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Jacob led Pelu back through a part of the city near Brownburgh and Pelu noted with pride that he recognized the area from when they had traveled through it earlier. He could still get lost in the city if he lost track of Jacob but it was a small first step in learning his way around the metropolis. He began looking around as he tried to get his orientation and find which path would lead him back to Dima's house. He didn't look for long, however, because he quickly ran into Jacob who had stopped in front of a storefront and was turning to talk to him. "Sorry," Pelu sputtered. "I was trying to figure out which way it is to your house from here. I recognize this neighborhood." "Well," Jacob replied, "let's see how well you've been paying attention. Which way do you think it is?"

Pelu turned in circles as he surveyed his surroundings. There was a sign over there that he remembered being on his left as they passed it earlier. That meant that they must have come from further down that way, but not much further because they had just turned before they passed the sign. "There" Pelu said as he pointed toward a street. "We came down that road, so if I go up it and turn left I'll get back." "you're learning fast" Jacob said. "It won't be long before you can find your way around better than I can. Here's another place for you to remember. This is where Dima works. If you get in trouble you'll be able to find her here most days. She washes laundry for people who don't have the time for it. Or people who have extra money. They have carts up in some of the richer neighborhoods where they collect laundry and bring it back here to wash it."

Pelu immediately felt the heat and humidity as they stepped into the launderer's. They entered a small front room with only a desk and two doors. Jacob greeted the young woman behind the desk and continued on through the door that led further in. As Pelu followed through the second door, the heat and humidity increased to a point where Pelu wondered how anyone could endure it for more than a few minutes. The room had several low stone stoves that were heating enormous vats of water. Women bent over the vats and stirred the contents with paddles, occasionally pulling out wet laundry and placing it on nearby carts or pulling laundry from other piles to drop it into the boiling water. Other women pushed the carts from pot to pot or through a door in the back that Pelu couldn't see through. He followed Jacob as they wove between the pots to reach one near the back.

"Lunch time" Jacob said as he walked up to the woman stirring the vat. She pulled the wet clothing from her cauldron and straitened up. Pelu hardly recognized Dima as she turned to greet them. She was covered in moisture that made her hair and clothing stick to her body. He couldn't tell if it was perspiration or the moisture that had boiled out of the pots. Her hair was tied back with a lace except for a few strands that were plastered to her forehead. She smiled when she saw Pelu there and he thought that even in such a dismal place, and looking the way she did, that smile made him feel welcome and comfortable. Like all the problems he was facing would work out and there was nothing to worry about.

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"Here we are" Jacob announced as they stopped in front of a shop that Pelu though looked just like all the others. "I just need to give this package to Mr. Proctor. After that we need to bring Dima her lunch and then we can go see the center of the city."

As they stepped into the shop Pelu immediately noticed an odor that he was unfamiliar with. It filled the air of the small shop. "Hello Jacob" the man behind the counter called.
"Good morning Mr. Proctor. I have a package for you from Ben Miter."
"Oh, wonderful! That must be more of those herbs he grows. They make the best cough medicine I've ever found. Is this a friend of yours?"
"Yes sir," Jacob replied. "This is Pelu. He's new to the city so he's staying with us for a while."


Pelu could feel the gaze of the older gentleman as it was fixed upon him. "You've managed to find friends in this city. You'll soon find that is not an easy thing to accomplish, nor something that should be taken for granted." He then pulled a small pouch from behind the counter and handed it to Jacob. "Help yourself to any of the baked goods. You too Pelu. My wife makes them but it isn't what people come to an apothecary for so they don't sell very well."

Pelu thanked him and grabbed a small loaf covered with nuts. He felt uncomfortable accepting the generous offer but didn't want to insult the shopkeeper by refusing it. Jacob didn't didn't seem to share Pelu's trepidation. He grabbed several of the small loafs and stuffed them into his satchel.

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After they had emerged back into clear streets Jacob pulled an apple from the satchel that hung at his side and tossed it to Pelu. He began speaking as they walked through the labyrinthine streets of the capitol.

