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A heroes’ welcome was given to King Varan and his knights as they passed through heavily fortified walls and entered the streets of Varx Citadel. Children raced wagon wheels with branches alongside the horses. Older maidens tossed rose petals at their feet, whilst adults waved ribbons tied to sticks.
Fandri felt overwhelmed at the mass of cheering people, many of whom were chanting his name. Word that the halfling had rescued their prince had reached the common people; all across the Diagro Plains. He felt heat rise in his cheeks at being recognised.
His fairy was not so modest. She flew low through the crowd, brushing past the out-stretched hands of their admirers.
Varl egged her on. “Here flies the most talented and beautiful fairy in all of Reloria. I owe my life to this fairy and her halfling.”
The crowd cheered louder.
Fandri felt the noise quite overpowering, and huddled down over his pony with his hands clapped over his ears.
Upon realising his discomfort, Varl tugged on the pony’s reins and pushed through the crowd into a quiet alley. Fandri-La trailed them, looking a little down-cast to be leaving her admirers.
“Thanks Varl. That was too loud for me.” Fandri sighed with relief at their escape. His eyes soon lit up when he spied Varl’s destination: Damsel’s Sweet Shoppe. Delicious smells wafted through open shutters and they caught a glimpse of newly-baked buns and fruit tarts.
They were greeted at the door of the shop by a round lady with a piggy nose and a welcoming smile. “Greetings, Prince Varl. I have your favourite tarts in the oven just now.”
Varl clapped his hands and a huge grin spread across his face. “Come Fandri, let me show you the true sights of the city. Damsel, please meet my companion, Fandri from Southdale. Fandri, this is Damsel, the finest sweet-smith in all of Reloria.”
Damsel curtsied, causing Fandri’s face to heat up. He make a stiff bow.
Fandri-La’s tried not to laugh at his awkwardness.
Damsel poured a small dish of caramel sauce and gestured to the fairy to take a drink.
Tiny wings lifted her up to the dish and she tilted it for a small sip. The smooth liquid felt like it caressed her tongue and her mouth exploded with the strong hit of sugar. The fairy gasped and Fandri echoed her a split-second later. Although he had not experienced the taste, he felt the pleasure coursing along the bond.
Fandri cleared his throat. “Excuse me, my lady. Might I taste this drink?”
Varl grinned and laid a gold coin upon the counter. “Caramel drinks all around, please Damsel, and two tarts when they are ready.”
“As it pleases you, Milord.”
The halfling had to agree with his fairy that these sweet treats were the most delicious foods he had ever tasted.
After devouring mouth-watering berry tarts, the boys walked out with full bellies and a caramel-covered apple apiece. Fandri-La might have had a little too much of the caramel, for she spoke so quickly the boys could barely understand her. Her eyes shone with excitement.
“…never in all of Reloria had a drink as delicious as this. Why, when I was but a new fairy, I had my first taste of flower nectar and thought it was the most brilliant food in the world, but now that I have tasted caramel, I think I should have caramel every single day. It is so gooey and clings to the tongue and I love the taste of it and …”
The fairy rambled on and on until Fandri gritted his teeth and glared at her. “Enough! Too much sugar, for you, Fandy. You are going crazy and making me crazy too.” He could feel the heat fill his face and immediately regretted his outburst when he saw her smile had vanished and her eyes welled up with tears. Feelings of remorse flooded into him from the bond. He caught her in his hand and gave a gentle hug.
“Oh Fandy, I’m sorry. Look, we have a flask of the caramel sauce for you, but I will restrict you to one sip per day. That way it won’t make us go loopy, plus it will last for ages.”
She smiled once more and tickled his ear with her wings. “Alright, honey. I’ll be good. This caramel nectar is just the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Varl and Fandri shared an amused grin and the squire led them up backstreets through the city to the castle proper.
They made another stop along the way, this time at a blacksmith. The narrow streets widened into an open-air workshop. The clang of metal on metal and smell of smoke and hot steel assaulted their senses.
Varl wove his way between the workstations and ruddy-faced blacksmiths with careful attention. Fandri was not used to this environment and he tripped over a pile of metal rods. His face skimmed a hair’s breath away from a red hot poker being pulled from the fire.
He gasped and jumped backwards.
The blacksmith thumped the metal on his anvil and proceeded to bash it with a hammer.
A stranger grabbed the halfling by the shoulder. “Watch out! You could be seriously injured by touching hot metal here. It was a heavy-set boy, not much older than him, but Fandri surmised that he was the blacksmith’s apprentice.
“Yes sir, I’m sorry.” Fandri’s heart pounded as the hot metal was seized by large tongs and dipped into a bucket of water. Steam rose quickly.
“Oh, I am not a lord. Just an apprentice who has felt the hot end of a poker before and would not wish the pain on an enemy, let alone a youngster.” He pulled back his sleeve to reveal an angry red welt on his forearm. “This is what touching the metal does to you. A week later and the pain still keeps me up at night. Be careful.”
Fandri nodded.
Varl stepped forward to speak to the blacksmith. “Assuredly, he will. Now, friend Donlan, do you have my order ready? I am here to collect it.”
“Aye, Milord. It is as requested. A beautiful piece.”
“It came up a treat, my prince.” The blacksmith stepped forward and bowed to Varl. He also eyed Fandri and the fairy with curiosity. “Now here are some customers we do not see every day. The recipients, I presume?”
Varl nodded. “Not a word further, Donlan. A surprise would be appreciated.” He pointed to Fandri to wait there, and went behind the bellows to speak with the blacksmith. Fandri and the fairy admired a rack of swords and shields for sale while they waited. The work seemed to be of good quality, with no rough edges or apparent seams.
A beggar sat on the hard-packed ground near the smithy. Fandri-La approached him with kindness shinning in her eyes. “Can I help you there, sir?”
The ragged man shook his head and held out his arm, unwrapping a cloth around the stump of his wrist as he did. “There is no help to be had for me, my little lady. My right hand was taken as punishment for thievery and I can no longer work for my keep. I survive on the kindness of the good traders and peoples in these alleyways. Might you have a coin for a homeless man?”
Both Fandri and the fairy stared at him with wide-eyed shock. “But taking of a person’s hand is surely an offence in itself?” Fandri-La’s eyes welled up with tears at his fate.
The beggar pursed his lips. “The king demands absolute justice in the city. I pray you never fall afoul of his exacting standards as I did. I will live with constant regret and fear of the king.”
A short time later, Varl emerged, carrying a long, wrapped parcel. “We ought to get to the castle before we are missed and Father sends knights for us. I do not want to anger him.”
Fandri waved goodbye to the unfortunate beggar.
Varl frowned at the halfling, as though speaking to this man was beneath their station.
Fandri’s brow furrowed in confusion, but said naught.
Varl held out a tiny wrapped present to the fairy. “Here you are, my sweet. A gift that is as delightful as you.”
She opened it up to find a new silver bell with a clasp to fit onto her damaged hat.
“Oh it is wonderful, thank you Varl. “She laid a kiss on his cheek which warmed under her lips, as he clipped the bell on for her.
Without a mention of the other parcel, Varl led them up the street to
wards the inner gates of Varx Castle.