Alanna didn't think before standing up, then shouted at Thomas, “Turn AROUND!”
Thomas crossed his arms and swivelled. “What's the big deal anyway? That's the most conservative sleep-wear I have ever seen. You may as well be wearing a full bodied robe.”
“I'm a princess Thomas, we don't prance around in front of strangers in our night gowns.”
“But we aren't strangers.” Thomas quipped sarcastically. “We're engaged to be married. We have to stay in the same dratted room!”
“I would think that you would feel elated to be staying in the same room as a princess Thomas. Any other individual would have been executed by now.” Alanna finished ruffling. “Alright, you may turn around.”
Thomas stood slowly and turned to Alanna. She was wearing a spring dress today. Oddly, it was a light green hue rather than blue. He had thought that the royalty here always wore blue in keeping with the blue theme. The green took Thomas a little bit off guard. It somehow made her look like a completely different person, but it picked up her eyes. Thomas broke eye contact before he made a fool of himself by staring into her eyes again.
“We are going to have to get ready for our journey. You should go into town and pick up anything you think you might need.”
“Some clothes would be great.” Thomas didn't think he would last too well if all he had was the one outfit to wear. “The only problem is, I don't have any money.”
Alanna shook her head and smiled. You are going to be engaged to the princess of BlueShift. You have, of course, access to the royal coffers. Take some gold from there, and get ready for our voyage.”
“Are you serious?” Thomas was going to be supported by the royal mint? He had finally found the golden lining to this dark grey cloud he was under.
“Of course. The princess' boyfriend has to keep himself up to a certain standard if he wants to be seen in public with her.”
Thomas laughed. “If you think that you will be able to change me, you have quite a battle ahead.”
Alanna sighed. “You really need to learn to be more flexible Thomas.”
Thomas just shrugged. “How flexible can you be?”
“I haven't sent you to the dungeon yet.”
“How considerate of you.” Thomas replied wryly.
“I have to go talk with my father before we leave. I still haven't had the chance to speak with him alone since before the dinner. You should go on ahead and get some things ready. I want to be on the road by noon.”
Alanna was organized, that was for sure. So he was to be on his own again. He liked that. At least it would be a break. “Thanks Alanna. I guess I can use a few things aside from clothes. I'll be back before noon.”
Thomas grabbed his jacket and walked briskly out the door. It was the beginning of a good day after all.
*****
Alanna let out the breath that she had been holding up until now. She felt bad about shoving Thomas out of the bed. She'd felt his hand hit her back, but it was the biting pain in her backside that had made her react so violently. The painkillers must have worn off. She thought that if she ignored it long enough, that the infection would go away, but it seemed that it might be getting worse. It wasn't easy to keep her voice steady while talking to Thomas, she wanted him to get out of the room as fast as possible so she could deal with the wound, but she didn't want him to realize that there was something the matter. Offering him access to the treasury was a little bit extreme she supposed, but she had to get him out of the room quickly. She limped over to the shawl hanging over the back of her writing desk chair, and draped it over her shoulders. She would have to get some things in the city as well, but she didn't want Thomas asking questions. Doing her best to fight through the pain, Alanna mentally prepared herself to talk to her father. That part, she thought, at least had been true. She needed to talk to him and figure out what was going on.
*****
The moment that Thomas walked out of the room, he realized that he didn't know where he was going. He was going to turn around and march back in when a mousy voice coughed a timid, “Ahem.”
Thomas turned around to see Popkin standing to the side of the door, with his back facing the wall.
“Sir. Do you require assistance?”
Popkin was the one who had helped him the previous day with his nails.
“I could use a hand finding the treasury.” Thomas replied. “Alanna asked me to grab some money and get some provisions for our journey to The Seer.”
“Very good sir. I will take you there promptly.”
It had seemed a little strange to Thomas that Popkin was standing outside of their door. Back on Earth, that sort of behaviour would likely land you in a prison, but he guessed that it was normal for a palace. Strange how the same sort of conduct in one setting could be perceived so differently in another.
“Popkin? How long were you waiting for us?”
“I believe I was there for approximately four marks sir. I wait on the princess. She usually wakes quite late, though on occasion, she has been known to wake quite early as well. It is my duty to be there when she does emerge, so I have to make sure that I am there for either scenario.”
A long winded answer for approximately four hours, thought Thomas. “That must be quite boring.”
Popkin just smiled and continued along his way without further discussion. He darted through the hallways, taking him down staircases, through large rooms and down to the treasury. After a little paperwork, Thomas left with a hefty coin purse and a big smile on his face. If only his friends could see him now. Better they didn't, he could already imagine them asking for loans.
It was still fairly early in the morning, and the shops in the city were just opening. Every individual that Thomas met, went out of their way to greet him. Some of the faces he recognized, while others, left him wondering how they knew who he was.
As soon as he was out of the gates and in the streets of BlueShift, Thomas stretched his back and looked around. Where should he go?
The streets were just coming to life. He passed Dr Eckner's Dentistry, from which he could hear cries of pain wafting through the door along with the usual unpleasant odour that these places typically had. It seemed dentistry wasn't quite up to the same standard he enjoyed at home yet.
