Chapter 329: All Roads

Unlike her brief stint in Glitnir, the trek through Eldingholt allowed Jadis to get some sightseeing in. Not because Severina wasn’t rushing them; no, her pace was about the same as Runar’s had been in hurrying them through the streets at a quick march that left no room for stopping. The difference was the distance. The walk from the docks to the temple district was long enough that it took more than an hour for their group to travel the whole way, even using the shortest path possible. The capital truly was a colossal city, even from a modern standpoint.

The architecture of Eldingholt was similar to what Jadis was familiar with in Far Felsen, but still different enough that Jadis could hardly mistake the two cities for each other. It was clear that whoever had first designed the capital had done so with a great deal of forethought for the future. The streets were wide, the buildings tall, and at least the main thoroughfares that Jadis was led through felt spacious and uncluttered.

One of the first things Jadis noticed about the cityscape now that she was within the city proper was that none of the buildings looked plain or utilitarian. Every surface was carved in some way, either with nature-themed motifs or with intricate geometrical designs that reminded Jadis of a mix between art deco and Celtic knots. All of the buildings were made of stone, with little wood being used beyond doors and signs and similar structures. The scenery did not feel foreboding for the all the stone, though, as the harshness was ameliorated by both the wide space of the streets as well as the prevalence of large windows across the walls. The windows themselves were works of art; many were made with colored glass and almost all of them sported beautiful designs much like a stained-glass window.

At one point Jadis was captivated by a gigantic window placed in the surface of a wall that depicted an idyllic scene of various fruits and vegetables spilling out over an overladen table, with pastoral farmlands visible in the background. It took Jadis a few seconds to realize that the building was in fact some kind of market and the window was basically an advertisement for the various foodstuffs sold within.

Even in the early pre-dawn hours, the streets of the capital were not empty. Unlike Far Felsen, Eldingholt was not a city populated primarily by mercenaries and soldiers. There had been no evacuation here; in fact, as Sorcha had pointed out, this was the city where many would have evacuated to. As such, Jadis got to see a fair number of people passing by. Merchants, soldiers, tradesmen of all kinds were already up and about, getting a head start on their day’s business. One thing she noticed right away though were the number of people running down the middle of the street.

The roadways were wide enough that two good-sized carts could pass by each other with plenty of room on either side of the street for pedestrians. There were what appeared to be one-way side streets that branched off from the main roads as well, but even those were wide enough that Jadis’ Behemoth wagon could fit through. The middle of the road, however, looked like it was reserved specifically for individuals who moved faster than average. More than fast, actually. People who ran at a speed comparable to Jadis’ own insane Agility stat were running along the middle of the street, some flying by so fast that she could feel the wind pressure of them passing by. Jadis was certain that she was faster than the majority of the sprinters: her stats were no joke. But a few looked like they would give even her a run for her money.

Those people were message runners, or so Eir explained. Individuals whose whole class progression centered around being able to run fast to carry messages back and forth throughout the city and the territories beyond. Message runners weren’t combatants: in fact, most of them were fairly weak and could only move as fast as they did because of specific criteria like being on properly constructed roads or carrying messages. Still, they were a vital part of communication in the empire and one of the main reasons why the empire was able to maintain such a large territory. Since they moved so fast and their purpose was so important, runners had their own lane in the middle of the main streets to ensure that they were able to get to and from their destinations without difficulty. The separate lane was also there to help make sure no children were run over by the sprinting maniacs.

That was another aspect of the population that caught Jadis’ eye. Children. There hadn’t been any children in Far Felsen. None. Jadis remembered seeing at least one woman who had looked pregnant, but that was it. Since the city was on the border of the fighting, most of the regular citizens and all of their children had been taken far away in the evacuation. In Eldingholt, there was no need for such measures. Here, as the sun crested the city walls, Jadis was able to see mothers walking with children scurrying around their feet. It was… refreshing.

Jadis had almost forced the convoy to a halt when she saw a gnomish woman sweeping the doorstep of her home, a tiny gnome toddler sitting on the step next to her. The child was the goddamned cutest thing she’d ever seen, and she wasn’t even the type to coo over babies. The toddler also answered a question Jadis had been wondering about for a while. Apparently, the blue tattoo-like markings on gnomes were, in fact, just a part of their skin color.

