innkeeper

"And you, Yelis?" said Mextumsila. "What do you think of Pasina?" "I think it's a long way from home," said Yelis, a sharp laugh rising from Elendiz. It was Ewin, David, and Abigial glances. Fate had already made its choice for her. Mextumsila continued. "I don't want you to think we're out of danger, danger starts again here. Be careful what you say inside the city walls. First of all, you mustn't mention the Black cavalry. This has never been a side-taking city, since the fall all members of the Ice people have agreed. It is said that the Ice people settled here before Ergekon. Here, Tonka's followers are little liked. You must not forget that," he said. Elendiz gasped and Uras muttered in a low voice. Tumaris turned pale, but Mextumsila calmly continued. "We should get as little attention as possible." "We're not going to use our own names here," he continued. "I am known here as "Ayda" and you will have to come up with new names for yourself," he said. "We must enter the city before nightfall. It will appear in public at night and we will never be able to go inside."

The woman pointed the way down the hill and through the forest towards the wall. The road ended at heavy wooden gates tied with wide black iron straps. Mextumsila led her horse close to the wall and pulled a frayed rope hanging by the doors. A bell rang on the other side of the wall. Suddenly a wrinkled face under a battered cloth hood from the top of the wall looked down suspiciously. The wrinkles near her eyes deepened into a faint smile. When the man sees the woman. "Welcome, Miss "Ayda", are the passengers with you?" When she nodded, the man said, "I'm coming right now. I'm coming. I'm coming," and his head disappeared, but there were still muffled shouts that they had to stay where they were.

Finally the door opened, wide enough for a horse to pass at a time. Ewin was following her. David and Abigial were on the right, behind him were Tumaris and Elendiz. At the back, Uras was advancing with heavy steps on his horse. Eventually the group found themselves in a narrow alley with high wooden fences and barns and long, windowless, tightly closed doors.

"I just said what I heard and thought you should know what kind of city this is," he said. "The black cavalry and shadows were to the south and north. Now they say they are advancing to the East," said Mextumsila calmly. "We have to go now," said the man, "Don't worry, ma'am," said the man, shaking his head deeply, "I haven't seen anyone." He jumped to the door and began to pull the door with sudden movements. "I didn't see anyone and I didn't see anything." The door slammed shut.

Ewin led them away from the door. Uras glanced back once, and the man was still standing in front of the door. From time to time they passed through dirt streets surrounded by high wooden fences. Uras rode alongside Tumaris for a while. "Uras, what the man said, what was all this? That man spoke of a Guva and creatures?" "Oburlar," Uras said curtly, and Tumaris blinked. "No one… tells those stories around here. At least they won't tell in Karagöl."

"I guess so," Tumaris said dryly. Ewin and Mextumsila, who were ahead, looked at them, but Uras continued, "Even though Tonka is not a sky mage, the balance of nature was disturbed when she tried to the limits of her power, and she managed to escape when Min and Tin came to retrieve her. After the day, strange creatures appeared and the ice people hunters did not start hunting them, but The Ice people were cursed and their world was destroyed. We were imprisoned here with all the monsters, and those creatures are still among us. In the haunted forest and further north they are called "Oburs." Said. Tumaris frowned. "And someday the remnants of the Ice people believe they will return," he said. To disperse the tense atmosphere, Uras said, "These are stories, just legends." Tumaris said with a half smile, "We are also a part of those stories."

Tumaris and Uras' conversation was cut short when the woman finally stopped by a head-high wooden fence, no different from the others they had passed. The woman lifted the metal latch of the door and opened the door, signaling the others to follow her, and she went to the back, closing the door behind her. On the other side of the fence was an inn barn. A loud screeching and clatter came from the building's kitchen. The kitchen of the inn was quite large. More than half of the windows glowed in the deepening twilight. The innkeeper came up to them and gave her a deep bow and spoke with a sincere smile. "Welcome, Miss Ayla. Welcome. It's good to see you here. I don't want to chatter any more. Come. Come. You'll need hot meals and warm beds. And the best ones are right here in Pasina. Not forgetting, in a hot bath," he said

The interior of the inn was as busy as the voices indicated and more. Following the mortar through the back door, they soon passed through the stream of men and women dressed in long aprons, holding plates of food and trays of drink high. The innkeeper stopped one of the men and gave him some orders, and the man disappeared running away.

"I'm afraid the inn is almost full," said the innkeeper to Mextumsila. "Passengers have been coming and going for the past few weeks," he said. Uras looked at the bustle around them and tried to avoid being stepped on. Yelis, Elendiz, and Tumaris held their necks out with interest, reaching toward the common room; when the wide door at the end of the hall opened, there was laughter, singing, and cheery shouting. All they wanted was a hot bath before they left.

"Master Innkeeper," said Mextumsila, "I heard that some of Tonka's descendants came and went to Pasina. Have black cavalry or hunters been here?" "Oh, don't worry about them, Alya Hanım. The usual things. The townspeople, black cavalry, and many more come and go, You wouldn't believe, they've even seen a pale complexion," Mextumsila raised one eyebrow and the innkeeper spread his chubby hands. "Don't worry. They're already fired." "I'm glad to hear that," Mextumsila said dryly. He put his hand on the innkeeper's arm. "Thank you," he said. The conversation ended with the arrival of the attendant who would finally take them to the bathroom.

Mextumsila, Tumaris, and Yeliz disappeared behind a plump woman with a smile and an armful of towels. David, Ewin, and Uras followed a dark-haired man. they found it.

Finally, they entered a large stone-walled room. A dozen tall copper tubs stood in a circle on the tiled floor that sloped gently toward a drain in the center of the room. A thick, neatly folded towel and a large bar of soap stood on a stool behind each tub, and large black iron water cauldrons were heated over fires along one wall. Logs burning in a deep fireplace on the opposite wall added to the overall warmth.

Uras took off his cloak and clothes. Others did the same. When their clothes were all piled on the stools, the dark-haired man brought them a large bucket of hot water and a ladle. Having done that, he sat down on a stool by the door and leaned his back against the wall with his arms folded. Ewin, David, and Uras worked with steaming ladles of steaming water to lather up a week's worth of dirt and remove it from their bodies. Then they all got into the tubs to relax. The water was warm enough. The air in the room became foggy and hot from the heat. For a long time there was no sound except the occasional long, comforting exhalation as tense muscles relaxed and a shiver that they thought was permanent was lifted from their bones. "Do you need anything else?" said the man sitting in the corner. she asked. "Nothing," said David in his resounding voice. Eyes closed, he waved his hand lazily. "You can get out," he said. The man's eyes were fixed on the sword behind the tubs, behind his clothes and belongings. Or whatever you say to him," she said. "North," Ewin said, his voice rough. He suddenly stood up and said, "How did you know there was a problem?" His eyes seemed to pierce her.