Horns and Halos, page 24
“Be careful of those that dwell within the safety of the wall. Not all that glitters is gold. Wolves in sheep’s clothing reside within these places. They speak of the power of prayers, yet the one most high never listens to their wicked cries.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will,” he proclaimed as he gradually seated himself back down and pet the locust resting in his hand. “You will.”
“O-okaaay.” I drew out the one word and felt that Abaddon was more touched in the head than he was sane. That thought only made me feel like we had a fifty-fifty chance of getting into Saint Augustine without a hitch tonight. I started to turn toward Elijah when I heard the locust-covered stranger speak again.
“Seek the one without eyes but sees all.”
“Seek out who?”
“The one without eyes but sees all,” he yelled back to me. “I’ll be here. I’ve always been waiting. The walls can’t fall until the pure are freed. The innocent must not be harmed,” he half-murmured. “We’ve been waiting for you,” he announced a little louder. Again, he smiled at me and then quickly shooed me toward the gate where Elijah was waiting. Something told me that there was more to that man, but I didn’t have the time to ask.
Within minutes, we were at the entrance, and a man in a shining suit of armor and wearing a long, red cape stopped us before we could make it completely inside. He had incredibly short, blond hair and rich brown eyes. He was far taller than Elijah and me. He had to be somewhere around six feet four inches in height. I felt like he was looming over me, and the armor didn’t exactly make his presence feel friendly.
“Halt, where are you travelers from?” the knight asked.
I went incredibly still out of intimidation. It took a good moment for me to gather my bravery to speak up. “We’re from a couple of villages out in the Wastes,” I admitted.
The knight didn’t seem moved one way or another by my words. “Did you come across many evils along the way?”
“Plenty,” Elijah announced.
A scrutinizing glare flicked over to Elijah and then to me. The knight’s eyes narrowed, slowly. “How many days have you traveled?”
“About a week,” I answered. A silent moment of quick thinking passed and I added, “Maybe a few days more than that.”
The knight nodded as he looked us over and appeared to be visually counting all of our injuries. “We’ll have to seek the Grand Master for final approval.”
Another knight standing next to him thumped the first over his chest with the back of his armored hand. “Come now, Harold. You can see that they’ve been blessed. They’ve made it across the Wastes for more than a week. They’ve endured enough.” He pointed to our wounds saying, “Even I can see that.”
Harold looked from us to his partner, whispering, “What if they’ve run into devils, Reynolds?”
The second knight laughed. “Then they’ll be safe here. You know that those wicked things cannot dwell beyond the wall.”
Hope swelled in me. The power of the faith cities was that strong? The devils and other demons couldn’t live beyond the monumental metal walls? I dared to smile.
I should have known better.
“What a load of baseless lies, claiming that I cannot pass through these gates,” Draki said with a thunderous laugh that only I could hear. He leaned in toward me. “If they think they are free from lesser demons, they are right, but there are bigger nightmares living among them,” he cackled. “I’ve missed rattling the faithful’s cages.”
“You okay, Sia?” Elijah asked.
“Hmmm?” I snapped out of my private conversation and felt judgmental stares from the two knights. Quickly, I said, “Oh, yeah. I’m fine. I am just tired and pretty hungry. I got lost in thinking about what kind of food they would have.”
The second knight tapped the first, announcing, “They’re probably smelling Dara’s cooking from the inn.”
Harold reluctantly nodded. “Yeah. I suppose you’re right. It’s about that time in the evening, isn’t it?” He asked, looking up to the sky and noting the fading light.
“Aye, it is,” Reynolds admitted softly. With a heavy sigh, the knight returned his vision in our direction. “Come on then, inside with the two of you. The Hours of Whispered Prayers is about to be upon us.”
“Prayers,” I muttered, confused.
“Oi, Francis!” Reynolds called toward another knight slightly further into the entrance.
Quickly, a tall female knight with brunette hair and green eyes approached. Her deep, kind voice sounded rich and instantly made me smile. “You two causing trouble?”
In surprise, I went wide-eyed and lifted up my hands defensively. “N-no!”
She looked at me and laughed, shaking her head. “Not you two,” she said. Then Francis pointed to the other knights that had been questioning us. “I mean these two.”
“That’s not fair. You’re making us out to look like we are always causing problems for newcomers,” Harold protested.
Francis rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Reynolds. “Need me to escort them, is it?”
“Aye. Could you, please?” he replied.
She nodded and then smiled at me. “What are your names?”
Elijah informed her by pointing to each of us as he listed our names. “Elijah and Sia.”
“Welcome, Elijah and Sia, to the faith city, Saint Augustine,” Francis happily announced, motioning for us to walk further beyond the great wall.
I don’t know what I had expected the city to be like. Honestly, I had never really thought about it. For so long it was nothing more than a story, a fairy tale. It wasn’t until this whole journey was forced upon me that I dared myself to dream and think about what this place would look like. It couldn’t hold a candle to the vision that was before me now.
