L. Modesitt - Natural Ordermage

Rahl nodded politely to the woman, but she was lost in her own thoughts and did not even see his gesture.

The small shops that had lined the avenue near the harbor had given way to small dwellings. All were in relatively good repair, with flat yellow tiles and stucco walls washed with white. They were so crowded together that the dwellings all shared the walls that surrounded their small rear courtyards, and the houses seemed to have common sidewalls. A man could climb up a corner wall and look into the courtyards of three of his neighbors. Even the poorest areas of Land’s End were not so cramped.

Rahl kept walking.

After another half kay or so along the avenue and the walk, he came to a boulevard branching off to his left that looked as though it might lead seaward, but it was not divided or tree-lined. Rahl decided to keep following the tree-lined median parkway, although it was beginning to rise gently. Still, the avenue was certainly cooler, and besides, he wanted to see where it went. It wasn’t as though he had anything else better to do.

He walked another half kay or so, coming to the top of a low rise, where he could see that the avenue ended only a few hundred cubits ahead at a street perpendicular to the avenue. Where the avenue ended, of course, so did the shaded center parkway and sidewalk.

Rahl stopped just short of the end of the avenue and looked at the cross street. On the street ahead were larger dwellings, all of at least two stories, and all set behind stone walls and gates. The roofs were all of a pale yellow tile, curved and joined, unlike the roofing on the meaner dwellings closer to the harbor, and the walls were of plaster or stucco, painted pastel shades. From the trees he could see rising behind those walls, there were gardens and courtyards surrounding the dwellings on all sides.

He studied the hillside behind the first line of dwellings, realizing that those farther east were higher-and far larger. Before him were more magnificent dwellings than existed in all of Recluce, he suspected.

Someone coughed, off to his right.

Rahl turned to see a patroller-a mage-guard, he mentally corrected himself-in khaki and black, with crimson insignia, sauntering in his direction. The mage-guard’s hand was near the hilt of his falchiona, but he seemed relaxed as he stopped short of Rahl. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m taking a walk, ser. I’m new in Swartheld, and I had the day off.”

“Where do you work?”

“I’m a clerk at the Merchant Association.”

The patroller nodded. “Do you know where you are, young fellow?”

“The other clerks said it was cooler on the hills to the east.”

This time the patroller laughed. “You are from Atla, no doubt about that. This is where factors and merchants live. At least, you didn’t walk up here in rags.”

“I was just looking for a cool and shady place. I wanted to see more of Swartheld.” Rahl smiled pleasantly. All that he said was true enough.

“There’s a park where you could go. It’s a little west of here.” The patroller pointed back down the tree-lined avenue Rahl had walked up. “About five streets down, there’s a boulevard that heads north. To your right, toward the ocean. If you follow it, you’ll see the park. It’s a nice place. You’ll fit in there.”

“Thank you.” Rahl turned obediently and headed back down the avenue, following the directions, back to the boulevard he had passed earlier. This time, he turned north, walking on the sidewalk that was separated from the fronts of the dwellings by a dirt strip no more than three cubits wide. There were some houses with grass on each side of the walk between the sidewalk and the front door, but even there the grass was as much browned-out tan as green. Most houses had no grass at all in front, just dusty, hard-packed dirt. For all that, Rahl saw no trash, and no sagging shutters or run-down dwellings.

After several hundred cubits, he came to what he thought might be a temple or something of the sort. While the structure was only of one story, it was tall enough for two. What made it unusual, though, was the twin spires at the end away from the street. The southern spire was narrow and rose to a point that glittered in the sun, but the northern spire curled and then straightened before ending in a strange convolution of metal strips or bars that faintly resembled the female form.

As he passed, he heard singing within, but could not make out the words. It had to be a temple of some sort of worshippers. He shook his head and kept walking northward, wiping the sweat from his forehead, as the sun felt more intense with every step.

Then, the dwellings on the left ended, and Rahl stood at the southeastern edge of an expanse of open ground bordered on the east, south, and north by lines of dusty-leaved acacias that offered minimal shade. To the west was a low bluff, perhaps twenty or thirty cubits above the roofs and walls of the warehouses and factorages that bordered the eastern side of the harbor. Beyond the trees to the north was a jumble of dark gray and black rock, with but occasional weeds and scrawny trees poking up from the inhospitable land.

The park actually contained areas of worn grass, as well as three groves of loosely spaced acacias with a few tables set in the groves. The pillars supporting the battered plank tabletops were of the ubiquitous yellow brick. Away from the trees were several narrow stone walks or gameways, where teams of men, two at each end, tried to skid triangular stones closest to a small stone circle of a lighter color.

The men were wearing simple short-sleeved shirts with soft collars, or no collars at all, and a number wore a kind of trouser Rahl hadn’t seen at all, that ended midway between the knee and ankle. Above ankle-length flowing pants, all the women wore flowing blouses that ran from wrist to neck. Only their sandaled feet and hands were uncovered, although the light fabric of their head scarves concealed nothing. Rahl looked more closely at a woman walking by, holding the hand of her small daughter. The fabric of her garments was light, and not tightly woven. In fact, in the bright sunlight, at times, he could see the outline of her figure.

So what was the purpose of garments that covered everything, yet that occasionally revealed so much?

Rahl eased himself into a relatively shady spot beneath the nearest tree and continued to survey what was happening. Whole families had to have arrived early to claim the shaded tables in the groves, and in several places, he could see older white-haired men playing what looked to be a form of plaques.

Two men detached themselves from a group that looked to include several families under the nearest acacia grove and ambled toward him.

Rahl waited, taking their measure as they neared. Neither was as tall as he was, and while the two bore belt knives, they had no other weapons. One had drooping black mustaches, and the other had a few days’ growth of beard. Both wore old and thin faded shirts, not tunics or undertunics.

“You’re not from around here,” said the shorter and broader figure, fingering one pointed end of his mustache.

“No. I live down near the harbor.”

“You sound like you’re from Atla.”

“I’ve only been in Swartheld for a short time.”

The taller man looked at the truncheon, then at Rahl. “You look too pretty to be a guard, and most bravos wear blades.”

“I work for a trading association,” countered Rahl. “They don’t like holes in possible shippers.”

The shorter man laughed. “You ever use a falchiona?”

“Enough.”

“Why are you here?”

“At the park?” Rahl shrugged. “What else would I do? I haven’t gotten paid that much yet.”

“How about women?”