Chapter 15
Robin walked through the cobbled streets of the Allysian capital city, enjoying the warm sun that still shone this far north.
Behind her, her horse clopped contentedly down the cobbled stones, likely happy to be free of her extra weight as she was not riding him.
His saddlebags were heavy enough on their own.
While Erich’s pouch of gold had helped, it was far from enough to cover the rising costs of supporting everyone at Lockwood, much less the villages beyond.
Fortunately, the people of Lockwood produced a variety of goods that could be sold or traded.
So Robin had brought several blocks of beeswax as well as cleanly carded wool to trade in the neighboring kingdom.
She could have tried to sell it in one of the larger Iseldan cities, but these days, no one in Iseldis had the coin to spare.
She also had other matters to attend to in Allys.
Thanks to Ilida, Lockwood Manor was used to managing without Robin, whose River’s Talon business required frequent travel.
Beside her, Ulli walked in silence holding the reins of his own mount. From the slight movement of his head, Robin knew he was scanning the busy street ahead of them for any sign of danger. It was an instinctual habit for him, and one that she valued.
“Here,” Robin said, tugging the horse’s reins toward the gate of a small villa.
“You said we were visiting a monastery,” Ulli said, taking in the warm clay home.
“It is not the building that makes the monastery”—Robin pushed open the unlocked gate to reveal a lovely open courtyard surrounded by covered walkways—“but the monks inside the building.”
Ulli took the reins of Robin’s horse before she passed through the gate. “Go see to your monks,” he said. “I will get this boy some water.”
Robin turned back, reaching into her saddle bags to extract a single block of beeswax and a sack of wool. Then she entered the villa.
The courtyard was empty, which was not unexpected. The monks were a quiet group, going about their daily business while literally leaving their front door open to any that needed to enter.
The monks that resided here had once been housed in a large, ancient monastery on the shore of Iseldis.
But when the sea storms ravaged the shoreline, the Council of Five Kingdoms had ordered the monks to retreat from their home.
Several of them had traveled all the way here to Allys to establish a new home in the donated villa.
Robin had visited the monks several times, and she made her way down a familiar corridor to Brother Elias’s study. She saw no one as she walked, but she could hear the quiet sounds of peaceful men going about their daily tasks from other rooms in the house.
When she reached her destination, the door to the study was open, likely to allow for a cool breeze to flow through the small room.
As she stood in the open doorway, Robin had the thought that the old man hunched over his desk in front of her would have made a terrible bandit.
He neither heard nor saw Robin approach.
Smiling at his focused demeanor, Robin knocked on the door frame before she announced herself. “A moment of your time, my good brother?”
Not startled in the slightest, Brother Elias lifted his head. “Lady Robin,” he greeted her, his eyes soft and welcoming. “Your company is always unexpected but never unwelcome.”
Robin stepped into the room, helping herself to the empty chair opposite his desk. She lifted the beeswax and wool, intending to place them on the desk, but realized too late there was no place to put them. The desk was covered in parchment, scrolls, bound books, and ink pots.
“Here, here,” Elias said, reaching out to take the items. He set the beeswax on a stack of bound books. It only wobbled slightly. The wool, however, he kept and lifted to his nose. “That reminds me of home,” he said after taking a deep inhale.
Robin smiled, glad he enjoyed the musty, sweet smell of the fiber. She did not. “I have three more bags of it,” she said. “Carded and ready for spinning. And five blocks of wax. I wanted to offer it here first should you need it, else I can take it to a merchant.”
“We will gladly take it,” Elias said. He stood, moving with the careful deliberation of someone who has spent too many hours hunched over a manuscript. His light linen robes hung loosely from his thin shoulders.
Turning to the also-cluttered tabletop behind him, he dug through several scrolls until he found a wooden box full of coins. He counted out several of them as he asked over his shoulder, “How are things at Lockwood?”
“The same,” Robin said. “Busy. The tonic you recommended last time was quite helpful for the girl with the fever. It keeps recurring, however, and I need more.”
“The apothecary is a fair man, but his prices are still steep, as are everyone’s these days.” Elias turned, holding out the coins to her. “This should help, and then some.”
Robin accepted the coins, more than the goods she had brought were worth. She picked up the extra in her other hand and offered them back.
Elias shook his head. “You will put it to better use than we could.”
“Thank you,” Robin said. Part of taking care of others meant accepting help on their behalf. She placed the coins in her pocket.
The old monk leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingertips together. “What else brings you on a three-day ride from Lockwood?” he asked.
Robin leaned forward, glad he understood that she was here for far more than trade. “What can you tell me about your old monastery in Iseldis?”