If someone told me a city could be more beautiful than this, I wouldn’t believe them. Never before had I seen such buildings. They were tall and sturdy, and the very stones looked like they were embellished in concrete lace. The walls looked like they were made of more windows than they were stone. It was an elegant and beautiful sight to behold. As if it were on cue, the street lamps came alive and illuminated the roads that were clean and free of dirt. As your eye drifted on past the shorter rooftops, the buildings became not only taller but more ornate. Windows with magnificently colored glass twinkled with a warm light that was beaming from within. Spires twisted up from the tops of the roofs like a thousand stretching fingers reaching for the evening sky, and—in the distance—there was a mammoth-sized building that looked like it was layered in towers and bridges and balconies. It loomed over the rest of the city like a great and wondrous structure of beauty and hope.
“It’s beautiful,” I whispered.
“The street lamps are all gas, but the homes are fully powered. A few places here and there still have wiring issues. But, I assure you, all buildings have running water, heat, and at least a single fireplace,” Francis informed.
“R-running water?” I stuttered.
“You have ... running water?” Elijah asked in amazement.
“Indeed we do. We also have heat and air. Most of the city runs off of solar panels and wind power. Everything for that is back behind the cathedral near the south side of the city. The rest of Saint Augustine is run off of gas. We manage to do quite well for ourselves,” Francis informed.
I was in awe as I listened to her speaking. It all felt like it was something out of a dream. She listed off the luxuries like they were nothing. To me, they sounded like some kind of strange and wonderful magic. I wanted to ask when we could wash up. Instead, I walked behind her and heard my stomach grumble as loud as a grunt when I smelled herb-roasted meat drifting in the early night air. I held my stomach and smiled sheepishly when both Francis and Elijah turned to look at me in surprise.
“Well,” Francis started. “I suspect that the lady is hungry.” Joyful laughter erupted out of the female knight as she resumed escorting us.
“What are the chances of being able to eat before we see the Grand Master?” Elijah asked, looking a bit pale—which had me worried—but he gave me a look and shook his head.
“Hmmm, I’d say they are pretty good. The Grand Master is usually pretty busy with work and then the evening mass. Not to mention he has to ensure that the Hours of Whispered Prayers doesn’t have any issues. I’d say you have time to get some grub, settle into a lodging somewhere, and get washed up. You don’t want to look like something that cat dragged in when you meet with the Grand Master. Best be looking proper and clean when you stand before him.”
Looking around, I became worried that we wouldn’t be able to pay for anything. “We don’t have any money, but we do have supplies that we could trade.”
Francis waved the words away like they were annoying, swarming flies. “Nah, don’t worry about it. There’s plenty of work to be done, especially with a few of the inns. We’ll get you squared away in no time. No able body is overlooked and no person goes hungry. We each have a role to play in the city.” She paused and looked back at me. “We have to take care of each other or everything falls apart.”
Elijah looked toward a few people laughing in the street across the way and calmly asked, “You guys seem to really be kind and caring here. Is there really no one that goes without food or work?”
“Yes, sir. Not an empty belly within these walls, and no job goes undone. Many of us here came from villages outside of the faith city, so it stands to say that most of us here know what it’s like to go without. The principles of Saint Augustine were built upon this knowledge. We never want anyone to feel like a burden, like they are unwanted, or like there is no hope for them. We have a weekly food drive in case any families or individuals are struggling with making ends meet, and there are four employment houses in the city where folks can sign up and be paired with a proper job.”
“Sounds ... wonderful. It really seems like you all have it all figured out,” I said.
It does sound wonderful, doesn’t it? Draki muttered in my mind.
“Is there no crime here?” Elijah asked.
“Only crime right now is your bellies being empty,” Francis announced with a chuckle.
We were standing outside a building that had muffled sounds of laughter and chattering sealed away behind a large, wooden door. The glow of the lamps inside cast orange hues over the clean, crystal-clear glass of the inn. A sign swung overhead that read Arrow’s Ale and Inn. We entered the establishment and were greeted by someone at the front desk. To the left was the bar, to the right was a lounge with a quieter dining space surrounding it, and just behind the service desk was a set of stairs. Standing at the receptionist area was a short, young boy with unruly, blond, curly hair and bright blue eyes. He had a faint splash of freckles over the bridge of his nose and a smile that was as warm as it was bright.
“Francis, fancy seeing you so early in the nigh—” The young male stopped abruptly and peered around the female knight to the two of us. “Oh, I see you’ve brought newcomers.”
“That I have. They were hungry and needed a place to rest. Dara normally handles these matters well. I don’t suppose you would mind me going to the back to fetch her while you mind the front, Micah?”
“Not at all. You know your way around the place. Leave these two with me,” Micah stated, waving with a nub instead of a hand. Without a second look, the female knight waltzed off.
I couldn’t help but stare. Naturally, Micah couldn’t help but inform me of my blunder. “Was born with it, if you were wondering.”
My jaw unhinged, and I flushed as I floundered for a reply. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to ...”
He waved the thought away. “Don’t be. Not like this is something you see every day, now is it?”
“I insist on apologizing. I shouldn’t have stared, and I should have asked. It must have been uncomfortable to have a stranger gawking at you when there isn’t anything wrong with you. I was just curious,” I said.
Micah smiled at me. “I like you. What’s your name?”
