with Jalia. They had sex when it suited her, which was not often and they certainly fought from time to time. They never slept together. On the road it was safer to sleep alone.
There was a scent of autumn in the air and that was slightly worrying because he had heard tales of the bitterness of northern winters. It rarely snowed in the south and he had only seen deep snow twice in his life.
Ranwin was reputed to be a thousand leagues north of Delbon. He considered what little he knew of the geography of this part of the country.
The land rose to the south while narrowing in size, forming a wedge of mountains with their tallest peeks just north of Delbon in the area known as the Delbar Heights.
When the River Jalon reached the rising edge of the Delbar Heights in the east, it turned south to skirt the edges of the heights and went all the way around them. The river flowed from Telmar, down south to Delbon, and then north to Ranwin.
They were following the Magicians Road east. The road ran between Ranwin and Telmar along the northern edge of the wedge. The hills to the south were largely barren, sparsely littered with whatever plants and grasses could survive on stone hills regularly swept by harsh winds. To the north of the road was undulating grassland with stands of trees wherever some natural feature discouraged animals from foraging.
The Magicians Road was well over a thousand years old, but had stood up well to the passage of time and represented the swiftest route to Telmar for travelers with wagons. On the other hand, wagons could be seen for miles and they were an easy target for robbers. That had been the fatal mistake of the children’s parents, that and their stupidity in travelling alone.
Daniel knew they would have to take the wagon with them when they left the camp. If they had only been taking the girls he would have lightened the load on two of his donkeys and brought them on those, but a baby was too delicate for that sort of travel. While Daniel had heard stories of nomads carrying babies while riding on horseback; he had no idea how they managed it.
The wagon came with a sturdy looking carthorse, which was a good thing because he was not going to use his horse to do something as menial as pulling a wagon.
He built up the fire before feeding and watering the horses and donkeys. When he got back to the fire, he found Jalia putting a kettle on to boil. That was close to the limits of her culinary skills, but she did try and help out now and then.
“It wasn’t worth getting up for the badger,” she said as he wished her a good morning.
“You’ll be driving the wagon?” Daniel asked and smiled at the poisoned look Jalia gave him. As he expected, the wagon and children were going to be his responsibility. However, he drew the line at baby changing and told Jalia to get on with it, though he noted that she ended up supervising Maya, who seemed skilled at the art.
After they finished breakfast, Daniel loaded up his donkeys and tied the ever patient Ferd to the back of the wagon with the other donkeys strung in a line behind him. With the baby safely stowed with the girls in the back of the wagon and Jet tied so he could walk behind, they set off down the road with Jalia leading the way on Swift.
They travelled less than a mile before Jalia led them off the road and into the vast expanse of grassland to the north. Daniel nodded sagely, because though they had not discussed leaving the road, Jalia was every bit as aware of their visibility as he was.
The wagon swayed alarmingly as they ploughed through a sea of tall grasses. Daniel relied on Jalia to have scouted the way well enough to allow the wagon to pass, but there was always the danger a wheel would fall into a hole she had missed and crack an axle.
They stopped at noon to rest the animals and to eat. Jalia was impatient to be off and harried Daniel as he watered the donkeys. He pulled her to one side, well away from the children, to find
There was a scent of autumn in the air and that was slightly worrying because he had heard tales of the bitterness of northern winters. It rarely snowed in the south and he had only seen deep snow twice in his life.
Ranwin was reputed to be a thousand leagues north of Delbon. He considered what little he knew of the geography of this part of the country.
The land rose to the south while narrowing in size, forming a wedge of mountains with their tallest peeks just north of Delbon in the area known as the Delbar Heights.
When the River Jalon reached the rising edge of the Delbar Heights in the east, it turned south to skirt the edges of the heights and went all the way around them. The river flowed from Telmar, down south to Delbon, and then north to Ranwin.
They were following the Magicians Road east. The road ran between Ranwin and Telmar along the northern edge of the wedge. The hills to the south were largely barren, sparsely littered with whatever plants and grasses could survive on stone hills regularly swept by harsh winds. To the north of the road was undulating grassland with stands of trees wherever some natural feature discouraged animals from foraging.
The Magicians Road was well over a thousand years old, but had stood up well to the passage of time and represented the swiftest route to Telmar for travelers with wagons. On the other hand, wagons could be seen for miles and they were an easy target for robbers. That had been the fatal mistake of the children’s parents, that and their stupidity in travelling alone.
Daniel knew they would have to take the wagon with them when they left the camp. If they had only been taking the girls he would have lightened the load on two of his donkeys and brought them on those, but a baby was too delicate for that sort of travel. While Daniel had heard stories of nomads carrying babies while riding on horseback; he had no idea how they managed it.
The wagon came with a sturdy looking carthorse, which was a good thing because he was not going to use his horse to do something as menial as pulling a wagon.
He built up the fire before feeding and watering the horses and donkeys. When he got back to the fire, he found Jalia putting a kettle on to boil. That was close to the limits of her culinary skills, but she did try and help out now and then.
“It wasn’t worth getting up for the badger,” she said as he wished her a good morning.
“You’ll be driving the wagon?” Daniel asked and smiled at the poisoned look Jalia gave him. As he expected, the wagon and children were going to be his responsibility. However, he drew the line at baby changing and told Jalia to get on with it, though he noted that she ended up supervising Maya, who seemed skilled at the art.
After they finished breakfast, Daniel loaded up his donkeys and tied the ever patient Ferd to the back of the wagon with the other donkeys strung in a line behind him. With the baby safely stowed with the girls in the back of the wagon and Jet tied so he could walk behind, they set off down the road with Jalia leading the way on Swift.
They travelled less than a mile before Jalia led them off the road and into the vast expanse of grassland to the north. Daniel nodded sagely, because though they had not discussed leaving the road, Jalia was every bit as aware of their visibility as he was.
The wagon swayed alarmingly as they ploughed through a sea of tall grasses. Daniel relied on Jalia to have scouted the way well enough to allow the wagon to pass, but there was always the danger a wheel would fall into a hole she had missed and crack an axle.
They stopped at noon to rest the animals and to eat. Jalia was impatient to be off and harried Daniel as he watered the donkeys. He pulled her to one side, well away from the children, to find
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