After making the warehouse habitable the previous evening, they slept until after sunrise, when some of the others had already left. Most of the group were still eating their porridge, and a few called out good-natured jibes about coming all this way to the city and then just sleeping. By the time they had eaten and filled the water barrels once again, they were the last three in the warehouse, except for Elmar, who was getting ready for a morning of organizing notes and touching things up, at least according to his own words. The large pillow on the chair next to the door, and the small wedge of sunlight outside creeping towards the door suggested that he might need to rest frequently, or at least get the paperwork done in comfort. Katrin, apparently, would be visiting Longtree around noon, so the trio decided to first get to know their nearby surroundings.
At Nopsa's insistince, they first walked around the block created by the warehouse and it's neighbours, then the block on the other side of the street. The warehouses were mostly tightly built against each other, but a few small alleyways could be found, most narrow enough that two people couldn't walk abreast. Janos appreciated the idea, but Liina was more pensive.
"Ugh, I suppose it's good to know which shadows to watch out for if we have to be outside during the night for some reason, but why do you want to walk through the alleys, Nopsa? I'd much rather see if I'm going to step in something disgusting."
"You never know what you might find! And I want to know where each one ends up, just in case. Besides, I refuse to believe that ALL the stories are wrong about how many interesting things happen in alleyways!"
"How about the stories about wise wizards and pious priests? Shouldn't we go and try to find some temples and towers?" She looked plaintively towards Janos.
"I think I wouldn't mind investigating a few more, but maybe somewhere else in the city. They certainly seem good for lurking or taking a shortcut, but also an excellent way of being ambushed since you can't pass anyone easily." He looked around a bit, then chose a spot and began pushing himself up, balanced between the walls. When he had gotten to above head hight, he relaxed himself, dropped back down, and dusted off his clothes. "Difficult, but not impossible. Wouldn't suggest trying if people are coming at you, and you'd need quite a narrow spot, Nopsa."
"I guess… but let's see if we can find one. That looks useful!"
Returning to one of the earlier alleys, they found a spot Janos deemed good, but Nopsa had much less success. Janos tried helping him, suggesting different techniques, but it wasn't long before Nopsa started complaining about his msucles aching. They both looked at Liina.
"Oh, fine, I'll try if you two promise we can get out of these alleys!" She had a bit more luck than Nopsa, but not much. "Sorry, Janos, we don't have your strength or technique. Now can we go?"
"Oh, certainly. Sorry about that, I guess a bit of Nopsa's excitement rubbed off on me."
"Oh, we'll make an adventurer–"
"We? WE? You're the one goading him on!"
"–make an adventurer of you yet. Anyway, so, if someone tries to corner me in a alley, I think my best bet is trying to dive past them. I've done that a good bit more, and since there's no cobbles, it shouldn't be much harder than at a village fight."
Liina snorted. "How about you think about how to avoid fights?"
"That's what I was talking about! Dodging out of the way, then running."
"And not yelling insults along the way?"
"Ohh, that just adds spice to the chase."
"You're incorrigible."
"I suppose, though I guess usually I try to be the one encouraging others."
"Uhh… what? Umm, oh, no, that's a different word… ohh, nevermind."
"I usually don't, or at least, that's what you keep telling me. Now, here we are, at the well, and there's the Mackerel. Where to next?"
They repeated the walks out that they'd done last evening with Katrin and the group, but this time stopped to look at different shops, the decorations on houses, and whatever else interesting presented itself. They also walked up to the main square and admired the King's castle, with flags and pennants weaving in the wind, servants walking or running in and out in their fine livery, and occasional nobles sauntering doing much the same, though trying to look more stately about it. After watching a small troop of guardsmen riding out to relieve others from the road duty, they noted that the sun had climbed quite high, and jogged back to Longtree where Katrin was already waiting for them.
"There you are. Ready to go find the dye merchants for Janos, or do you need to eat first?"
