Chapter 72: The Gutters
"The next issue to think about now is who would want Raze dead," Lady Terra said.
"Uhm, I believe we already know a very possible candidate for that," Ken said.
"Don," Lewis said, sounding certain that he was the one.
"He isn’t the only one. Raze had a falling out with the viscount if I’m sure," Riker said, looking at his brother for confirmation. Raze nodded in agreement.
"Damn kid, you pissed off two big shots enough to want you dead?" Ken said, throwing his hand over Raze’s shoulder. "You don’t like being low-key, I see."
"It’s not that. Both of them walked into it. Tsk, I didn’t think they would come after me this quickly," Raze said.
"I see. Whichever of them wants you dead, they have the money and resources to do it. It isn’t looking good. This is more reason to head to the academy," Lady Terra said. She turned around and walked to her carriage.
"Ravenhold is a few hours away. We have to leave now; it’s not safe here."
Everyone got in their carriage, and the journey resumed. The coachmen had been kept out of the loop about everything that was happening. They only had one job, and that was to drive.
The journey to Ravenhold was silent. Raze took the time to rest as much as he could, and everyone else in the carriage just kept quiet as the home slowly trickled by. A few hours later, they arrived at the southern gates of the city.
The walls were over twenty feet tall, and the massive gates were open for people to enter. Tons of carriages and people were lined up at the gates to enter the city, while the guards checked everything to ensure that nothing wrong was entering.
The guards wore knee-length black robes, chest and shoulder armor pieces with the emblem of a raven standing on a grand wall. Helmets covered their heads, ensuring that no one could see their real identities. They were armed with short swords at their waists and spears in their hands.
On the walls of the city were men in similar armor, watching and ensuring everything was alright from up there.
Due to the fact that the two carriages belonged to Lady Terra, entering the city wasn’t an issue at all. They were allowed in immediately and without any search, perks of being extremely well-known and rich.
When they got into the city, Raze looked outside the window of the carriage, his eyes fascinated by what he saw. He had read about this city in stories, but nothing could ever do it justice in words. The houses were built of well-made blocks and carved wood, organized properly and kept extremely clean, with street lights made of light crystals along the sides of the roads.
"It looks beautiful, right?" Ella asked.
"Yes, it definitely does," Raze replied. "I hope I can make Ribest this conducive one day," he added.
Ella smiled and then slowly shook her head. "What you see here is only a part of Ravenhold. There is more, even more beauty, and then there are the dark sides, the parts of the city that would make a man wretch: the east wing of the city, also known as the Gutters," she said. Her eyes carried a sense of heaviness and pain that couldn’t be explained in words.
"The Gutters?" Raze muttered. He knew of the place she spoke of. Gavin, in the story, had only ever gone there once, and it was never talked about in depth. All he knew was that it was the worst part of the city, but from the way Ella spoke about it, he was sure it was far worse.
She looked up and then let out a small, crooked smile. "The Gutters isn’t a place any normal person can live. The difference between what you see here and what is there is extreme, and the deeper you get in, the more you understand why it’s known as the Gutters.
"People die there every day, children, women. They have no real structure of life beyond coming to the main city for menial tasks that would help them survive. It’s a dark and horrendous place to be," she explained.
The carriage grew quiet as she spoke. Then Gavin spoke up, "Then why doesn’t the ruler of the city or anyone do something for development? Everyone deserves a good life."
"Everyone indeed does. But the east wing of the city got the status it has not over a short period. It took a long time to shape it into what it is. When the city first existed, the rich and the poor created a separation, with most of the city belonging to the well-to-do, the rich up north, and finally the poor in the east wing.
"At first, development still reached there. Despite the small taxes they paid, they still got good things. But then the attacks of the demon beasts happened over five hundred years ago, and that caused a lot of immigration of lost and homeless people from destroyed towns and villages.
"The rich and well-to-do would surely not allow random people to take their space, so they sent them to the east. And the east couldn’t refuse because, in their poor state, they needed the city’s help. If that meant taking up the issues of the city, then it was fine, and that was what they did.
"That served as the beginning of the Gutters, extreme population, different lifestyles, gangs, secret organizations using the east wing for cover, diseases that were brought in, and a lot more.
"I believe from what I explained, you can already tell how that wing of the city came to be what it is now. My words aren’t nearly enough to explain what happens there, but I know what it’s like to be there," she said. There was a heaviness in her voice as she said the last part. Raze could tell that she had some sort of experience in the east wing.