“Sia,” I softly replied. Then I pointed to the man at my side. “This is my friend, Elijah.”
“You two look like something the grunts tossed about in the mud,” he expressed with a chuckle.
“Not far-off from the truth,” Elijah admitted with a muted groan of pain.
“Is there a doctor close by?” I asked.
Micah nodded. “Oh, aye, but I suspect that they’ll be coming to you after you get settled in and washed up. It’s standard procedure for bringing in stragglers.”
“We don’t have any way to pay—”
“Bah. I’m sure that Francis told you that you don’t need to worry about that when you were being debriefed on what you could expect from the city. You don’t need to worry about paying for anything right now. We’ll get you settled and then give you a role for the city. Until then, don’t worry about it,” Micah explained.
Elijah placed his bag on the ground and rubbed his arm saying, “We’re still adjusting.”
“Understandable. But things get easier when you realize that we all are always adjusting. It never stops,” Micah softly explained.
“That sounds more scary than it does reassuring,” I admitted.
“It should sound inspirational,” Micah said with a short laugh.
“Really?” I asked.
“I can see why it could be seen that way,” Elijah started. He waited for us to look at him before he finished with, “Because it means that you’re always growing and changing. That means that it’s okay if you don’t feel like things are working out the way that you need them to because you’re still adjusting.”
That didn’t just make sense, it made me feel like I didn’t have to be perfect all the time. If we were always adjusting and trying to be better, then it left room to make mistakes. It meant that we could always give it another shot and fix our strategy. It was a refreshing outlook to have on life, one that I would like to apply to my life right away so I could stop beating myself up for all my shortcomings and faults. At the end of the day, I was just adjusting to ... life.
“This guy gets it,” Micah stated with a grand smile.
“And here they are as promised, Dara. Two, young, and able bodies,” Francis announced from the hall that extended further beyond the staircase.
A sandy, beige-skinned woman walked down the hall next to the female knight. Her silky, straight, black hair reached her lower back and swept from side to side as she made her way toward the front desk. Large, brown eyes were fixed on me as she straightened out the length of her white, lacy top. It was cinched around her tiny waist with a tan belt, and the look was completed with a pair of billowy, coral-colored pants that almost looked like a skirt.
She smiled as she looked the two of us over. “Right you are. Very able, indeed. I think I can find them some work until one of the employment houses can set them up with a proper job.” She turned her attention to Elijah and me as she said, “I won’t overwork you. I’ll just make you honest and ensure that you can fend for yourselves until you get settled into the city fully. Don’t want you roaming the streets without coin lining your pockets.”
“I see my job here is done. I’ll leave you all to it then,” Francis stated with a lazy salute to everyone.
“I’ll take it from here, hun. You hurry off to return to your post,” Dara suggested with a smile and a wave goodbye to the female knight.
“Thanks.” Elijah waved to Francis as she walked by.
I added, “Thank you!” as she passed.
With a light laugh and a nod, Francis exited the building, leaving the two of us in the care of Dara and Micah.
Chapter 26:
All that Glitters
I wasn’t sure how to change the subject gracefully, so I settled with asking about the name of the inn. “Arrow’s Inn is an interesting name. Who came up with it?”
Dara’s smile grew as she said, “Arrow was the name of my husband. He bought this place a year before we met.”
“Oh, that’s lovely. You two run it together?” I asked, perking up.
Her smile never wavered as she replied, “He’s been dead for five years now. I run everything by myself.”
“Oh,” I whispered, feeling horrible for asking.
“Hey, I help!” Micah insisted.
She laughed. “Yes, yes. You do your fair share. I can’t deny your helping hand in running the business.”
Micah puffed out his chest and beat against it proudly. “I’m a strong, young man that will do everything I can to aid you, Miss Dara.”
Rubbing his arm affectionately, she softly said, “I know, dear. I know.” Turning toward Elijah and me, she asked, “How about I show you two to your rooms before we head to the back together? You can put your things down, get washed up, and come help me in the kitchen. It’s just about dinner rush, and I could use an extra set of helping hands.”
“Sure,” Elijah answered happily. “As long as we can fix up a plate for ourselves.”
I nodded a bit too energetically in agreement, which made Dara erupt in laughter. “Of course! I wouldn’t dream of denying y’all a full belly. I’m just a little concerned for your friend here.”
Elijah might have lost a good bit of blood but not enough to stop himself from blushing. He swayed on the spot and corrected himself swiftly. “Is it that noticeable?”
“Not as noticeable as the smell of blood coming off of you.”
“You can ... smell the blood?” I had to wonder if she was part demon.
She nodded her head. “I worked as a medic for a little while. You can never forget the way that blood smells.” She looked Elijah over. “As long as you take it easy until the doctor arrives, you can help out.”
He raised a hand and put the other over his heart. “Promise.”
“Come on, then.”
We followed the innkeeper through the lower hall as she explained a few details to us about the building. “Most of the rooms on the lower floor are for workers, newcomers, or those with disabilities who need to avoid the stairs. You two will have separate rooms and they are right next to mine. So—if you need anything—just knock on my door, and I’ll help you.”
