Portal to Nova Roma: The Rhine by Mathews J.R

Author:Mathews, J.R.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-01-14T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 27

Alexander the Crafter

Isabella didn’t return that night, but I saw her wave from the tree line the next morning. I waved back and gave her a shy smile, still feeling confused about everything that had happened the night before.

Thankfully, things returned to normal soon enough. I spent the day pretending to be a blacksmith, and then, that night, Isabella returned and we went hunting together. The silences in our conversations felt heavier than they used to. Neither of us spoke about what had happened, but eventually, it stopped feeling as awkward, more like a strange, comforting secret the two of us now held. I didn’t try to analyze what I was feeling too much, afraid my feelings would disappear if I looked at them too closely.

It was several more weeks before we reached Andesina, the capital of Wallon. The city of Andesina was built on top of a limestone plateau and commanded a remarkable view of the entire region. Despite Roland’s complaints about our slow pace the entire way here, he announced that we would be staying for a week to rest and recuperate from our travels no matter how far that put us behind schedule. Some of the more experienced people, especially our farmers, voiced their displeasure loudly. They pointed out that we were wasting valuable time that could have been better spent planting on the frontier, but Roland was never nearby when people voiced such things, everyone having learned better than to voice any complaints to him.

As soon as we were cleared by the Andesina guards, Roland promptly disappeared to the fanciest inn he could find in the city, while the rest of us were left in a field outside the city walls to fend for ourselves. Deciding I’d rather not spend a week sleeping on the ground when I didn’t have to, I invited Roul and Cateline to share an inn with me, and the two accepted gratefully.

We didn’t try to find the fanciest inn possible, settling for a moderately sized inn near the gate that our caravan was camped out in front of. The inn had a large suite for a reasonable price. It came with two rooms and the proprietor provided us with a third bed for the living room for a small additional fee. I took that one since I didn’t need to sleep much anyway, giving the other two their own private rooms.

The three of us spent the week together, enjoying the city, relaxing, and eating decent food. During the night, after the other two had fallen asleep, I snuck out and prowled the city under the cover of darkness with Isabella. Like many of the cities in France, Andesina was beautiful. What made Andesina unique was its bathhouses and sacred pools. Even with the gods gone, there were still several temples here to the healing god Grannus. The pools were believed to help heal those who were injured or sick, and while I couldn’t be sure if that was true or

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