Chapter 45: Introspection

Morning breakfast was peaceful. A little too peaceful, I thought. The ladies were going out of their way to be nice to each other and to me. Either they kissed and made up or they were a ticking time bomb. Knowing those two I guessed the latter and I definitely didn't want to be around when it went off.

Fat chance of that.

The sergeant at the gate was expecting us and presented me with a status report. There weren't any returnees from the messengers that were sent out the day before. Both sets of gates were open for use and were staying open. The town merchants informed about our mission were waiting for the go ahead from us.

As for the path itself there was a small garrison about a third the way up the pass that was manned by our side and one a third from the end that the soldiers of Fairview had retaken about two months ago. The commander on our side should be expecting us by the time that we get there. The sergeant cautioned that we pace ourselves over the pass. It was narrow and there were only a few places that carriages could safely pass each other as we neared the midpoint. Sergeant Tarn would have more details if we needed them at the garrison ahead.

I thanked the sergeant for his information and he saluted me as we started up the path. I thought the men would be happy that the conflict was over. Any fight that they participated in had to be up close and personal, thus at a much greater personal risk to them.

Riding jarred my shoulder and while it was still stiff. As long as I did not have to raise my arm above my chest I could cope. With a light healing before we left and an extra dose of aspirin of course.

Chandra was still quiet as we rode up the path so I tried to see if their fight was settled.

"Chandra," I began. She just looked at me suspiciously. "Have you two settled your disagreement?" Yup, she knew what I was about to ask.

"Do you think that we will encounter much resistance, My Lord?" Now she was sounding just like Megan.

"I'll take that as a no. Please try to keep it civil." I let her evasion go unchecked.

"There shouldn't be any resistance until after we arrive at the first garrison." I wasn't even going to try to figure out why she decided to change how she addressed me.

The path was wide enough for two carts to ride abreast, if only just barely. I had to be cautious of Juniper's exuberance though. I wondered if blinders would help. Armand used them on the horses for pulling the carriage along the cliff edge. My horse did decide to settle down after a couple of hours of traveling. It was suggested to us by the sergeant that we only stop at the areas that had room for us to do so. This caused us to eat while traveling; there wouldn't be any rest for us until we stopped day.

I asked Chandra to tell me what she knew of Fairview. I wanted to see how it differed from what Megan told me earlier.

According to Chandra, Fairview was a major sea power in this part of the world. They had a great deal of lumber for their ships and excellent land for farming. Since mountains bordered the whole principality to the south; the only way to get there was by sea or a dangerous trip through the mountains. Until a hundred and fifty years ago this was a pirate haven. Something about how the bay protected the city made it ideal for them, she didn't know the details.

Julius and Oceanus were the primary Gods worshipped in Fairview; Oceanus as The Vengeful God of the Sea. Sailing in medieval Europe was dangerous and when a vengeful god was added to the mix, a big neon sign told me to stay away.

Fairview didn't have much of an army; they didn't need one, their navy and merchant fleet more than made up for it. It was my guess from what both Chandra and Megan told me about Fairview, that it had to be an extremely wealthy city-state. The nobility was made up of former merchants and pirate captains each controlling a small fleet. Having a prince just gave them legitimacy. The council of theirs seemed to have most of the power. I didn't have enough information of the prince to get a good idea what his relative strength to the council was.

We did stop for the night on a plateau. It would easily hold ten to fifteen carriages or carts and all the men that would normally accompany them. Even though it was hours before dark, there was no way that I wanted to still be traveling when the sun went down and I was not about to go against the advice of the sergeant. There wasn't even a guardrail just a cliff face that fell off to nothingness.

When I mentioned the lack of guardrails, Chandra gave me a blank look. After describing them, she asked how I expected them to stay in place. Not having a good answer for her, I just shrugged. I didn't know how they made them stay in place in my world.

Since I hadn't worked out hard in a while, I joined Chandra with the evening exercises and pushed her until she collapsed. My left shoulder screamed at me before I even finished my warm-ups so I kept my sword in my right hand and just orchestrated her workout. We washed up in an ice cold waterfall that ran across the corner of the plateau and turned into a small stream for a short distance before falling off of the edge. The water was too cold for me after such a light workout, but I did soak towels in the frigid water and ice down my shoulder.

I chased her off with a light pat to the back and wished her a pleasant night's sleep. The night air was cold and dry, and gave me a beautiful view of the sky. I watched the stars and the moon for a while before drifting off myself. I didn't have to worry about taking a watch tonight, since Chandra was going to take my turn.

Earlier in the trip Megan wanted to take a turn at watch and we all looked at her incredulously. That was worth a good chuckle, as long as she couldn't see me doing it. I gave her a simple 'No' and she reluctantly accepted it.

I awoke very early in the predawn morning only to hear whispering coming from behind me, I raised myself on my right elbow to see Chandra and Megan sitting across from each other talking. Their argument couldn't have been that bad if they were still able to communicate. I didn't feel any hostility coming from them, but it was still dark and they weren't exactly close to me so I couldn't be sure.

Since Megan hadn't been able to interact much with anyone on this trip any chance for her to communicate with either Chandra or I had to be a godsend.

Relaxing with my good arm under my head while staring at the sky, I thought. It was too easy for me to adapt to this world, I knew that Kassandra had a hand in it but that wasn't all of it. I felt like I belonged. Belong was a good word for it. The people here were good, hard working and honest. The exceptions seemed to be glaring, and so far they were restricted to the very top and the very bottom. Neither was a surprise to me.