Off We Go
Midmorning came and we were off. We mounted right outside the guard station and headed northeast. My only clue that it was northeast was the fact we weren’t heading where the sun used to be. Just how much north was northeast, I’ll leave that to the ones who know the road.
Not much was said, nor was there any chance for conversation as we rode. The pace was brisk and save for the steady thudding of hooves hitting the ground, only Litoc’s voice broke the monotony. He never showed much of it before but as I followed behind him, Litoc sounded especially pleased to be sharing some knowledge to one as eager as Jibel. He even let him hold the reigns.
Before lunch we were at the private port, the crossing as Tukru called it. The way Litoc described it, I was thinking something a little more classy that what I saw. It was just two wharves that reached a fair bit into the water and spread a fair distance from each other. On one side were longboats, on the other side were three large rafts.
Everyone else seemed to know what to do when we arrived, except me. Even Hanni immediately dismounted and waited for a soldier to take the reigns. Four magrals went to each raft, led by two soldiers. One each corner of the raft was a man with a long piece of wood they used to maneuver and steer the raft with.
That told me the crossing was going to be short. It also cast doubt on the rest Tukru said he was going to get while we crossed. Those that didn’t go to the raft, went into the boats. I worried about the magrals. If anything, anything at all spooked them, no one would be able to get them out of the water unless they were somehow able to swim to where we would be docking.
My butt didn’t even get the chance to be comfortable. We arrived at the other side soon enough. As soon as everyone was mounted, our brisk pace resumed. I would have enjoyed laying back but as noon approached, the ground dried and hardened. Everyone in front was kicking up dust.
Left with the choice of falling behind or toughing it out, I brought the neckline of my shirt up to my nose and squinted the rest of the way. It wasn’t perfect but it wasn’t bad either.
With only the occasional guard station to avoid from time to time, a waste of resource in my opinion, hugging the side of the road near the trees appeared to be an inspired idea. It wasn’t as dusty as the middle of the road and the branches occasionally gave some temporary shade against the sun. As noon passed, the elongating shadows the trees cast only made it much better.
All things considering, I was in a good mood. Heck, I was in a great mood. We’ve recovered Jibel, I contributed to the kingdom with a simple enough idea that might just make it outlast the efforts of Khevernak to choke it, and that will probably earn us a free ride back to Osea.
My suggestion was simple. I surprised even myself coming up with that considering I started with laughable assumptions and a whole lot of baloney. I attributed my luck to the two things that prevented the prince and Litoc from nitpicking it further – they had no proof Khevernak was behind the assassinations, and both kingdoms could not just attack each other.
The prince’s jaw dropped. One of the times I wish I had a phone with me. That was a sight. Thanks to Litoc’s foresight, Bariststal was locked down. Now all we needed to do was reach the castle and using the power of the prince’s station, spin the story of how the queen died at dawn and the king, upon finding out in the morning, was beside himself with the loss he died of a broken heart. The rest of the bullshit I made on the fly.
How does that help me catch the perpetrators? asked the prince, to which I replied that since there was only one official story about the deaths of the monarchs, anyone who starts a different story might know something. I remembered at that point, that the kingdom had been recruiting soldiers, teasing them with high pay. I then suggested that he make use of them, send them patrolling the towns, to sniff out said people whose version of the story might be different.
Litoc pointed out another good side-effect of that plan – it would drive Khevernak to try other assassinations. Litoc and his overactive imagination saved me many times in that conversation, and this was one of them. He elaborated that since the other kingdom will be denied the satisfaction of plunging the population into confusion, there was a high change they would try something bolder. Not an easy feat considering the soldiers would be dispatched and patrolling the towns already at that point.
The prince raised a damn good question at that point. I, trained in the give and take battles that occur at meeting rooms, would have frankly asked that very same question – What’s in it for me?
Everything discussed at that point was all about protecting the image of the kingdom and the late monarchs. But of the incoming monarch, there was nothing. Nothing from him, nothing for him. Just another new dictator replacing the old one.
Litoc’s offhand comment, playing it down, allowed me to finish strong with a masterstroke of bullshittery, if I may say so, that satisfied both of them. I even had the gall to claim I already thought of it. Perhaps it was the wine. Perhaps.
Ye ‘ave three months, we’ll think o’ somethin’. That’s what Litoc said.
You know, I’ve been thinking along those lines and I believe you will like this, I added after a pause. I suggested that we include in the ‘story’, offhandedly, that the last time the king was seen alive was at supper conferring with his trusted advisors on bettering the welfare of each citizen.
And though it sadly wasn’t finalized because of his untimely passing, the prince believed in spirit of the plans that he would see to it that they become reality. Starting with lowering the taxes all throughout the kingdom by a tenth.