Fall of a Kingdom: Book One of the Southern Empire Trilogy by Michael Greenfield

Author:Michael Greenfield [Greenfield, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-02-22T16:00:00+00:00

As they closed on Nibar’a, Cal saw that the town was roughly the same size as Holdur, although without the overpowering presence of a keep. He also saw that it stretched along the coastline so that the town was narrow from the sea to the floodplain, but quite long measured from east to west.

None of the buildings that he could see were particularly tall, something that he commented on and was informed by Dorrin that many coastal towns built squat buildings in order to protect against the storms that periodically ravaged them.

On the outskirts there were several largish buildings that were used to store livestock. Around them, towns children could be seen playing in the dust that the last few days of dry weather had formed. Washing was hanging from lines at the back of houses and they could hear the raucous calls of hawkers selling their wares coming from the streets they were just about to enter.

As they moved down the first street Cal couldn’t help but think that Nibar’a appeared, at first glance, to be a much livelier town than Holdur had been. Most of the buildings that faced onto the road provided facing for shops selling just about everything from clothing to fishing nets.

Wood smoke could be smelt on the air and Dorrin again explained things to Cal. The smell came from the racks of fish that were smoked ready for shipment to towns further inland, the process preserving the fish for the journey and providing a rich flavour that was sought after by many nobles for their tables. The locals almost never ate smoked fish, much preferring the more natural flavour of the freshly caught varieties.

As they moved closer to the docks they saw the merchants that sold their merchandise to traders that had come from other towns within the kingdom, and acted as go-between for the traders to sell on to the ship captains that were destined for places as far away as Mid’gra and Mek, on the island kingdom of Dorn.

Just shy of the docks themselves Dorrin motioned for them to come to a halt. On the right hand side of the street Cal could see the battered exterior of an inn, a badly damaged sign hung outside it proclaiming that they had arrived at the Raven’s Head.

“It looks a wreck.” Tamala did not sound overly impressed.

“Looks can be deceiving. Hard storms hit this town during the winter months, and the cost of repainting and repairing a house every time it took damage would be ruinous.

I’d guess that you might change your mind once we get inside.”

Dorrin led the trio to the side of the building where the stable was and called for the stable boy. A young child of about ten years appeared from a small room at the back of the stable and Dorrin quickly organised for someone to fetch their things whilst they sorted out a room with the innkeeper.

There was a door directly from the stable to the inn, which they used and found that it led directly to the taproom.

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