The four women are first put up by a friend, much to their delight. Then things get interesting.

---

Disclaimer:

The original characters and plot of this story are the property of the author. No infringement of pre-existing copyright is intended.
This story is copyright © 2018 - 2020 Julia Phillips. All rights reserved.

It uses some of the associated characters and situations that arise from the world called ‘Anmar’ created by Penny Lane, whose stories
are also copyright © 2010 - 2020 Penny Lane. All rights reserved.

---

“Then ask the Duke,” I said through my sudden and almost crippling shock. And through the tears that were suddenly trembling upon my lids. I had hauled Trumpa to a full stop, which forced all the others to stop too.

Our journey has been in vain. We have put ourselves through all that discomfort for nothing. I was just a selfish ked. How can I look the others in the face? How could I demand from them so much sacrifice of their time and comfort?.

Then I remembered something that might be of help. I sniffed loudly before speaking: “The Prince promised me he would discuss this with Duke Gilbanar. You can ask HIM for confirmation.”

“Alas Mistress! He too has gone, with most of his family, to Palarand City for the Harvest Festival. Only the Count Terinar and Countess Merizel are in residence in Dekarran at the moment.”

“Well, SHE knows – SHE was there when the Prince made his suggestion and invited me to do this!” My voice was spiralling higher and louder and screechier.

I started properly weeping then, and Davvy came next to me to hug me even as we continued to ride along the road. Shar looked at Mompik helplessly. Gyth too took my other side, while Waxerwet’s face reflected her sadness.

The men all looked perplexed at my behaviour.

’Twas Waxerwet who tried to make the man, the men, understand: “She has been struggling over this problem for weeks now. She finally decided to do something about it. She has put herself through much discomfort and many problems just to get down here in time to speak with a member of the Prince’s party; a woman who was once a childhood friend. To gain information that shall help her with her decision. And you have just told her that the last few days of her life have been pointless.”

She turned to me. “Well, Julina dear, let’s look at what we HAVE gained from this mad dash downvalley. At least we have seen more than just our little part of the valley; a valley that is so much mightier than any of us up there could ever manage to envisage. We have seen painted rocks and fresh buildings. We have seen watercraft we could never imagine. And new vehicles. And new dishes. And new avians. And new animals. And new plant-life.

“On top of that, you now know that you have done everything you could have done, which is the most anyone can ever demand of anyone else.

“And, not the very least, we shall experience overnighting in a castle. That is something none of us could have ever been expected to be able to do, so I for one thank you most heartfully.”

It was scant comfort – at first. But it did work to get some gentling into me as we eventually continued. The other women also gently assured me of their agreement.

It was, however, at that moment, revealed that there was another person who was also extremely dismayed – Mompik: “But I have missives for the Duke to which some replies are expected. Shall we also have to stay down here until such time as the Duke returns?”

Waxerwet spoke at her most forceful level as she too addressed Quadrant Shar: “If we are delayed so very long, we might well run out of time afore the rains; time needed for us all to get back to Blackstone. And we shall all have to travel together, for surely four women alone and unescorted would NOT be a good idea!”

Shar just looked at her and smiled gently, one hand raised to try to stem the torrent of her words.

“Now, Mistresses all, I freely confess here and now that I am not privy to every detail of every decision made by the Countess and Count, nor those of the Duchess and Duke, nor any of the other nobles that abound. However, I am fairly certain that, in this instance, the Count and Countess have laid plans for any and every eventuality. I must most strongly recommend that you leave it up to THEM to reveal what they have in mind.

“As for your concerns, Mompik, then I should imagine that, as usual, we must await our masters’ pleasures. I fail to see anyway I can help to expedite YOUR mission.

“Now, all of you,” he said, raising his voice slightly, “may I respectfully suggest that we shall achieve nothing by sitting here stationary in the middle of one of Palarand’s busiest roads. I deem the women may like to be closer together for the moment, so I will assign their pack animals to four of you. Vakter, are you any good with that crossbow?”

“Top of my group, Quadrant.”

