they could function on their own, that would be one thing, but for the rest of their lives?
“Ok, you go find the Inn. It should be up that road a bit,” Arkin said, pointing up a street to the right. “I will meet you there in a few hours. Don’t worry about getting us rooms, we may not be staying.”
* * * * *
Legon wasn’t all that thrilled about going off in a big city without Arkin, but he would have to get over it. Thankfully, it turned out the inn wasn’t that hard to find. When they entered, they were greeted by a wave of musty smoke and sound. The inn had a tavern on the lower level and people were coming in from all around for lunch. The group moved toward the last table and sat around it. Legon sat with his back to the window, watching the people and waiting impatiently for Arkin. A tall woman with long red hair and a green dress came by and asked if they wanted anything to drink.
“What’s good here?” Kovos asked.
She smiled warmly. “Everything.”
“Ok, what do you like the most?” Kovos was flirting with the waitress. He loved Emma, but Legon knew that he just couldn’t help himself. That was just how Kovos was. The woman placed her hand on his shoulder and turned herself just a little, subtly indicating that she was talking only to him. Her low-cut blouse and the way she tilted herself just a bit to Kovos wasn’t lost on any of them. This woman was a pro, and Kovos her sucker for today. This was going to cost them.
“Well, I like the ginger tea.” She was playing with his shirt. This always happened. This lady was going to get Kovos to buy the most expensive thing on the menu and then he was going to leave her a huge tip. Sasha was rolling her eyes, looking disgusted.
“Yeah, we’ll all have a cup.” Kovos handed her way more money than any tea was worth