During the celebration, Sharald told me the team to Alexandria would consist of Prastian, Behast, Demay, and myself. Sharald thought it best he should keep the group together, since we had already proven we worked well together. He had tried to keep Demay out of it, but Demay wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Time flew by. I think I drank a little too much, as I passed out somewhere on the ground. At dawn, someone’s foot nudged me. He told me where the others were. I wiped the drool and dirt off my face and scurried to find them. My head pounded, but it had been worth it.
When I found my newly acquired friends, they had all the provisions and horses ready. They smiled at me as if I had made an ass of myself the previous night, but I shrugged it off. I couldn’t remember much from my drunken haze, nor did it matter. Sharald came to see us off and wished us luck.
We needed all the luck we could get. There was something wrong with Alexandria, and whatever we found wasn’t going to be good.
CHAPTER 11
Between the urgency of King Sharald's mission and my worry over Princess Krystal, we pushed our horses on the way to Alexandria. What normally would have been a six-day trip, we made in four. We arrived at the Guardian City at mid-afternoon on the fourth day.
I breathed a little easier when we neared the outer walls that surrounded the city. I had been worried that Alexandria might have fallen and would be overrun with Wasteland creatures. That clearly wasn’t the case. What did concern us, though, was the sparseness of the guards walking the walls, and the fact that we had met no patrols on our way to the city, which Prastian said was unusual. Had the king pulled guards from the south wall because of the increased attacks from the Wasteland creatures to the north? There was no way to know until we got inside and spoke with Prastian’s contacts.
In the meantime, I gawked at Alexandria like the farm boy that I was. It was huge—far larger than Sharald—and built of wood and stone. The city spread uphill from the south wall, up to the towering castle that rose at the far north side of the city. From that height, the guards could get a magnificent dragon's-eye view of the city, the Daleth Mountain Range, and the Wastelands of Renak. It was from those towers that the forces of Alexandria had kept watch and guarded Northern Shala since the War of the Wizards, when Renak’s evil creatures had been driven into the Wastelands. The castle reminded me of the White Mountain—without the freezing weather and strenuous climb. Up close, it was both magnificent and intimidating. Unlike King Sharald’s castle, I sensed no magic emanating from it. Knowing that men had made it with their own hands, with no magical help, only enhanced its beauty. I hoped I would get the chance to explore its halls and see the views from its parapets.
The south gate of the city was open, manned with two guards. That seemed like a small number, when so many monsters appeared to be wandering the countryside. We dismounted and led our horses through, expecting to be questioned, but the guards gave us no more than a cursory inspection. I saw Prastian and Behast glance at each other, eyebrows raised, ears twitching. Apparently, it seemed strange to them too. None of us said anything, but I felt uneasy. Something was wrong here.
We passed through a short stone tunnel that ran under the city wall, and found ourselves in a crowded marketplace. I had always heard that Alexandria was a prosperous, peaceful city, but many of the stalls and shops were closed and boarded up. As we walked, I noticed that most of the crowds were gathered around the ale shops and bawdy houses, or in tight, sullen-looking knots. The shops that were open had men standing outside with clubs or daggers, as if they expected to be besieged by thieves, and few people were buying. We passed by a butcher shop where a thin, hollow-eyed woman with two children clinging to her skirts pleaded with the proprietor. “No credit!” he snapped at her. “Coin only.”
I moved closer to Prastian. “Is it always like this?” I murmured. He shook his head, a frown growing between his eyebrows. Behast walked with his hand on his sword hilt. Even Demay’s high spirits seemed dampened.
We found stabling for our horses, wanting to keep them near the gate in case we had to leave quickly. Prastian paid the hostler well to keep our mounts safe, though I began to suspect we’d be lucky to find them still here when we returned.
We were in a poorer district of the city, and there were beggars on nearly every street corner. Scrawny women and children tore at my heart. I moved to loosen my purse strings.
“Don't,” Behast said, placing his hand on my arm.
“What do you mean, don't?” I asked. “They need our help.” My eyes fell on a mother who cradled her crying baby. She tried to quiet him, but failed. The baby was so gaunt, it might not live past tomorrow. Tears welled up in my eyes. My mother and I were poor, but we always had food on the table. I couldn’t believe King Furlong and Krystal would let things get as bad as this. It wasn’t as though the city was besieged; clearly supplies could go in and out, just as we had. My inner fire rose, aching to be released. I didn’t know what made me angrier: Behast for telling me not to help, or my fear that the darkness from my dream had already crushed the princess, and Alexandria was falling apart.