Nopsa, as usual, manged to speak out first. "Now that you mentioned it, I am hungry. What's for lunch?"
"Cold porridge, unless you feel like buying something yourself. I've things to do, so I'm not waiting while you cook something. As you're taking care of the housekeeping as it were, I'll make sure there's some food for you, but it's not going to be much."
Elmar stepped out of the room, munching on something. "Well, here's some bread. Two days old, so not too stale, and you can dip it in what's left of last night's supper."
"Well, eat up, then. I can look at how we'll arrange things for the others with Elmar for a moment, then we're going."
They quickly gobbled up the remaining food, with Nopsa eating some of the porridge as well. "Not much, but even that tastes good in the King's own city!"
Katrin then came over, and discussed things with Janos for a short while. She had been asking around with her contacts and gotten some names and locations. Their best hope for dyes would be on three streets in the western parts of city, so they headed up toward the river, keeping some blocks between them and the hustle and bustle of the harbor. Liina reminded Janos that they both better keep an eye on Nopsa, then joined Katrin as they walked along, trying to figure out the best route to their first destination.
"It seemed a bit strange, somehow, last evening and this morning, without having you around all the time."
"Well, I'm sorry, but you're pretty much on your own for the time we're in Kalaun. I have many opportunities that I want to pursue, there are deals to be sealed, old friends to meet. Elmar can help you with the small or day-to-day things, but I'm just not going to be around, mostly. For the actual coronation, I'll be here with the everyone else, trying to make sure everyone in the group gets to the main plaza and back safely. In fact, we'll be going as a group with everyone at Longtree. Safety in numbers and all that. And I'll join the other two merchants this evening on giving a simple timetable to everyone. But, otherwise, get used to not having me at hand until we leave the city and begin our travel back towards Wortbank."
"I hope we can manage. Well, I'm pretty sure Janos and I would manage, but I'm a bit concerned how Nopsa will act without an authority figure around. He got us spending a good bit of the morning just exploring the alleys around the warehouse!"
"The morning would be the best time for that, and I suppose they'd be a kind of dark corner he's not seen before. Small country villages don't have many buildings crammed close together like towns or cities."
"Still, it didn't seem particularly safe or sensible to me. Almost like he was looking for some kind of trouble."
"Good, then, that it was at a time when he was unlikely to find it, right? Well, then, let's take another viewpoint. How did Janos feel about Nopsa's explorations?"
"He went along, even tried to see if he could between the walls!"
"Oh. Hmm. A I'll admit that's a bit surpring. Maybe he was trying to find out what the view would be from the roof of the warehouses?"
"That was one thing, yes." Janos jogged by them, off towards a side street where Nopsa was being captivated by the sales pitch of a pastry merchant, as well the aromas wafting from his cart. After he got Nopsa extricated, pointing forward, he returned, continuing. "I could've done with a quicker check of the alleys. I have been checking the ones around here, as I mentioned in the morning. They don't seem much different, though the neighbourhood is getting wealthier. Maybe a bit less rotting refuse." He fell back again, keeping an eye on Nopsa.
Katrin concurred. "It usually depends on … well, how much life is in the neighbourhood, I suppose you could call it. If there are many homes, they produce a lot of waste that can rot. On the other hand, most people don't like having the stink right next to their homes, so they may clean it up and dump it further away. Or order their servants to do it, of course. The warehouse district usually has few people living there, but almost no one who'd feel the need to clean up. We've arranged for the waste collectors to come clean up after we leave, but until then, we'll have to keep our waste contained ourselves."
"There are people who just collect waste? That's…"
"In cities, with enough people? Yes. Not a line of work for those with better prospects, but it's reliable. People aren't going to stop eating – which means food waste as well as feces – and then, clothes wear out, tools break, candles burn to a stub, and so on and so forth."
"That seems so strange. On a farm, there's always a use for everything. If nothing else, you feed it to the pig or burn it."