“Then you shall remain untethered to another animal. You other two, Kabarad and Rakshak, take two of the women’s beasts and attach them to yourselves. Jarrin and Dino will take the other two. All four of you shall bunch up behind the women. Vakter take the rear, Mompik and I shall take each side, by the women, leaving you, Mandes, in the van.”

The rearrangements were swiftly made and I found myself, still weeping, moving along the road once more, with Gyth on one side, close by, and Davvy on the other. Waxerwet was just in front of us three younger ones.

I assume that Shar kept silent so that I could have some time to recover somewhat. I deem some quarter of a bell passed before the silence was broken.

By me.

“Very well, then, Quadrant Shar,” I began, listlessly, “what is it you wish to know – exactly?”

“I believe, Mistress, that mayhap we might start with whichever topic you would prefer?”

“It is all so very intertwined that I deem we must first describe to you our home town of Blackstone. Let me allocate Mistress Waxerwet to that task. Mayhap, Mistress, you would describe our town up to the moment that the Prince Keren and Milady Garia, as she was then, departed after the first visit?”

I had been shocked, grievously hurt, by Shar’s news, but no quite so grievously that my brain had shut down completely. By letting Waxerwet fill everyone in on the story of Blackstone, I had gained more time to decide just how much of Michen/Michet’s story I could retell. A quick whispered chat to Gyth gained the answer that I must confess I already really knew: “Well, you basically told everyone up there the story yourself, at the funeral.”

So ’twas without a guilty conscience that I told, once Gyth’s mother had drawn her narrative to a close, all present about Morden’s demands, and Michet’s oath.

To say they were shocked would be a gross understatement. But Shar did remark: “Ah yes! I recall Guardsman Michen back from when I was a fresh-faced youngster. He did fight valiantly against those robbers and fully deserved his rewards. But now you tell me that he was a she all the time! Remarkable!”

Mompik, Vakter, Rakshak and Kabarad all had their mouths hanging open as I revealed the full story. The latter was the one who let the big felk out of the bag: “But Bailiss Michet and Quadrant Ponstib, they’re sweet on one another!”

Waxerwet grunted: “So? She is just a hand or so of years older than he, what is wrong with that? I can point to a good dozen couples in Blackstone where the woman is older than the man.”

A dozen? I could but think of a hand!

I rushed to change the emphasis: “When Quadrant Ponstib first arrived in Blackstone, he was temporarily billeted in the Bailiss’ house, where my, our, restaurant is also situated. When we were clearing away the last of the night’s washing up, and just about to start banking the fires, he came into the kitchens and requested some hot water for his usual bedtime drink. You will know, of course, that it has a distinct aroma. An aroma that drew Michet immediately into the kitchens. ’Twas then I learnt about Whistler’s Whetstone and its origins. And incidentally, I must say that I too found it a most pleasant infusion.”

“Ah! I understand now, I thank you Mistress. But you ladies have used some strange words to me,” continued Shar. “Bailiss? Salon? Those two will do for starters.”

Waxerwet began to answer his question by explaining the background to the Salon, when Trumpa suddenly started fidgeting nervously beneath me. Davvy let out a little scream but Shar was the one who was quickest to react properly. His eyes darted at us all, down at his mount and then up and down the road.

He bellowed: “All of us, about turn, and make for the roadhouse entrance we just passed, about a hundred strides up from here. As fast as we can go without losing our bunched formation. Quickly now. Action.”

His hand had shot out to support Davvy even as his eyes were scanning the skies above us.

“Men, get ready with your pikes. Keep the animals as calm as you can. Vakter, load a bolt please and get ready for as rapid fire as you can manage.”

I looked ahead and saw other frayen-mounted travellers all also turn and head for the same roadhouse entrance.

Shar’s next words were explanation enough. “Vakter, we may be attacked by grakh shortly. Their vulnerable spots are the eyeballs, the base of the throat and their wing roots. The throat though usually requires two or three accurately placed bolts whereas the wing roots can require up to a dozen. But if we form a large enough, noisy enough group, then they won’t usually attack, particularly if we have several pikes to prick them with as they swoop in. They have learned that much. Ah! Good! Look ahead there. We have some dranakh about too. They set up a most unpleasant roaring sort of vibration that scares any grakh off - usually.”

