Kelmarsh

Saturday morning, Kyle and I left early and got on a wagon that would take a handful of people to Kelmarsh. The ride was fast, since the village is so close. The city was beautiful. It was surrounded by walls and the only gate was on the West side, which would make sense. Knights patrolled heavily. The buildings were made of stone and the roofs were made of bricks. The street was gravel and there were stone slabs for the sidewalks, this was a much nicer place than Osetrun. Kelmarsh had its own barracks for easy defense and Fort Zeke would act as its relief army, if there was ever a siege. The city was large, Kyle said it had at least 15,000 people living here, not counting the knights. There were plenty of shops on the main road. We walked around the city, looking at all the different stores and seeing what they sold. People were friendly and waved at us when they noticed us. One famous thing in the city was a bronze statue of Sir Oveis Hert stabbing Gilgamesh Grosvenor through the heart. Sir Hert was born and raised here, but Gilgamesh Grosvenor wasn't. Gilagamesh was from Remus City. Something else that was interesting to see was the citadel. It was a giant tower with a large base. Only knights stationed at Kelmarsh were allowed to enter. It had its own set of walls surrounding it and a gate on the north and south walls.

"Let's get some lunch." Kyle said, "I'm starving."

"Me too." I agreed

We wandered around until we found this small bakery. The sign above the door read:

 The Greedy Baker

 Home of the best pastries in Kelmarsh!

Kyle and I went inside and looked around. The interior was full of wooden tables and chairs. There was a counter with three women behind it. They were busy working on some bread rolls. A man sat on a stool next to them. He was about 30 years old with black hair and brown eyes. His clothes were simple but clean.

"Welcome to The Greedy Baker!" he greeted us.

"Hello." Kyle said

"What can I get for you two?" he asked

"What do you recommend?" Kyle asked

"I'd suggest the sausage roll," the man said, taking a bite out of one of the rolls, "it is delicious."

"Okay, we'll take two of those." Kyle said.

"Okay, anything else?" he asked

"No." Kyle said

"Two silver. You won't regret it." the man said

"Here you go." Kyle said

"They will be done shortly," he said, "Take a seat anywhere."

We took our seats and waited patiently. After a few minutes, the woman who was making the sausage rolls approached us. She smiled at me and placed them on the table.

"Enjoy." she said

"Thank you." I replied

"Do you need anything else?" she asked, "We have coffee, tea, lemonade, milk, water, and juice."

"No thank you." Kyle said

She nodded and walked back over to her table to continue helping the other girls.

"This city is something else, right?" I said

"Yeah, it really is." Kyle said

"Are we staying the night here?" I asked

"I don't think you are allowed to. Commander Krieger wouldn't approve." Kyle said

"True." I said

We devoured the rolls and thanked the workers before leaving. The spring breeze always feels so nice and calming. We headed to the library next. It was a decent sized one, not much bigger than the one at home. We walked around looking at different titles of books. Some titles that caught my eyes were: The Open Window, The Crashing Waves, and The Dreamer. When I pulled out The Dreamer, my head began to hurt. I quickly put it back. We continued walking around, grabbing random books then putting them back on the shelves. When the sun started to set, we started making our way back to the main gate.

"Kyle!" a man shouted from behind

"We turned around and saw Tarius Aiken.

"Hey, Tarius." we said

"What are you guys doing here?" Tarius asked

"We got stationed at Fort Zeke. We arrived earlier this week." Kyle said

"Rowan, too. Nice to see you." Tarius said

"Likewise." I said

"What ranks are you?" Tarius asked

"I'm a third captain." Kyle said

"I'm a first lieutenant." I said

"Wow, both of you are ranked higher than me. I'm a second lieutenant." Tarius said

"That is still a high rank." Kyle said

"How is it at Fort Zeke?" Tarius asked

"It's great. Made some friends with captains, even saw a colonel." Kyle said

"Out here?" Tarius asked

"Isn't there usually one at every fort?" Kyle asked

"No, they usually are stationed where they think a battle might break out. Most of them are at major trade cities like Remus City and Durbin." Tarius said

"Where's Durbin?" I asked

"North of Remus City, they aren't close. It is a few weeks out." Tarius said

"Durbin used to be larger than Remus City, until Remus City became the capital and was renamed." Kyle said

"What was its name before?" I asked

"Long ago Remus City was called Lyrabar." Tarius said

"Why was it moved?" I asked

"It is next to a lake to the east and mountains to the north. Just easier to defend." Kyle said

"It was nice talking with you, I should get back to patrolling." Tarius said

"Hopefully we see each other again soon, not on the battlefield." Kyle said

"Goodbye!" I said

We went our separate ways. We got on a wagon and the driver took us back to Fort Zeke before the sun fully set.