"The smells associated with pigs might become uncomfortable, with such crammed living. Burning works better in the winter, but there's less need of it now. And anything that doesn't burn cleanly – well, even thicker clouds of smoke disperse easily in the countryside, but here, they'll irritate at least half a dozen neighbours."
"And thus the poor collect the refuse of the rich?"
"So it goes. And reuse everything they can, much as you do, though on a larger scale. Whether fixing, finding new uses, or just composting and selling the soil to improve gardens, they find a way to scrape by. I believe they do decent trade with alchemists, as well. Who, in turn, may sell to such people as the dye merchants we're about to visit."
Liina giggled a little bit. "I admit, I'm somewhat amused of the idea of Anna getting her hands elbow-deep in what was originally the poop of some rich merchant."
Janos catched up to them again. "After being bread that was eaten, and before that, it was the wheat, growing from the ground, and so forth. The circle of life continues in the city, just maybe a bit more complicated. Also, I trust that you wouldn't want to spite my mother with that idea, but maybe keep it to yourself?"
"Certainly. On that line of thought, though, did Nopsa happen to hear me?"
"Ahh, no, I believe he is looking at those hats over there. I'm guessing that if they're being sold on the street like that, they're failed apprentice-work or actually, literally, a steal?"
Katrin nodded. "Almost certainly. Drag him along, please, and also inform him of your observation as well."
As Janos moved off once again, Liina went back to the original topic. "Anyway, so, tomorrow I'll be visiting the Cathedral and maybe the archives of the Royal Scriptorium as well. Oh, and then there's the University and the open lectures, though those were after the coronation. We'll be seeing the castle a few times, I guess, but not from the inside, of course. What other places can you think that might be worth visiting?"
"Well, you've probably found out the ones most interesting to you already. I know there are a few monasteries in the city, as well, but they'll know more about those at the cathedral and whether you can visit them. There are a few decorative gardens that I believe will be open. All the public squares and plazas will of course be full of activity, and many have a public stage, where you'll be certain to find plays enacted, poems recited, or musicians playing at almost all times. The scriptorium has had for some time now the official programme posted outside on public display, so remember toread through that if you want to find out about specific events. Janos and Nopsa might appreciate the tournaments, held outside the city on the tournament grounds between the northern and southern King's Roads. Oh, and some merchants and nobles are holding art exhibitions, but you'll probably need Ulrika to stand surety for you to be let in. I'm going to one, but it's also a business meeting, so you'd need to provide some rather large favor to me if you'd want to tag along."
"I think I'll confer with Ulrika about those, then. Thank you. If we have the time after this, we'll go visit the scriptorium and look at the programme."
"You do that." She called out. "Now, Janos, Nopsa, this would be the first location."
Finding the proper dyes and purchasing them took a while, but went, in the end, relatively smoothly. They visited first the few merchants who dealed in dyes exclusively, then went to others who also dealt in other things, such as medicines or foreign goods, and even visited a few alchemists that had shops open to the public with servants handling the selling of items or arranging meetings for more specific orders. Katrin's experience and instincts served them well, helping them avoid suspect batches and seeing the tiny clues when a merchant was willing to accept a lower bargain. In the end, Janos got all but one of the items his mother had listed, and still had a decent chunk of money left over. Looking a lot less haggard than Liina had feared, he insisted on giving Katrin a decent commission, which she took with only a token resistance. Nopsa claimed, after a quick calculation, that even with returning some money to Anna for the unbought batch, Janos could probably take a half a crown for himself for his troubles. The stares he got from Janos and Liina had Katrin grinning all the way until they go to their detour point, the northern gate. At first, the sergeant seemed quite calm compared to yesterday, but in a moment it was obvious that he'd been driven haggard. A sincere apology from Nopsa, with a few quick jests on staying to help, using his knowledge of herding sheep to organize the thronging masses that wanted to enter the city, and the sergeant was actually waving them goodbye as they began their walk back to the Longtree warehouse.