All our hearts were in our mouths as we scrambled towards our goal. I couldn’t help but scan, every so often, the skies above us too but must have been regarding the wrong sector of them, for I saw no grakh as we made that mad dash for the collective safety. Part of me was soothing Trumpa, another part soothing Davvy’s mount whilst hoping that she could manage to cling on with her one good arm. A minor part tried to ignore the fact that I suddenly remembered that my mother had been killed by a grakh attack.

We made it to the roadhouse entrance and were encouraged by Shar to go into the inner courtyard where he made us dismount and go to the heads of our animals. I discovered then that ’tis much easier to keep a beast calm when you are by their head and down at their level. And when you whisper nonsenses to them.

Finally, I spotted, way up above, the passing flight of the hand of grakh, but they were seemingly quite high, and seemingly concentrating upon something ahead of them, up towards Teldor way.

Once again, ’twas the frayen and dranakh who signalled the all-clear before any human did. Their trembling stopped and they relaxed.

Nevertheless, Shar kept us there for a good five minutes before requesting us to mount up and ride out. He was frustrated though when we females decided to take advantage of the facilities available there.

At long last we got out and away once more.

… … …

The markstone indicated we had 4 more marks to go to reach Dekarran. The sides of the castle were visible now but my eyes were drawn ever more often to a massive tower that reached above and yet well to the left of the castle as we looked at it. A tower that seemed to rise from outside the walls and also seemed to be connected at the top by the slenderest of connections to the main structure. My mind was thrashing through old conversations, for I deemed I had been told, or maybe I had overheard, some explanation for this strange thing. I could see that the slender connection was being supported along its length by a tower or two, or an arch or two; we were still too distant for the details to reveal themselves. I wondered at the strangeness and the intricacy of it all.

However, my eyes were also occupied with matters far closer to the road we were travelling along. At that markstone, off to the right, a crude track, roadbed, whatever had been hacked into the side of the valley. Even though our roadway still sloped gently down, I could tell that this freshly hacked way was sloping gently up. My first thought was that this would eventually become a railroad bed, but other observations cast doubt upon that conclusion. The most obvious one was that it seemed the track was aimed straight at the castle itself.

At the enormous castle.

So enormous that I knew immediately that this one would not be demolished just for a railroad. Could not be demolished.

They must need a more direct access for some reason.

To our left, down at the level of the riverbank, yet another obviously industrial factory site was being constructed.

And to our front, about a mark away, there was a great collection of travellers, all stationary.

BOOM!

The sudden noise made us jump, but we recognised it immediately. This was a gunpowder explosion, like the ones we had seen up in Blackstone. The tell-tale cloud of smoke and small particles showed itself along the extension of the track they were making to our right.

BOOM!

Again along the same track. This time a heavy rock was dislodged and slid, bounced, fe …

BOOM!

A third explosion was followed swiftly by the BOOM of a fourth, and final, one.

We watched in awe as a great amount of rubble rolled down onto the roadway, some even bouncing over the roadway and carrying on down to the water.

Shar did not stop us when we reached the tail of the travellers that had been sensibly halted until the way could be be made safe again. He simply directed us to use the right hand side of the road, which had been prevented from being filled by a line of a dozen or so guards, all dressed as Shar was in the red and blue colours of the Dekarran garrison. Each of these guards saluted him, and therefore us, as we hurried by.

When we reached the front of the stoppage, we halted out of the expected range of anything more the workers above might send tumbling down. Some quarter of a bell passed as they shovelled and dragged unrequired rock fragments of various sizes, from fist to frayen, and rolled them down to the surface below. Some green flags were then waved from above and two teams of workers, one from each side of the stoppage, then leapt into action and they started clearing the road surface ahead of us.

Soon it became apparent why this great conglomeration of travellers had been held on the left side of our road. We could see ahead other travellers, wishing to go uphill, had been gathered in a great bunch there. They too had been held to their left side of the road. In that way, once the road was opened, there was space for the traffic to pass each other.

