The Witch of Webs: Book 12 (The Wandering Inn), page 29
Ryoka ducked her head, smiling.
“Thank you, Miss Iglesias. I’m normally around Reizmelt, but if I’m ever in the region for a delivery…”
She began to walk towards the door. But, too late, as Ryoka put one hand on the brass knob, she heard the sound she’d wanted to avoid. Clip-clop, clip-clop.
Ryoka cursed. Miss Iglesias sighed as she turned to greet another guest. Ryoka opened the door; there was still time to get away before—
“Good morning, Miss Iglesias! Ryoka! Hey, Ryoka, wait!”
A Centauress walked into the room. That wasn’t a euphemism. She trotted in, her shod hooves clattering on the floorboards as she navigated her way through the cozy inn. A Centaur.
Perhaps, if you had never met one, the idea of the half-human, half-horse species would be exotic. Fascinating. While that was certainly all true of the female Centaur, something else had to be pointed out. A Centaur was half-horse. And as such, the first consideration anyone in the nearby vicinity of a Centaur was—
Both Ryoka and Miss Iglesias stepped hurriedly out of the way as the Centauress clattered forwards. Her hooves touched the floor lightly, but the Centauress was still over seven feet in height, and she had to weigh…Ryoka thought about horses from her world. A ton?
At least. And this Centauress wasn’t even a big example of her species. Her horse parts didn’t resemble the huge draft horses, but rather a lighter riding horse. She had a tan hair coat with a few large, brown spots, pale brown skin, and blonde-gray hair, cut short, but styled—the Centauress trotted closer, and Ryoka leapt back again. She was barefoot, and she had no intention of having her foot broken by a stray hoof!
“Charlay, watch the hooves!”
The Centauress caught herself and checked her hoof placement. She tossed her head dismissively.
“What? I’m nowhere near your feet. Stop being such a foal, Ryoka. Hey, good thing I woke up, right? I nearly missed you. But for the rain and I would have slept in!”
She gestured outside at the clouds, which had decided to dump one last time before giving up. Ryoka eyed the Centauress. She had a light shirt on her upper half, concealing the place where her waist met the horse parts. Her lower half was bare today, although Ryoka had seen Charlay wearing a half-skirt or full dress that covered her horse bits. She eyed the street, but it was too late. Charlay smiled at the [Innkeeper], who gave her a polite smile of her own.
“Fair day to you as well, Charlay. How was your sleep?”
“Good. Thanks for the extra pillows. My legs were hurting from the ground yesterday. Ooh! Food’s already out?”
She eagerly trotted over to the buffet and inspected it.
“Just what I wanted. Ryoka, stick around. I want to eat first.”
The Asian girl groaned. Charlay never woke up this early. Both times before she’d been up in the late morning. But after a second of staring out of the inn, she closed the door and walked back to the buffet. Miss Iglesias gave Ryoka a sympathetic smile.
“Hey, Charlay. Good to see you. I’m probably leaving today—”
“That’s fine. I’ll run with you to the Guild. Hey, you want this?”
The Centauress waved a bowl, and Ryoka saw what she was eating for breakfast. It was a bowl of boiled, steaming…
Oats. As bland as licking wheat seasoned with white rice on top of unsalted porridge with a bit of whole-grain bread for that rare contrast in flavor. Ryoka and Miss Iglesias watched as Charlay happily filled a bowl with the stuff and added some grains of brown sugar and bits of pepper flakes.
Ryoka resigned herself to another helping and took about four times the pepper that Charlay had to add to a lovely browned sausage with some eggs. She liked the flavor, and the pepper wasn’t so much hot as sweet to her palate. But Charlay blew out her cheeks halfway through her bowl.
“Hot! This is spicy stuff, Miss Iglesias! You should warn people, or they might get indigestion!”
The Human woman raised her eyebrows, but only nodded and took Charlay’s suggestion ‘under advisement’. Ryoka waited as Charlay ate one bowl, then another, and coughed.
“I need to be going—”
“What’s the hurry? I’m done, I guess. Good food, Miss Iglesias. Thanks for putting it out for me.”
