Hey, I Just Met You
The Queen’s Way or the big market, Cheki droned on, was made to bring the market to the center of Osmouth. The Queen who had it done was taken by how easy it was to shop at The Arrow at Five Arches so the straight road full of shops was mirrored here. It was made so that all the major roads from the five districts meet here. The King’s Plaza was only two small blocks away from the center of the market.
In all my time in this world, this was the first place that actually involved a little bit of pre-planning. I’m not sure if there was enough space prior or the monarch’s just paid people to leave when they wanted it made but having a straight road from the Old District all the way to Cleartown must be impressive for anyone who has never been here.
Even the placement of establishments spoke of some thought given to it. Our wagon jostled less as we entered the road. It was paved with stones. The first half a dozen establishments, on both sides, were inns. These were followed by stables and wheelwrights, sometimes with both sharing the same space. Shops plying their wares came after with some of them continuing up to the second level. Periodically, every two shops or so, was a stall selling food or drinks or both.
Perhaps because the road was wide, or the fact that it was only a few hours before high noon, traffic was good on the main road, despite the volume of people walking on each side. I have not seen this many people in one place since I was transplanted here. It would make any of Osea’s markets look tiny.
The thing that impressed me a little bit about this market was the marked reduction in fetid smells. The main street was dry and unlike the markets at Osea where stalls just sold whatever they wanted, here, as we made our way through it, I could not see any stall with a grill or any stall that cooked something. Somehow, the market reminded me of malls.
I wouldn’t want to live anywhere behind this street.
I asked Lenra to let us down once I saw a stall that had quite the number of customers waiting. As a bonus, it was within range of shops that sold fabrics. When I went to see about the food being sold in the stalls, I remembered something.
“Cheki,” I called then leaned to whisper, “could you have these changed?”
He looked at my closed hand and nodded. I, towering above the crowd, looked on while waiting. The stall sold something that looked like crushed nuts rolled into balls about an inch in diameter. They were dipped into a sticky liquid in a small cask using a pair of wooden slats cobbled together acting like tongs. The little balls were sold in batches of four for an olma and served on a leaf.
They were delicious. The nuts were crunchy and the sticky liquid was just sweet enough for one to enjoy taking in the sweetness while taking a break from chewing. At four an olma, this was expensive, especially considering that you could get bread enough for a meal for the same price. It was leagues above the dipti being sold in the shores of Osea though, that alone made it worth it. There was a bit of an aftertaste, but whether it was from the nuts or the sweetener being used, I could not tell.
I ordered for everyone without asking if they wanted it. Lenra and Cheki might have objected if I asked. In the end, everyone had two servings except me. I had three.
I ordered a drink for each of us too. I initially didn’t want it, seeing how the wooden mugs was being reused without washing, but seeing Hanni down one fast and my throat feeling a little parched from all the sweetness, I ordered one too.
It used the same sweetener for the drink, the drink itself being a version of the one I made. The aftertaste was definitely from the sweetener. As the last of the liquid disappeared from the mug, so did my sour mood.
We visited the stores selling fabric hoping they had ready made clothes. We had to go through six before finding one that did. He was a greedy one. Unlike the other shopkeepers who gave us one look and dismissed us however, this one entertained us, so I played along.
“These are all the finest you can find, this side of Silaron igom.” He extolled, pointing to a stack of shirts of varying colors.
The price started at one gold coin. I was not in the mood to haggle again so I pretended to be interested and held up a yellow shirt and asked offered three silvers. He declined and countered five. I put it back.
“See anything you like?” I asked Hanni.
“The ones you bought this morning is enough. I have no need or more.”
I was hoping she would choose at least one. Maybe then I could allow myself to get one for myself too. Her answer however, had an effect on the shopkeeper. He picked up the shirt I put back and offered it for four.
“Do you have anything for children? Something that would fit him, and something just a bit smaller.”
“Do I? Oh, but of course I do. Just you wait there igom, just you wait.”
He went inside and rummaged around the back of the shop. He came back with a stack of smaller shirts, some were dusty.
“Go on, pick one.” I urged Jibel whose eyes widened just fast enough for me to catch.
I went through the stack looking for one I’ll be bringing home to Bira. I had thought about it, about the merits of having colorful clothes for these children. Color meant coin, and that attracted some attention. I decided my worries were not reason enough to stop me from seeing the smile on Bira’s face.
“Can’t choose?”
Jibel shook his head, holding up a light green and a purple shirt.
“Think about it this way, pretend you’re being summoned by the King. Which one would you put on?”
He did seem to take it seriously. Jibel stood there holding the two up while I finally chose one for Bira. All the shirts, including the ones Jibel was having difficulty choosing from, were of the same cut. Aside from the occasional skewed stitches, there wasn’t much in the way of variety. So naturally, I chose pink. Hanni gave me raised eyebrow when I showed it to her.
Yeah, yeah.
Jibel chose the purple shirt and it was back to haggling again. In the end, the shopkeeper agreed to two silvers per item, including trousers of the same color, and a nice piece of cloth to wrap them with.
With Lenra leading the wagon and Hanni’s mount, we set out to find a shoe shop. Though we passed plenty of cordwainers already, only a few had ready made shoes to choose from and those that did, didn’t have children’s sizes. The cobblers were the same story too. With noon upon us, I decided we just have lunch and sample what the market had to offer before heading back to the castle.