"The city is ruled by the royals but the priests and inventors hold a lot of power as well. Even though the royal family makes the laws, a lot of people won't follow those laws if the priests don't agree with them. That means the priests have a lot of power. The temple at the center of the city is filled with priests and acolytes, and I've heard that it's connected to the palace by tunnels so the priests can keep track of what's happening in the palace. The royals almost always consult them, so the temple has a lot of power."

"The temple is mostly closed off to the public. There's a shrine room that you can go into to make offerings but the rest is closed off. Some of the nobles can get further in and the royal family can go all the way to the chamber of the high priest, but they say that even the royal family has access to only a small portion of the temple. The rest is a mystery that can only be known be those who have dedicated themselves fully to the order. The acolytes are like priests in training. They have to leave everything behind. They live in the temple and only leave on holy business. Whatever that may be."

"The inventors don't get along with the holy order. There's been a small feud between them longer than my parents can remember. They think that our problems can be solved through inventions and making our world better. The priests say that we need to solve our problems through devotion to the gods and rely on them to make our world better. They disapprove of many of the inventions that come out of the guild and have been trying to convince the royal family to dissolve the guild entirely. The royal family has a whole kingdom to rule, but they spend most of their time trying to keep the balance between the inventors and the holy order."

"How do you know all this?" Pelu asked. "I spend a lot of time on the streets" Jacob replied. "I talk to a lot of people so I know just about everything that happens in this city."

It's been too long since I updated this and I apologize to any regular readers for that. If you are new to this blog I suggest you go back to the oldest post and work your way forward. On with the story:

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Pelu sat in the dirty back alley, protected from the pressing crowd by a vendor's cart. Under the bottom of it he could see the constant motion of legs as people passed by the cart. Occasionally, a pair of legs would stop and he could see a face as someone talked to the vendor and haggled over the price of produce. He watched as nine different faces appeared, hovered for a while, and disappeared again. As Pelu kept waiting for Jacob to return he began to think of the home he had left. The people there would never believe that a place like this bazaar even existed. They valued their open spaces and freedom to move around more than they valued life. Pelu had always thought he was different than the people he had grown up with but he realized that just growing up with them had instilled him with many of the same values.

Pelu's reverie was broken by the sound of footsteps in the side alley. He looked up expectantly and was relieved to see Jacob's face looking back down at him. Jacob now held a brown parcel under one arm and was eating an apple with the other hand. As he finished the apple, he tossed the core over Pelu's head and into the pile of filth that sat behind him. "Ready to go?" he asked. Pelu slowly climbed to his feet and set his most determined look on his face. "Yes", he replied, "just don't go so fast this time." "Don't worry" Jacob said. "I'll lead you through it this time." With that, Jacob grabbed Pelu's arm and slowly led him back into the crowd of people.

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Jacob led Pelu down one of the countless side streets that branched off from the main road. As they walked, Pelu became aware of a growing noise in the air. It became louder and louder as they walked further down the street. As they came upon a side alley he finally understood what the noise was.

The alley was filled with vendor's carts and people were packed between them. Hundreds of people were gathered there buying and selling. The noise of it all was almost overwhelming to Pelu, who had never been in such a large crowd before. He hesitated for a moment but Jacob walked right in, nimbly dodging between the carts and countless patrons. Pelu tried to follow but constantly found himself bumping into other people. At first he apologized to each person he ran into. He soon gave up on that as he didn't have time to finish one apology before hitting another person.

Pelu realized that in his attempts to avoid colliding with other people he had taken his eyes off of Jacob. He searched in every direction but saw no sign of him. Panic began to overtake him as the crowd closed in around him. He felt like they were closing off his supply of air and began breathing faster and faster, trying to take in enough clean air, but all he could find was the thick scent of humanity tainted with the smell of spices he didn't recognize. Pelu's knees grew weak and his legs began to tremble. Just then he felt someone grab his arm. He expected a confrontation but as he turned he recognized a familiar face instead.

"Come on" Jacob said. "I'll get you out of the crowd for a while. I almost lost you for a moment. I forgot you aren't used to the city." With that, Pelu allowed himself to be pulled by the arm through the sea of bodies until they reached a side alcove that had no people in it. The smell of bodies was replaced by a more putrid one but he breathed freely now that he had some space around him.

