Old Town was the original city, going back to the days of King Revel and built as temporary housing for the artisans, stone masons, and the itinerate workers come for castle work. It hadn’t been built to last, but last it had. Tall, narrow buildings of indeterminate stories with outside stairs that stopped starkly in mid-air, arches that faced blank walls, intricate stepping stones that led to stinking privies. 

The houses were a hairsbreadth apart, which only served to highlight the shabbiness of certain of the buildings. A good many structures had been kept up, freshly painted with long bright shutters that, when opened, were also used as doors.  Next to it would be a house with a collapsed roof and a sagging porch. 

Some yards were tidy, others full of refuse. A man’s boot rested upright in one yard, as if a leg had been pulled from a body, while in the next was a carefully tended pleasure garden.

Elymas had journeyed to Old Town alone, for once wishing he trusted someone enough to accompany him, but he could only think of Strout or Root. With both, there were complications. Strout was the more intelligent of the two, but invariably unburdened himself to Root. Root unburdened himself to everyone, which meant, if one were taken, both would lose their tongues. Rendering them mute would be messy and impractical. 

So he’d gone alone, dressed in a shabby robe and wearing a broad straw hat. He’d placed a large mole on his left cheek and added a goatee. He’d never be recognized as the famed Earth Skyll.

After Elymas crossed the castle bridge, it began to rain. He’d been given directions to the Apothocary and had them in his pocket, but they became damp and unreadable. He journeyed on, forced to ask directions from people who smelled. Some were right, some were wrong, but none of them had been free. 

Finally, he’d entered Old Town, and the going had been torturous. The cobblestones tripped his thick soled boot, while cutting into the soft leather of the other. By the time he reached the Apothecary, he was limping. 

A winsome youth ushered him in, offering him a seat. The enormous Dr. Sugallus had motioned the boy to shut the door, and the room became dim, lit only by candles. A bit of natural light from a back door, guarded by a cat whose tail never stopped swishing. 

Elymas bought more than he needed and paid more than he should, making sure it would be a long time before he came here again. He had questions and these had been answered by more gold. He paid it, knowing he was being played for a fool and not minding. He was decidedly uncomfortable in the presence of Dr. Sugallus. It was because of the boy. A cheeky youth who, every time their eyes met, winked or flashed a suggestive smile. Running his tongue over his upper lip, Elymas, on impulse, offered to buy him. 

He hadn’t anticipated the rage. He’d been thrown to the floor, unable to plead because a knife was at his throat. Dr. Sugallus didn’t kill him because of the boy. Elymas caught the quick shake of the lad’s head just as the knife was pressing deeper.  The one who’d tempted him had allowed him to live. 

Once on his feet and breathing shallowly, he began apologizing to the boy, though he dared not look at him. Finally, Sugallus held up his hand and said, “Enough.”

         Within the confines of the small shop, made smaller by the enormous girth of the doctor, he’d been instructed in the care and uses of the Lud Sellum plant: dim light, salt and plenty of water. Salt?  Yes, salt came the impatient reply. Yes, most things did not grow in salt but this plant required it. The directions continued in a clipped voice; the doctor’s temper on a leash. Dim light, salt and water, and in the spring, the leaves would drip with a rare poison. A poison with the ability to mask itself as comfort. 

         No one would ever conclude the victim had died from it: Lud Sellum was beyond a mere doctor’s ken. As he spoke, Dr. Sugallus drilled Elymas with black button eyes, daring him to utter a word. It wasn’t fair, for Elymas was owed answers to his questions but give the man’s temper, he’d simply handed over the payment: a satin rulla pouch containing a coin-sized ruby and pearls the size of pebbles. 

         He accidentally brushed Dr. Sugallus’s palm on the way out, and the unexpected contact had caused him to jump.  The doctor laughed openly while the pretty boy sniggered.