“How many years has it been!” Afraz exclaid, his entire body tense, his smile wide, yellowed by tea, whitened by alcohol. “Tell ! How are you related to my Gangak?”
‘Hmm?’ Adam thought, as Afraz glared down at the Iyrn, still grinning wild, his eyes filled with delight.
“We are her grandnephews and grandniece,” Laygak replied, eyeing up the old man.
“Oh? Is she still unmarried?” Afraz asked, his eyes twinkling brightly.
“No, grandaunt is married to Rogak.”
“Ha! He is a man of fortune!”
“How do you know my grandmother?” Adam asked, while noting the Iyrn were sizing him up.
“Grandmother?” Afraz narrowed his eyes. “You bastara, do you think I wouldn’t see? Your skin is not as pretty as cherries!”
“Since she calls my children her greatchildren, and she calls her grandson, that makes her my grandmother!” Adam returned confidently, standing a little taller and prouder.
“You must be Aldish if you can speak disrespectfully to !” Afraz shouted, reaching up to his greatsword, ready to unsheathe it, though he stopped, since the half elf was under their hospitality. “You are lucky!”
“Hmph! Lucky? Of course I am! I am very lucky to have a grandmother like Fla Brand!”
Jurot glanced aside to Dunes, who nodded his head, confirming that Adam was being cringe, but he had not gone too far yet.
“Oiya, Mo. Is it true?” Afraz asked, glaring at the half elf.
“It is,” Dunes replied. “You can ask the Iyrn yourself if you wish.”
“Then why are your tattoos like that?” Afraz asked.
“I’m a little closer to the Rot family, so I took their tattoos, but if you know how much trouble I caused on behalf of the Gak family, you’d understand.”
“Adam, please…” Dunes called, groaning quietly.
“Taygak, this old man is bullying ! He thinks I’m not grandmother’s grandson!” Adam called.
Taygak glared at the older man, narrowing her eyes towards him, though her elder brother stood, chuckling as he realised who this old man was.
“Afraz the Drake of the Hills!” Laygak called, reaching out a hand to shake the old man’s forearm.
“Drake of the Hills?” Adam asked Afraz.
“Haha!” Afraz laughed, greeting Laygak, though he didn’t understand much Aldish. However, it was then he slipped into another tongue. “You are of the Gak family?”
“I am. Gangak, Fla Brand, is my grandaunt. She is my grandfather’s sister.”
“Tangak, was it?” Afraz asked.
“Tangak,” Laygak confird. “My cousin, Adam, is her grandson.”
“See? Also, you speak Elenti?”
“No, I speak Vilspeech.”
“If you know Elenti, you can speak with all the languages of the elents,” Dunes explained.
“Oh!” Adam reached up to hide his eyes. “I totally forgot that.”
“Your cousin is not very smart,” Afraz said, elbowing Laygak lightly. “Tell , how is she, your grandaunt?”
“She is healthy and well,” Laygak said. “Last year, she drew her blade against the Aldish Orders, for they dared to harm her most precious greatchildren.”
“Hmm? What did they do?” Afraz asked, suddenly distracted by the Iyrman’s words, though Tagak and Taygak finally approached to greet him properly.
“So how do you know of my grandmother anyway?” Adam asked, clearing his throat.
“If she was not forced away by the Orders, you would be calling grandfather,” Afraz called, reaching out to ruffle Adam’s hair.
‘Huh?’ Adam furrowed his brows.
“Jirot is right, you do not listen to her enough,” Laygak said. “She has spoken grandaunt’s tales, and Afraz has appeared in many of them. He who wielded a blade of silver.”
“Oh! That’s you?” Adam asked. “I am so bad with nas, though in all fairness, I really should have rembered Drake of the Hill.”
“It is a cool epithet,” Dunes agreed.
“That’s what I’m saying,” Adam said, holding out a hand, and Dunes relented, slapped the half elf’s hand in a high five, and Adam smiled brightly.
“I would like to hear of the tale,” Afraz said, looking down at the teen. “May I hear it from you, who will soon make a na for herself in Aswadasad?”
Taygak grinned wide. “Okay! I will speak the tale to you, Drake of the Hill!”
‘Oh,’ Adam thought, realising Taygak could also speak Vilspeech. ‘Man, I need to spend like two minutes thinking about this sort of thing.’
