City of Thunder, City of the Younger Timestamp: 1st Day of Spring, 516 AV Location: The Gates, Ground Level The first thing she noticed was the noise. The overwhelming, migraine-inducing, do-these-people-ever-stop-talking noise. It hit her in unforgiving, nauseating waves. Wave after wave after wave of screeching and yelling and cheering and chatter. Every time she felt she was gaining her bearings, the noise would knock her right off her feet again - much like the farmer who slammed into her shoulder and knocked her directly onto the cold citadel floor. How other konti managed to survive here was anyone’s guess. “Mom…?” “I’m okay, Ducky,” Ianthe responded in Kontinese, hiding a grimace from her seven-year-old daughter. She tightened the pack holding their few worldly possessions with her right hand while pushing up and onto her feet with her left. Goddess, her pack felt light. They hadn’t taken much with them from Mura - some clothes, a few toiletries, and her suvai. But the real difference was the weight of gold. Paying for the wind eagle had been costly; more costly than she had expected. She would need to find work, and soon, if they wanted to survive here for more than a few days. She glanced down at her daughter, whose hands clutched at the hem of her thin blue dress. Ianthe had never seen Cleodora this unsure of herself. The girl was usually bouncing off walls, climbing up trees, building pretend castles of her own. Ianthe could not remember the last time, except in meditation, that her child had simply been still. And yet. Be strong, an inner voice whispered. You must be strong for your daughter. There was really no other choice. Ianthe lifted her chin, straightened her spine and grabbed for Cleodora’s tiny hand. Noise be damned. They were here now, and they would survive. No, they would more than survive. They would thrive. Even if it was a shadowy, noisy, crowded box of a city. Even if they knew no one. Even if they couldn’t be further from home. “All right, love,” Ianthe said, narrowing her eyes in concentration as she glanced around the citadel’s busy ground level. “Here’s the plan. One: Find a place to stay. Two: Find a place to work. Three: Take the world’s longest nap. How does that sound?” Cleodora nodded halfheartedly, eyes staring studiously at the ground. Ianthe sighed. “And then we’ll check out the bazaar place that Knight fellow was telling you about. Deal?” After a brief moment of consideration, her daughter's head popped up and she gave Ianthe a face-splitting smile. “Deal!” That was more like it. “Okay then! Now let’s find that Welcome Center…” And a pain-killing herb to deal with this looming headache, she added silently. |