The Elemental Guard #3: Life Goes On

The Lower Levels - Queen’s Cross

Tressa was the unofficial mayor of the Eastern Market. A native of Monarch’s Cross, not a single shortcut or passageway existed that she had not travelled more than once. The reasons for using these passages varied; her knowledge of the places and people around the lower levels of Monarch’s Cross was rivaled by few others. Her husband, Doorne, was a non-native; moved to the Cross when he was little. Many of the merchant families came to the Cross hoping to use their connections from wherever they called home to gain a foothold in the central hub of the Realm. One of those families brought Doorne to the Cross. His family had a stall near the shop Tressa’s family ran. The two of them crew up together and eventually became the cause of the three boys and two girls running from market to market, causing trouble and moving information for their parents.

Tressa never worried about her family. Being a native to Monarch’s Cross came with certain benefits. Her husband didn’t have to fight for standing at the market. He had the time to grow a network of wagons and collectors to bring food and goods from across the Realm. The earliest days of the network saw Doorne going on every journey. When money was available for a new wagon, he bought it, hired a collector and the network grew a little more. A combination of luck, sweat, and being married to a native of the Cross set him up for the life he enjoyed.

The children of Tressa and Doorne, being natives of Monarch’s Cross, enjoyed the watchful eyes of those who used the family services and relied on their information to be in the know when a specific wagon was soon to arrive. These children also enjoyed the free and regular access to the information their mother possessed about how to navigate around Monarch’s Cross faster than any of the non-natives.

Tressa was afforded the ability to move around the Eastern Market. She learned the patterns of the vendors, customers, and even the travelers as they passed through the central hub of the Realm. The last month had been interesting. The King’s death brought a shock to the faces of the people. Times had been so good for the last 12 years. The new Queen wasn’t known by anyone in the markets. The King had died so far away. Winter had been tough on the outer lands, and now that spring was here, the Queen was leaving for a tour of the realm. Too much was happening all at once for a group of people who’d grown comfortable in the stability the dead King provided.

This day was the first day that a wagon train from the south arrived that snapped the markets back into the daily routine. “I think you’ve reset the clock of this place, Doorne,” Tressa said.

“Nice to have something expected happen when you expect it to happen,” Doorne replied as he leaned into kiss his wife hello.

Runners from different vendors arrived at the wagons to fill their share. As orders were filled, tokens were given back to the distributors who marked contracts as partially or fully fulfilled.

“The Queen leaves today,” Tressa said. There was no reaction from her husband. Doorne heard was she said but he was distracted by the loaf of bread one of his friends was asking him to try. “Look at this place, they are back in the routine. The Winter is passed, and the Queen is just leaving,” Tressa said.

With a chunk of bread in his mouth, Doorne replied as best he could, “None of these royals did anything for us on the road. Hey, this is really good.” Doorne turned to his friend, held up the loaf and nodded his head. His friend smiled with self-satisfaction.

“This is good? what are you…,” Tressa started turning to look at her husband. That’s when she saw their baker friend who promptly offered her a small loaf. Still warm, she took a bite and replied, “I don’t think they would agree with; how did you say? ‘Royals done nothing for us out there’?” Tressa pointed at the collection of Guards opening a pathway through the busy streets.

Doorne grunted, “Did you see all the guards that came in with our wagons?”

Tressa sighed, “Let’s not do this again. It’s a lovely spring day. Look at all the people though? Wow, this is really tasty.” Their baker friend thanked them both for trying the new loaf. He told them he would start selling them when the grain carts arrived from the plains.

“Carts might not arrive with that lot blocking the roads,” Doorne said pointing at the growing number of Guardsmen.

Tressa ignored the comment, her husband’s feelings on the matter or royal activities had been well discussed in their time together. The truth was, her feelings were similar, but the feelings of those in the market mattered more and the people of the market cared. At least, they normally cared. With a deep breath she started again, “Look at the people Doorne. Other than moving out of the way, they are treating this like any other spring day.”

“So I pass off the Royals and I get a sigh. The people go about their business, and they get a thoughtful question?” Doorne asked. The baker made his exit while Tressa turned slowly to look at her husband.

“Look at the fucking people Doorne. Look at their faces. Read the street. How many times do monarchs get replaced in a lifetime? Why, on a departure day, does no one care?” Tressa growled. “And no, before you get smart, I don’t care either, but these people do. We saw the mourning on their faces. There is no bookend to all of this,” Tressa added.

“Tress, I’m sorry, I’ve been traveling. Winter was hard for a lot of people. They want to, no, they need to get back to their lives and this is the first day of normalcy they’ve had in a full season. Maybe most of these people are travelers and the royals do carry as much meaning. The vendors are distracted and happy the wagons are on schedule again. Not that they ever weren’t mind you, but people have gotten complacent,” Doorne answered. He had more to say, but he knew he should give some space to his thoughts.

Tressa said nothing for a while. So long that Doorne started to answer questions from the distributors; all of whom were unaware of the situation the baker retreated from.

Tressa watched as the Queen’s caravan departed from the easter gateway. “What are we looking at Mama?” one of her children said.

“Yes, children, come to save the day. Love you Tress. I have to go back to the Southern Market. Big order apparently. I imagine a monarch is replaced only once in their lifetime,” Doorne said as he quickly left with one of the distributors waited eagerly to depart.

Tressa rolled her eyes. Love you too, Life goes on I suppose, Tressa thought to herself as her children started to pepper her with updates and questions.