Chapter Text
“So what do you say? Shall we give it a try?” asked Omru. He and Ameer were on their way back. After visiting the princess, Vizier took them all to meet the head sorcerer. He pretty much repeated the same story in a bored voice. He did give them a few details about how to locate the creature, but its powerful magic protected the exact whereabouts of its location and made it unplottable on any map. The best they could do was reach it within a hundred miles of its location. After that, they would have to search for it themselves. Not everyone who went searching for him has returned either. And those who did return were the ones who were unable to find him. They left the palace soon after this, for there was nothing more to be done at that moment. They were both riding towards their village. The sun was still merciless, but it was now hanging low in the sky.
“You have no love for a peaceful life, do you?” Ameer said, exasperated, as he observed a falcon flying above them, roaming around for its prey.
“Peaceful is boring. You know I hate boring.” Omru stopped talking and turned around suddenly.
“What? “ Ameer asked, surprised.
“Nothing, I --- let’s just keep moving.” He shook his head, and they both resumed their journey.
They reached their village at dusk. Ameer is deep in thought. Despite what he said to Omru, he too had an adventurous nature. And deep down, he so desperately wanted to go on this mission as well. But his mother may prove difficult to Convince. She hated the Royals. The reason for it was that she never confided in him, but he knew it would be difficult to ask her permission for this adventure. Especially because it involved helping the Royal family.
Omru was in his own thoughts. He was clever. And it frustrated him to sit at home doing nothing. He had no interest in his father’s trading business. But he did enjoy tricking people and stirring up trouble. However, everyone in this little Village knew him well, so he was bored of messing around there. Also lately, he had been getting this feeling that he and Ameer were being followed. He had not confided this in his friend, but it made him uneasy. He had dinner with his friend and left for home.
On his way back, he again had this overwhelming feeling that he was being watched. He turned around, squinting in the darkness, but he saw no one. But then he heard a noise. He slowly pulled out his swords, ready to attack whoever it was. After a few minutes, however, the owner of the noise turned out to be nothing but the fluttering of a little bird that flew above his head in a hurry to reach its destination. He shook his head and increased his pace. He was just being paranoid, he thought. He reached his home in a few minutes without any further Delay.
Ameer approached his mother carefully regarding this adventure. As he expected, she resisted strongly.
“No Ameer. I do not want you to go. I gave you permission to go and find your treasure. But this I will not have,” she said firmly.
“But mother, it might help the poor princess,” he said.
“Yes, I know about her, but there are plenty of other people who will help. I will not have you running errands for the Royals,” she said firmly.
“What do you have against the Royal family, Mother?” he asked her.
“I have my reasons. You will not go, and that is final,” she said. Ameer sighed and gave up. He will try and persuade her another time, he decided.
The next morning, he brought up this problem with his friend. Omru did have some suggestions.
“Why do you have to ask for permission? Just say we are going hunting. We have gone to hunt before,” he said.
“You know that I don’t lie. Especially to mother.” Ameer shook his head.
“Then don’t lie. Just don’t tell her the entire truth,” Omru argued. “How about I try and persuade her another time soon?” he said after a thought.
“As you wish, my friend.”
“Pull up the line. Your string has been moving for the last minute,” he told Ameer. They were both fishing at a lake near the village. Ameer pulled the line vigorously to reveal a huge fish. Omru whistled at the beauty.
“This will make a tasty dinner,” Omru said, licking his lips. His brain was already working up a plan. They gutted and cleaned the fish and packed it up with some salt. Ameer picked up some herbs on the way back to rub on the fish.
They returned to Ameer’s house. Where he dug up a pit in the ground. He lined the pit with burning coals. After that, he wrapped the marinated fish in leaves and placed it in the pit. After this, he covered it with some more coal and let it cook for at least two hours.
Omru, in the meantime, went home. He wanted to talk to his father first. He returned triumphant, as the first part of his plan was executed perfectly. All he now had to do was talk to his friend and, more importantly, Leila. When they had eaten to their fill and we were sitting at the table sipping fragrant kehwa, Omru started talking.
He asked for Leila’s permission to take Ameer with him on one of his father’s trading trips. “You want to go on behalf of your father? But trading has never interested you before?” she asked in surprise.
“I don’t want to go. Father is making me.”” Omru replied with a grimace, “And it is actually my father’s idea that I bring Ameer along. He says he can trust him to keep me in line. I believe it will make the trip bearable for me. And I also think Ameer might enjoy trading. Of course he will pay Ameer fair wages as well,” he continued, shrugging.
Ameer glanced at his friend, puzzled. “You never mentioned anything about it before,” he said in surprise.
“Father only just told me,” he replied shortly as he took a sip of his Kehwa, with a lump of brown sugar dissolving slowly in his mouth.
“Where do you intend to go?” asked Leila.
“Old Stone City will be our final stop. We will touch multiple towns and big villages on the way,” he replied.
Leila chewed her lip thoughtfully. “So can I go, mother?” asked Ameer tentatively.
She turned to look at Aristo. “What do you think, father?” she asked him.
“I see no harm in it.” He replied calmly. “Fine. You can go. Better this than risking your life for the Royals,” she replied with a satisfied smile.
Omru’s eyes glinted mischievously, but he said nothing. He only nodded once.
