THE BORDER BETWEEN CATANIS AND RITORÀ

[THE BANK OF RIVER FÚLIN]

The rooster had just crowed. Customers were pouring into Yilius' tavern. These were men who had no good plans for the day. To be in a tavern at this time of the day left no good impression. The first one to enter was already drunk wherever he had come from. It seemed as if he wanted to be completely knocked out by Yilius' strong wine. He had definitely had too much to drink already, but maybe he just was not satisfied yet. He trudged to the wide counter where he saw the owner of the tavern.

He was dressed like a bounty hunter, even if he was not. He was bald, the tallest man in the tavern, and his back was riddled with massive muscles. There was a dagger in his belt, and a coiled rope hung from the other side. He wore thick black boots that made him at least 3 inches taller.

He tapped on the counter where Yilius lay, and the latter opened his eyes, startled. Yilius was shocked to see such a huge figure leaning over him. He knew Mafik well, but he wondered if he had got into some kind of trouble with him. Mafik was Yilius’ customer, and he was always in Yilius’ tavern, but he had never come this early. 

Mafik was feared. He was not involved in any open crime, but most people had concluded he was involved in shady businesses. The fact that he walked and roamed the village with a dagger always stuck in his belt proved he was involved in something that was not pure. 

Yilius' eyes widened the moment he caught sight of the huge man leaning over him. He rolled to the other side of the counter. There were already so many customers waiting to be served, so he ordered the little boy who had just walked in to serve the others. He usually helped Yilius at the tavern for money and sometimes free drinks. Yilius had no family and the boy who was homeless, made a good team in bringing their customers to satisfaction as they were always available. They basically had nowhere else to go, and after working for an entire day, they'd both find a warm place in the tavern to sleep.

Yilius realised Mafik had come for a drink after all. He heaved a sigh of relief when he realised he had not trespassed. No one would want to cross Mafik’s path. 

“Give me that one drink, the very drink that'll send me to slumber,” Mafik said, and Yilius nodded. He nodded, even without making sure to understand Mafik’s point.

"What is it that your tongue desires?" Yilius asked the hunky man in front of him - on the other side - as he pulled out a wooden board.

Mafik gave him a stern look, and he trembled. He was a man of few words, and repeating words was just not something he could be seen doing. Yilius realised this and decided to keep his mouth shut. He figured Mafik just wanted a strong wine. He had so many barrels that contained strong wines, but he wasn't sure they could do what Mafik had asked for.

“I’ll pay you double if it knocks me off my feet,” Mafik said, and Yilius nodded. Money was one language Yilius could never misinterpret. He knew just what he had to do to grant Mafik’s request. He knew he had to result to using the red powder.

Yilius' tavern was large and spacious. There were no less than 12 round oak tables, each with three chairs to accommodate more customers. There were several oak barrels of various wines. All the barrels were arranged in a manner behind the counter that it looked like a wall to someone standing at the entrance.

The floor was made of smoothed boards arranged from the door to the wall behind the barrels. They were arranged so close together that a spilled drink had to be scrubbed off to keep it from getting on the floor.

Yilius nodded at his request as he scrubbed the inside of the tankard in his hand with the end of the brown rag that lay over his right shoulder.

Yilius turned to his barrels and poured a small amount of four different drinks into the tankard, and a mixture of all four filled the tankard to the brim. He was not done yet. He slid his hand under the counter top and pulled out a rolled-up sheet. He unrolled it and it contained a fine red powder.

The powder was "ílís", the substance obtained from the petals of a flower called "blairos".

It had once been a dangerous weapon against the Kranians, but since they had disappeared, all but Yilius had banned it from their homes. Yilius had found that it was a potent substance that could satisfy anyone, so he kept it in powder form to spice up drinks for customers. It had an unpleasant smell of burning feather, but when added to a drink and it dissolves, the smell becomes a bit more pleasant. 

Yilius pushed the tankard filled with a mixture of drink and powdered Ílís in front of him, the bottom of which slid across the countertop and clasped the man's braces. It spilled a little on the counter as the tankard hit Mafik’s palm. 

"That would knock anyone out. That would be twenty kartis. You said you'd pay double if it knocked you off your feet, so 40 kartis," Yilius said, demanding twice the amount of the drink, because he was sure the man would not get up after the first sip.

He gulped it all down, from the rim to the last drop, groaning and slapping his hands around his head as he felt the world spin around him. This was what he had been looking for.