At least, Jadis hoped so. That, or gnomes tattooed their toddlers.

Jadis wasn’t the only one getting an eyeful, either. As she was escorted through the streets and more people came out to start their days, more and more people spotted Jadis. With each of her bodies standing just slightly more than nine feet tall, it wasn’t as though the guards flanking her and her companions could do anything to obstruct her from sight. Not unless they wanted to use illusion magic of some kind, which, apparently, they did not or did not have access to.

As the trek progressed, a crowd slowly gathered as people began to follow behind them. She had trouble hearing the things they were saying, but their expressions were easy enough to gauge. Many looked excited, though there were also definitely some who looked concerned and even a few who looked downright hostile. That negative reaction seemed more to do with the sight of Alex than Jadis herself, though the unhappy and angry looks were also a reminder for Jadis that the rumor mill had likely already scooped up the story of how she’d been arrested and spread the grist far and wide. Jadis had no way to know in the moment just how badly the rumors had been turned against her, though she imagined it couldn’t be all bad.

Hopefully.

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing the featherhead came to get us so early,” Kerr half-whispered at Dys, unable to keep her voice low simply due to the growing noise of the crowd following them. “If it were later, this shit would have turned into a parade.”

“I can imagine,” Dys murmured as she eyed the trailing people.

“Of course, if they had wanted to do this quiet-like, they could have brought carriages,” Kerr pointed out. “Or a couple of wagons at least.”

“What, you think this public walk is on purpose?” Dys asked her archer lover.

“Abso-fucking-lutely,” Kerr nodded her horned head. “They wanted you to be seen. You can’t tell me the emperor has a shortage of covered carts.”

“They wanted you to be seen, but not by so many people that there would be risk of a riot,” Aila added in her usual cool and collected way, though her words weren’t exactly calming.

“Why would there be a riot over me?” Dys asked, then immediately answered her own question. “Or, do you mean because of Alex?”

“Alex’s presence is no doubt already being spread as rumor all over the city,” Aila nodded. “We’re bringing a lot of upset with us, and we aren’t the only ones presenting the news.”

Jadis could just imagine what Runar and his fuck-face of a prince might be saying about Alex. And anything that those two said would definitely be heard by a lot of people. Jadis just had to hope that more people would be convinced by what the high priests who had actually met Alex had to say. She also had to hope that what the high priests said was in Alex’s favor. That wasn’t a total guarantee, after all.

While Jadis grew more and more preoccupied by the thought of how she was going to handle not just acclimating Alex to society, but society to Alex, her attention was distracted by the sight of the imperial palace. Their route had taken them along the northern side of the city and along the way they crossed a huge market circle that also served as the intersection of two major roads. The road they were following was one that circled the half-moon shape of the city from one side to the other in an unbroken arc. The road that met their route in the market circle came from the north and went in a straight line southward to cross the river and exit the city on the other side. The river ran through the middle of the city, but an island split the river before it reached the falls. That island was the center point of the city, from which all the arches and bridges radiated from. It was on that island that Jadis could see the Eld Tree she’d been told about once before.

The massive tree towered high into the sky, its branches covered in a gray-brow bark. There were no leaves on the tree, the winter having stripped the branches bare. However, Jadis could tell from the way the boughs arched out over the island and river that tree’s shade would reach all the way to the edge of the city’s shore. Considering the river was a mile wide, the Eld Tree was one truly massive plant.

Below the tree, built up from the roots, rose an ornate palace. It faced the west, so the palace was not touched by the dawn’s light, but even in the shadow of the tree Jadis could see the towering structure was gorgeous. A multitude of spires crowned the palace, with arches and shining glass edifices surrounding the walls. It looked like a building designed to be beautiful, rather than a defensive structure, though Jadis doubted that it was defenseless. The many bridges that crossed the river all converged on the island, surrounding the palace in an interwoven latticework of arches from which the towering, jeweled palace overlooked everything.

