Ben's NaNoWriMo Log

Chapter 31 added Sep 23, 2005
Cahiedra was an enormous city, nearly double the size of Luni, by Sarah's estimation. It was hard to compare it accurately to Crown Bay, due to the differences in architecture. Like her hometown, it was situated at the mouth of a river, with four broad bridges connecting the east bank to the west. As they made their way toward the waterfront, they realized that the city was divided into a number of distinct neighborhoods. Banners and signs proclaimed the allegiances of various sections of the city to families, societies, and organizations. By the time they reached the docks, they were not surprised to find themselves in a quarter with a distinctly Kufriti atmosphere. Alec looked out over the ships packed closely together in the harbor and breathed deeply. "Ah, I've missed the sea." Molly wrinkled her nose. "Smells like dead fish to me." They found lodgings at a fairly affordable inn called the Broken Crown, which seemed mostly filled with sailors on shore leave. They whiled away the evening relaxing in the common room, eating, drinking, and talking. Lars lost interest after the drinking and wandered off to arm wrestle with a table full of similarly burly sailors. They retired one by one, going upstairs to the two rooms they were sharing amongst themselves. When morning came, Lars, who had been the last to bed, was also the last one awake. He seemed none the worse for wear as he joined the others at a simple breakfast. The common room was nearly empty; most of the other patrons were still sleeping off the previous night's revelry. Molly nodded to Lars as he sat down and speared a large slice of cold ham with his knife. "Have fun with your new friends last night?" "Yup. Won some coin playing cards after you went to bed. The Royal Navy pays well, it seems." Sarah nearly choked on her milk. "They were Royal Navy?" She felt her old familiar paranoia creeping up the back of her neck. Lars chuckled. "They weren't looking for you. Mostly complaining about having to cart ambassadors around and such." "What, they'd rather be fighting a war?" "Probably. Or helping someone else fight one." Sarah raised an eyebrow. "I wouldn't think the Royal Navy would turn mercenary." He shook his head as he chewed on a chunk of bread. "Not like that. The king's shipping weapons to Moril. They said it was a better paying assignment, and less boring." Sarah exchanged a glance with Molly. "That's interesting." Molly nodded. "Makes sense, though. There's no war at home, but Ironhold's still making weapons. Why not sell them to the Morils and pad the treasury?" She shrugged. "It takes money to run a kingdom." "It does, at that," said Sarah, tapping a spoon on the table. "Uh oh." Molly peered at Sarah. "I hope you're not thinking what I think you're thinking." "What? Attacking the Kufriti Royal Navy and stealing the king's weapon shipment?" Sarah grinned. Molly turned to the other two at the table. "Boys, this is your last chance to run."
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