The Centauress craned her upper body to speak to the woman while her horse half shuffled around towards the door. Miss Iglesias pulled a chair out of the way; Ryoka just stood back. Charlay was bigger than Calruz, both in height and body. And in a building built for Humans, she was like an elephant. Or a horse.
“Not a problem, my dear. Will you want supper? Or lunch?”
Charlay shook her head impatiently.
“I’m done. And I’ve paid my room; I don’t know if I’ll be back, but I’m packed up. Let’s go, Ryoka.”
She trotted towards the door without even saying goodbye. Ryoka went back to Miss Iglesias and shook her hand again.
“Thank you again, Miss Iglesias.”
“Best of luck, Ryoka dear. And you too, Charlay.”
“Oh. Yeah. Thanks!”
The Centauress turned her upper half, nearly out of the door. Ryoka sighed and followed her. She found the Centauress outside, stretching.
“Good food, right? I like staying at the Rose’s Retreat. It doesn’t have stairs, and Miss Iglesias gets oats just for me. You liked it?”
“Yup. It was great.”
“Awesome. Stay away from me. I don’t need you throwing up on me again.”
Ryoka paused as she stretched out her own legs. The Centauress smirked at her. She worked in the region around Walta as a well-known City Runner. And she was good at her job; so good that Ryoka had given up trying to lose her. Now the Centauress pointed in the direction of the Runner’s Guild.
“Come on, let’s run to the Guild. The streets aren’t that wet, and the rain’s stopped. Last one there is a mule!”
So saying, she took off. Ryoka watched her go and kept stretching; after three dozen feet, the Centauress noticed Ryoka wasn’t following and galloped back. She scowled at the young woman.
“Slowpoke. Afraid to race me?”
“I’m stretching. And I’m not racing.”
“Afraid I’ll beat you again?”
Ryoka sighed.
“You’re a Centaur. I don’t race things with four legs.”
“That’s not what you said last time. Or the time before that. Come on, afraid I’ll beat you a third time?”
The young woman refused to rise to the bait. She took off running with a slow, contained pace, and after a moment, Charlay followed her. Then, at least, Ryoka had some peace. She ran down the streets of Walta, still slick with rain and deserted for the moment. The rains had kept everyone indoors, so the two female Runners proceeded down the street at a quick jog by Ryoka’s standards.
As they ran, Ryoka admired the city of Walta where she had been staying. She would be sorry to say goodbye to it. The streets were smoothed, and one-in-three buildings that Ryoka passed had glass instead of shutters. The city was lovely, like Amsterdam, but minus the canals and water. It was one of the most modern cities Ryoka had visited, aside from Invrisil, and the reason behind that was because Walta was about two or three times as rich as Reizmelt.
“You’re so slow.”
Charlay complained as her hooves clattered across the stones. Ryoka sighed. She couldn’t even admire the city in peace. Not that she was one for admiration anyways; two more seconds and she’d have gotten bored. She looked at Charlay as her arms pumped at her sides; the Centauress was folding her arms and eying Ryoka as her legs easily kept pace.
That was another thing Ryoka had learned about Centaurs recently; because they could run and do things independently with their horse and human halves, they loved to chat while running. It was harder for Ryoka, who was running with her entire body, but she could still respond.
“I just ate. You’re a horse.”
“Centauress. Don’t be rude.”
“Sorry, my mistake. You’re so different.”
Charlay bared her teeth, much like an angry horse would.
“We are! We’re intelligent, leveling creatures. Not like animals at all! Are you a monkey?”
“Fairly close. I’ll acknowledge the link and resemblance. You’re even closer. Half your body is horse. It’s pretty much the same thing.”
The Centauress turned scarlet. Ryoka grinned to herself—their relationship was already well established by this point too. Charlay was easy to annoy. The Centauress snorted angrily as she ran ahead of Ryoka.
“It is not the same thing. Do you think I’m like one of those things?”
She pointed down the street. Ryoka saw the rider and shifted left. Charlay made room, and the rider rode down the right side of the street. He was riding a roan, a quite energetic one. It whickered as the two Runners ran past; Charlay flipped it off. The rider looked affronted, so Charlay cupped her hands and shouted back at him.