The day wore on while Thomas was gathering provisions from various sources. He had a complete survival kit that he had got from Paul's Pulsating Provisions. He guessed that the badly painted man on the sign above the door was supposed to be Paul. Rippling with muscles and holding a shovel in his teeth. Quite a contrast from the somewhat rotund and slightly balding man that had run the shop. It seemed that no place, or world was sacred. No matter where you went, if there was a city, there was bound to be this form of corny advertising. Thomas sighed.
Thomas was about to make his way back to the palace when something in his peripheral vision caught his attention.
On the corner, at the outskirts of town, was a shop that looked like it had sat there for centuries. The sign was elegantly carved, likely hand carved, in a more traditional manner. No images of muscular men, or maidens with exaggerated features, This sign simply had an elegantly engraved image of an inkwell with a quill coming out of it. At the top, it proclaimed in large letters, 'Ink and Nibs'.
It had been Thomas' intention to start a journal ever since he had come to this world. These were memories that he simply had to record. He didn't want to chance that he would forget everything when he went back home. Thomas went up to the old shop and gave the door a shove. Dust whipped into motes caught in the sunbeams that found their way through the old windows as he walked onto the squeaky old floor. The smell of the place was musty, like old magazines. The odour mixed with the dust gave the impression to Thomas that not a lot of people came here anymore.
The shop was what he had expected. There were displays of different kinds of quills, and there were ink pots all over the place. Different grades and types of parchments were neatly ar
ranged into compartments and labelled. The only thing off, besides the fact that there really wasn't anyone around, was the amount of dust in the store. It simply looked as if it hadn't been disturbed in centuries. Thomas was just about to leave when a voice from the corner of the room froze him in his tracks.
“Yyyyess. Can I help you?”
Thomas whirled around to see a tall, elderly man, with a long beard and ominous eyebrows staring at him. “Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't see anyone here. I was about to go!”
The man in the corner quickly pushed himself off the wall that he had been leaning against and stepped briskly up behind the counter. “Well I wouldn't be doing that now would I?... or you rather.” The man gave Thomas a slight smile and nodded toward the provisions that he had gathered so far. “After all, you aren't quite ready yet are you?”
“Hm? Oh, yes, I suppose I still have some things to get. I'm....”
“Thomas. Yes, I know.” the old man gave him a sly smile. “Pleased to meet you.”
“How...” Thomas began, but the old man cut him off again.
“How is a wonderful question. But you know what?” The old man drew himself right up to Thomas' face, so close he could smell the garlic the man had been eating earlier this morning. “Why. Why is a much better question. If I had to choose between how and why, I would choose why every time.” the old man started to prance back to behind the counter chanting, “Why, why, why!” He settled in behind the register and calmed down. “Ah, but why is for another day. Let's start with who.”
Thomas thought he might know why the store was so empty now.
“The who is Mr Nibs.” The old man winked at Thomas. “That's me. Mr Nibs of Ink and Nibs.”
Thomas looked around. “Oh so you have help here running the store?”
“Ah sadly no. Ink ran out. Now there's just nibs.” The old man laughed at his joke. “Do ye get it? We've run out of ink! But seriously, Ink hasn't been around for a long while. I thought about changing the sign. Making it Nibs and Ink. Inks gone, so at least I should get top billing don't you think? Or maybe juts Nibs. People probably wouldn't come though if the store just said Nibs. Sounds a little to limited. Oh! There's an idea! Nibs Limited. NO WAIT. Nibs unlimited! Makes it sound like I have lots of stuff to buy! Much better than Ink unlimited, don't you think?”
“Ah.” was all Thomas could think to say.
“Ah yes. I'm wasting your time. No doubt you have important things to do, eh?”
The old man whirled from shelf to shelf. “Ah yes, ah..no... that's not it.” He waggon wheeled his arms through drawer after drawer until he finally exclaimed, “YES! That's it. That's exactly it!” The old man held out a fountain pen in his hand, proffering it to Thomas.
With some trepidation, Thomas took the pen from the old man. He turned the fountain pen over in his hand a few times. It was solidly constructed. There was a screw top that appeared to be where you would pour ink into it. The pen was a wonderful gold colour and had the initials T.K. engraved on the back. Thomas was so startled he almost dropped it.
“I KNOW!” Shouted the old man when he saw Thomas' started expression. “Theodore Kensington! Who would have guessed! HAH! It's a good pen though.” Thomas nerves calmed down a little and he almost laughed. It was ridiculous to think that the pen was made for him. He had just gotten here. It still bothered him that the old man knew who he was. Thomas decided that he must have been at the dinner the night before.
“Thanks, actually. I think it will do fine. I also...”
“Need something to write on! And with! Coming right up.”
“You know, the journal should say something about the individual that is carrying it.” The old man chattered as he looked through the shelves. “You see this one?” He held up a brown, dull looking book. “This one says: whatever I am doing with this book, I absolutely hate it.” Mr Nibs continued to hold up this book and that. “This one says I'm rich and lazy. This one says I want something that makes me look smart, even though I can't read.”
“How can you tell that from a book?” Thomas asked incredulously.
