their borders. He hoped that having goods for sale and being a merchant, would give him and his brother a better chance of being admitted.
One evening when they had stopped to rest for the night, Alaric was pulling out their dinner, which consisted of bread and cheese mostly, when a person in a long coat approached the wagon. There were many people around, all stopping for the night. Alaric wasn't really sure what sort of person this might be. He couldn't get a good look at the person in the dark. Alaric realized this person was shorter than he was and was carrying a pot. Alaric stepped towards the person, “Hello there.” The person stopped, held up the pot a bit, placed it on the ground, and then walked away without a word. Alaric was bit confused as to what had just transpired. Curious he walked to the pot to investigate what was in it. As he lifted the lid, he found that the metal was warm. The smell of food rushed out of the pot to his nose. It smelled delicious and seemed to be some sort of soup. Alaric's mouth watered at the prospect of something other than bread. He quickly picked up the pot and took it into the wagon to show Charles. Charles was still quiet and not doing much of anything, but even he had a bright look on his face when he smelled the soup. While the soup was no longer hot, the brothers still enjoyed it. Having eaten their fill, Alaric hopped out of the wagon hoping to catch a glimpse of the person that had brought it. After a good while, Alaric gave up and left the pot partly under the wagon in hopes the person would come back to get it in the morning.
Early the next morning, before the sun had really peaked over the horizon, the stranger came back to pick up the pot. Alaric was fast asleep but was woken when the stranger slid in the dew covered grass and accidentally bumped the pot against the wagon, creating a clanging noise. Alaric sleepily looked out of the wagon and saw the coated stranger. “Thank you for sharing your soup.” The stranger, who was standing back up after their fall, didn't seem prepared to be spoken to and jumped, startled at the sudden voice. As the person jumped, their hat fell from their head and long dark hair emerged. The stranger quickly grabbed the hat, jumped up, and practically ran away, leaving the pot in the grass. Alaric raised his eyebrows but was too tired to chase the person and didn't want to yell and risk waking anyone nearby. He flopped back down in the wagon and fell asleep for another few hours.
The remainder of the journey took about a week to reach the first city state, which, as Alaric had expected, had closed its borders and was screening refugees. They were not simply turning everyone away quite yet so Alaric hoped he could get through before they did. He and his brother had not brought much food with them and ran the risk of starvation should they not be admitted. There were two families ahead of Alaric and Charles when the guards announced they were not taking any more refugees. People began shouting and pushing. More guards came up to quell the crowd and give them directions to the next state. Alaric pushed through the swelling crowd towards the guards.
“Please let me and my wagon through. I'm a merchant come to trade.”
“Let's have a look at your cargo; can't be letting anymore unfortunates in.”
Alaric opened the back of his wagon for the guard to take a look. He glanced quickly, most likely just making sure it looked like a merchants wagon and there weren't refugees hidden inside. He nodded and gave a wave for Alaric and Charles to get moving. Alaric hoped that the goods he had with him would sell well in the city. He had furs, blankets, coats, candles, and amber. Alaric knew that candles would sell easily, but they weren't worth very much. He assumed people would be interested in the amber, as it usually sold well, but he had no experience trading with the city states. Alaric jumped back onto the front of the wagon to get it moving, when he saw a family begging the guards to let them in. The guards refused and tried to push them away. What seemed to be the mother of the family was begging the guards to at least let her child in. The guards continued to refuse her and seemed to be getting frustrated. Alaric pushed through the crowd towards the woman.
“My name's Alaric, I'm a merchant and could use some extra help. I'd be willing to hire someone on to get them inside safely.”
One of the guards overheard Alaric and approached them, “I see what's going on here and we can't have you do it. You're lucky we're letting you through. I'm not quite sure someone so young could be a merchant worth having in the city.” Alaric frowned, he then put his hand into his pocket, and pulled out four small silver coins. “I'm sure one extra merchant wouldn't hurt the town would it? After all for me to safely sell my goods an extra set of eyes would be good to have with all of the desperate people entering.” The guard eyed the silver Marks. They were lighter in weight than the silver dollars the city-states used, but they seemed to do the trick. The guard sighed and then shook his head. “Very well, but no more!” He took the silver from Alaric and walked away. The mother thanked him, tears in her eyes. “My daughter is a hard worker, although she can be argumentative at times. It means so much that you will take her on.” Alaric nodded, “I am sure we'll get along well enough”. The woman nodded vigorously before rushing through the crowd a little ways to collect her daughter. Alaric waited patiently for the woman to return. After a couple of minutes Alaric's attention was grabbed by another person. It was the same stranger that had brought Alaric and his brother soup. “It's you! You left your pot. I have it in my wagon. You're welcome to...”
“Oh good you two have met already then. Do take that ridiculous hat off Emilia. I keep telling you there's no need to hide that beautiful hair of yours.” The woman snatched the hat off of the coated stranger's head. The stranger was a beautiful young woman, with long red hair and cheeks lightly peppered with freckles. “Mother! I don't wan-” Her voice trailed off as her face grew red. She turned away from Alaric as her mother stood shaking her head. “This young man is a merchant, he's agreed to hire you on so you can get into the city. It is only proper he see the face of a person he is hiring.” Emilia turned slowly and looked Alaric up and down. “Aren't you too young to be a merchant with any success?” Alaric turned a little red and shrugged. “I just inherited the business from my father. I might be a little young to own a business, but I am not too young to know the profession well enough.” Emilia laughed and took a step closer. “Honestly, you can't be that much older than me.” At that point Emilia's mother gave her a light smack on the back of her head. “Behave yourself! He's giving you a chance at a life away from the war and a job. Besides, he's pretty cute wouldn't you say?” Alaric and Emilia both responded with red cheeks of embarrassment, Emilia trying to voice objections but being completely ignored by her mother. “Take good care of my daughter young man. If I find out you've hurt her in any way, I will be on your doorstep before you can say oops.” Alaric nodded vigorously, not wanting to get on this rather strong looking woman's bad side. Emilia's mother turned to her daughter and grabbed her up in a strong hug. “Work hard and make a life for yourself my dear one. I will come find you when things are calmer.” Emilia hugged her in return, “I promise mamma.” She then turned to Alaric, her cheeks still a little pink. “Let's get to your wagon before the guards change their minds.”
Alaric and Emilia raced back to the wagon. Charles was still in the back as gloomy as ever. “This is my younger brother Charlie. Forgive his sour mood. We recently lost our father and it's been the hardest on him.” Emilia smiled warmly at Charles. “Hello Charlie, I'm Emilia. I'll be working for you gentlemen for a while.” Alaric checked the horses, giving Emilia the chance to get settled. He then climbed up to the front of the wagon to get it moving. As he settled himself onto the seat, Emilia clamored up to sit next to him. She didn't look at him or speak to him but simply stared ahead at the gates of the city. Alaric decided she must be as nervous as he was, at the prospect of trying to live without their parents support, surrounded by strangers. Alaric got the horses moving and they entered the city. A guard helping guide people through nodded to them. “Welcome to Aerahagen.”
Chapter 3
Upon entering the city, it was immediately obvious how different of a place it was. There were several contraptions along the street that emitted steam and they were attached to the street lamps. The street lamps seemed to have a glass container within them and some wires instead of