“Not you, the horse!”
“What was that about?”
Ryoka stared at Charlay. The Centauress folded her arms.
“He was checking me out. Damn animals.”
“You understood that horse? And you’re seriously saying you’re that different from them?”
Charlay looked blank.
“Obviously I can understand them. They’re animals. It’s not hard. You can’t understand monkeys? That’s your problem. I’m pretty sure they can understand me.”
“I—haven’t actually met that many monkeys.”
“Huh. I guess Izril doesn’t have that many. I saw them all the time in parts of Baleros. Hey! What’re you looking at?”
The female Centaur snapped at another rider’s horse passing by. Ryoka just shook her head. The streets were filling, and a good number of riders were filling it. More than average; Walta was a horse-city, catering towards treatment of the animals, saddles, stables, training, breeding, and more. The horses Walta produced were of a superior stock than most; if you wanted to get a proper warhorse or even a good riding horse, you’d look for a Walta horse or come to the city itself.
Horses. In a world where automobiles and mass-transport were wagons, they were incredibly valuable. They’d made Walta and Lady Bethal rich. These were her lands, after all, and Ryoka had stayed in the city after making Bethal’s emergency delivery alerting her people of the rift between her and a number of factions in Izril. She was at war—in a political and, to some degree, real sense—but the city was peaceful still.
“Charlay, you know I work around Reizmelt normally. I might be going back there today.”
Ryoka decided to broach the subject at last. The Centauress snorted.
“You might. Or you might take that very lucrative delivery down south. Where was it again?”
“I thought personal deliveries were supposed to be personal. So what if I do? It’s none of your business. Why have you been dogging me for three days? Do you like me that much?”
“Hah! Don’t make me laugh. I’m just scoping out my competition. Everyone’s making a fuss about your little run from Reizmelt to Walta; I’m not impressed. You might have a few unique Skills, but let’s remember who the better Runner is here.”
“Me?”
“Me! Don’t get overconfident, Ryoka. I’m a well-known City Runner around here. I have a nickname! Dustrider Charlay. I earned it after running in this area for two years.”
“I have a nickname too—”
The Centauress glared at Ryoka as they turned left down a street.
“Shut up! See, that’s your problem, Ryoka. You’re infringing on my turf. And my theme.”
“Your theme.”
“That’s right. I was doing this first, so I have dibs on the dust theme. I don’t mind you being the Wind Runner, but if people call you Duststorm Ryoka—just because you can make a bigger cloud doesn’t mean you get to take my nickname! I’m the Dustrider! Dustrider Charlay!”
For emphasis, Charlay slapped her chest. Ryoka just stared at her. She could have sworn Charlay was her age, maybe a bit younger. But the way she acted…Ryoka thought about being the adult, but it was too tempting.
“I hear they call you Dusty Charlie.”
The Centauress’ face went scarlet. Ryoka had to laugh. She saw Charlay stiffen, then gallop ahead. If she had a horse’s ears, Ryoka was sure they would have been flat. Charlay widened the gap between her and Ryoka until she was right in front of the girl, and Ryoka wondered if she’d take off to the guild or just do that the entire rest of the way. Instead, the Centauress shouted.
“[Spray Hoof]!”
“No, don’t you d—”
Ryoka shouted in outrage, but it was too late. One of Charlay’s hooves kicked backwards, striking a handy clump of exposed earth on the street where a cobblestone had been uprooted. Normally, she’d kick up a cloud of dust, hence her name. This time, though, the result was a huge splatter of mud and water.
“Gah! Damn it, Charlay!”
The young Human woman stopped as the mud splattered her front and face. She wiped at it, and Charlay trotted back, looking smug.
“Don’t insult me, Pukey. You threw up on me, remember? As far as I’m concerned, this is the least you deserve.”
Ryoka gritted her teeth. Then her eyes widened. She pointed.
“Oh shit. Is that a snake on the ground?”
“Gyaaaaah!”
The Centauress jumped and ran screaming from what was, in fact, a line of horse crap. She turned to Ryoka, shaking.
“Don’t joke about that! Snakes aren’t funny!”