The clearing workers brushed, dragged and otherwise cleared that half of the road first, for that side of the road was against the cliff. By and by, they opened it up to that traffic wanting to go uphill and the backlog of their direction soon cleared.

When it had become a mere trickle of normal traffic volume, one of the guards over there held up the uphill traffic once more and waved us through first, followed by the start of the mass of traffic that had been on our side of the road.

As we progressed, I looked back and saw that they then alternated the traffic directions, even as the roadway was being cleared. I must say I was impressed.

I suddenly realised that my earlier weepiness had been entirely erased by these fascinating events.

Nevertheless, having been stationary for quite some time, I was aware that ’twas exceeding hot, the unrelieved sun making my skin redden.

“Aye! Julina. Ours too!” replied Waxerwet for the others once I had mentioned this aloud.

“And it feels to me that the air is somehow heavier. It seems to me there is … errm … something …. more … something extra, if you like, in it than in the air we are used to up at home.”

We Blackstonians, the Rangers included, all agreed. And we felt ever so slightly threatened by it.

“And I’m not so sure we have ever felt so warm a temperature as this,” said Gyth, whilst Davvy and Waxerwet nodded agreement.

“That’s strange,” I said slowly. “Up in the mountains, we are higher up. And so should logically be hotter since we are there slightly nearer the sun. And yet ’tis undoubtedly hotter and thicker down here.”

Shar then said: “I deem that there is so much air around that it begins to have a presence of its own. When I have been up in mountainous places, after having lived all my life down here at sea level, then I have noticed that I tend to breathe more frequently up there than down here. So I conclude that the air higher up is thinner than down here, is lacking all the things we have down here. It has taken me sometimes up to three days to get accustomed to living and working at altitude.”

He then said something for which I shall ever be grateful: “See ahead, maybe 100 strides, on the left of the road there is a stand of trees. Be prepared for an amazing sight once we reach the ends of those trees. I have oft seen travellers such as yourselves espy that sight for the first time. You are lucky, for today is clear and there are few clouds. Visibility is optimal, I would say.”

With our curiosity so aroused, it could have been a monstrous let-down when we got to the point Shar had mentioned.

But it wasn’t.

Despite all the stories I had heard about ‘The Sea’ I was woefully unprepared for my first ever sight of it.

It robbed me of my breath. Not just me, all the other seven who had travelled down with me were likewise affected. I even think Trumpa was too!

Shar formed us up so that the Dekarran guards could guide the traffic behind us around the stationary knot of gawpers that we had become.

And then Shar shocked us.

“This,” he said with a slight laugh in his voice, “is not even the real open sea, this is merely the mouth of the river Sirrel as it meets the sea. When we get to the turn off up to the castle, just ahead there, see, about two hundred strides, you will have an angle that has widened out, and you shall see more of the sea. And even more of it when you get to the castle balconies.”

… … …

“Welcome to Dekarran Castle.”

We were sliding down from our saddles even as Count Terinar spoke. It was amazing. We had a welcoming committee consisting of a Count, a Countess, several servants and several military men.

“You have, it would appear, set a new national record for travelling from Blackstone to Dekarran without changes of frayen. Only the VMS have ever done it quicker, and they have fresh beasts every three or so bells. I can see that your animals have felt their journey though. They will be looked after here.

“Now, before I hand you over to exposure to the Countess’ plans, I must warn you that I suspect your lives are hardly going to slow down too much. There is an urgency about the next steps that shall happen. After you reach a decision. Which decision shall be required before we all retire this night. That said, I shall allow you females to thrash out the options whilst I take your leave for me to do other things I am required to do.”

So saying, the Count saluted us, repeated his welcome and turned smartly about before walking over to, and then through, an ornate doorway that led from this courtyard into the castle itself.

“Hello again, Mistress Julina, Mistress Davabet, Mistress Gyth and you must be Mistress Waxerwet. Welcome to my home!”

I scanned the Countess and deemed that I could nowadays see the baby bump at her front, but ’twas not yet completely obvious.

