The Vagrant's Tale - Ch. 13

“And after a night,
Spent under the stars,
They did then enter
That town of bazaars.

Yet too late realized,
Leader of their lot,
A place for pink hair
This city was not.”

- Excerpt from the “The Ballad of Jysalef”, as Written by Gulosc the Bard

Chapter 13: “Young For the Day”

The travelling trio had spent the night camping nearby the sizable walls that surrounded the city of Kyosem, during which time Latte once again served as the evening’s chef, for they had completely failed to reach the locale before the place went and closed shop to all visitors for the day. True enough, as per Jysalef’s original predictions put forth to Terus, there was not a living thing in the area – neither man, nor beast – that made a single motion with which to beleaguer them while the stars were out overhead. Furthermore, thankfully, the conversations that went on for the remainder of that day, as a result of Latte’s earlier well-timed distractory interjection, had been upon the matter of topics far more amenable to the mind than what had happened years ago betwixt Jysalef Soresh and Draezooh’nyawc.

If Latte had actually still been lodging with the children back at Miran Via’s house in Elpsiod, as opposed to presently being engaged in travel with these two wandering swordsmen, then she would have brought closure to a matter – of which was greatly distasteful to her sensibilities - through a display of the noteworthy ease with which she could achieve octaves of a most commanding nature. When her foot was stamped down firmly in righteous fury, Latte would – without fail – immediately see the sight of all the rambunctious orphans line up to attention without a second of hesitation. However, when displaced from her lieutenant like station, as presently she was, to merely derail the conversation between Terus and Jysalef had taken all the resolve she could muster during this time spent outside her comfort zone.

The next morning they awoke - perhaps earlier than some of the party’s members might have preferred - to the cacophony of noises that erupted forth from Kyosem, as it once more opened its gates up for the bustle of daily business. Despite the depression that presently ravaged across the lands of Corsinthia, as a result of excessive dumping from the kingdom’s coffers into a war that ultimately achieved nothing, various vendor’s stalls - in a state of most active use – lined the streets that weaved throughout the city to form a mesh that could prove more than slightly confusing to navigate for the uninitiated. Skrande and Corsinthia – you see - were not the only two kingdoms that presently existed upon the plains of Theria, and so - for the people of Kyosem - it was most exceedingly fortuitous for them that their place of residence just happened to lie in the middle of a multitude of various important trade routes for commerce between those other lands.

Almost immediately upon traversing past the massive guarded double doors - that were the portal way into this place of business - Latte’s eyes began to actively dart back and forth across the overcrowded abundance of goods available for sale, the likes of which she could not recall having ever before gazed upon. Taking notice of this interest that Latte was at the moment now displaying, Jysalef looked over to his younger ward and discretely whispered within his ear, “I would think that mayhaps now would be a most profitable time for you to make real on the promise you issued the previous night. Besides, you know fully well that it wouldst most likely take me a sizable deal of asking around before I could find the whereabouts of this Tallus Osmaard within a place whose size is of this caliber.”

Terus, nodding in response to what Jysalef had just discreetly suggested unto him, then turned over to look at Latte – who was still engaged in ogling the many wares of the plethora of vendors present – and declared, “So, Milady, would you be ready now for the grand tour of Kyosem City that I promised unto you the previous night?”

Pausing suddenly in her wondrous eyeing of all that there was to see, just in their currently immediate vicinity alone, Latte looked up to Terus and nervously put forth a question, “Ah, but, weren’t we all going to see Master Via’s student first? I mean, wasn’t the whole reason that I was sent along with you so that I could confirm that the Master personally requested you both speak with Tallus Osmaard?”

Terus, broadly smiling as he answered Latte’s concerns, casually stated, “Oh, you really needn’t concern yourself with that just yet. Master Soresh himself just insisted to me that we give him some time alone while he conducts an inquiry as to the whereabouts of Tallus Osmaard’s place of lodging here; we will simply just catch up with him again at midday in the town square, by which time he will most assuredly know more.”

“Ah, okay then…” stated Latte, with a face blushed red, as she reached outwards timidly to the hand of which Terus was presently offering.

The veteran soldier grinned brightly - something that he was in all actually most definitely not wont to do - as he watched Terus and Latte quickly run off into the dense crowd, and out completely from the field of his vision. For all the things he could - as done at the behest of Stalson’s dying wishes - teach Terus in the ways of mastery with the blade, there really was nothing - with which he knew of - that he could demonstrate in order to educate his ward in the art of living. It would be - as far as Jysalef Soresh saw the greater order of things - most proper for Terus Kyreon to just cut loose and be young for the day, while it was still natural for the boy to do such things.

However, the most profoundly ear splitting shriek – which came but only a scant few minutes later - left Jysalef wishing that he could firmly kick his own rear for the unbelievably foolish act he had just encouraged into motion.