Posted on: Sunday, 08 November 2009
It was a twelve-hour journey by foot to Athkatla: they made it in five, thanks to two fresh geldings and Imoen's judicious use of haste. They reached the city gates just as the last sliver of sun disappeared behind the horizon. The long shadows of evening melded into a single swath of omnipresent darkness as the last rays of sunlight died.
The guards had waved them through with neither interest nor attention; the two women were only a few small drops in the steady flow of merchants, travelers, vagabonds, and scamps that poured into the nation's capital every day. Cassandra had re-blinded herself and mounted double with Imoen when the first vague outlines of the gate towers appeared in the distance; the extra horse trotted alongside as a rider-less spare.
"So where's this Copper Coronet place?" Imoen queried from the front.
Cassie hooked one finger over the blindfold and eased it down long enough to scan the surrounding scenery. The polished white stone and glittering gold roofs of the Promenade were slowly fading away; clean cobblestone streets had turned into packed earth. Like in so many cities, the slums of Athkatla had grown up within spitting distance of the elite and their mansions. Beggars and thieves lived off the discards and carelessness of the rich and noble: charity was seldom to be found.
"Keep going straight," she instructed, letting the blindfold slouch back into place. "It's still a few streets ahead." In her time in Athkatla Cassie had become intimately familiar with the Slums District and its inhabitants. It'd been a refuge: no one cared, no one asked questions, and everything was for sale if you had enough coin. "We should run right into it."
"'Kay." Imoen pulled Cassie's gelding, a slim sorrel named Bushfire, closer. More and more of the gazes that fell on them seemed almost dangerously interested. "Uh... what are the chances that we get mugged?"
"Two women on horseback looking lost?" Cassandra let out an amused breath. "Pretty high."
"Even when one of them's armed and armored?"
"I doubt they'll be frightened of a blind warrior, Im."
"Well, take off your blindfold!"
"And have everyone who gets within ten yards of us run screaming? That's more attention that I'd like."
"Better than getting robbed," Imoen grumped.
"The Coronet's safe. I'm friends with the owner and the barkeep."
"Oh?"
