Granny

The tiny hamlet of Golabi, near the banks of the Weedy River, and on the western edge of Satrapy of Polabi, in the Kingdom of Hespan, was coveted by no one. The area was surrounded by little farms and forests. In most years the farms and forests provided enough to make sure that their owners did not starve, but little more. The royal roads did not come anywhere near here; anything that could be produced in Golabi was present elsewhere in Hespan, so there was no need to build a trading road. If one were to trade with, or invade the Trans-Hespanic states (known in some other parts of the Havnheim as the "Eastern Kingdoms"), Golabi was also not a place one would visit, unless one were seriously lost. In short, it was a perfect place for a fugitive from Hespan law.

The village itself was a motley collection of wooden dwellings. These were of a type half sunk into the ground to take advantage of the fact that the sunken areas tended to stay cool in the summer. These windowless buildings all had an roofed porch open to the north. This plan allowed them to avoid the sun's rays, and they also faced away from the gnats to the south. The gnats would sometimes work their way up the river if the conditions were wrong. Fortunately for Astra and Golabi, this year the gnats stayed farther south.

The men were taking Astra to a larger building. Astra noticed that this building was whitewashed, unlike the others, and did not look quite as rough. In the open area before the porch in the north, there appeared to be a few benches arranged in a semicircle, as if meetings had been held here before. This must be the equivalent of their court., Astra thought.

The men set the litter down. One of the men entered the building. Some of the women and children of the hamlet approached the fringes of the meeting area, and started to stare at her. It was not every day that they saw a stranger half covered in tar, looking for all the world like a wild beast, Astra thought.

The man came back out, and nodded his head to his companion, and then addressed Astra. "Granny wants to talk to you."

Astra walked into the building with four of the men. It was not at all what she expected. This appeared to be more of a grocer's than a civic hall. There were barrels and bins and jars and leather vessels, all arranged neatly, either on the ground or in little shelves. On the roof, some small trap doors were opened to let in light. The contents of the vessels would not arouse the envy of Gilder or Agha Safid. Meal, wooden nails, a few worn tools, an old saddle, stray bits of fabric, and dried meat were some of the items that Astra saw.

At the south end of the building, an old woman stood behind the counter. She wore a plain worsted robe over a white muslin blouse. She was about sixty, with thin strands of short hair, covered in a bonnet. The hair that poked out was mostly grey, but streaked with an occasional strand of black, a remnent of its youthful shade. Two clear, brown eyes glared past her hawk's nose, boring in on Astra. She raised her thin, wrinkled, bejewelled right hand to her chin, and then pointed her index finger at Astra, and spoke.

"Dokta, what were you doing downriver?"

Now, dokta, in the dialect of Golabi, literally meant 'little girl'. Using 'dokta' instead of 'khanom' to an adult would be considered a grave insult. However, Granny was different. Granny could call any woman dokta, and it seemed proper. Granny did not have an official title, such as governour, mayor, or satrap. She did not need one. 'Granny' was all that was needed. That and years of making hard decisions. For example, she was the one that would deal with the reeve from Polabi when he came to town every year to collect taxes. The authorities of Polabi were not what were most on her mind. The men to the west, the alchemists, were.

Not being familiar with the Golabi dialect, Astra plainly answered, "I washed ashore at the mouth of the Weedy River, after my ship was lost. The gnats there were eating me alive, and I had heard that the tar was sovereign against gnats and insects. I did not think about what it would take to remove it. I walked up the riverbank, and here I am."

There was an awkward pause. The men in the room were somewhat shocked by "Black Zari's" lack of deference for Granny, but Granny was not perturbed at all. Granny was trying to find out if Astra were a fool, a spy, or really lost.

Astra nervously tried to fill the silence. "I did not mean to scare you all. I must have looked frightening when the boy first saw me. Sorry."

"You look more scraggly than frightening. I would like to clean you up. Do you have any problems with that?"

"Oh, no. If you could get this tar off of me, I would be grateful."

Granny then looked at one of the men. "Get Bella and some of the girls here, on the double. Bring a batch of strong lye soap and some hot bathing water. And I do mean the strong stuff."

The men led Astra to a large metal basin. Bella, a portly woman, was placing little bits of grey soap at the bottom of the basin, while a man was banking a fire underneath a nearby cauldron. By now a crowd was gathering, to watch the strange creature that everyone had been hearing about get a bath. Wild rumours had started to swirl. It was a troll. It was a spy from Polabi. It was from one of the magicians from the west. Astra was not able to hear this talk, but she did see the wide eyes, and saw the fingers pointing. My first adventure into the world beyond Aquilaria, and my most royal form is about to be gawked at by everybody in this backwater village. I hope word of this never gets back.

Astra was saved from that indignity by Granny, who emerged from the store, and in a voice that was remarkably firm coming from one so thin and aged, started chiding the men. "You get that crowd away from that tub, Soga. You have no more sense than a paracoot at times. Give Black Zari a bit of privacy, and shoo the crowd away. Bella, get Sara to put up some muslin so that people do not stare. Farouk, Siyah, get your knives ready in case someone does something foolish." The crowd quickly scattered, not wishing to brave the wrath of Granny.

Protected by the curtain of muslin, while the men watched to ensure that Astra would not work some unknown form of magic, Bella and Sara started to remove the tar. Granny's lye soap was harsh, but the tar began to soften, and the water turned an inky black. After the two had finished, Astra was clean, and even got all the tar out of her long hair. The soap did have a side effect, however. The soap not only dissolved the tar, but it also broke down the pigment in Astra's hair. Astra's red hair was now as white as snow. She thought that probably would remain that way until it grew out again. In addition, her fair complexion was now quite red, as someone who had been sunburned, and her hands and feet were wrinkled, as if she had been out on a long swim. She though that these effects were likely to be temporary. Although she presently appeared to be an incongrous mix of youth and age, she did not object. These changes would further disguise her from the eyes of Gilder's men.

After "Black Zari" dried herself, Sara handed her a plain tunic and greyish-white worsted dress. She noticed that they let her keep the rings. She was hungry, but the men marched her to the meeting area in front of the store. Granny asked the same strange question that one of the men asked near the river.

"So Black Zari, what are your views on alchemy?"

"Why do you ask?" Astra responded, surprised at the question.

"It is a matter of some importance around here. I need to know. And don't say you don't know. It is said that some men around here can do things that are like magic. Things like brew potions that can change a man's, or a woman's will. Make jewels out of ice. Make liquids that will cure any sickness. For a price. I am not going to tell you what I think about all that. I want to know what you think about it."

1. "It bothers me. It seems like they are getting into things that are none of their business."
2. "It sounds like it could be good. The part about curing sickness. We don't have alchemists in Foggy Island."
3. Astra shook her head. "I have heard about such things in Foggy Island, but people who claim to do that have always proven to be charlatans."

Add New Option

Go Back

View Forward Story Tree
View Back Story Tree