Pivot of the Sky

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What Amon hadn’t realized was that they had already become the center of gossip after their little parade around the town . Everyone was talking about a young man in a flax gown and straw sandals showing up in town accompanied by a gorgeous girl, who was wearing broken leather clothes when they walked into town . The young man led the girl to old Joe’s tailor shop and bought her an expensive, shining new dress, while just buying himself two sets of flax clothes . And this niggard even asked little Joe for two pairs of shoes as giveaways .

News like this was explosive in a boring small town . The popular guess was that the young man must have beguiled the girl to run away with him and Som was just one of the stops during their meandering escape . They must have come from a faraway place since the lad spoke with a Hittite accent .

Amon went out of town with Inanna, and soon they saw herds of sheep grazing grass casually . Inanna suddenly pointed somewhere with surprise, “Look! That’s my lamb!”

Amon turned around startled, “Inanna, why are you pointing at me?”

Inanna patted his shoulder, “Look at that!”

Amon turned back and saw several lambs with blacked spots in a herd . Inanna had already trotted into the herd . She went down then held up a lamb, crying in surprise, “This is it! This is the lamb that I’d lost!”

“Don’t speak nonsense, miss . That’s my sheep!” an unhappy voice rose from afar . A stalwart old man walked towards them, shouting, with a long-poled lash .

Amon hurried over to Inanna and whispered to her, “How can this lamb be the one you’ve lost? A lamb is not a bird . It can’t cover such a long distance and come all the way here . You must be mistaken . ”

The old man took a glance at Amon, then spoke to Inanna, “This lamb belongs to my lord . Every morning I drive them to the grasslands, then get them back to cote before the night falls . Every day I count them carefully with my hands . I am very sure that this lamb is not yours . ”

But Inanna didn’t want to let the lamb go . Holding it tightly, she sobbed again and cried to Amon, “But this is the lamb I’ve lost! I know it! Help me, Amon!”

The shepherd became angry, “My beautiful young lady! You have to be reasonable! I’ve been herding this lamb since it was born!”

The argument seemed to developing into a fight . Hadn’t Inanna been such a delicate young woman, the old man would have already beaten her with his lash .

Amon had to step in between them, trying to mediate, “Perhaps this lamb looks like her lost one . She has been looking for her lamb all day . She might be a bit anxious . Well, let’s solve the problem this way . I want to buy this lamb . How much does it cost?”

Before the old shepherd could react, Inanna stood up and dragged Amon’s clothes, “This is my lamb! Why are you buying it from him! He stole my lamb!”

The shepherd finally burst into a fury, he pointed his whip to Amon’s nose, “Foreigners! Are you here to rob my lamb? Beware my lash!”

Inanna hid behind Amon’s back and cried, “We are not robbers! You are a thief! You stole my lamb!”

Amon didn’t care much about the lash, he opened his arms and said, “Please don’t be angry, uncle . She lost a lamb that looks exactly like this one, so she thought it was her lamb… I promised her to find it back . I can buy your lamb . ”

The shepherd humphed and cracked his whip, “Not selling! This lamb belongs to my lord . ”

“I can pay you more . Your lord won’t be angry but happy with you for making a good sell . ”

The shepherd looked at him in disdain, showed him two fingers and said, “All right then . Two silver coins . Or you two get out of here immediately!” It seemed that he disliked these two foreigners so much that he gave out an incredibly high price for it to drive away the couple as quickly as possible . This was not something hard to understand, since the girl claimed him to be a thief and the boy defended her boasting about buying the lamb at high price .

Right after the words fell from the old shepherd’s lips, Amon took out two silver coins and handed it to him, quick and neat . The shepherd was shocked . Eyes widened, he even forgot to take the coins . Amon dragged his hands forward and put the coins onto his palm, “Two silvers coins . Take them carefully . By the way, can you give me a rope so I can lead it with me?”

Things outside the mountains are indeed cheap! Amon was ready to pay a large sum when the shepherd had only asked for just two silver coins . The shepherd stared at Amon as if he was some kind of monster . The lamb was not fully grown yet . Two silver coins could buy five lambs like that . It was a windfall fortune for a shepherd like him .

He stared for a good while at Amon before he realized that the lamb was no longer his . Pulling himself out from shock, he just yanked his lash off the pole and handed it to Amon,

“Take this to tie the lamb . There’s no rope here . ”

He then came next to Amon and whispered, “You’re generous, young man . But why don’t you get yourself a better suit?… This girl is gorgeous, but you probably can’t afford one like her . ”

Amon just thanked him, tied the lamb with the lash and led it off of the farm . When they could barely see the farm, Inanna hugged Amon’s arm and blew her breath at his ear, “Amon, do you find me unreasonable? To tell you the truth, the lamb does belong to me . I can swear, it is the exact one . ”

Amon showed her a bitter smile, “Maybe it is yours, maybe it is not . But you don’t have proof . It was in someone else’s herd . Unless someone can prove that this lamb has run out from your herd to his herd, you can’t just take it with you… The place you lost this lamb was so far from here that it could hardly run all the way over to here . There are spotted white sheeps in most herds . Maybe it is just a mistake . ”

“Every lamb has its unique marks . Of course a shepherd recognizes her lamb . But anyway, I have to thank you for buying it for me… But, why are you buying it with that much money?”