Yilius was right. His legs could no longer hold him up. He slumped onto the chair in front of the counter. He slapped his head and held on to it tightly. He could literally feel his head burning from the inside. 

He slapped the bottom of the tankard on the countertop and demanded a second round. This round was supposed to send him to sleep. While Yilius was mixing, he slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a tiny pouch filled with objects that banged against each other, making a sound that was not new to Yilius' ears. It was Yilius’ favourite sound.

It was a bag filled with coins. Round, thick metals formed into perfect circles and covered with silver, the "kartis," the only currency used in the West.

He emptied the pouch on the counter and did a rough calculation - he gave Yilius 60 kartis instead of the 40 kartis he had asked for. Yilius was a greedy man. He received it without returning it back to Mafik. It was his lucky day.

While Yilius mixed him another drink, a shadow was cast in his direction. He raised his head, and so did every other person in the tavern. Their attention was drawn to the entrance. They stared at the figure and observed in silence.

The shadow was that of a young lady. She stood outside the door, preventing the warm light of the morning sun from reaching those present in the tavern. She had intended to enter, but had stopped only to observe. She made sure to scan every one's face before taking a step another step forward.

She wore a hood over her head, coming off a narrow, tight-fitting cloak of black leather. It was laced across her chest. The coat reached her calf, and from there to her waist it merged into a slit.

Unlike what most women and young girls in the West wore - a dress - she wore black leather pants that reached down to the boots she wore. She had stepped into them with a pair of boots that reached her shins.

As she took a step into the tavern, she propped her right leg on the wooden floor and disentangled herself from the sand particles that had attached themselves to the sole of her boot. They were the very coarse grains of sand found in Northland.

In her left hand she held a dead rabbit, fresh blood dripping from its neck. With the rabbit in her left hand, she strode all the way in. When she was close to the counter, Yilius saw that there was a bundle of arrows sticking out from the quiver behind her left shoulder, and he also noticed that there was a bow slung over her back.

Yilius, like everyone else in the tavern, had not said a word since she had entered. As she approached the counter, she removed her hood and her glossy black hair fell over her shoulders.

Yilius had handed the drunk his drink, and he had already taken two sips.

Yilius wondered, as did every man in the tavern, why such a beautiful young lady seemed so tough.

She threw the dead rabbit on the counter and its blood splattered on the surface. The sound of the meat on the countertop made Yilius shudder. He could not even be bothered to clean up the bloodstain. He was more concerned with his own safety.

The young woman stroked her right hand, and though she wore a pair of gloves, Yilius sensed that something was wrong with that hand. He averted his gaze from the hand and looked into the girl's eyes as she spoke.

"I need to find someone," she said, leaning over the countertop to make sure she was heard. She could not be any louder than that. Her voice was not as intimidating as Yilius had thought.

All this time, the drunk sitting in front of the counter had done nothing but ogle the girl leaning over the counter. His smile betrayed his interest in this young woman.

"I'll give you whatever you are looking for. All you have to do is sit down and have a drink with me, beautiful," the drunk gushed, and every single man in the room laughed. Yilius, who had not been drinking, knew better.

She ignored him after a quick glance at his face and turned her gaze back to Yilius. She could not waste another moment looking at him. She needed help. That was her priority.

"Who are you looking for?" asked Yilius.

The drunk did not take her silence at face value. He thought she would respond better if he tried something else, and so he stroked her shoulder.

He should not have done that. She didn't let her condition weaken her.

She stomped her feet on the chair he was sitting on and its legs broke, causing him to fall to the floor.

Sounds of laughter from different corners of the room reached her ears. They laughed at the fact that such a well-built man was kicked to the ground by a young lady.

She turned back to Yilius to answer his question, and before she could say a word, she felt herself choking on the rope tied around her neck. He would not accept defeat. He wanted to prove himself to everyone.

She choked, but her hand made it to the dagger in his belt. She pulled it from his belt and jammed it into his thigh.

He groaned through clenched teeth, trying to pull the dagger out as he staggered around in pain.

She allowed him made a fool of himself for a few moments, and then countered his final attack by smashing a vase over his head.

She went back to the counter to talk to Yilius, and Yilius gulped. After what he had seen, he would do anything else but delay her.

"W-who are you looking for?" He stuttered.

"A healer!" she exclaimed.

"You're not well, yet you defeated a man like Mafik. Who are you?" Yilius asked. She said nothing to him, leaving him to wonder.

"You said you are looking for a healer. They are so many of them here," Yilius said to her.

"Castar, son of Aldéris," she said.