Once there was Darkness

Chapter 9

Part 1

A nice walk through the market would clear his head. He and Abraham strolled along. Most of the citizens were too afraid to approach him. His grandfather four generations back made sure of that. He ruled with an iron fist. Or so Kol had read. His subjects were so afraid of him that they would run away and hide. Even though Kol had a phobia about being touched, he would talk to people that worked up the courage to speak to him.

One booth he passed, he saw Kessa sitting with an old woman. He had to look twice because Kessa wasn’t wearing her big black piece of cloth. This woman had jars full of stuff he wasn’t quite sure what all this was. He watched Kessa take a breath, rose and bowed her head; “my king.”

The old lady got up with great difficulty. Kessa offered to help her but she was determined to stand on her own merit before her ruler.

Kol came around the side of her table. “Please sit.” He smiled and held her arm. Kessa held her cane. The old lady never said a word to him. When he looked into her eyes, she was crying.

“I’ll be back, kind mother.” Kessa walked around the table.

“What is she selling?”

“She has developed a new way of preserving food. One I would very much like to learn. She’s agreed to teach me.” Kol grinned. “What?” She blushed. He just shook his head. But never stopped grinning.

“Would you like to join us?” He motioned down into the market.

“Yes.”

He said a few words to Abraham, who chose to stay with them. A day in the market was good for the soul. Walking the long aisles was stress free. A cool breeze was blowing from the water front. Waves could be heard in the distance crashing against the rocks. Yes, a good day.

The three of them walked in silence.

What Abraham like most about walking the market with Kol was that the merchants didn’t harass him. There was no crown upon his head. No royal robes of court. No pomp and circumstance. Just a man looking at stuff. Lot’s of stuff. But he had an air about him that told people to keep their distance.

They stopped at a table where the merchant was selling birds. The noise was almost deafening.  Kol looked at Kessa, then back at the birds. He motioned for the merchant to come closer. “Where are you from?”

“Paulo,” the merchant was terrified.

“How often do you sell here?”

“Ah – bout once a month.”

“May I see your permit to sell fowl?” Kessa asked.

He quickly produced his metal tag. “Since you have a permit, and you sell here frequently, you know it is illegal to sell this bird here?” Kol’s hand was resting on a cage that contained a pretty solid yellow bird with a black beak and orange tipped feathers.

“I, I forgot,” whimpered the merchant.

Kessa smiled, “there are three things you can do; stop selling the birds, get kicked out of the market place, or pay a very large fine as well as stop selling the birds.”

A plump man showed up, “is there a problem?” He snorted, looked at Kol. It took a second for him to recognize who he was talking to. He huffed, “ooooh.”

Kol’s hand was still resting on the cage of the illegal bird. “Abraham, would you care to address this issue?”

“At once, my king.”

Kol and Kessa continued walking. “You look lovely Kes.”

“Thank you, my king.”