Gazali paced the small room he shared with Metilia. The early morning light caught his body as he moved through the rays of sunlight coming through the slats on the window shutters.

Metilia stirred in bed and stretched. “Sorry, did you say something?”

“Sorry to wake you,” Gazali said.

“The sun’s up. We need to work us out.” Metilia tossed back the sheet and stood. She strode across the room and slipped her white dress over her head.

They both stepped into a pair of boots and opened the door. Gazali stuck his head out of the door and looked up and down the corridor, which was empty except for Tunio stepping into Aquillia’s room.

“Tunio has just gone into your mother’s room,” Gazali said.

They stepped out of the room and quickly walked to the stairs, descending them in a hurry before blazing past a serving girl in a green dress on the stairs and out the front door. Metilia took Gazali’s hand and they walked through the streets of the market district which was beginning to fill. They walked past vendors opening shops and people with carts of goods, pulling them through the early morning roads. The assorted brick architecture of the marketplace changed to the crystal architecture of the gnomes. Tall buildings made from coloured crystal flanked both sides of the road. After a few minutes the crystal towers ended, and a garden began. On the other side of the road a tall wall ran the length of the road. Gazali and Metilia took a small gravel path that led deeper into the garden. They noticed that the hedges and manicured flower beds soon gave way to stands of tall trees and large swathes of neatly cut grass.

On the grass, several gnomes fluttered about on gossamer wings. Other gnomes lounged on rugs spread out on the grass, nibbling at food on plates. The smell of cooked meat and spiced wine assaulted Metilia’s nose and her stomach growled.

A gnome noticed them and laughed.

“Bring the humans to me,” called the gnome.

A gnome fluttered to the ground and hovered in front of Metilia and Gazali. “Count Iphy wishes to speak with you.”

“We didn’t mean to disturb the count,” Gazali replied. “Come on.” He tugged at Metilia’s arm, but she didn’t move.

“It was not a request,” the gnome stated.

“We have to go speak to the nice count,” Metilia said and stepped off the gravel path and onto the grass.

Gazali followed her.

The gnome floated ahead of them and led them to three other gnomes lounging on a rug, two women lounging on either side of a male. The women had had woven their green hair around their bodies in a provocative pattern. The male gnome sat in lotus position, his hair neatly trimmed. His body was covered in a filmy cloth that radiated light. Beside him sat a large plate of cooked meat and a large metal goblet that contained aromatic spiced wine.

“We are sorry to disturb your garden party, milord,” Metilia said. She bobbed a little curtsy.

“Yes, very sorry,” echoed Gazali. He looked around at all the gnomes and wrung his hands.

“Don’t worry about it,” the male gnome replied with a wave of his hand. “It hasn’t been very fun so far.”

“Please have some food and relax,” he said. “Tell me, what sent the two of you rushing into the gardens so early?”

Metilia smiled and settled onto the rug. She tugged on Gazali’s arm and pulled him to the ground beside her. She arrayed her dress over her legs that she had tucked underneath her.

A plate of food appeared beside her, deposited by a floating gnome. She looked at the food on the plate and took a selection of cold meats and cheeses.

“We were trying to avoid my mother,” Metilia stated.

“That would indicate the haste.” Iphy smiled. “I recall slipping out of my house many times to avoid my parents.”

“Why would you want to avoid your parents?” Gazali asked.

“They wanted me to go to school and learn to be a good priest or something.” Iphy wiped a tear from his eye. “It was something new each month.”

Gazali took a large chunk of meat from the plate and took a big mouthful.

“Gazali, that is not polite.” Metilia scolded.

“It’s okay,” laughed Iphy, “I remember being so hungry all day, but the success of avoiding school for a whole day made up for it. Why are the two of you avoiding your mother?”

“It is just my mother,” explained Metilia. “His mother is on a ship. We were avoiding her because we need time to process something she just told us.”

“What news did your mother just tell you?”

“First, that we have the same father,” Metilia said.

Gazali swallowed.

“Now that you’re finished eating such a large piece of meat,” Iphy smiled, “tell me why having the same father would not be a blessing; surely it would mean that you have a larger family.”

“That is the not the concern,” Gazali said.

“What is the concern?” Iphy said, leaning forward.

“Well …” Gazali looked around at the other gnomes floating around or lounging on rugs on the grass. “We were in a romantic relationship.”

Metilia blushed and looked at her lap.

“I see,” said Iphy. “How long ago did your relationship start?”

“We have been having a fling for about a year or two, nothing too serious.”

“Is this true?” Iphy asked, looking at Metilia.

Metilia nodded without raising her head, her cheeks still crimson.

“Go on,” Iphy instructed, waving a hand at Gazali.

“I work on a ship that is docked in the harbour with her mother. My mother is the captain.”

