A Walk Amongst Shadows (Book 2)

Entering the royal city for the first time was like stepping through a portal into an entirely new world. I had never walked upon paved roads before. The cobbled paths felt strange beneath my feet, and as I entered through the city gates, I looked around me and saw no signs of greenery. It was as though the city had become its own separate environment, completely isolated from the trees that surrounded. The aroma of cuisine both familiar and altogether foreign saturated the urban air, causing my stomach to grumble in anticipation. I quickly noticed that people dressed quite differently here than in Wren’s Glen. Fashion in the city was far more colorful and women seemed to have the freedom to dress the same as the men. Although more progressive attire was not expressly forbidden to the women of Wren’s Glen, most of the girls and ladies of the hamlet favored long skirts and dresses over trousers or pants. I felt quite plain in my white dress by comparison.

The assault of new sensations; sight smell and sound threatened to overwhelm me. At that point Aris met my gaze and gave a reassuring smile.

I quickly realized I was drawing stares. I first assumed it was because I was so underdressed compared to the citizens around me. I returned each look with a friendly smile but was met only with glares or completely ignored. A few nearby women scoffed at me as I passed. I felt uneasy and instinctively grabbed Aris’ hand. Looking up at him it dawned on me that he was the reason I was getting looks. I relaxed a little at this realization. After all, he had warned me this would happen.

As we walked further into the city everything seemed to get bigger and more cramped. The crowds of citizens became denser, and buildings got taller and closer together. I was overwhelmed by the noise too. The ambient noise had built so gradually I doubt I would have noticed if not for Aris asking me repeatedly to repeat myself when I spoke to him. We ended up breaking away from hoard of the people and came upon an opulent cathedral. It stood out from the surrounding buildings as it was a great deal taller and cleaner than its neighbors. The windows were of many different colors and seemed to depict images, though I was too far away to decipher what they were of. I felt my heart sink as I gazed up at the larger-than-life statues that adorned either side of the entrance. I couldn’t help but think back to the goddess on the mountain. Sensing my discomfort, Aris provided me with some context.

“The one on the right,” he pointed, “is called Reika. He is the god of the sun and that there,” he pointed to the left, “is his lover Riza, the goddess of the moon. Together they maintain all balance in the natural world.” I looked back up at the chiseled figures. They were both beautiful in their own rite, standing regally, powerfully, beside each other.

“Do they now?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

His resolve cracked into a smile. “Of course not, but they are the primary deities worshipped here in the city. Those that worship them are easy enough to spot.”

“How do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, followers of Reika are said to be kissed by the sun. They worship exclusively in the sunlight and tend to have a darker complexion as a result. They also like to adorn themselves with gold and bronze jewelry and wear more revealing clothing.”

I looked around me and instantly noticed a few individuals that fit his description perfectly.

“Now, followers of Riza are a bit more modest,” he continued. “They only reveal themselves at night. During the day you will find them quite concealed by longer garments. At night, however, they dress just as revealing as their sun-worshipping counterparts.”

“Their worship is done at night then,” I surmised.

“Precisely,” he answered.

“What about those people over there?” I asked, gesturing to a nearby couple. The woman had long blue hair and strange markings on her body. She was wearing colorful garments with odd cutouts over various parts of her body. The man she was with had blood red hair that seemed to glow. He wore metal jewelry on his face and bore markings across his body much like his companion. The longer I looked at them the harder I found it to look away.

“Ah, yes, those are some of Daya’s followers,” he began. “Daya is the goddess of beauty, love, and lust. Her followers are probably the easiest to spot, aside from shadow walkers of course.” He winked. “They show their worship and dedication through their aesthetics. You’ll want to be careful around them though. Their magic is that of seduction. There are a great many who liken their abilities to that of mind control.” He had an odd expression on his face.

“They sound like a party,” I prodded.

He chuckled and shook his head. “Consider yourself warned.”

I nodded as I laughed. “So there are a lot of them then? Deities, I mean.”

He nodded. “Of course. The list of gods and goddesses goes on and on. There’s a deity for just about anything you could imagine.”

I laughed. He sounded like a salesman. “It’s crazy to think that all this time I only believed in the existence of one goddess.” I shook my head in disbelief as I stared up at the chiseled faces of Reika and Riza once more. “We didn’t even have a name for her.”

Aris looked confused. “Of course you did, it’s Loeva.”

“Loeva?” I cocked my head in confusion, “Never heard of her.”

Aris laughed. “Huh, I guess they stopped using her name.”

“Wait, tell me about Loeva. What is she the goddess of?” I asked.

“Purity,” he answered wryly.

“Ah, of course.” I rolled my eyes.

“A logical choice for the power-hungry zealot,” he quipped. Then turned back towards the cathedral. “Do you want to go inside? It’s really quite beautiful.”

“Wait, you’ve been inside? I thought you couldn’t enter holy places.”

“You forget I was mortal once, love.”

I cursed myself. “I’m sorry, I promise it’s not that, I just forget that this was your home before Wren’s Glen.”

“It’s quite alright. It hardly feels like home anymore anyways. So much has changed since I was a kid here.”

I smiled imagining a young Aris roaming the streets of the royal city.

“But that cathedral has stood in that spot for as long as I can remember, which is truly saying something,” he grinned.

“Wait, how old are you exactly?” I asked, suddenly realizing I didn’t remember his age.

“I’ll be three hundred and sixteen next month.” He winked at me.

“Oh, so fairly young then,” I retorted sarcastically.

“Yeah, yeah, Miss quarter-of-a-century.” He elbowed me playfully.

“Come on,” I said interlocking my arm with his, warranting a few smirks from those walking past us. “Let’s keep walking.”

