Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [131]
“I, um…”
“I know, you’re tired, you must be! Of course! Of course! I’m used to the riding, meself, but for you it must have been quite a trip. Let’s find lodging and rest up,” Kee Keema said, without waiting for affirmation from Wataru. “Ah, but first you must let me stable Turbo. The darbaba post is right over there. That’s where darbabas stay, you see. Don’t worry, the lodgings for people aren’t far.”
Turbo walked slowly through the town, making for the darbaba post—a structure much like a walled parking lot in Wataru’s world. Other waterkin like Kee Keema were busily scrubbing down their stabled darbabas, feeding and watering them. In the corner, a small circle of waterkin stood, smoking what looked like tobacco on the end of long, slender pipes. One of them smiled broadly and waved to Kee Keema.
Kee Keema tied Turbo up, and then turned to Wataru. “Well, don’t you look miserable! If you’re too tired to walk, shall I give you a ride on my shoulders again?”
Wataru swallowed. “I…actually, I don’t have money for lodging.”
“Urk?” Kee Keema blinked.
“I have no money. Not a single cent,” Wataru said, talking so fast his words ran together. “Wayfinder Lau gave me a lunch, but he told me everything else was up to me. But I…but I have no idea what to do.”
Kee Keema blinked again, six times in fact. The blinks were rapid, but Wataru, staring intently at Kee Keema to gauge his reaction, was able to count each one.
“Wataru,” he said. “I’ll pay for your lodging.”
“You can’t do that!” Wataru protested. “You’ve already given me a ride this far—I can’t impose on you anymore.”
Kee Keema raised his hands. “Now, now. No need to get agitated.” The waterkin’s long tongue slithered out between his lips. He smiled. “Then I’ll tell you what. I’ll loan you the money. It’s hot out here, so let’s get on inside. We can talk more then.”
The inn in Gasara was a long lodge with walls of thick logs. The guest rooms were arranged down the sides of a long central hallway. The cheapest rooms were called “come-alls”—something like group bunk rooms—but Kee Keema asked for a small private room instead. Hearing his banter with the innkeeper, Wataru learned the unit of currency in this world for the first time: the tem.
The innkeeper was a little man with a bristly beard, an ankha, and he stared at Kee Keema and Wataru for a long time with his glittering eyes. Kee Keema didn’t seem to notice. Bringing Wataru to his room, he laughed and left again, and soon returned carrying two cups.
“Here, drink this,” he said, handing one cup to Wataru. “Nothing feels better than a ride across the grass, but the sun beating down’ll make a man tired. This is best for what ails you.”
The drink was slightly sweet and had a faint medicinal taste.
“Thank you so much,” Wataru said. Sitting down in a simple wooden chair, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Kee Keema licked his lips with a whip of his long tongue. It was hard to tell, but he seemed almost shy. “Like I said, don’t mention it. You’re my lucky star, after all.”
Wataru grinned. A lucky star. Is there anyone in my world that would do so much for a stranger just because they thought they were lucky? Wataru thought it was quite the opposite.
Mitsuru had said that Vision was created by the imaginative energies of the real world. Wataru wondered: would more visitors from his world change Vision for the worse? He didn’t know.
“You’re going to the Tower of Destiny to meet the Goddess, right?” Kee Keema asked, sitting on the clean, if a little hard-looking, bed.
“Yes, I think so. I want to change my, I mean my and my family’s fate…”
Kee Keema cut him off. “No, don’t tell me. We are taught that Travelers who come from your world to Vision are called here by the Goddess. We do not know why she calls them, and it is not good to ask. Why, it is the Goddess’s will, and that is enough. So, don’t tell me your reasons for coming here.”
Wataru nodded.
“And, Wataru, you know you must reach the Tower on your own.”
“I do.”
“But, there’s nothing that says someone can’t go with