Iphy nodded. A gnome zoomed off through the trees.

“We were on shore leave and were spending it together when her mother came into our room when we were …”

“Having sex,” finished Metilia.

“That is when she told us that we are half-brother and sister.”

“Do you love each other?”

“Yes,” Metilia and Gazali chimed at the same time.

“That was a truly sad story. I am going to see what I can do for you.”

“Thank you,” Gazali said.

“I will contact your mothers and tell them what you have just told me.”

Metilia’s head snapped up. “What will you tell them?”

“That you love each other and are having sex with each other.”

“Please don’t tell my mother that,” pleaded Metilia.

“What do you want me to tell her?”

“We still don’t know how this information affects our relationship. This information changes the dynamic of our relationship,” Metilia said.

“In my culture, having a half-brother or sister is not a major concern; it actually is celebrated as having a virile father and is a good thing,” Iphy said.

“It is not the same thing in the human culture,” Gazali said.

“What about the elf culture?” Iphy said.

“I don’t know much about the elf culture,” Metilia said.

“They generally pair up for life,” Iphy said, “half-brothers and sisters are generally unheard of, but then so are half elves. For us gnomes, having a sexual relationship with a half-sister or brother is not a big deal, though they don’t get married.”

“What are we to do?” Metilia asked.

“Under gnomish custom, your relationship is not frowned upon, but I would avoid having any children,” Iphy said. “In your culture … it could cause some problems.”

***

Aquillia and Tunio sat down in the common room of the inn. Two books lay on the table, opened to the same page.

“For the most part they seem to be the same,” commented Tunio.

“Except for the notes in the margins.”

“All the notes in the margin appear to be about the writing itself, almost like someone was checking the book for truth before printing the book.”

“Except this one.” Aquillia pointed to a note written the margin of the book talking about the construction of the city. “A statue I did not seek.”

“What do you think it means?”

“We could ask the librarian,” Aquillia suggested, “or we could go looking for a statue that commemorates King Cordifolia.”

“Which would offer more information?”

“He was the gnomes’ first king and the founder of the Peace Landing. I think his statue would have some more information about him.”

“Agreed. Let’s go and find this statue.”

Tunio and Aquillia closed the book and left the inn. Outside, the sun shone in the morning sky and a warm heat greeted them. Aquillia turned to Tunio, slipped an arm around his, and began to lead him through the market, walking north. The market gave way to the docks where the broad, paved streets were filled with men pulling wagons to and from the ships. They passed warehouses filled with crates of different sizes. They turned west down an alleyway and two men stepped into the alleyway behind them and called out. Aquillia turned to face the two men and smiled at them.

“How can we help you?” she asked.

“Give us all your valuables!” the tall man demanded.

“I am sorry?” asked Tunio.

“This is a robbery,” said the second man.

“Give us all your stuff,” repeated the first man, drawing his sword.

Tunio drew his sword in response.

Aquillia gasped and stepped behind him.

The tall man rushed forward and slashed down. Tunio blocked and pushed back, causing the tall man to stumble and fall to the ground. Aquillia leapt over Tunio and brought down a large metal pipe onto the second man’s head. He crumpled to the ground, unconscious. The first man dropped his sword and raised his hands in surrender.

“Who sent you?” Tunio demanded. He levelled the blade at the man’s neck. The man whimpered and backed away from the gleaming blade.

“What’s going on here?” a short man in gleaming plate armour demanded from the entrance to the alleyway.

“These two men tried to rob us,” Aquillia declared.

“Thank you, you may go now,” the man in plate said to their attacker.

“You should arrest him,” Aquillia protested.

“I only see one sword, being used to threaten a civilian.”

“They accosted us, we defended ourselves,” protested Tunio.

“Put your sword away before I arrest you for assaulting a guardsman.”

Tunio hefted his sword and returned it to its sheath.

“Come on,” Aquillia said. “Let us leave this place.”

“Good idea,” the guardsman agreed.

Tunio and Aquillia turned and walked to the far end of the alleyway and joined the main road again. Turning left, they headed south for a block, then the road veered west. The road opened into a wide plaza with a large statue in its centre. The statue depicted the god of Mars in full body battle armour, facing the mountain, sword and shield at the ready.

“I have seen this figure before,” said Tunio.

“What?” Aquillia said.

Tunio shook his head. “It’s nothing, just a funny feeling maybe from a dream or something.”

“As unsettling as it might look, this is not a statue of King Cordifolia,” admitted Aquillia. “However, it is the only statue in the city I know about.”

“Thanks,” said Tunio. He sat at the base of the statue. “At least we know they do build statues. Pity they don’t have a place that can tell us more about the city.”

“Defenders of the city be on guard always,” Aquillia read out.

“That’s pretty.”

“Statue provided by Parks and Services.”

“That is on the statue?”