Aris really hadn’t been joking when he said people in the royal city frowned upon the mingling of shadow walkers and humans. We drew looks everywhere we visited that day. It was as if I were walking down the street completely naked the way everyone stared. It wasn’t that I hadn’t believed Aris when he warned me, I guess I had just assumed people would be more discreet in their disdain. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

“Does it bother you?” I asked as we passed an older woman who, with a disgruntled sigh, had muttered “unbelievable,” shaking her head and tutting towards us.

“What, them?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Of course not. Honestly, it’s a bit of a welcome change.”

“Change?” I asked.

“Usually when I am here, I am alone. People will do anything to avoid me. Cross the street, go inside, some will stop everything and run away,” he added casually. “But with you by my side, I suppose people feel less threatened.”

“Interesting,” I commented.

“Is it bothering you?” he looked at me concerned.

I shook my head, “Not really, no. I mean, no one has tried to burn me for being with you yet, so I would say it’s an overall improvement.”

Aris let out an audible laugh and grabbed my hand as we continued our tour of the city. We walked down a few more streets when he paused again. “Here we have it,” he announced, gesturing at the large stone building before me. It was quite tall and rather official looking with marble pillars standing proudly on either side of the entrance. I was almost intimidated by its grandeur.

I raised my eyebrows and looked inquisitively at Aris.

“The royal apothecary,” he introduced.

My demeanor instantly shifted and I was instantly filled with excitement. I looked at the building once more with new eyes. “Can we go in?” I asked eagerly.

“Of course,” he hesitated. “Well, you can. I don’t imagine they’ll be too keen on having me alongside you.”

“Please?” I begged innocently, like a child.

He shook his head at me and rolled his eyes before nodding. “Alright, but I’m leaving the moment they ask. I don’t want to cause any trouble today.”

I smiled and the two of us entered the apothecary together. I noticed a large crest adorning the double doors as I pushed them open. What I saw when I stepped through the doors was enough to take any healer’s breath away. Shelves amongst shelves of supplies. I saw more herbs than I had ever seen in my life. I inhaled deeply and smelled the familiar scent of my family’s apothecary. For a moment I was there again, making medicine with Marcy while my parents attended to villagers. I opened my eyes half-expecting to see that very scene, but alas, it was only Aris and I in the room. I walked up and down the rows of shelves eyeing the herbs carefully. I recognized nearly all of them. I ran my fingers across the ledges reciting the names as I went.

“You know all of these?” he asked quietly.

I nodded. “It’s odd seeing some of them in person. We only had drawings of many of these plants.” I sighed, “If only my family could see this place.” I continued walking down the aisles. I began to find objects and ingredients alike that were completely foreign to me.

“Why do they have their storage in front like this?” I asked Aris.

“Oh, I’m sure this isn’t their complete storage. This is just what they offer to citizens for purchase.”

“Citizens shop here?” I asked incredulously.

Aris nodded. “At least we did when I lived here.”

I cocked my head to the side.

“Think about it, Rose. You grew up in a place where medicinal herbs grew all around you. How much growth do you think is happening in the heart of the city?”

I smiled. “I imagine it is a lot easier to just come here if the alternative is leaving the city every time you need to restock.”

“When we were kids, we would often go foraging in the woods just beyond city limits and sell whatever we could find.”

“Really?” I asked, not thinking to inquire about who “we” was referring to.

“Oh yes, granted we never made much, but it was enough for food or trinket from a street vendor.”

We came to a small corner with shelves full of books. I read over the spines. They all appeared to be reference books about varying subjects in healing. One of the titles included the word ‘magic’. Healing and magic in the same text. Such books would be heresy in the village.

“Interested in any of our books, love?” I heard a strange voice from behind me. I twirled around and saw a thin, pale woman with dark hair twisted up tightly behind her head. She smiled warmly at me. I watched her eyes flash briefly towards Aris.

“Yes ma’am,” I answered.

“Which ones in particular catch your eye?” she inquired, walking to stand beside me.

“All of them to be honest.” I laughed nervously. I felt out of my league as I began to realize just how little I knew about healing.

“Have you any experience in the healing arts?”

I nodded. “Yes ma’am.”

“Ah, lovely. Where were you trained?” she sounded interested.

I shot a sideways glance at Aris, who nodded reassuringly. “My family are healers in the village I grew up in…” I hesitated. I wasn’t sure if I should mention where I was from or not. “So, no formal training I suppose…” I felt my face flush ever so slightly.

“Nothing wrong with that m’dear,” she comforted, much like my mother used to do. “Some of the best healers I know learned by apprenticeship alone.” She winked at me. “Are you interested in pursuing healing here in the city?”

I was taken aback by her question. I looked nervously at Aris who gave me an encouraging smile. “Of course. I’ve missed it quite a bit if I’m being honest.”

She beamed. “Well, we’re always looking for help around here. Tell you what, why don’t you come back tomorrow afternoon. I’d love to see what you’re capable of. I can show you around and if you like what you see, perhaps we could make an arrangement for you. Would you like that?”

I felt a rush. “Yes! That sounds incredible.”

She smiled. “Excellent, my name is Evangeline. Just ask for me when you arrive.” She extended her hand to me, which I promptly shook.

“Thank you so much. My name is Rose,” I added.

“Well, Rose, I suppose I will see you tomorrow then.”

I nodded. I anxiously waited for Evangeline to walk out of the room before turning to Aris.

He wore a look of pride. “Well, well, not even here a day and you’ve already got a job.”

I was grinning from ear to ear. “Well I don’t have anything yet-”

He raised his eyebrows. “You forget who you are, Rose.”

I laughed. I suppose I did have an unfair advantage being a life mage and all. I exited the apothecary with a new energy and vision for my future in the royal city.