From Oppara with Love, Chapter Four
4
Perched on the top of the black cliffs of the Porthmos River sat the thriving city of Oppara, capital of the Taldan Empire. The massive and majestic Grand Bridge of the Empire, a three thousand year old magically strengthened, mithril Dwarven wonder, connected the city to the far southern shores nearly two miles away. The two harbors surrounding the city were so crammed with trading vessels the water was barley visible.
Oppara was the apex of modern culture and sophistication; it was so large that the city boasted fifteen separate districts, most of which housed the finest shops and restaurants in all of the Inner Sea. Six thousand years of trade and expansion had helped Oppara become one of the greatest cities in the entire world. It certainly was the wealthiest and examples of that wealth could be seen all over town, sometimes ridiculously so. At one point in Oppara’s history all of the buildings were topped with gold, earning it the nickname “The Gilded City”. Those days were long past and the gold had been gone for centuries, but the nickname endured.
Large water fountains were common in the city and could be found along most well traveled roads and in public squares. Even the roads themselves were a symbol of Oppara’s extravagance; cobblestone covered even the poorest sections of town while Mosaic tile adorned the wealthier sections. Some of the tiled roads exhibited elaborate artistic designs and patterns that brought tourists from all over Taldor to see them. The tiles that covered The Grand Bridge, for example, were laid by the legendary artist Albher and were famous throughout the entire Inner Sea. It wasn’t just the beauty of the roads that made them the envy of other nations, but the complex stone gutter system that lined them and siphoned off the constant Taldor rain. This helped keep the city clean and free of the diseases that ravaged other metropolis’s like Korvosa. Unlike that grand city, Oppara employed ancient and powerful magic to aid sanitation instead of trapped Otyughs.
Just outside the harbor, where the Grand Bridge of the Empire originated, was the central district of Grandbridge. Full of open-air markets and world famous shops, it constantly teemed with tourists and shoppers. The bridge split where the district touched the river, and there could be found the world renowned Grey Market. Rudimentary stalls and tables sold nearly anything someone could want. A famous saying in the Grey Market was “if you can’t find it, you don’t need it.”
Grandbridge was also home to Whitehall, the headquarters of the city’s constabulary. The building’s ominous nickname: “The Screaming Pillars”, did not bode well for those who entered unwittingly. The four story marble structure housed the Lions Academy and the Crown Circle Schools for Taldorans who wished to serve the empire with sword or spell respectively.
Across a tiled road, east of Whitehall, sat a simple brick building with a brass storefront sign displaying the name: “Inner Sea Exports”. On the outside it appeared much the same as one of the dozens of import/export shops in the district.
Inside it was no different. There were three desks for the clerks to administer their sales manifests. On the left wall was a simple portrait of Emperor Stavan III and a door at the rear of the room led to a connected warehouse where laborers stacked large wooden boxes or loaded them onto carts.
A buyer might walk into the shop, place an order from a catalog of goods and arrange for shipment to his home or business. The heavy foreign traffic in Grandbridge’s mercantile district made such shops tedious but lucrative enterprises.
But Inner Sea Exports was different.
Purvis Wade entered the shop and walked past three salesmen, saying nothing and opening the warehouse door. He walked through and hung a sharp left, moving towards the rear of the warehouse. Large wooden crates stood stacked and arranged to create a maze of halls and corners. Wade walked into the maze and took a practiced, if twisted, route until he came upon a ten-foot high crate with the Taldoran seal painted on its face. He placed his hand on the rampaging white lion of the standard.
“Phoenix.”
The wood paneling of the crate began to shimmer and ripple like water. Wade walked through the secret door and into the underground passageway that led to Whitehall.
The passage was dark at first, but, as Wade walked down, brilliant light erupted from panels set into the walls. Wade was used to the sudden flash but still found it annoying whenever he came this way.
At the end of the passage the wall undulated like the surface of a lake. Wade passed through it and felt the magical energy fade around him.
He now stood in a waiting room with seven comfortable, blue and green, plush chairs. A painting of a giant white lion appearing fatherly towards two bearded men lined the front wall next to a window overlooking Whitehall campus. Two doors flanked each other on the left and right walls. The left, western door was simple pinewood, but the eastern door was upholstered in burgundy leather interspersed with gold buttons. It had a golden door handle shaped like a pouncing lion that sat above a complicated looking keyhole.
Standing guard at the eastern door was a perfectly tanned Taldoran woman with golden brown hair. She wore a suit of polished azure plate mail with no helm. The armor carried a look of custom elegance and deadly function. She held a leather wrapped short spear, dyed blue and green, with brilliant canary yellow tassels under a sharpened blade. The woman’s eyes were soft and sky blue and the line of her jaw was sharp, ending in a point under her full and pouty red lips. Her golden hair cascaded down past her shoulders, with curling tresses spilling down the front of her armor. Wade never had trouble imagining her in an evening gown, away from this office and all that armor.
Or, maybe just away from all that armor…
“Good afternoon Lady Fluxgold,” Wade began, moving close to the guard, “I believe Sir Rell called for me.”
“Oh, has he?” She replied playfully lowering the halberd so that it barred the door. “I hadn’t heard anything of the sort.”
Wade took another step towards the guard, now only inches away from her. He could smell the slight fragrance of “Treason”, a very expensive Taldoran perfume. Lady Fluxgold’s breath was hot and the skin of her neck blushed as gooseflesh appeared. The pair stood that way for a moment, letting the heat of their bodies envelop each other.
“He has indeed,” Wade finally said, putting both hands on the shaft of the short spear right next to hers, “and I don’t think a woman could stop me from getting in there.”
Wade was leaning against the woman now, his lips merely a hair from hers.
“I’d put up a fight.” Lady Fluxgold said, “It would be a rough grapple.”
“Well worth the bruises I’m sure.”
“Mmmmm. Yes. Too bad you’ll never find out.” She replied letting a slight kiss brush Wade’s lips. “It seems I do recall hearing of your appointment. Shame.”
Lady Fluxgold turned abruptly causing Wade to take a few steps back to avoid the bulky plates of her armor. She removed a strange looking key and inserted it into the door. The key whirled to life, moving in a series of clockwise and counterclockwise motions.
“We wouldn’t want to keep Sir Rell waiting.” She said stepping aside to allow Wade to pass.
“No, I suppose we wouldn’t.”
Wade gave Lady Fluxgold a playful wink as he pulled open the adorned leather door and entered into a small two-foot alcove with another burgundy leather door. Lady Fluxgold closed the door on her end momentarily sealing Wade between the two. A chime echoed in the alcove, signaling to Wade that the interior door was now unlocked. He pushed it open.
About The Author
Open for editing
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