“Yeah,” said Aquillia. “I just never bothered to read the plaque before.”

“Where do you think Parks and Services has their office?”

“Maybe in the government district, near the library.” Aquillia sat next to Tunio.

“Is it far?”

“We have to go back around Mount Wealth, because we can’t go through the rich district.”

“That could take the rest of the day,” moaned Tunio.

“Flowers, flowers for sale,” a woman called out. She was dressed in a slave’s grey knee-length skirt. Her brown, greasy hair was pulled behind her head. She had a box filled with long stem flowers held in front of her, with two straps going over her shoulders.

“Would you like to buy a flower?” the woman asked.

“No thank you,” Tunio said.

The woman shrugged and walked off, still calling for people to buy her flowers.

“That is most unusual,” commented Aquillia. “It is far from the best place to be selling flowers.”

“She is a slave,” said Tunio. “She is doing what her master told her, I presume.”

“Then why wouldn’t her master tell her to sell flowers in the market?”

“No idea. Why don’t you ask her master?”

“Well, we aren’t going to find out if King Cordifolia has a statue here.”

Aquillia stood and Tunio followed. A long line of gnomes in grey slacks and white shirts marched into the square.

“Company, halt!” called a voice from behind.

The men stopped suddenly and stood straight.

“Company, right turn!”

In unison, the men turned to their right. A small gnome appeared at the far end of the line. He strode forward and inspected each man in turn.

“This is a military base,” said Tunio.

“That slave is a long way from home,” muttered Aquillia.

“Not really, madam,” a voice said from behind them.

Aquillia jumped and turned to see the slave woman standing behind them.

“My home is in the Parks and Gardens office.”

“The Parks and Gardens has an office here?”

“Yes, ma’am.” The woman smiled. “You two make a cute couple.”

“We aren’t a couple,” Tunio protested as Aquillia laughed.

“We were looking for the Park and Gardens office,” Tunio said, giving Aquillia a black look.

“Would you like to buy a flower?”

The woman smiled at Tunio, proffering a flower to him. Tunio frowned then looked at the woman and smiled back at her, “I will take one.” He reached into his belt pouch and pulled out a silver coin. She took the coin and gave him three bronze rods and the flower.

“For your lady?” the slave asked, winking at Tunio.

“I will need to find a lady to give this to,” Tunio mumbled.

“Follow me,” the slave said. “I will take you to the Parks and Gardens office.”

The slave woman walked around the edge of the plaza, avoiding the soldiers on parade. She came to a small door with a sign that read ‘Parks and Gardens’. She pushed the door open and they followed her inside.

The office was a small square with cream-coloured walls. On one wall was a painting of a map of the city, depicting the districts and major roads amongst them. On the far side was a small bench. The other wall was covered in hanging pots that grew various flowers. The slave woman stepped around and placed her flower basket on the edge of the bench.

“Welcome to the Parks and Gardens office. My name is Gleda. How may I help you?” the slave said.

“You run the office?” Aquillia threw her hand into the air and walked out. “Tunio, I will see you at the inn.”

“Why were you selling flowers?” Tunio asked.

Gleda shrugged, “Bored. I run a small flower business to pay for my food.”

“Doesn’t your master provide for you?”

“Not really. He dropped me off here and said that I was to man this office and give people information about the parks and gardens in the city. Other than that, he doesn’t care about me. I sleep here and I run the flower business to keep busy mostly.”

“I see, and he doesn’t keep tabs on you?”

“He drops in every few weeks and checks I am still here.”

“Can you tell me where the statues are around the town?”

“Sure.” She stepped out from the bench. “The map shows the locations of all the plazas in town.”

Tunio looked at the map on the wall and noted that the map had red spots scattered around the town. “No wonder I didn’t notice many. The area I have been staying doesn’t have any.” He pointed at the market district on the wall. It was represented by two coins and shaded yellow.

“Most of the statues are in the garden and palace district.” Gleda pointed to them on the map.

“I have been to the garden area before, but not the palace district.”

“It is very beautiful.”

“How does one get there?”

“Along here,” Gleda pointed out. A long road ran the length of the coast from the royal docks to the palace district.

“That area,” Tunio stated, “is walled off. I doubt we can go along that way.”

“It’s very near here. We should check it out,” she suggested.

“I still have time.”

Gleda stepped back behind the bench, pulled a blue dress from behind the bench, and slipped it over her head. She slipped off her slave’s skirt and folded it up behind the bench. Then she stepped out from behind the bench and strode out of the office. She looked both ways down the street and closed the door behind Tunio.

“I am taking a big risk leaving this early. I don’t know if he has someone watching me. Where is your friend?” Gleda asked, looking about the plaza.

“She went that way,” Tunio said, pointing to Aquillia as she left the plaza back the way they had come in.