It was the 11th day of their journey. They had already made stops and sold some goods in seven small towns. But mostly, these were made to have lodgings for the night. The bulk of the trade was to be done in Stone City. Omru was least bothered by that. His father’s employees handled everything, assisted by Ameer. Of the little time he got in each place, Omru chose to spend most of it roaming around, going from one fortune teller to another, looking at ancient books in the libraries, and flirting with every attractive woman he laid his eyes upon.
Ameer, on the other hand, enjoyed trading. They were now en route to the stone city. They were bound to reach it after one more day of hard riding. Right now, Ameer, Omru, and all 10 of the employees were camping near a little stream on the way. Omru was lying on the ground, humming a little tune, as Ameer struggled to remove the goods laden on camels and donkeys, along with a few other men. Everything was to be piled up in the middle of the camp and covered with sheets of thick, old woolen cloth to protect them from the harsh sun, winds, or any unexpected downpour.
It included many precious items such as hairpins and combs carved out of elephant teeth, precious ostrich feather quills, rolls of soft, dyed cotton cloths, little silver boxes for carrying tobacco, engraved little mirrors, hand fans made of peacock feathers, fragrant and rare spices like saffron wrapped in wood pulp paper, black ink sticks, bangles of jade, slabs of pink Himalayan salt, dried tea cakes, pearl necklaces, pots of Attar( concentrated perfume), various types of jewellery, and many more.
“Get up and help,” panted Ameer as he and another man placed a huge slab of salt on the ground.
“These hands are not designed for perilous labor, my friend,” replied Omru calmly.
“But my foot is designed to kick your lazy ass! Get up,” Ameer said sternly, wiping sweat from his brow. “Everything needs to be stacked before sundown; the animals need to rest,” he continued.
Omru sighed dramatically and got up to help one of the servants remove a roll of purple cotton cloth from a camel’s back. They were done before sunset. They secured all the animals( twelve horses, six camels, and eight donkeys) and supplied them with food and water.
A few men went away to collect the firewood, and the rest laid down cotton-filled sleeping bags around the goods. The night sky was clear with no signs of clouds, so there was no need to erect tents that night.
Finally, Omru sat down, feigning tiredness, for he had barely participated in the heavier tasks. Ameer sat down next to him, draining an entire skin of water in one go.
“Why do you keep that bag everywhere you go? You never put anything in it?” asked Ameer, punting at the leather bag slung across Omru’s shoulder.
Omru shrugged “I don’t know. It feels like I am incomplete without it. Just like I am complete without my daggers,” he replied. It Kind of feels like I am missing a limb if I even put them down. Don’t you feel the same?”
“Yeah. I feel the same way about my sword,” replied Ameer.
The dinner consisted of a thick stew made of preserved sour plums, dried meat, and some seasonal vegetables they were able to buy from the market that morning. That night, Ameer and Omru both volunteered to stay awake for the first part of the night on guard, for this was the first night they were spending out in the open.
“So are you going to tell me now what it is that you intend to do?” asked Ameer in a quiet voice. Omru had been avoiding this discussion ever since they started the journey.
“I intend to learn the art of trading,” replied Omru quietly.
“Right! And you have been doing such a wonderful job of it for the past ten days,” said Ameer sarcastically.
“I like working at my own pace. I must first read and be familiar with all the rules and terms. Brain matters can’t be rushed,” replied Omru idly.
“If it is trading that you are learning about!” Ameer said, snorting with laughter.
“I don’t like lying to you, brother, so please don’t ask me the details,” yawned Omru.
“Then just tell me what you are trying to do.” Ameer insisted.
“All in good time, brother.” Omru replied with a shake of his head. The momentary silence was broken by an owl hooting some distance away.
“Just don’t do anything stupid, my friend.
” Ameer said. “When have I ever done anything stupid?” asked Omru, offended.
Ameer snorted again. “Should I just tell you the count? Or do you want me to narrate them all? Because that might take all night.” Omru laughed but said nothing.
After a few minutes, he voiced another one of his concerns to his friend. “I still can’t shake the feeling that I am being followed,” he said.
“Who will follow you, and for what?” asked Ameer.
“That’s the thing. I don’t know. I have tricked many people. But I don’t think I have offended anyone enough to follow me around like this,” he said in confusion.
“You are just being paranoid. I am sure it’s nothing.” Ameer tried to comfort his friend.
“Maybe. But I do feel like being watched all the time.” He said. After an hour, two other men woke up, and both Omru and Ameer went to sleep.
It was with difficulty that Omru managed to wake Ameer up the next morning, for the latter was sound asleep, and even though the sun was up and high, the light of the day did not affect his slumber. Shaking him vigorously made no difference either. Omru sighed as he forced himself not to throw an entire glass of water at his friend this time. So he started to scratch his ear with a little gray feather that he found lying around. On his third attempt, Ameer jumped up with a loud noise.
“Something is trying to crawl inside my ear!” he shouted, shaking his head and ear, his eyes only half open.
“Yes. This. Now wake up, or we will leave you here sleeping,” Omru replied, brandishing the feather.
There was no time left for breakfast, and Ameer just gulped down some cold leftover milk hurriedly as he got ready. The animals were already loaded with the goods. With luck, they will reach the city gates by nightfall if they don’t stop all day.
Ameer helped pack the last of the things, and they all started riding