A day on the town

“And who might this beautiful woman be?” Cheara asked looking at Mary.

“Cheara, this is Mary, my daughter” Bettina said, and Mary smiled and blushed at hearing how Bettina introduced her. It felt nice, but she wasn’t used to it and it caught her by surprise. Cheara looked surprised.

“Bettina, you have been holding out on me all these years” the woman finally said with a smile.

“Mary is from Domne, Kopa and the Lady brought her back. She is in need of some new clothes” Bettina explained.

“Congratulations to the expansion of your family” Cheara said, and Mary believed it to be genuine. It surprised her how readily the woman had accepted her place in as a part of Kopa’s and Bettina’s family.

“In regard to the clothing, you have come to the right place. What are we thinking?”

“I think we will start with four dresses for everyday use, one riding outfit, two dresses for fancier occasions, a spring cloak and all the undergarments and accessories that goes with that” Bettina counted. Mary looked at her.

“Oh no, that is to much Bettina” she protested.

“Not at all, it’s the bare necessity” Bettina said.

“She is correct my friend, that is a standard wardrobe” Cheara agreed. “Let’s pick out the style of the dresses and the fabrics”

Mary was shown into a backroom where different styles of dresses were displayed on mannequins. Mary looked at them and after consulting with Bettina choose two different styles for her every day dresses and two others for her fancy dresses.

Then it was on to selecting the fabrics. Mary had no idea what to choose. It felt like it took her hours. Both Bettina and Cheara refused to tell her what to choose other than giving advise on what type of fabrics she should be looking for.

In the end everything was selected, and Mary had her measurements taken, she felt good about her choices. She looked forward to seeing the final product.

“I can have the cloak and two of the dresses ready by next week” Cheara told them.

“We would appreciate that, thank you” Bettina respondent.

“No need to thank me. You are my oldest and most loyal customer. You get priority over anyone” the seamstress said, waving her hand dismissively. “I’ll sent the clothes over to you as soon as they are done”

“Thank you Cheara, it’s been a pleasure as always” Bettina said and started towards the door.

“Thank you so much for all your help” Mary said, following Bettina.

“My absolute pleasure. My clothes on a beauty like yourself is the best advertisement I could hope for” Cheara said, and Mary blushed.

Mary followed Bettina along a new set or roads.

“This isn’t the way we came” Mary pointed out.

“No, we are meeting Kopa by the river field” Bettina told her. “It’s where you arrived”

Mary nodded as she remembered the empty square by the river. Mary tried to keep up with the different turns and roads they walked down. But she got turned around quickly.

“How do you find your way around this city? I can’t seem to make sense of the roads” she asked Bettina.

“It’s because you think in a grid. Most cities in Domne use it. The central roads go like spokes in a wheel from the outside to the centre. Then the smaller roads connect the main roads like circles.” Bettina said and Mary nodded.

“Here in Salmisara, cities are built with a serpentine system. We have one main road that goes around and around towards the centre. The smaller roads intersect the main road at different points. It’s a more confusing system.” she explained.

“Then why use it?” Mary asked.

“Most of our cities were built in wartime, or shortly thereafter. Our system is confusing to outsiders, but not to us. This makes the city easier to defend if the main gaits were to be breached. Not that that’s an issue at the moment. But it was at the time”

“Oh, I can understand that. Is that why all the houses along the main road are connected and have such high walls?” Mary asked.

“That’s right. They act like a wall, herding invaders along the main road. Making them an easy target.” Bettina confirmed, looking proud that Mary had figured it out by herself.

“There are also some symbolisms in the spiral roads, but I’m not the one to explain that one. That is a question for the Lady” she continued, and Mary nodded. That was the second question she added to her list to ask Tariana about.

They reached the open space and Mary looked out over the river and onto the building that lay in the middle of it. It was a beautiful city, she thought. Then she heard Kopa calling to them and she turned around.

Kopa came walking from one of the big buildings that surrounded the river field. He nodded to a couple of people as he crossed the open space.

“Did everything go okay?” he asked as he reached them.

“Everything went fine. Mary has picked out some excellent dresses, we will get the first of them next week” Bettina informed him.

“Good, I have made sure your letter is in good hands Mary. It will be on it’s way to Dermes tomorrow”

“Thank you Kopa, I really appreciate it” Mary said.

“No problem. I have also filed for an adoption. I spoke to Tariana this morning and she will sponsor it and confirm that both you parents are deceased” Kopa said and gave Mary a look letting her know he apologised for bringing up their death. She didn’t mind, it was the truth.

“I won’t be an issue with her backing. We just need to wait for it to go through all the instances” he finished.

“I can’t wait” Bettina said happily.

“Same here” Mary confessed.

“I think we all feel the same” Kopa agreed. “May I take my beautiful wife and daughter out to lunch?” Mary's heart nearly stopped when she heard him calling her his daughter. It had been nice to hear it from Bettina, but from Kopa it felt like no other feeling.

“We would be delighted, right Mary?” Bettina said, Mary could only nod as Kopa offered one of his arms to each of them.

Together they walked to a small restaurant, the owner seemed to know Kopa and Bettina. He quickly came to meet them as soon as he noticed Kopa. He took the three of them to a nice table by the window and Kopa asked for three of their specialties. The owner disappeared and the family sat chatting.

Mary saw three young grey riders enter the restaurant, as soon as they noticed Kopa they saluted him and as he responded they relaxed and took a seat across the room. Mary liked to see how respected Kopa was.