Blood Oath (The Darkest Drae Book 1)(8)
“I can lower myself to grant this boon.” I tipped my nose up and sniffed. The scent of lavender from the soap basket was stronger than whatever Mum had concocted for our breakfast.
She mussed my hair with her wet hands. “My thanks, soap queen. I’ve got deliveries all day today, but I’ll be back before curfew. We should wash your hair tonight, too.” She stepped back toward the stove and flipped the contents of the pan. She pointed the spatula at me and said, “Make sure you’re back. No matter what’s happening with Dyter, you need to be home before curfew with the patrols out.”
I nodded, trying to peek at our meal. I didn’t care about my hair. In fact, the stuff Mum used to wash it made it all stiff and gross. No, what was important to me right then were the glasses of milk because if we were having milk, there might be something else tasty.
“We’ll leave tomorrow at first light. It’ll take us two days to cross the Quota Fields.”
“We’re not taking the Market Circuit?” I asked. The paved ring road went through all twelve Harvest Zones and was the easiest way to travel.
Verald was shaped like a bull’s-eye and split into twelve wedges, called Harvest Zones. In the mountainous center of the kingdom was King Irdelron’s castle. The flat band of space immediately surrounding the castle took up the most space in the kingdom and belonged to the dry Quota Fields where the farmers worked. The next band out was the Market Circuit, which was the road running through the twelve Harvest Zone wedges. The wealthiest families lived closest to the Market Circuit in the next band, and their public houses, taverns, and trade shops were here as well. We peasants called the place where the wealthy hung out the Money Coil. The next band out from the Money Coil was named the Inbetween, a space for those who were on the fringes of wealth. And then the uneven very outer band of the kingdom where the rest of us lived was referred to as the Penny Wheel. As a rule, the closer to the king you were, the more he cared about you. That was why his food source was closest and his workers farthest away.
The Crane’s Nest was one of the only taverns outside the Coil in the entire kingdom. Dyter was on the very outskirts of the Inbetween, which was why he took payment of any kind, not just coin, like in the Money Coil.
“What’s for breakfast?” I asked Mum, trying to peek.
“You’ll see if you wait one second.”
She brought our plates to the table, and my stomach grumbled.
Breakfast was one potato pancake each and a small serving of sweet apple mash. Better than gruel, at least. Mum set her lavender-flower syrup on the table beside my plate. There was just enough for both of us—practically a feast with the milk.
A feast that was gone in less than a dozen savored bites, but a feast nevertheless.
Eating done, I washed the dishes, went back to my room to grab my boots, which somehow survived Lord Irrik under my bed overnight—not even a chew mark—and swiped up the basket. Calling a goodbye over my shoulder, I shook my head as I watched my mother ladle the dishwater into jars to water the garden.
“Remember to tell Dyter you won’t be in for the next two or three weeks!” she yelled after me.
Smiling, I bounced down the street toward Arlette’s house to deliver the soap she’d ordered. I was disappointed to find Arnik already gone to the vineyard for the day when I dropped off the basket, but his absence couldn’t put much of a dampener on my day for two reasons. First, I was a Drae survivor. And second, we weren’t leaving Zone Seven until morning, which meant I’d be seeing a rebel leader tonight. He probably had a scar on his cheek—and muscles.
I lifted a hand to my eyes as I scanned the sky for the Drae. Nowhere to be seen.
Facing toward the king’s castle in the distance, I darted through the hodgepodge peasant housing of the Penny Wheel on my way to the House of Tal. I went through the Inbetween, and soon the grand stone houses of the Money Coil were ahead of me. I slowed when I reached the Tals’ house—the largest of them all. I left the second basket at their door after pounding on the heavy entrance for a full minute.
The barren garden from last night stretched before me, the grand fountain at its center.
This time, with no winged foe above me, I stopped at the fountain that had been dry my entire life. Pausing here was habitual because a tiny welded flower was inlaid in the side of the concrete fountain—the sole bit of beauty in the otherwise functional and practical space. I don’t know how it caught my eye as a toddler, but Mum said I’d pester her from dawn up to dusk about visiting the flower. After checking soldiers weren’t around, she would lift me up to trace the petals of the flower and its curving stalk. For years she’d lifted me, until one day I could stand on my tiptoes and touch it myself. Now, whenever I passed this place, I continued the tradition, stroking the welded flower with fondness.
Leaving the Money Coil and my welded flower, I wiped perspiration from my hairline and began retracing my steps to reach the shelter of The Crane’s Nest on the other side of the Inbetween. Mistress Moons, the sun’s rays burned with muggy heat this morning.
At this time of day, the laneways were about the busiest they ever got, and I smiled and nodded at nearly everyone. I’d known them my whole life—seemed rude not to say howdy. Hyrriet from House Hy glared at me, and I pretended not to see her pristine ankle-length skirt and perfectly ironed aketon which she’d drawn in at the middle with a wide leather belt. Hers had been the last potato bush I’d killed. I swear I’d done everything right, but two days later, Mum told me they’d found it shriveled up.