Chapter 41: On the road again

I had a horse saddled for Megan the next morning.

"Come, My Lady, I have a horse for you to ride. It seems that the rain has stopped." I bowed grandiosely, and offered her an orchid before she made ready for the day.

"You seem to be in better spirits today, My Lord."

"Why shouldn't I be? The rain has stopped, and there is a pair of beautiful maidens to ride at my side." I bowed with a flourish to each of them.

Chandra looked at me funny when I bowed to her too.

"Thank you, My Lord, I would love to ride."

"I'm glad. This will be the last time you can ride outside your carriage before we reach the mountains, My Lady," I said quietly so that only she could hear. "I fear an ambush as soon as we cross the border into his lands." To that she just nodded.

Chandra had saddled Juniper with Megan's tack. If she was going to ride, then let her ride the best. Megan was wearing her outfit with the full length divided skirts; it seemed that she only had the one riding habit and she was completely beautiful in it. It shouldn't have surprised me that she only had one, since Steven wouldn't have afforded her the opportunity to go riding.

The men were efficient, and the morning routine we'd settled into went smoothly. I commended them on it, and warned them that if we encountered trouble their only job was to see to the lady's safety. They assured me they would. Though they did look at Chandra, and I informed them that she was safe so long as I lived. This, they understood and felt better because of it.

The carriage set the pace again, and I let Chandra roam around under the guise of scouting which was a change of pace for her. It was probably the first real vacation that she had had since joining Kassandra's Order, so I gave her plenty of slack. Megan, for her part, let Juniper guide her and soon found out that the flowers were more important to the horse than the rider was. I laughed when she tried to protest that her horse wasn't listening to her. I told her that Juniper was just trying to give her flowers, and guided her back to the carriage.

"Tell me about your home, My Lord," she asked after I shared some water and a hard biscuit.

"My home is something that I haven't seen in a few years, My Lady. I was almost finished with my studies when I came to this world. Until a few weeks ago, I was living in a crowded city getting ready to present my thesis."

"You had to give a dissertation for your swordsmanship?" she sounded confused.

"No, My Lady, I went to school for something completely different. I studied metallurgy; I was interested in exotic metals and alloys. There are metals that, mixed with other metals, develop some unusual properties."

"For instance?" she asked.

"Take brass and bronze: Both are mostly copper with ten percent tin or zinc. If you take the metals separately they have certain properties, as soon as you mix them their properties change. For instance, bronze, which is made of about nine parts copper and one part tin, if mixed thoroughly, is actually stronger than iron, where each by themselves is weaker. If a pinch of arsenic is added to the mixture it becomes even stronger," I replied with a little passion.

Go ahead, ask me about my obsessions.

"And your sword, it is made from one of these combinations of metals?"

"No, it's not. It is made up of a different combination of metals."

"Do you have many mines on your lands, My Lord?"

"No, I wouldn't have any mines on my lands; they make too much pollution."

"Pollution, My Lord, what is that?" She had never heard of the word.

"Take a coal mine. If you ever have the displeasure to be downstream of one, you will see little particles, pieces of coal, and other debris floating along the river or stream. That water has to be filtered of the particles before it can be consumed, or it will make the drinker sick."

"I see." I think that she did. Megan would have been an excellent student.

She asked about my family and I told her about my mother, she was the only family I had left. My father died a few years ago and left everything to me. He had left my mother when I was young. They never officially divorced, just separated and never looked back. I didn't understand it then and didn't understand it when he died. My mom tried to explain it to me once, I'm not sure that she understood it either.

I asked her about her city and what it produced.

Fairview was a major port, had extensive agricultural lands, and a sizeable mining community. She also hinted at a fairly large navy. It's no wonder that Duke Steven wanted her. Bresides her beauty, intelligence and grace, Megan's lands were worth many times more than his. Her father was a prince. Only the lord of the city and his wife were given that title. They controlled their side of the path to the Kingdom of Roses, and Steven, this side. She didn't believe there had been any trade between the two nations since her capture. It also looked like the trade route would be harder for us to cross than I had expected.

I didn't even notice until late that night, that my aversion to her had completely disappeared. We spent the whole day talking like we'd had the day of Lady Kathryn's ball and it was wonderful.

I called our halt for the evening an hour early to give Chandra practice as my swordmate. The poor guards were completely overmatched by her, with me at her side they never came close to us. Chandra and I needed to get used to working side by side, so I overruled their complaints. We were entering Steven's lands in the morning and I wanted everyone to be ready for anything. I even placed a set of blades in the carriage for Megan.

Megan wasn't pleased by trading the freedom of her horse for the safety of the carriage. But I did give her a different book each morning to read from my new library, which she accepted with good grace.

If I were smart and I had thought to ask for it; if I could have convinced a Sister and her class to come with us as a training exercise, or if Chandra was not so gung ho for a vacation that she would have accepted more troops from her family. If, if, if ... but I didn't. So we would have to use brute force, and I was here to be the brute. Guile and stealth were not in my repertoire.

After our first look at a mining town I decided we should press on. It was the third day of traveling in Steven's lands when we came across it. All the men we saw, down to the children, were covered in soot of one form or another. We drew eyes as we rode through, but I wouldn't let us slow down. I didn't trust this place and I was not about to go against that instinct. According to the map most of the mining towns were a day or two apart. I planned on stopping at least half a day's ride away from towns each night. I didn't want to tempt fate.

I kept up Chandra's training each night. She would need a lot more time to get used to being my partner and I wanted her to have it. The men quickly got discouraged sparring with us, but I explained why it was necessary and that we needed the help. They reluctantly saw the wisdom in it and spurred themselves to put a little more effort in. It wasn't until I convinced them two nights later, to look at it as a learning opportunity that they gave it their all.

That night around the fire I apologized to Megan again about the isolation of the carriage.

"I understand, My Lord. You are trying to keep me safe, and for that I thank you." She obviously didn't like it but endured the uncomfortable ride.

"I'd rather have you being bored than the alternative, My Lady." I received a 'Yes, My Lord' as she returned to her needlepoint. Her needlepoint was not something that she could do while we were moving. I didn't know how she did it by the light of the fire, when all the colors were just shades of gray. But I never saw her remove any stitches.

On the fourth day along the merchant's trail, Chandra spotted a fallen tree that completely blocked the defile we were following. She rode back and warned of the potential ambush. I stopped us there, and had Chandra do a search in all of the other directions. She returned finding nothing. I dismounted and had her do the same.

I took the right side and she the left, I wanted us to spring the trap and see what we could get. Before we got within a half of a mile of the trap she found a small path that led up along the cliff, it even had a few fresh footprints.

Jackpot. Thanks, Bright Lady.

It was a very narrow path.

"You take the path and I'll stay down here. Let me get my horse before you go farther, I want to spring this trap and have you close it. Don't hesitate to kill any of them; rocks thrown down are deadly at that range," I instructed. I didn't want to get killed.