"What is this place?" Pelu asked. Jacob responded "This is where they dump their trash. Goods that go bad, things nobody wants to buy, the core of an apple, they all end up here. All the vendors pay a small fee to use this area and part of that fee pays a man to cart all the trash away each night. It doesn't smell that good but it's the nearest place we could get away from the crowd."

A grimace crept onto Pelu's face. "I meant all people. Why do they gather here?"

"Oh. That. This is the bazaar. It's one of many in the city but this is the biggest one near home. People who can't afford a shop or don't want to sell their goods to a shopkeeper who will mark them up for a profit come here to sell things directly. You can find a lot of things here that are fresher and less expensive than any of the shops nearby carry. The crowds keep some people out so the shops still have business. It works out for everyone. I come here most days to get what we need for dinner. I also deliver things for some of the vendors sometimes."

"I've never seen so many people in one place before. It's overwhelming."

"If you want, you can wait here while I talk to a few people. It won't be long. Just don't go anywhere and don't take anything anyone offers you. You can trust most people around here but not all of them."

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Pelu awoke early, as was his custom, and made the bed he had slept in. When he walked out to the main room he saw Dima washing dishes. A pot of porridge was warming on the stove. Dima greeted him and explained that her mother had already left for her new housekeeping job and her father was at the shop he worked in. "It won't be long before I have to go out to the laundry" she explained. "You can stay here if you like, or you can go along with my brother Jacob for the day. If you stay with him you won't get lost." Just then, Jacob emerged from the small bedroom. "I'll show you around" he said. "Maybe we can even make some money on the side while we're at it." With that, he scooped porridge into a pair of bowls and handed one to Pelu.

After their simple breakfast Jacob led Pelu out into the city. "This is Brownburgh. If you remember that much you should be able to get back here if you get lost. Number ten. Same as the number of letters in Brownburgh. Makes it easier to remember. The neighborhoods in the city get richer as you get closer to the center. When you get right up to the center you find the palace, the temple and the Inventor’s Guild. Around them are the nobles, clergy and inventors. Further out you get the rich folks and then move out to the slums around the edges. Outside of the slums are the farms. People treat the farmers worse than the beggars around here. They smell like their animals but at least they work for what they have."

Through all this they were slowly working their way toward one of the main roads that penetrated to the heart of the city. Jacob continued to tell Pelu about the city as they turned onto the main road. "This is the Gold Road. The city has three main roads that go from the outer wall all the way to the center of the city. The gold road goes right up to the front gate of the palace. The White road goes to the temple and the Brown Road goes to the Inventor’s Guild. Each of the three main roads has a royal raceway in it. That's the middle part. Don't walk in that part unless you're crossing to the other side. You can get arrested for it. That's where the horseless carriage runs."

"Horseless carriage?" Pelu had never heard of such a thing. "Yeah. The Inventor’s Guild made it. It can take a full load of people from the center of the city to the wall faster than a horse can gallop. Only the most important people get to use it. The royal stables are at the outer wall so they can get a regular carriage from there if they need to go anywhere. People say they use water to make it go so fast. I don't know how they do it but the water from the aqueduct stops flowing whenever they use it."

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As the reality of his situation settled over him, Pelu began to despair of ever reaching the Inventor’s Guild. He had no money or friends and he was further from home than he ever thought possible. Something happened at that moment, just as despair was closing over him. He heard a voice cutting through his thoughts. "Why don't you stay with us for a while and get used to the city. It must be a hard place to get used to. Friends aren't easy to come by in these parts, but you can count on us to help you out if you need it." Pelu was shocked by the generosity of the offer. It seemed impolite to take so much without giving anything in return but he had no other choice unless he was to become one of the vagrants living on the streets. "Thank you" he said. "How can I ever repay you for this?” Dima's father winked at him. "I'm sure you'll find a way when the time is right. Come on, I'll show you your bed."

In addition to the main room, the house had two smaller rooms. One was shared by Dima's parents and the other was shared by Dima and her brother. A small bathroom was shared with the house next door. Dima gave up her bed for Pelu, who protested to no avail. She was firm about giving up her bed for him since he was a visitor. She laid out a pile of blankets on the floor of the main room and slept on that instead.