Ryoka chuckled as she wiped the worst of the muck off her face. Charlay glared, and Ryoka stepped back in case she tried to bite. The two regarded each other in the damp street. Ryoka sighed.
“Now I’m dirty. Truce?”
“Fine. Truce. Here.”
Charlay tossed something at Ryoka. The young woman blinked.
“What is it?”
“Drying stone. Use it on the mud. It’ll probably get all of it. Don’t worry if it runs out; they’re cheap.”
“Thanks.”
Ryoka did just that. The stone didn’t break or disintegrate, and she handed it back. The two ran on. Charlay huffed as she ran next to Ryoka.
“I can’t believe you’re so mean to me. All the time! And I was nice to you even though you were so rude at the start.”
“I’m an awful person. You should know that by now.”
Charlay hesitated.
“Well, you’re better than a lot of other Humans. No one else’ll talk to me, much less talk back. Half of you lot are too scared to talk! The other half just act like I’m an idiot or…weird.”
“I don’t think there are many Centaurs in Izril.”
“There aren’t. But it’s not like I’m rare. There are just too many Humans! We’re all over the place in Baleros, especially the middle. The south’s mostly Lizardfolk and Gazers in the jungles. And Humans. You lot get everywhere. And the north is too cold for anyone but Dullahans.”
“But not many in Izril, right?”
“Nope. And it’s a shame. Izril has these lovely flat places, especially in the north. If it wasn’t for the need to cross the ocean on boats, I think there would be tens of thousands of us here.”
The Centauress shuddered. Ryoka regarded her thoughtfully. Three days had taught Ryoka a lot about Charlay, if only because the Centauress had stuck to her like glue. She had a horse’s palate for bland foods; she couldn’t handle spices, and she went absolutely nuts for salty, savory stuff. She was afraid of snakes, had a temper, got seasick just staring at a bathtub—
Oh, and she held grudges.
“You know, if you didn’t keep insulting how fast I run and calling me the ‘Puke Runner’ or ‘Pukey’ or ‘Ryoka the Vomitter’, I’d be nicer to you.”
Charlay turned her head and glared.
“You threw up. On me. Where’s my apology?”
“Lying somewhere on the road with the last fourteen apologies I gave you. Will you give it a rest? Why are you really following me? It’s not for the fun. Don’t you have a job to do? You haven’t made one delivery since I got here.”
“I don’t have to take jobs all the time. I’m a successful City Runner. What, do you spend all your coin after each delivery in the taverns?”
“No…”
“Then what’s the problem? Jeeze, why are you so rude? You’re the rudest Human I’ve met, you know. And that includes a lot of my clients!”
Ryoka sighed. Walta’s Runner’s Guild appeared on the edge of the city at last. It was sprawling and had a stable attached—a lot of the local Runners used horses. It wasn’t economical for Runners in general, but the city was good for horses, and there was a lot of flatland around. Charlay trotted in first and didn’t hold the door open for Ryoka. To be fair, it would’ve been hard with her body shape, but she was at the [Receptionist]’s desk, pawing the floorboards, when Ryoka walked over.
“We’re here! Hey, Jilta! Ryoka’s here to take that personal request!”
Charlay called out loudly. Ryoka sighed as some of the Runners in the Guild looked up. She’d met a lot of them the last two days, and some waved at her in a friendly way. She waved and smiled back and was grateful for Charlay’s presence for the first time; but for her, the others might have come over to talk to her.
It was true that Ryoka’s run had been noted, if not by the entire world then by the local Runners and those interested in such things. Her run hadn’t been the fastest, but it had been for a [Lady] of renown, and Ryoka had beaten a number of groups aiming to intercept her. It hadn’t been easy; Ryoka had paid a price for using so many potions and calling on the wind. But she’d done it, and the fruit of her labor was the attention she gathered. And Charlay following her.
The [Receptionist] at the desk sighed as Ryoka stepped up. She gave Charlay a sharp look that the Centauress innocently returned.
“Charlay! You can’t announce things like that on Ryoka’s behalf, much less publicly! There are rules, you know!”
“I could do it in Baleros. They didn’t care there. Besides, everyone knows you can get information for free from the [Brokers].”