‘Huh?’ the Rais thought, glancing between the Iyrn and Afraz. ‘Were all his stories…’
The others eyed up Afraz and the Iyrn, each beginning to think perhaps the old man’s boasting wasn’t just that, but there was no way Afraz of all people was soone who ford his own legendary tale.
“What are they doing?” Adam asked, noting the sacks to one side, the villagers carrying sacks away, though so piled them up upon carts.
“The tax?” Dunes replied, uncertain himself.
“Oh, right, taxes,” Adam said.
“The taxes are manageable now, lower than in Aldland. It was lower in the past, but it caught those who could not pay and forced them into labour, but not in the polite way it is now. It is a beht now, but it is for those with healthy bodies and minds, and those who cannot afford the tax pay a silver, or they help now and again with local projects in nearby towns or cities, but many years ago, it would be for any project, including those in cities far away from their villages.”
“Damn…”
“Once, we could reduce our tax burden by signing up for war, but Aswadasad did away with such reductions. Now, those who are between twenty and thirty, may be conscripted when required, though it is extrely rare. Even during the civil war, I heard that it only occurred at the frontiers, and most were voluntary, for they wished to fight, but Laffscale stopped the skirmishes.”
“Oh…” Adam slowly nodded his head, following Dunes’ thought, glad to hear more about Aswadasad from the Priest. “The taxes are lower in Aswadasad?”
“Aswadasad makes great coin with its vast resources,” Dunes said with a small smile. “Aldland has jagite, but in Aswadasad, how many can I na? There is dragonglass, which the dragons assist in crafting, dragonsteel too. There is more, like Black Mountain, which the Shen lays claim to, and the resources within, like those of jeticule and obsidicule. It is why the Shen’s family is so rich, for the mountains and mines belong to him, and though we follow Lady Arya, he understands it is best not to allow those who worship Lord Noor to gain too much sway over his family, so we are given many privileges for not bothering the Shen with the matters of the mountain. I will not say the Shen pays us tribute, I will not say it, but the he will not dare to offend the dragon who slumbers near us.”
“Veisswing’s sister?” Adam asked, trying to recall who it was.
Dunes winked. “Lucky for the Shen, though Northern Aswadasad has lost much of the north eastern forest, Central Aswadasad has gained so of the mountains to the south, which was once part of South Aswadasad, now the Ejirate of Diyyabayt. The Ejirate of Light.”
“For a place in Aswadasad, that nas is pretty damn cool,” Adam whispered, and Dunes smiled, nodding his head.
“It is a small ejirate, duchy, but…” Dunes shook his head. “Its navy is powerful, and it is quite populous. Though it has lost the mountains, it has not lost many of its people, for most remain upon the small forested area, barely half the size that Northern Aswadasad had lost, and yet, to claim such a piece of land, Aswadasad and Aswabayad would need to fight for at least ten years, and they would spend the lives of tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, and that is only the soldiers.”
“Damn!”
“It’s navy keeps it safe from the seas, its jungles safe from those outside, and it has always had its own unique culture, so neither countries could try to spur up religious zeal, and if rumours are to be believed, the dragon within the mountains did not join Aswabayad, but has, sohow, allied itself with the ejirate, though they were enemies of old.”
“The ejirate has a dragon too?” Adam asked, raising his brow. “How many dragons are there? This is getting out of hand!”
Dunes laughed. “Did you think I was joking? Aldland has few dragons, but Aswadasad, dragons pop up from the shadows like gold in the Shen’s castle!”
“How co?”
Dunes raised his brows, for they had spoken of this many tis, and just to help the half elf, he turned his head towards the Iyrn.
“Oh… you know what, I think I’ve asked this at least twice before, and every single ti I felt like an idiot,” Adam admitted, shaking his head. “Dunes, man.”
“It is fine, for you are overwheld by how amazing my country is, and I cannot bla you. The food, the won, the heritage, the culture, and more importantly, the weather.”
“I cannot agree with that last one, even if the heat no longer bothers ,” Adam joked.
Dunes chuckled.
“Look, about the… I don’t know, it feels weird not spending coin when they’re treating us well.”
“Though we do not pay for the hospitality, we must hire a few for the journey east, to the next village. Usually it is a beth per head, but I have asked to allow us to spend more. Also, it is best to buy a few crafts from the villagers, and to spend freely when we do.”
“Oh thank the Divine, I thought I’d had to carry these heavy pouches with us all week!” Adam joked.
We can spend all this gold!
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