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This food looked delicious.
    Ganry pulled him away from the stall. “Wait until your stomach has adjusted, young one,” he warned. “Those spices will burn your tongue away and who knows what they will do to your guts. You need to gradually introduce yourself to the foods of this land. Hot and spicy is the key ingredient to everything.”
    “Let’s buy some fresh bread then. Look over there, can’t you smell it?” Artas followed the smell and soon found himself almost nose to nose with a young woman, stood on the bakery doorstep.
    “Are you trying to mow me down?” she asked, frowning.
    “Oh, I do apologize, ma’am, I was just, erm, I was just catching the delicious smells coming from your shop.” Artas blushed as he stuttered his words.
    “This is the best bread in the city, if not the whole of Mirnee. Freshly made by ma and pa who get up at the crack of dawn so the likes of you can taste something real good,” she said, still not breaking a smile.
    “I’m sure it is, but how can I taste it if you’re standing in my way?” Artas blurted out.
    “Why didn’t you say so?” she stepped aside so he could enter. “If you have money in your pockets, you are welcome into my shop.”
    He stepped inside and was greeted with a wonderful concoction of aromas that made his stomach grumble. He bought a long thin stick of bread that was still warm. She tried to persuade him to buy some sweet buns and fruit tarts, but he explained that he had somewhere to go and could not eat it all so quickly.
    “Ahh, you have bought a Mirnee stick, delicious,” Ganry said, taking it off him and breaking it in two, passing one half back to Artas. Both busily chewed on the delicious crusty bread as they set off through the market and into the town, in search of Ganry’s friend.

7
    The warm bread filled a deep hole in Artas’s stomach, making him yearn for some meat, but they were leaving the lovely smells behind. He followed Ganry out of the market as they began to climb a steep hill.
    “This city is built in layers, the higher you go, the more wealthy the residents. As we climb we will pass through a gate to the next level,” Ganry explained the layout to his companion. “At the top you will find the Emperor’s palace and grounds, and nothing else. The layer prior to that holds the barracks to the Emperor’s guards and quarters for invited guests. As you work your way down there will be a merchants layer, full of the largest houses, and…”
    “I get it, I get it,” Artas puffed back at him. “I can’t believe they built this city on a mountain. How many layers do we have to climb?”
    “We’re going up to the merchant’s layer. My, erm… friend is wealthy. He is a caring and kind man. If he is still there, he will welcome us into his home.”
    They did not linger as Ganry rushed them higher up the city. Artas would love to have stopped and looked around, but all he got to see was a poor area with ramshackle structures. Then another market, though this one was mainly for livestock with bulls, horses and sheep. It had a typical country smell swirling in the air and sticking in the nostrils. As they entered each layer, Artas wondered at how they did not get lost. The streets were narrow with many alleyways, almost as intricate as a maze.
    They passed through a set of double gates and arrived at a public park with a small boating lake. The air felt fresher and the sun still shone over their heads. Ganry no longer led him in a upwards spiral, they now walked through this section. They entered a tree lined road with large walls. Behind the walls were huge houses, set back on large grounds. This was certainly more spacious than some of the poorer areas they had seen.
    “The Mirnee are obsessed with wealth.” Ganry stopped to rest and chat.
    “Yeah, it’s quite obvious when you leave the poorer areas behind. The last section seemed really pretty. What was that one?” Artas asked.
    “Mainly people of a profession. The