greatest city in the world. So far she had beheld marbled edifices that loomed like mountains to either side, gawked at the armored knights and gowned ladies of whom she had dreamed, seen horses and carriages and teams of great cattle. Dwarves and kender and elves-and even rougher types-mingled among the multitude of variegated humans. Finally they had come to the grounds of this splendid house, high on one of the hillsides just outside the great city.
And not even her view of that city had readied her for this elegant mansion. She had gaped at the gilded columns, rising to a height of two stories all around the anteroom. She had bowed clumsily to the haughty servant who had kept her and Moptop waiting on the balcony for several hours.
Now she gasped in dismay as she watched Jenna take the letter from Umma, the scroll Cory had carried across the breadth of Ansalon, and blithely drop it into the fireplace. No coals glowed there, but the dry paper instantly burst into flames. By the time the girl had followed Jenna toward the wide stairway climbing to the second level of the house, the secret letter, the message that contained the key to her journey, perhaps to her future life, was nothing but cold ash.
She bit back her disappointment as they climbed a wide stairway to the second floor. She became aware of the heavy weight of her knapsack, the strap digging into her shoulder.
'Um… my lady? Should I put my knapsack down somewhere? Is there a room where I might change my clothing?' she asked, surprised at her own boldness.
'A room? No, there won't be time for that,' Jenna said curtly. 'You can change here, in the parlor, and get a bite to eat in the kitchen. But we'll be leaving Palanthas before nightfall. As soon as you are ready, I need you to go to the market, down in the city. You'll have to do some shopping for the journey.'
'Yes, of course,' Coryn agreed, her weariness vanishing at the thought of another excursion into that exciting city. 'What is it you want me to buy?'
'Mules. I should think three of them will be enough. But they must be sturdy, not too old, reasonably well fed. And take care not to overpay.'
Mules? Coryn's head whirled. She had seen mules during her travels, along with all sorts of other beasts of burden, but she had no idea how to go about
Jenna seemed to read her mind as she called out to Rupert, who lurked nearby. 'Rupert? Is your son in the house? Perhaps Donny would be kind enough to go along with Coryn, show her where the market is-and help bring the mules back?'
'Of course, my lady. I shall summon him at once.'
By the time Coryn had changed to a clean pair of trousers and gobbled down two pieces of the softest, tastiest bread she had ever tasted, a boy of about ten appeared in the kitchen. 'I'm Donny,' he said. 'I guess I'm to take you to the market.'
'Let's go get some mules,' Coryn said, following him through the maze of the manor's sprawling ground floor. The lad proved to be quite a bit friendlier than either his father or Lady Jenna had been. The young woman felt no worries for her safety, only a giddy sense of wonder as Donny quickly led her down the wide avenue running past Jenna's villa.
She saw that the manor of the red-robed sorceress was, while quite splendid, merely one of dozens, a hundred or more, such grand domiciles. These structures sprawled across this dominant height to the east of the city, each commanding a magnificent view from its lofty perch. There were fountains and pools, gardens laid out in ornate mazes, formal clusters of blossoms organized with martial precision. Each of these grand houses seemed a miniature fortress, with walls and gates and towers. Guards in colorful livery were a common fixture, and she saw mounted knights-in one group more than twenty armored riders-making their way along the wide streets.
'This whole area is called Nobles Hill,' Donny noted, as they made way for a group of knights. 'The really rich people live here.'
Soon they were passing through a gate into the city-or the Old City, as Donny explained, since many structures had been erected outside that ancient barrier. Here the streets were narrow and twisting, and though Coryn saw gardens and fountains here as well, she also saw tiny alleys reeking of filth. On the roof of one flat- topped building a half dozen men with crossbows looked menacing against the skyline, studying passersby in the street below.
'That's the Thieves Guild,' Donny explained. 'Those guys don't like people poking around.'
His route took them past the waterfront, and Coryn quickly and vividly recognized the stench of fish guts from her own recent sea voyage. Even so, it was a wonder to see the bustling docks, fishing boats unloading holds full of the morning catch, silvery salmon flipping and thrashing as they were smoothly cleaned and wrapped in seaweed. Small carts waited nearby, and every minute or two one of these would be filled, and would trundle off to the nearby market.
That market occupied a broad plaza festooned with brightly colored awnings, small stalls, and a multitude of handcarts, the latter often shaded by a single broad umbrella. The fabrics in reds and golds, stripes and mosaics, greens like the emerald purity of winter ice in the heart of a glacier, or blue as smooth and vast as the summer sky, reminded Cory of a great field of chaotic blooms. People milled and thronged here, bought and bartered all around these makeshift stalls.
This was far more than a fish market, she saw. A weaponsmith had an array of swords laid out on a table in the afternoon sun, and one huckster was doing a thriving business offering nothing more than a glimpse of a scantily clad female dancer moving languidly in the center of a small ringed arena. Coryn recognized sheep and lambs, cows and calves, goats, poultry, and even a few horses confined in impromptu corrals. Finally she spotted a dilapidated little enclosure where a dozen mules stood, more or less contentedly.
'We have to bargain with him,' Donny said distastefully, for the first time displaying a touch of hesitancy.
The 'him' was a huge, pot-bellied mule skinner who wore filthy trousers and a leather vest that didn't begin to cover his hairy, sagging gut. When he spotted the pair of potential customers, he favored them with a wide smile, and Cory saw that his mouth was almost entirely devoid of teeth.
'I kin see the lady 'as a keen eye for mule flesh,' he said approvingly, swaggering over to greet them. He smelled very strong, like a sour version of the liquid in Umma's special bottle of medicine. 'These 'ere are splendid animals. You kin 'ave the lot of 'em for a hundred steel.'
Coryn shook her head firmly. If there was one thing she knew, it was how to barter. 'I want three-that one, that one, and that one.' She picked out the only animals that seemed to be watching them with intelligence, a trio of black mules that continued to regard them with oversized and upraised ears.
'Like I said, you 'as a keen eye,' said Bulge-Belly with a nod. 'Them's my best three. Cost you seventy five for the set.'
'That's ridiculous! You just said the price was a hundred for all twelve of them, and now you want seventy five for three?'
'Like I said, them's the best three.'
Donny, off to the side, was shaking his head furiously. Cory drew up her chin, and glared at the man. 'Twenty,' she offered firmly.
He looked injured, but kept the bargaining going. She, in turn, refused to back down, and felt rather proud of herself when the deal was finally closed for twenty-eight pieces of steel. Another six pieces were required to buy harnesses, but within a few minutes Coryn and Donny were leading the docile animals back through the city.
'What does Mistress Jenna do? I mean, for a job?' Coryn ventured to ask the lad. 'Or is she a noble lady, born to her manor?'
Donny looked up and laughed. 'You mean you haven't heard of her?'
'No,' Cory was forced to admit, embarrassed. 'I mean, except from my grandmother.'
'Well, she's just the greatest wizard in Palanthas, maybe the whole world!' the boy said proudly. 'She is mistress of all the Red Robes!'
'A wizard?' Coryn asked wonderingly. 'You mean, she makes spells from the wind, the stones, everything around her?'
Donny looked at her in pity. 'Boy, you don't know much, do you? No, you're talking about sorcery. The Lady Jenna hates that. She practices
