The Tales of the Wanderer Volume One: A Book of Underrealm (The Underrealm Volumes 4) Garrett Robinson (poetry books to read TXT) 📖

of bristling yellow hair. I guessed she stood a head taller than me, and half a head over Mag, and she had muscled limbs as impressive as her height. Now she stepped forwards, crossing her arms, and spoke.

“You stand at the gate of Lan Shui. Who are you, and where did you come from?”

“I am Mag, and my friend is Albern of the family Telfer,” said Mag. “And we have little business here. We need a place to rest and refresh ourselves before making our way to the road that will take us to the Western Sea.”

“Then why are you not on the King’s road?” said the constable.

Her words made me frown. It was a reasonable enough question, but the tone behind it was strange—almost desperate. Something was wrong here. I thought again of the untended farms we had just passed.

“There is no great urgency to our journey,” I put in. “The King’s road would have taken us to Bertram more quickly, it is true, but that would have put many more days between us and a bed to sleep in. You have nothing to fear from us. We are merely weary travelers who have just passed west through the Greatrocks.”

That did not have quite the desired effect. The constable sagged, passing a hand over her eyes. “You are from Selvan.”

I glanced at Mag, confused. Dorsea and Selvan were fighting in Wellmont, but we were so far north that it should not have mattered. “Yet we are all citizens of Underrealm. I am a man of Calentin, and Mag here is Dorsean.”

I pointed at Mag, who tensed. It was true that she had come from Dorsea before I met her, but at the same time, I was not telling the whole truth. Despite her sudden despondency, the constable seemed to notice Mag’s reaction, and her frown deepened.

Before she could ask another probing question, I spoke again. “My apologies, but this conversation is rather hard to keep up when you have not told us who you are. We gave you our own names freely enough—may we know yours, as a matter of courtesy?”

The constable’s mouth twisted. “I am Constable Yue of the family Baolan,” she said at last. “You have told me your destination, but not your business. Why are you traveling west?”

“Why, to visit Mag’s family,” I said. “And I thank you for your courtesy, Constable Baolan.”

“Family, is it?” said Yue, who seemed to have ignored my second statement. “The two of you are wed, then?”

“Not at all,” I said. “We are merely friends traveling together.”

“Well-armed travelers,” Yue pointed out.

“And would you go riding through the Greatrocks without a weapon?” said Mag. It was not exactly what you would call a polite question, but I was relieved that she did not let any anger show in her voice. And to my delight, Yue smiled at the question, though she quickly hid it.

“I suppose I would not,” said Yue. She pulled off her helmet and swiped a hand through her bristling yellow hair. “Enter, then, travelers. Keep to yourselves while you are here, and stay indoors after nightfall. And before you leave Lan Shui, come and speak with me.”

“Are we not free to—” I began.

“You are free to do whatever you wish,” said Yue, scowling at me. “But if you have a lick of sense, you will come and speak with me before you leave my town. Is that understood?”

“Of course,” I said quickly, raising a hand to pacify her.

“One question before we go,” said Mag. “A traveler may have arrived here ahead of us—a woman with nut-brown skin and—”

“No travelers have arrived here,” said Yue. “Not for many days.”

“Constable, if I may,” I said. “It sounds as though there is some trouble here. Is it anything we can help with?”

Yue’s scowl deepened. “That is my business. Keep to your own. And heed my words.”

“Of course,” I said at once, nodding. “Can you recommend an inn for us?”

“If you have coin to spend, find the Sunspear,” said Yue. “If you do not, the Stag’s Sty will be easier on your purse, and they do not have too many fleas.”

“A stellar recommendation,” I said. “Fare well, constable.”

She turned and nodded to the others, who heaved the gate open for us to ride through.

I was more alert now than ever, and as I rode through Lan Shui, I tried to take stock of the town. Though the wall was poorly kept up, it was manned, with several archers pacing its length. But though the guards looked alert and wary, they were few. It would have been easy to slip past them unnoticed, if that was the aim. It gave the air that this town was wary and watchful, but was unused to being either.

Armored soldiers walked the town’s streets as well, but they wore neither the king’s livery nor the red armor of constables. I guessed they were locals, pressed into service to guard the town. But against what? Had the Shades passed this way? Or had some rumor of their coming reached these people? I could think of no other threat that would have put them so on edge. But I saw some people weeping in doorways and in alleys, clearly in mourning.

“What has happened here?” I said, hardly meaning to speak the words aloud.

“In many places across Dorsea may be found the consequences of war,” said Mag.

“Yet Dorsea makes war on no one but Selvan these days,” I said. “And this town is far from those battles.”

“It must have something to do with the Shades, then.”

I shook my head. “If that were the case, and the town had been attacked, Yue would never have let us in.”

“Then guess at the answer yourself, if you are so wise,” grumbled Mag. “One thing we told Yue was the truth: I want a bed to sleep in, and quickly.”

We had a fair bit of coin on us—with the excellence of Mag’s ale, she had