“All roads lead to Rome,” Jay mumbled as she took in the sight of Eldingholt’s center of power.

“Rome…?” Alex asked, her tone curious.

“Don’t worry about it,” Jay shook her head. “Just a place I once read about.”

The number of people who were following their fast-moving escort increased significantly after the market circle. There were enough by that point that Jadis could hear the crown calling out questions.

“What’s happening?”

“Are those the Nephilim?”

“Where are they being taken?”

“Is that a demon?”

“Are they fakes?”

“What happened to the cultists?”

“Did the Hero save them?”

It was an interesting mix of questions that Jadis felt like she could answer simply and directly if she was only given a chance. But how was she supposed to address the questions of literally hundreds of people? She couldn’t stop to talk to them, even if she wasn’t being escorted by Severina and her knights. She’d be swarmed by the mob. Not that Jadis feared for her safety, but the number of people with serious concerns was starting to feel overwhelming.

The march through the city couldn’t last forever, though. Eventually the convoy made it to the temple district.

Situated in the eastern section of the city along the northern shore of river, the temple district was a compound of buildings that were set apart from the rest of the structures around them. Like some kind of a holy dais that was set above its surroundings, the road led up to the district via ramps that wound around the side of the circular platform. The wall that surrounded the district was tall, but like the great wall that surrounded the whole city, it was primarily made up of arches that allowed one to easily see inside. Walking through the gates, Jadis could see that there were nine huge temple complexes that surrounded a central open area that looked wide enough that thousands of people could have gathered within the space, even taking the beautifully manicured flowers and shrubs into account.

While the city had a fairly uniform style, at least in terms of architecture, the temples in the compound were all very different in the way they looked. It was easy to tell at a glance which temple belong to which god, even if the banners and statues decorating the structures didn’t make it clear. Jadis was able to spot Villthyrial’s temple right away, since it was literally covered in plants to the point that she could barely see the stone underneath it.

“I’m definitely going to have to visit there, first,” Tegwyn said as he pointed at the temple dedicated to his patron. “It’s probably been a while since a Dryad has visited them, what with all this… civilization built up around it. It’s only polite.”

“I totally get it,” Syd nodded as she patted the man on his shoulder. “Come find us when you’re done.”

“I will,” he grinned up at Syd. “I’ll ask the priests there about your little present while I’m at it. Perhaps they’ll have some idea as to its purpose.”

“Thanks,” Syd grinned back at the horned man, waving as he broke away from the escort without issue.

Jadis had nearly forgotten about the emerald grub she’d been given by the God of Nature. Despite Tegwyn keeping it in a mixture of soil and mulch that should have been ideal for a creature of its type, the grub hadn’t changed at all from when Jadis had received the strange gift. She still had no idea what it was intended for, but who was she to look a gift horse in the mouth? She’d keep caring for it until she figured out its purpose. Besides, Tegwyn was right. These were the temples of the Alfhilderunn Empire. The best priests in the nation gathered on these hollowed grounds. It had to be a tremendous source of knowledge and wisdom.

That was a silver lining, wasn’t it? Lady Severina had said that she had been restricted to the temple district, not just the interior of Lyssandria’s temple. That meant Jadis could visit all of the temples while she was temporarily stuck in the one location, pending her court case. It was a good opportunity to get some questions answered, as well as explore some options with her companions. For instance, Jadis had wanted to introduce Sabina to Doru of Clan Jormund, the half-orc, half-therion High Priest of Svaroga. Surely the temple dedicated to the god of crafting and invention would have a workshop where Sabina might be able to stretch her metaphorical wings and really get creative with all the interesting materials she’d been given by the Dryads back in Weigrun.

Yes, not everything was bad about her current situation, Jadis had to remind herself. There were things for her to do while she was stuck in the city. Even more things if she could get her case resolved quickly, or her restrictions eased at a minimum. Besides, as Jadis was led up to the temple decorated in alluring sculptures that Jadis presumed had to be Lyssandria’s temple, she had to admit that her accommodations could be a lot worse. After all, she should finally be able to get a room alone with her lovers.

That was a thought that brought a smile to her faces.

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