Luminous

110 - Mirram's Worst Nightmare

Even as a lad, Mirram Hild couldn't understand the call of adventure. It was as if the young men of his little village were born blessed with the gift of a secret tongue, the whispering language of the wind that the bards sang but which he did not speak.

His daughter Meya, however, wasn't born with the gift—she was made of it. He guessed she'd learned it from her mother alongside the Song she stole. And as she grew, so did her yearning, with every Miracle Fest he forbade her from clambering aboard Jason's caravan to Aynor.

She managed to find her way there in the end as part of Lord Coris and Lady Arinel's entourage—so she wrote in clumsy letters she'd also learned in her new post. She begged him to accept, for once, Jason's invitation. She longed to show him Aynor, treat him to the sights and sounds and tastes with gold she'd earned from honest, hard work.

Although Mirram still couldn't comprehend the call of the road, he'd follow his daughter's Song even if it beckoned him to the unknown. He missed her mischievous grin, her unruly red-gold hair, her whining voice challenging his every command, although he was too bashful to admit. And now that the new Lord Crosset was on his way home, she too should finally be able to return from exile. He'd bring her back once she'd had her fill of the three lands.

One by one the barges slipped into place along the riverbank. Rowers set aside their oars and pranced onto the pier, then set to work unloading crates and barrels of Meriton's finest products.

Jason had paid for Mirram's place in the caravan, of course, but Mirram still joined the young men and lent his strength wherever needed. Once the last batch of glowing mushrooms had been tied and covered with tarpaulin, the remaining pony clip-clopped up the dirt road towards Meriton's bridge.

Mirram dusted his hands and trudged alongside Jason back to the waiting women. Jezia was crouched, studying the knot tying the nearby barge to shore. Alanna was still marveling at their surroundings, Aynor's variety of lights dancing in her blue eyes.

"I've never seen Aynor as a guest before." She sighed as Mirram drew level with her, then met his gaze with a wistful smile, "I was always part of the decoration, part of the city."

Mirram's heart tightened as he gathered her into his arms. As if spurred by her sentiments, Jason too peered at the faraway bridges.

"And I struggle to not price everything in sight." He agreed with a laugh. When Jezia straightened, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, gazing fondly down at the beaming girl, "But tonight, I'll try my best. We'll rest and enjoy."

Alas, his promise was not to last. Having bade the caravan farewell for the night, they asked their way to the inn Meya had reserved for them. Before the gates of the Dragon's Crossing Inn, however, Jason found himself wondering if he was back at the Crimson Hog.

Jason gawked at the copper sign embossed with a snarling dragon hanging from the stone post, consulted Meya's letter, then blinked at the sheer sprawl of the establishment. The mansion hogged the entire stretch of land between two lanes for itself, its limewashed wall carpeted with vines. Peeking between swathes of blooming blue lobelia, its two-dozen-or-so windows set in two rows cast their warm glow upon the town square.

A handsome horse trotted by them, pulling a magnificent white carriage onto the inn's courtyard. Its door swung open. Out spilled a belly draped in fine fabric, pinned with gleaming golden buttons, followed by a bald, mustachioed head. A doorman bowed him and his beautiful young mistress inside.

Alanna tugged her cloak over her shabby dress then leaned towards Jason,

"Jason, we meet Meya here then we move on to our lodgings for the night, do we?"