Charms and Tomes

Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

We drove to the outskirts of the large metropolis known as Validen, but our path steered us onto a byroad about a mile from the city proper. The bumpy road led to a primitive cul-de-sac with great oak structures aged by time and weather. Many were two stories high and featured unique amenities such as outdoor balconies and exterior stairs up to the second floor.

One of the largest of the buildings was an inn of some archaic date with a livery standing only thirty feet away. The second floor protruded out from the first some two feet and provided a slight cover over the front door. The paned windows looked in on wooden floors and oak-plank walls stained black with chimney and pipe smoke.

We rode up to this singular establishment and the two riders dismounted. Ben hopped down and with Grant’s help, they pulled Mouse out of the carriage. I followed after him and found myself sinking a few inches into the muck that covered the yard.

Grant helped Mouse into the inn while Ben offered me his arm for support. I was glad to have it as we slipped and slid over to the wide plank sidewalk that wrapped around the whole of the establishment. We slipped inside after our new companions and found the entrance room large, but comfortable. A warm fire burned in the huge hearth to our left, and tables and chairs dotted the room. A desk stood to our right and behind that was a wall that separated the hall from the partitioned lower floor of the building. A narrow doorway just past the desk allowed entrance to those rooms situated behind the wall, and a wide staircase in the center of the rear wall ran up to the second floor.

A man at the desk smiled at our arrival, but on seeing the state of Mouse he shot around the counter and over to us. “My goodness! What’s happened?”

“A little accident is all,” Grant assured him as he hefted Mouse toward the doorway. “We’ll be needing some brandy.”

The proprietor bobbed his head. “Of course! The man must be in shock!”

Grant scoffed. “It’s not for him, it’s for me.”

Their host blinked at him but still nodded before he hurried off to obey. Ben and I hesitated in the entrance hall, but Grant turned to us with a smile. “Thanks for the help, but we can take it from here.”

Mouse grinned at me. “Thanks for the company. It’s the best I’ve had in a long time.”

“I’d like to speak with you later about your machine. I’m interested in the future of your ‘thunderless’ thunder,” Ben told them, and much was their surprise.

“You would?” Mouse squeaked.

Ben smiled and handed Grant a card, the face of which he studied. “Send a crow my way when you’re rested. I’ll keep myself available.”

Grant nodded as he pocketed the card. “Of course. We’d be delighted to talk with you as soon as we can.”

Mouse grinned at Ben. “I’ll be rested and ready to go by tomorrow.”

Grant rolled his eyes and dragged him down the hall. “Only if you stop being an i***t, and that isn’t likely to happen.”

Ben and I left the inn and climbed aboard our carriage. Chase came by and stopped beside our vehicle. “It was rather kind of you to help us out back there.”

Ben shook his head. “We were glad to do it.” Ferox threw his head back and snorted.

I laughed. “Most of us, anyway.”

Chase nodded his head at us. “I hope to see you around.”

“So do I,” Ben returned before he looked to our steed. “Home, Ferox.”

Ferox turned around and trotted out of the cul-de-sac. Ben and I leaned back and enjoyed the ride as we drove back into the bustling burb that was the city of Validen.

I cast a curious and slightly bemused look at my companion. “So you were a thunder driver, huh?”

Ben smiled. “In my younger years, after I had acquired the ‘gift’ of the dragon. It was a much-appreciated distraction from my other worries.”

“Is it hard to drive one of them?”

“That would depend on the type of thunder,” he pointed out as he folded his arms over his chest. “I have driven ones so easy a child could handle it, and so difficult that I could never master the controls.”

“What happened to those ones?”

“I generally lost control and wound up in like our new acquaintance. In a ditch, if I was fortunate.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “And if you weren’t?”

“I made use of my wings and claws to get me out of the trouble.”

I grinned. “Sounds exciting.”

A smile touched his lips and a faraway look slipped into his eyes as he stared ahead. “It was. I occasionally looked into the goings-on of the tract, but I haven’t done so in a few years.”

“Hence why you didn’t know who they were any more than me,” I guessed.

He nodded. “Precisely, but their vehicle intrigues me. The thunder came out of nowhere with nary a sound.”

“Why is that so important?” I asked him.

“Many cities and towns have banned the use of thunders because of their impressive noise,” he explained as he cupped his chin in one hand. “It’s why the races take place outside cities such as at the emperor’s stables. If we could make them quiet there would be no need for those bans.”

I thought back to our strange new acquaintances and their little quirks. “Are all thunder drivers are superstitious as them?”

Ben chuckled. “Unfortunately, they are. The first men bold enough to drive the vehicles were sailors, and their lot have always been known to try anything to improve their chances of survival. The same can be said for their successors.”

“I’m guessing the first designs weren’t that safe,” I mused.

He nodded. “Their early name was the ‘horseless hearse,’ and some of the older citizens with less affection for the vehicles still call them that.”

I craned my neck to look around us. “So where are the emperor’s stables? I mean, I know where they used to be.”

“They’re to the south between the city and the coast,” he told me as his eyes took on a faraway look. “I recall in my youth riding my horse there during the competition days and watching some of the first models be showcased. That was long after their competitor days, of course, but they were still operated by their bold owners. I expect there will be a showing of the old thunders during this tract. Many of the first drivers came from Validen’s own port.”

My eyebrows shot up. “How big is its port?”

“One of the largest on the Coerulus Sea, and thus one of the busiest. Goods from all over the world arrive there by ship and are driven up the March-”

“The what?” I asked him.

He chuckled. “It’s the shortened name for the main road between Pernix the port city, and Validen. Its full name is Reynard’s March, and refers to when an army allied with Validen marched from the port and up to the city to lift a siege.”

I dropped back against my seat and cupped one-half of my forehead in my palm. “I don’t think I’m ever going to catch up to the history of this place.”

“Even among those who have lived here their entire lives, there are very few people who know a great deal about our long and rather complicated history.” His eyes sparkled as he studied me and he used his foot to tap the basket on the floor of the carriage. “But there’s more than enough time for you to learn the history after we have enjoyed our lunch.”

I snorted. “I guess it’ll have to be in the dining room instead of in a field full of flowers.”

“There are other places,” he reminded me.

“You mean the river park?” I guessed before a dark thought crossed my mind. I narrowed my eyes at him. “Not the cemeteries.”

He laughed and shook his head. “Neither. There is the Plaza and its environs-”

“Too busy.”

“One of the shops?”

“I don’t think they’d appreciate us bringing our own food.”

“There are other parks in the city.”

A thought struck me and I scooted closer to him with my eyes filled with hope. “How far is the port?”

Ben sighed. “Alas, it’s as far a journey as Rookwood, and I doubt Ferox would oblige us with another trip until his hunger for grains is satiated.” Ferox’s head bobbed up and down.

“Well, damn. . .” I mumbled as I slumped down in my seat. “The dining room is looking better and better.”

“I’m sure Tully has livened the room with a vase of fresh flowers,” he comforted me as he looped an arm over my drooping shoulders. He scooted closer and lowered his voice to a cooing whisper. “And the company is what truly matters.”

My cheeks reddened and I swallowed a lump in my throat. “I-I guess you’re right.”

A low chuckle escaped him. “Of course I am. I’m always right.”

I rolled my eyes and pushed him away. “Give me some room. Your ego is crushing me.”

He was all grins as he leaned against his side of the carriage. “Always happy to oblige.”