Nimana pt III
Belton awoke suddenly and without movement. It had taken him years to learn the trick of that, He could hear the light breeze through the eaves of the inn, smell the salty brine smell of the bay that permeated everything in the town. It would be nearing dawn. The bed was cold all around him. He slowly opened his eyes to an empty pillow. Preia had left out the window last night, presumably the same way she'd come in. Belton hadn't been coarse about it, but he had made it clear that she was welcome to stay the night if she wished. She hadn't. She was whipped by winds he would never comprehend, of that he had no doubt. He hated that he missed her, he was excellent at putting the past out of mind, but it was hard to ignore the fact that the room still smelt of her - oiled leather and those pungent herbs that she rubbed into her hair. And she was going to be around for the duration of the expedition. Even lying still on the bed, he could feel the headache that was coming his way.
He sat up very slowly, but still the pain washed in inexorable as the tide, rising from the base of his skull and cresting into a breaker just behind his eyes. Damn her straight to hell.
Belton washed his face and hands in the basin and dressed. He pulled down a rucksack he'd hung from the wall and pulled out a staling heel of bread and the apple that looked like it was going to go bad first. He briefly considered taking his breakfast down to sup before the hearth in the common room, but there was sure to be some early riser who would trouble him with idle chatter. Even considering that possibility focused the pain in his head to a tight beam. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply for a moment. He opened them again, and stared out the window at the graying sky, listening to seabirds call each to each. Without any clear intention Belton wrapped his cloak around him and slid the large window window open. Preia's window. The roof of the second story sloped gently away a few feet below the sill. Belton climbed out the window and sat on the wooden shingles, his back to the wall of his room. Behind him the sun crawled into the sky, picking out details of the city in greater and greater relief. From his vantage point he could see the marketplace rustling to life for another day of commerce, goods from all over the world, exotic and rare, appeared as shapeless, hueless piles of dross. Belton could just make out the stationary rows of slaves for sale and the early shoppers, moving between them with unconscious ease. Further on massive trade vessels, and smaller fishing skiffs jostled about the bay, an incomprehensible mesh of rigging and masts and decks. Nimana was awakening all around, faint voices rising and blending, punctuated by the staccato of hooves and the grind of cart on cobblestone.
Belton took his time over the meal breathing in the sour but not unpleasant city. After he had finished, he gingerly walked down to the edge of the roof to discover how that minx had scurried up to his room. The eaves were wide and he could not make out any convenient way she could've climbed up. She must have used a rope and a hook. She was certainly equal to such a climb, but why? She could've come in the inn through the front entrance and knocked on his door, or caught him on the street. Her sudden appearance had made sense when he had believed that she actually meant to kill him, but if she was merely wanting to talk business, there were certainly other, less aggressive ways to go about it. Maybe she had wanted to see if he'd bring someone else to his room with him. Maybe she had been prepared to gut him if things had gone differently. Maybe it was a lark and she'd had no ulterior motive at all. Might as well guess at the weather. A bell rang out in the market signalling the beginning of the days bidding. Belton returned to his window and clamored inside. Last night had set him on edge more than he wanted to admit. Best to just stick to the plan and deal with things as they came, he supposed. At least he had one less person to hire out.
___
The Sulien library managed to look grim and brooding even in the full of noon, and it only looked more foreboding first thing in the morning. Belton nodded perfunctorily to the clerk at the front desk and strode through into the stacks. He had already paid for unrestricted access to the library through the rest of the week and rented out one of the private study rooms as well. He unlocked the small room and entered exhaling a happy sigh at the cluttered desk and stacks of tomes and scrolls. He draped his cloak over the back of the chair and settled in, returning to the leatherbound journal he'd left open on the desk the night before.
Before long there was a slight tap at the door, Belton marked his place in the book and called, "Come in." The door opened softly and a dour elf entered, a large tablet tucked into the crook of his arm. "Ah, Ashran. I was wondering if you'd be by today. I think that I might have an interesting avenue to explore but it may merely be a mistranslation. I was hoping you would have a look? I'll get some tea if you'd like to have a seat." Jahn stood with a flourish and selected a small sheaf of papers from one of the stacks crowding his desk. Ashran sighed heavily, "Professor Jahn, you know as well I do that I can't offer that service. The library staff may not comment directly on any text, nor offer translation. If you like, I can either aid you in selecting an appropriate language aid, or should you see fit, hire an independent translator for you, but you well know that I can't simply give you my interpretation."
Belton nodded seriously. "Yes of course. Quite right. Well, I'm going to pop off for a cup of tea for myself in any event. I don't suppose you'd mind keeping an eye on the room for a moment so I don't have to go through the whole snuffing and relighting the lantern business, would you? Thank you most kindly. Be back in a few." Jahn donned his cloak once again and left Ashran to his sighing.
When he returned from the cafe with two steaming earthenware mugs of tea, he tapped the door with his foot. Ashran answered, a keen look in his eyes, though the rest of his visage was unaltered from his standard grimace. He cleared his throat, "If I may be so bold, Professor, I believe I may have a text relevant to your inquiry."
"Of course, please bring it down. I should be glad of any insight the library's resources might offer. Care for a tea?" Jahn extended one of the mugs to Ashran, supporting it from the bottom. Ashran accepted it with two hands, his eyes widening slightly as he felt the cool metal pressed in the indention on the bottom of the mug.
"I shall return forthwith."
"And I shall be waiting."
