Paragon of Destruction

Although Jiang Fei had said Redwater wasn't much of a town, Arran still found himself impressed by the sight. It was several times as large as Riverbend, with numerous houses and stores, all featuring slanted black tile roofs.

At first, he was confused by the town's name, but when he saw the reddish color of the river that ran through the town, he understood.

"It's iron," Jiang Fei explained. "There's iron in the hills between here and the mountains, and it turns the river red. Doesn't hurt the taste, though."

Arran nodded, although he quietly resolved he would stick to drinking ale while he was in town. Not that that was much of a punishment, of course.

As they searched for an inn, Jiang Fei made them stop several times to try the dumplings and steamed buns that were being sold by vendors on the side of the road.

"Try this one," she said, thrusting a steamed bun into his hands. "There's roasted pork inside."

Arran obliged reluctantly, but he soon discovered that Jiang Fei's eye for food was outstanding. Still, after the fifth food stall they visited, he was beginning to wonder how a girl so tiny could eat so much.

Finally, they found an inn. Small and quiet, it didn't look like it received many visitors, which was perfect for Arran and Jiang Fei.

"Will the two of you be sharing a room?" the innkeeper asked, eying them suspiciously.

She was a thin-lipped elderly woman with black hair in a tight bun, and from her expression, it was clear that she strongly disapproved of the two of them sharing a room.

Hurriedly, Jiang Fei shook her head. "Oh, no! We'll take separate rooms!" A slight blush appeared on her face.

The innkeeper nodded, her mind apparently put at rest. "That's alright then. This is a proper inn, mind you — no fooling around in here."

After they paid the innkeeper, the woman showed them to their rooms, which were small but clean, without so much as a speck of dust to be found. From the look of the innkeeper, Arran guessed that any maid who missed even a single spot while cleaning would bitterly regret it.

"Now what do we do?" Jiang Fei asked after they dropped off their bags in their rooms.

"First, we'll need to see an armorer," Arran said.

There were several armorers in Redwater, but Arran rejected the first two they visited after a quick look at their wares. The armor they sold was flashy and intricate, but it looked like it was meant for show rather than use.

Arran wasn't exactly an expert on armor, but as a guard's son he knew the kind of armor they needed, and this wasn't it.

When they visited the third armorer, Arran immediately knew that this one was much better than the previous two. The armor here didn't look quite as nice as what they had seen elsewhere, but it was sturdy and functional.

After inspecting several pieces, Arran found a long brown coat. The outside was unremarkable, but mail was sewn into the fabric on the inside, and overlapping steel plates protected the chest area. A smile appeared on his face.

"How much for this one?" he asked.

"You have a good eye," the shopkeeper said. "That one's three gold crowns. Not the cheapest, but it'll stop an arrow dead, without you having so much as a scratch to show for it."

"Do you have any others like it?" Arran asked, gesturing to Jiang Fei.

The shopkeeper gave her a look. "Eh, I think I have some children's sizes around."

Ignoring the furious look Jiang Fei gave him, he went into the back of the store, then returned with three smaller coats.

"It's so heavy!" Jiang Fei complained as soon as she tried one of the coats.

"It's better than getting a sword through the chest," Arran said with a shrug.

Despite her grumbling, she eventually decided on a red coat — the finest of the three, even if it was a bit too garish for Arran's liking.

After some haggling, they left the shop with two coats, as well as two pairs of steel-backed leather gloves. Arran's attempts to persuade Jiang Fei that they also needed helmets and spaulders failed, with her arguing that dressing like soldiers would only draw unwanted attention.

On the way back to the inn, they also made stops at several weapon shops, and Arran picked up a simple but well-made spear, a fine yew bow, and a few dozen arrows.

All the while, Jiang Fei looked on in exasperation.

"You're just buying toys now," she said with a sigh.

There was a hint of truth to her words, of course. As the son of a guard, Arran had spent much of his youth looking enviously at the guards' weapons and armor. Now that he had coin to spend, he would not pass up the chance to fulfill some childhood dreams.

Nevertheless, he thought, even if they didn't strictly need the weapons, having some extra couldn't hurt.

They took the newly bought armor and weapons to the inn, where the innkeeper gave them a suspicious look when she was the spear and bow Arran was carrying.

"Not planning to cause any trouble, are you?" she asked.

"Just preparing for the rest of our journey," Arran answered.

The woman gave him another mistrustful look, but didn't say anything else.

"There are some other things we should get," Jiang Fei said after they had dropped off their earlier purchases.

"Don't we have everything we need?" Arran asked, puzzled. They had food, armor, weapons — he couldn't think of anything else they would need on the road.

Jiang Fei shook her head ardently. "We also need to buy clothes," she said. "Something proper, for when we visit cities."

Arran could see a gleam in her eye that suggested necessity wasn't her only motivation, but after they had spent much of the afternoon shopping for armor and weapons, he wasn't in a position to argue with her.

It didn't take long before he discovered that this time, it was his turn to be dragged through the town against his will.

Jiang Fei had them visit shop after shop, buying at least half a dozen dresses, as well as several outfits for Arran that looked neither practical nor comfortable.

Several times he objected, and each time, she told him that if they had to visit nobles along the way, Arran would need to wear these outfits to fit in.

When Arran noted that he didn't know any nobles, much less had plans to visit them, she just cut him off with a scowl.

When Jiang Fei finally announced that they would return to the inn, Arran could only sigh in relief. By now he was holding several bags of brightly colored clothes that cost far more than all his armor and weapons combined.

Even if they didn't have to worry about gold, he was shocked at her extravagant spending. The gold they had spent on clothes could easily have bought a farm in Riverbend.

They made their way back to the inn, Arran's hands filled with bags full of clothing as he followed Jiang Fei.

If nothing else, at least it seemed the shopping had improved her mood, and she chatted cheerfully on their way back.

As they approached the inn, a loud voice suddenly sounded, "That's them! They're the ones I told you about!"

In front of them was the shopkeeper who had sold Arran his new bow. Behind the man, Arran could see three white-robed figures.