“Look.” Mr Nibs opened the book to show it had been already completely filled in.
“AH! This one maybe?” Mr Nibs brought out a bright pink journal. “Perhaps this says something about you?” Mr Nibs chuckled to himself.
Thomas felt a little uncomfortable. The journal reminded him of the pyjamas.
Finally Mr Nibs brought out a journal that was charcoal grey with a blue border. “This is the one!” Mr Nibs said more to himself than to Thomas. He just stood there staring at it for several moments before waking up and remembering that Thomas was still there waiting. Walking over to the counter, Mr Nibs tossed it down, letting it twist and slide toward Thomas.
Thomas picked up the journal and opened it up.
“Absolutely the highest quality of parchment. I have included a binding system that allows you to take the pages in and out as you please. Thought it might be useful.” The old man winked at Thomas again.
The pages did look of high quality. There was gold leaf inlay around the edges, which formed margins. The pages were hand punched, and leather ties held the pages into the binding. All you needed to do was untie the leather binding and you could pull pages out. Not bad.
“I'll wrap it up for you then and throw some ink in with it and you can be on your way!”
“You haven't even told me how much it is yet.” Thomas exclaimed.
“Oh right! I guess we should take care of business shouldn't we?” The old man put on his glasses from over his head and started to consult a sheet of paper that was beside the old fashioned till. “Now let me see. Ah hah. Mhmm. Yes...” The old man paused, and through the corner of his eye, looked at Thomas' ring.
“Tell you what?” The old man put down the paper. “I will give you all of this, for that ring.”
Thomas was taken aback. His ring? The ring that connected him to his world? “The rings not for sale.” Thomas withdrew his hand as if he had been bitten by fire.
Mr Nibs laughed. “Of course it isn't. And never should be mmm? Remember that.” The old man returned to the paper on the counter. “Alright then. 5 gold I think should cover it.”
Thomas dished out 5 pieces of gold. He couldn't help but feel he might be overpaying, but he just wanted to get out of the shop and back to the palace. The old man was sort of creepy.
Just as Thomas was about to leave the shop, the old man called out. “Should you come across a talking bear, remember, the answer's 'The Forth.'”
“Uh, thanks.” Thomas darted out of the old store as fast as he could and made his way back to the palace. The forth? Talking bears? Thomas just wanted to get going and out of the city. It was turning out to be as unnerving as the forests had been.
*****
Alanna cleared her head before entering the study, where her father spent most of his time when home.
The king was sitting behind a desk, sifting through some papers when Alanna came in. “Alanna. I thought I would have run into you much earlier than this. No matter. What can I do for you?”
“Thomas told me about the Seer. You never mentioned that to me when I approached you about Thomas earlier.”
Alkamire regarded Alanna seriously. “We've been down this path once before Alanna. Thomas is a decent person from what I have seen, which isn't a lot. I will not rush into making my decision.”
“But the Seer? He's a crazy old dragon. You can't be serious dad. I seriously doubt he has any real ability. He's just so old his visions are more likely to be a condition of his deteriorating memory than any magical gift.”
The king leaned back in his chair and let out a heavy breath. “The Seer is a visionary. But this is about more than that. The journey is important as well.” Alkamire cocked his head to one side. “How well do you know Thomas really?”
Alanna feigned irritation, “How well do you think! He's to be my husband!”
The king sighed. “And I have alre
ady said that is fine with me, if he proves to be worthy.” The king reached his hand across to Alanna. “My concern is with you. I want to make sure you are going to be alright with this. I know I pressured you into a marriage with Gatsby too quickly. It just seemed logical. You two were already best friends. That is one of the best foundations for a relationship.”
“Don't pretend that you were doing it for my sake dad. All you wanted was to have a tie to the Ganton Dragons. You weren't thinking of what I wanted at all.”
“Whatever the case was, that is in the past now. Things are changing Alanna. The threat of the Storm Dragons isn't a far off dream anymore. As unlikely as it seems, they are organizing. It's important that we are all ready for that day.”
“By ready you mean?”
“I mean to make sure you are taken care of. If anything should happen to me, it will be left to you to take over control of the kingdom. Whoever you end up with, will be King. I have a responsibility to my people to make sure whoever that is, is someone who is fit for the office. Gatsby could have handled it, I don't know enough about this Thomas yet, I admit, there is something about him, but only time will tell. If fate wills it, you two will be together.”
“So that's it then?”
“There is one more thing. As I have said Alanna, the journey is as important as the destination. However well you two think you know each other, you never really know someone until you have lived and travelled together. Use this time to make sure he's the right one. You could probably fly there in a matter of a day or two, and return, but I would like to encourage you to go by foot.”
“By foot! That could take weeks!” longer if the infection didn't settle down.
“That's the point Alanna. A journey without hardships won't teach you anything. One day you will understand.” The king smiled. Now come over here and give me a hug. I trust you to take care of that boy. I get the feeling we will be needing his help in the near future.”
Alanna gave her father a big hug. They were going to go by foot then. Alanna left the study and sighed. The road ahead was going to be much longer than she had thought. She wondered if Thomas was getting ready for the trip. They were going to have to pack a lot more than she had anticipated.