Belton settled back into his desk with a small smile. Within an hour, Ashran wordlessly appeared with a book on the dialects commonly spoken by Ogre kind. Jahn accepted it with a smile and waited until Ashran had taken his leave to open the book. Folded in the center, neatly lettered in Ashran's hand was an analysis of the passage that Belton had been reading along with several well thought out opinions on the translational discrepancies. It all confirmed what Jahn had believed but would have taken him another three days at least to research and verify. And that librarian's assistant had managed it in the time it took Belton's tea to cool.
Jahn slid the books on his desk to the side and began to ponder what the best means of luring Ashran away from the library and into the field.
He sat up very slowly, but still the pain washed in inexorable as the tide, rising from the base of his skull and cresting into a breaker just behind his eyes. Damn her straight to hell.
Belton washed his face and hands in the basin and dressed. He pulled down a rucksack he'd hung from the wall and pulled out a staling heel of bread and the apple that looked like it was going to go bad first. He briefly considered taking his breakfast down to sup before the hearth in the common room, but there was sure to be some early riser who would trouble him with idle chatter. Even considering that possibility focused the pain in his head to a tight beam. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply for a moment. He opened them again, and stared out the window at the graying sky, listening to seabirds call each to each. Without any clear intention Belton wrapped his cloak around him and slid the large window window open. Preia's window. The roof of the second story sloped gently away a few feet below the sill. Belton climbed out the window and sat on the wooden shingles, his back to the wall of his room. Behind him the sun crawled into the sky, picking out details of the city in greater and greater relief. From his vantage point he could see the marketplace rustling to life for another day of commerce, goods from all over the world, exotic and rare, appeared as shapeless, hueless piles of dross. Belton could just make out the stationary rows of slaves for sale and the early shoppers, moving between them with unconscious ease. Further on massive trade vessels, and smaller fishing skiffs jostled about the bay, an incomprehensible mesh of rigging and masts and decks. Nimana was awakening all around, faint voices rising and blending, punctuated by the staccato of hooves and the grind of cart on cobblestone.
Belton took his time over the meal breathing in the sour but not unpleasant city. After he had finished, he gingerly walked down to the edge of the roof to discover how that minx had scurried up to his room. The eaves were wide and he could not make out any convenient way she could've climbed up. She must have used a rope and a hook. She was certainly equal to such a climb, but why? She could've come in the inn through the front entrance and knocked on his door, or caught him on the street. Her sudden appearance had made sense when he had believed that she actually meant to kill him, but if she was merely wanting to talk business, there were certainly other, less aggressive ways to go about it. Maybe she had wanted to see if he'd bring someone else to his room with him. Maybe she had been prepared to gut him if things had gone differently. Maybe it was a lark and she'd had no ulterior motive at all. Might as well guess at the weather. A bell rang out in the market signalling the beginning of the days bidding. Belton returned to his window and clamored inside. Last night had set him on edge more than he wanted to admit. Best to just stick to the plan and deal with things as they came, he supposed. At least he had one less person to hire out.
___
The Sulien library managed to look grim and brooding even in the full of noon, and it only looked more foreboding first thing in the morning. Belton nodded perfunctorily to the clerk at the front desk and strode through into the stacks. He had already paid for unrestricted access to the library through the rest of the week and rented out one of the private study rooms as well. He unlocked the small room and entered exhaling a happy sigh at the cluttered desk and stacks of tomes and scrolls. He draped his cloak over the back of the chair and settled in, returning to the leatherbound journal he'd left open on the desk the night before.
Before long there was a slight tap at the door, Belton marked his place in the book and called, "Come in." The door opened softly and a dour elf entered, a large tablet tucked into the crook of his arm. "Ah, Ashran. I was wondering if you'd be by today. I think that I might have an interesting avenue to explore but it may merely be a mistranslation. I was hoping you would have a look? I'll get some tea if you'd like to have a seat." Jahn stood with a flourish and selected a small sheaf of papers from one of the stacks crowding his desk. Ashran sighed heavily, "Professor Jahn, you know as well I do that I can't offer that service. The library staff may not comment directly on any text, nor offer translation. If you like, I can either aid you in selecting an appropriate language aid, or should you see fit, hire an independent translator for you, but you well know that I can't simply give you my interpretation."
Belton nodded seriously. "Yes of course. Quite right. Well, I'm going to pop off for a cup of tea for myself in any event. I don't suppose you'd mind keeping an eye on the room for a moment so I don't have to go through the whole snuffing and relighting the lantern business, would you? Thank you most kindly. Be back in a few." Jahn donned his cloak once again and left Ashran to his sighing.
When he returned from the cafe with two steaming earthenware mugs of tea, he tapped the door with his foot. Ashran answered, a keen look in his eyes, though the rest of his visage was unaltered from his standard grimace. He cleared his throat, "If I may be so bold, Professor, I believe I may have a text relevant to your inquiry."
"Of course, please bring it down. I should be glad of any insight the library's resources might offer. Care for a tea?" Jahn extended one of the mugs to Ashran, supporting it from the bottom. Ashran accepted it with two hands, his eyes widening slightly as he felt the cool metal pressed in the indention on the bottom of the mug.
"I shall return forthwith."
"And I shall be waiting."
Belton settled back into his desk with a small smile. Within an hour, Ashran wordlessly appeared with a book on the dialects commonly spoken by Ogre kind. Jahn accepted it with a smile and waited until Ashran had taken his leave to open the book. Folded in the center, neatly lettered in Ashran's hand was an analysis of the passage that Belton had been reading along with several well thought out opinions on the translational discrepancies. It all confirmed what Jahn had believed but would have taken him another three days at least to research and verify. And that librarian's assistant had managed it in the time it took Belton's tea to cool.
Jahn slid the books on his desk to the side and began to ponder what the best means of luring Ashran away from the library and into the field.