“You are very strong . Why are you scared of that old man? He was asking for too much and playing you like a fool . He’s not even your match!”

“I was there to buy a lamb, not to rob one . Had you be able to prove that it belongs to you, I could have taken it by force for you . But sadly I have no proof . To be clear, it doesn’t mean that I don’t believe you . ”

Inanna lowered her head, “But now I owe too much to you . How should I pay you back?”

Amon smiled, “You’ve already paid me back . You gave me delicious pancakes, and led me to this town . ”

“But you bought the lamb for too much money . Had I not behaved like that, you wouldn’t have had to spend that much money . ”

Amon shrugged, “No, no . That’s not much money . ”

Inanna took the lash from Amon and led the lamb . The two passed by the market and went back to the center of the town . Amon just wanted to see more people, experience more and know more about this world . He didn’t mind roaming in the town . But he found that this time people were staring at them with a funny look, some even started to point and gossip behind them . When he turned around to look at them, they tried to avoid his eyes .

Although Amon had never being to another town before, he was not stupid . Casting out stealthily a Detection Eyes, he immediately got what people were talking about . While finding the whole thing funny, he began to realize that Inanna was definitely not an ordinary slave shepherdess as she claimed to be . Up to this moment he had seen quite a few women in this town and none of them could compare to her beauty — not even close .

Inanna suddenly stopped when they passed by a tavern, and asked, “Amon, are you tired? If you are, why don’t we go have a drink?”

Hearing his, one thing came into Amon’s mind without warning . Mayor Dusti had once mentioned that the cheapest wine in the outside world cost only one copper coin per goblet, which he always wanted to confirm . So he replied, “Wouldn’t that waste your time? Or I can walk you back first . The night is falling soon . ”

Inanna asked back, “So you want to walk me back home?”

“You have to go a long way after the night falls . I have to go with you . After all I’m not in a rush to get anywhere on time . The town’s right here . ”

Inanna smiled, “Thank you! Since we have to walk for long way at night, a drink won’t change anything . Let’s rest for a bit before we set out for our long walk . ”

Alcohol was one of the few luxuries that didn’t completely belong to the noble class . Many commoners would enjoy a couple of mugs in the tavern after the hard work . That was one of the happiest hours in their lives . During wartime, some kingdoms would ban the commoners from drinking alcohol, because it would be a significant waste of manpower, time and food in a time of scarcity .

One of the most amazing things about alcohol was that it helped people speak out things that they didn’t dare to say and do things that they didn’t dare to do when they were sober, which also made the tavern one of the most chaotic and dangerous places in a town .

As soon as Amon and Inanna walked into the tavern, they were submerged in a sea of loud mixed noises, which attenuated quickly right after the people in the tavern saw them came in . Obviously most of the discussions here were about the two foreigners who showed up today .

Amon found a table and sat down . The shopkeeper of the tavern sent his two waiters away and came to them, “My dear guests from afar, what can I do for you? We have the best wine and beer in the region . ”

Amon talked straight, “Do you sell the cheapest wine you have at one copper coin per goblet?”

The shopkeeper startled, but soon he smiled and replied, “Yes! One copper coin for a goblet! Do you need a goblet?” Behind the warm voice, a trace of disdain flashed in his eyes . He had already heard the couple’s story earlier this day . This young man was generous towards his girl, but would save every coin when coming to himself . Now he had confirmed the rumor himself .

But a goblet was clearly not enough for Amon . He waved and said, “Give me one jug . ”

So the shopkeeper told his boys to bring the couple a jug of the cheapest wine and two goblets . Inanna spontaneously took the jug and poured a goblet of wine for Amon . She didn’t sit down but stood beside Amon, holding the jug .

Woman seldom went to the tavern to drink, the few who frequented were almost prostitutes . The brothel was another one of the most chaotic and dangerous places in a town . Now a great beauty had come into the town and followed Amon into the tavern . Almost everyone in the room was looking at her, hoping to see her drink as much alcohol as possible, but she chose not to .

Before Amon could ask Inanna to sit with him, the shopkeeper asked, “Why don’t you sit down, young lady? Is someone forbidding you to?”

Inanna gave him a sweet smile and explained, “No, I’m a slave . I cannot sit down and drink… Amon, enjoy the wine . I’m here to pour the wine for you . ”

This explained a lot of things! The whispers in the room got louder in no time, as if a horde of flies had broken into the tavern . So this beauty was actually a slave girl that this young man brought with him . He chose to wear cheap clothes while dressing her like a queen, breaking the laws to buy her a colored dress and showing her off to everyone!

Nobody would bother them if Amon had been a nobleman, no matter whatever he chose to dress for the slave girl he loved .

However, Amon only wore a flax gown and a pair of straw sandals . And he was drinking the cheapest wine in a public tavern, with a gorgeous slave girl in colored dress waiting upon him . It was almost a crime for the others in the room .