“It hit me in the head!” Miko says when he’s finally able to stop vomiting.
“Relax,” James says as he heads over to the nearest horse. “You’ll live.” After removing the water bottle from behind the saddle, he rinses the blood off his hand then hands it to Miko. While Miko cleans himself, James gazes around the immediate vicinity. Groups of the black birds are massed upon the dead men and horses, feasting. His gorge rising, he quickly gets ready to travel so they can leave this place behind.
Miko helps him while both do their best to ignore what is going on around them. When they are finally ready to ride, Miko is the first in the saddle and races past the clumps of feasting birds with eyes closed, not stopping until they are no more than black specks on the horizon.
“Are you going to be okay?” asks James once he’s caught up with him.
“I’m better now that we left that behind us,” he replies, still a little pale.
“I know what you mean,” James agrees. “Better them than us, eh?”
“Yeah, I suppose so.” Miko still feels a bit green, but after a few minutes begins feeling better.
The rest of the day goes by without incident and they arrive at the outskirts of Willimet shortly before sunset. The first building they come to boasts a sign depicting a man sleeping on a bed. Figuring this to be an inn, they stop out front where James leaves Miko with the horses as he walks to the front door. Just before he draws near, it unexpectedly opens.
From within emerges a man reeking of some unknown unpleasantness. His hair is matted and the original color of his clothes is lost beneath an accumulation of stains and grime. The odor emanating from the man is such that James is forced to hold his breath until the man passes to avoid breathing in the nauseating stench. Once the man has moved some distance away, he takes a hesitant breath. Though the man’s stench is still present, it is no longer so overpowering.
Stepping through the doorway, he again is forced to hold his breath as the inside of the inn reeked just as bad as the man who had just left. Nasty was the word that came to mind when he glanced around the inn and toward the common room. Some tables still had yet to be cleared of the remnants of the noon meal though it has been over for many hours. Smoke from the kitchen creates an unpleasant haze that only heightens James distaste for the place.
A skinny man of average height with greasy black hair spies him standing in the foyer. Wiping his hands on an apron that possibly had never been washed, he crosses over to greet him. “Need a room tonight?” he asks, and James can almost see the green, putrefied odor coming from the man as he talks.
James turns his head slightly to try to get away from the sickening smell. “No,” he quickly replies all the while trying not to breathe. “Just seeing if my friend was here,” he lies. “Thanks though.” He then turns and makes a hasty exit through the front door, taking a deep breath once outside. He informs Miko that they will not be staying there tonight.
“What was wrong with it?” Miko asks.
Getting back on his horse he replies, “It was filthy and nasty. The one person I saw stank and I fear may have been the cook.” The thought of eating anything produced in a place of such disregard for cleanliness made his gorge rise.
“I’m sure there are others here, it’s a fair sized town,” comments Miko.
“I certainly hope so,” says James. “I’ll sleep under the stars again before I stay in a place like that.”
They find another inn further into town, this one looks to have a fresh coat of paint and the grounds are well maintained and orderly. “I think this may do nicely,” he says with satisfaction. It was a stark contrast to the earlier place.
“I hope so,” adds Miko, “it’s starting to get dark.”
Coming to a stop before the steps leading to the front door, James dismounts and says to Miko, “Stay here and I’ll see if they have a room available.”
“Alright,” Miko replies.
After handing Miko his reins, he goes up the stairs and enters the inn. This one, though it has a smoky haze similar to the other inn, but at least it smells of wood smoke and cooking. Overall, the place looks to be better maintained. A man comes over and greets him, “Welcome to the Apple Tree Inn, how may we help you tonight?”
Friendly greeting, neat and clean common area, Yes, he thinks to himself, I think this will do.
“My friend and I require a room for the night,” he says, “and stalls for our animals.”
“How many do you have?” he asks.
“Two horses, and a mule,” James answers.
Nodding, the man says, “Yes, we do have room for you. It will be a silver a night for the room and another four coppers for the stalls.”
When he agrees, the man walks to the counter where James hands over the money and receives a room key in exchange. “It’s off the common room.” He points toward a side hallway, “All the way down and on the left. It’s the quietest room we have.”
“Thank you,” James says, “I appreciate that.” Returning outside, he informs Miko they will be staying there. They then take their horses and mule around back, getting them settled into the stable. Taking their bags with them, they return to the inn and find the room at the end of the hallway. Two beds again, which makes Miko happy. They put their bags next to their respective beds before heading back to the common room for dinner.
They enjoy a quiet dinner of roast fowl, bread and ale. After downing the last of his ale, James says, “I think I’ll go for a walk” Glancing toward Miko he asks, “Like to come with me?”
“Sure, okay,” Miko agrees. “Maybe we could find some more tarts?”
“You never know,” replies James, smiling at his friend.
They leave the inn and stroll through the streets. During their walk they get propositioned by several women, all of which look rather skanky to James.
After turning down the fifth offer of cheap sex, Miko says, “There’s something I’ve noticed about you.”
“What’s that?” asks James.
“You are never with a woman. Don’t you like them?” Miko inquires. “Or is it because you were mutilated?”
“I like women, most definitely,” he replies, then comes to a stop when the last little bit Miko said finally registers. Turning a quizzical look to Miko he asks, “What do you mean ‘because I was mutilated’?”
Looking a little embarrassed, Miko says, “Well, when we took our baths the other night, I couldn’t help but notice that a part of you had been cut off.”
“What are you talking about?” James asks confused. Then it hit him, he was circumcised. He starts laughing and says, “What you are referring to was done when I was born. It’s a custom with my people that when a boy is born, such is done to him.”
Looking aghast, Miko asks “What for?”
“It’s the common belief that if it’s removed then there will be less chance for infection during his life,” answers James. “In fact there is one religion back home that mandates it.”
“I’m glad I wasn’t born there,” Miko states with conviction, unconsciously covering himself.
“There are times when I wish it hadn’t been done to me too, but there’s not a whole lot I can do about it now. But rest assured, it still works as well as anybody else’s and it doesn’t affect my desire for sex.”
“Then why don’t you go after the women?” he asks.
“I was raised to believe sex is not a casual thing,” he explains. “And it’s definitely something you should never pay anyone to do. Also, there are certain diseases that you can get from such activities that really mess you up bad, even kill you.”
“The boys I used to hang around with, whenever they got hair between their legs, started going after the girls,” says Miko.
“Yeah, I knew guys back home that were like that too,” admits James. “But you should always do what you think is right, no matter what others may think or do.”
James resumes walking and Miko is silent for a while, thinking about what he just said. They eventually arrive at the main marketplace which is still surprisingly busy even though night has already fallen. Several performers scattered around, one is a juggler who has several different objects coursing through the air simultaneously. Next to him sits a chair with a knife sitting half on and half off the seat. At one point the juggler adds the knife to the dance of items in the air with an upward kick of his foot. As it flies up from where it had sat upon the chair, the onlookers
