After traveling on the roads for nearly a week since leaving home, we were drawing close to the capital. The closer we got to the capital, the bigger the cities grew, but most of them hadn’t changed since the last time I had traveled with my uncle. We were on the last stretch of road before the capital and should arrive before sunset.
Falkr had given me the reins for the horses and was currently kneeling in the cart among the bags of wool. He had to rotate the bags every so often so that the bottom layer didn’t get damp from the morning dew. He’d already rotated them in the morning when we had set out, but since we were planning to enter the city soon he wanted to make sure the wool was aired out and dry.
I had asked him once, why he brought raw wool instead of having it spun in our town, since that way he’d be able to bring a larger load. Apparently, it was because the capital had more talented spinsters, he would make a larger profit selling the raw wool for processing.
The reason he decided to leave early was so that the shops he sold his wool too would have more time to spin the wool before the festival. With so many foreign travelers in town, business was sure to be bustling. We had already seen the impact of the festival on the next town over from the capital. It was cheaper to stay there than in the capital, and that town had set up a carriage service back and forth.
Charo: “It definitely seems busier than last year. If it’s this crowded, do you think we’ll be able to get a room in the capital?”
Falkr: “Yeah, we shouldn’t have a problem. I already let Shara know that we’d be comin’, so she should have set aside a room for us.”
Shara was the innkeeper at The Wise Willow, which was where we had stayed in the capital in the past. It was in the outer-quarter, near the entrance we’d be using to get into the city.
Falkr: “We’ll head there first and get the horses into the stable. I’ve already talked to her about putting our cart in her storage shed too. We’ll take care of the business tomorrow morning.”
Charo: “Okay.”
I didn’t have any complaints. While I didn’t like the crowds of the city, I did like Shara. She was rougher than my mom but about the same age, and she had a great recipe for shepherd’s pie.
Falkr: “I’m only splitting up my wool this year between two shops, so after tomorrow we’ll be free for the rest of the week.”
Charo: “Oh, just two?”
Normally he sold his wool to around ten different shops, so moving around the city and unloading the wool would take longer.
Falkr: “This year’s special, so I wanted to let you enjoy some time in the capital.”
Charo: “You know this isn’t really my thing, though.”
Falkr: “I know, Charo, I know. I’m not forcin’ anything on you, just want to give you some options. If we run out of things to do before the festival ends, we can head home early. You only get to enjoy your youth once, but none of us are forcing you to do anything.”
「I know my parents and Uncle Falkr have good intentions, but it gets a little tiring to be told that over and over.」
Falkr: “Anyways, we’ll deal with that later. Look, you can see the outer-wall.”
Sure enough in the distance we could see the outer-wall of the capital. The capital was built on the coast and was surrounded by a large wall. There was a river that flowed down from the nearby mountains, running parallel to the road and cut through the middle of the city. The wall around the city had a metal gate that the river could pass through.
The river opened into a small lake before the wall, but my uncle said that during the summer it would shrink to a small pond. It had something to do with the melting snow in the mountains when spring started and winter ended.
There were plenty of people surrounding the lake relaxing: fishing, enjoying a picnic, or just sleeping under the shade of a tree. Due to the festival, there were even some food stalls set up.
「Ahhh, I’ll have to come back out here at some point. That looks nice.」
While I’d been staring at the surroundings we finally pulled up to the wall. Normally we would have been able to freely enter, but due to the crowd there was a small line. A guard was waving people past with a slight delay to keep the city’s entrance from crowding up too much.
My uncle had since returned to the front of the cart and I had handed the reins back.
Without waiting for too long it was finally our turn to enter.
Guard: “How goes?”
Falkr: “Doin’ alright. Got a cart full of wool here.”
The guard gave a quick glance over the cart and waved his hand to let us pass.
Guard: “Go on.”
We entered the city and I was instantly assaulted with the smell of sweat and animals.
Falkr: “That’s pleasant, eh?”
He had a smirk on his face as he waved a hand in front of his nose.
It was far more crowded than usual, but thanks to being in the cart we had our own bubble of space. We made our way to The Wise Willow, which took longer than normal due to having to wait for people to part in the roads to make room for our cart.
The outer-quarter was the largest quarter, and was where most of the people in the capital lived. There was a main road that went straight through it, which was where most of the inns and stores were, and there were side roads that took you to the various housing districts. The main road continued to run along the river, but was slightly elevated so there were stairs down to the riverbank every so often. There were also bridges to cross the river, but the bridges all led to the inner-quarter.
The inner-quarter was another design of one of the previous heroes. He had set up a library, university, and stationed the military there. I had taken a walk through the inner-quarter before, but I didn’t enter any of the facilities. While I could read, due to my parents teaching me letters for embroidery and basic maths for running the shop, I wasn’t formally educated. The books in the library were beyond me and the university was at a level I would never be able to reach. I hadn’t even considered entering the military building.
If you followed the main road to the end without having crossed any of the bridges, you’d end up in the marine-quarter, which was where the harbor was. I hadn’t been down that far in any of my trips, so I didn’t know much about it.
However, no matter where you were in the city you could see the royal castle. Built of white stone with unusual blue roof tiles it stood out from the rest of the wood and stone buildings. In front of the castle was a large parade ground where the festival was going to be held, and behind the castle was the Royal Garden. Only royalty and foreign diplomats were allowed, so I had no idea what that looked like. That area made up the royal-quarter.
The motion of the cart coming to a stop brought me out of my thoughts and I looked around. My uncle had pulled up in front of The Wise Willow.
Falkr: “Here we are.”
He hopped of the cart and turned around to face me.
Falkr: “Stay here, I’m going to check in with Shara, I’ll be right back.”
Charo: “Got it.”
I picked up the reins and held them in my lap.
The road was still busy, but not anywhere near the crowd at the entrance. The air smelled better too, slightly. The sun still hadn’t set. The shadows were long and some of the glo-lamps that were deep in shadow had already turned on. There was a slight breeze, however most of the wind was blocked by the blocked by the buildings; making the capital’s air feel slightly stagnant.
Before long, my uncle returned.
Falkr: “Alright, pull ‘er round.”
I clicked my tongue to get the horses started and steered over to the storage shed. We’d park the cart in front of the shed before we unhitched the horses, then push the cart in on our own. Just as we finished up the sun had finally set.
From the inner-quarter the setting sun disappeared behind the castle, giving an ethereal outline to the silhouette of the castle.
My uncle came over and slapped his hand on my back before putting his arm around my shoulders.
Falkr: “Now let’s go have some ‘a that pie.”