We all thanked her swiftly, managing to do so before she started issuing orders. After identifying our pieces of baggage, she got two of the waiting manservants to carry them inside. She then asked Shar to stay, along with Mompik, whilst the others were detailed to lead the frayen round to the stables and bed them in nicely. The Dekarran soldiers politely took their leave of us and helped Vakter, Rakshak and Kabarad with the reins of our valiant beasts.

Then she started with her series of surprises. “First of all, before we even move from here, I must impress upon you all there is a need for haste – probably. The reasons can wait until a more sensible moment, but for you women we have need of a decision right now, as it happens. There are baths awaiting you, and much-needed facilities, and a meal so I shall keep you here only a few moments. I believe ’twould be sensible for you all to travel onto Palarand City on the morrow.”

She held up a hand when we gasped in surprise and started with our questions.

“No, no, not now! Let me swiftly explain something else of relevance. If you do go on to Palarand City, and I acknowledge that it is a great ‘if’, then you shall require suitable clothing. And that suitable clothing will have to be made and/or altered this very afternoon...”

We women all gasped as the words made complete sense to us.

“… ’Tis already after the first bell after noon, so you see we have very limited time to equip you all properly. These ladies here are to help you. First, I present Prevet, she shall be the maid in charge, next to her are Danet and Toria, the three shall act as maids to the four of you while you are here. These other two are amongst our seamstresses here in the castle. With most of the family absent, then the staff here shall be glad to have something to do. Even if the work must of necessity be fully urgent.

“Now I shall be staying here, Julina there knows why, but Count Terinar shall depart tomorrow to spend a few days in Palarand with all the others of our family before they all return after the Harvest Festival. He and his guard detail are happy to escort you ladies. So you will require clothes for the Festival and for the two nights you shall be there. File Leader, you and your men can rest here, joining the guard activities here as you do, or you too can seize this chance of seeing our capital. You can go even if the ladies decide to wait here after all, and not have that mad dash to add to their burdens.

“Now, I have told you in broad outline what we have envisaged, I shall leave you all now to use the facilities and have the bath that I am certain shall be very welcome. We can talk more when we eat after your bathing. Prevet will tell you all she knows. As you will appreciate, the longest time required will be dealing with the clothing. If you decide NOT to go, then we can stay the seamstresses. But they have only from now until you depart tomorrow in the forenoon, if you do decide to travel onwards.

“So once more welcome, and I look forward to hearing your tales at our meal shortly. As well as making a more full explanation.”

She nodded to the men and then to Prevet, before she and Tandra departed.

“This way, if it pleases, Mistresses.” And thus we were left in Prevet’s charge, so as to speak.

… … …

“We have close to a full day before we would needs start travelling again, and it seems to me that we have come so far, just to stop here when we are so near to other valuable sights, AND so near to you achieving your objectives, it will just take four or five days longer than you planned, ’Lina. So I deem that we should go on.”

I had to laugh at that.

“Your desire to wander far and wide is well known, Waxerwet. And, before YOU say anything Gyth, I know you too wish to travel further.”

I turned more serious then: “I must consider you all whatever decision we come to. We had planned this so that we could easily return before the rains started. Taking another five days out of that ‘reserve’ strikes me as being foolhardy. And, talking of reserves, whilst I am become a rich woman suddenly, those riches can just as suddenly disappear. I deem I do have enough to fund our travel and accommodation, but that would be straining my resources now that I have committed so much to my companies. ’Twould leave me with few remaining funds with which to meet any emergencies. Forget not that I still have to pay for us all to return to Blackstone, which journey will have at least one more night than we took to reach here.”

“Ah hah!” said Gyth, almost triumphantly. “You have, by saying nothing, shown that you too are not averse to seeing our capital, albeit briefly.”

“Prevet,” I turned my face to the maid standing by the wall, “have you perchance any idea how much all these dresses the Countess spoke of shall cost me?”

“Mistress,” she replied, completely shocked, “those dresses shall be provided by the family here, I am sure. They acknowledge that they shall be sending you somewhere that is not your fault, and was not in your planning. The dresses shall be in some small way a sort of compensation to you all. I daresay that the seamstresses are even now busy upon that task, since they dashed off with all your measurements before you got into that water.”

“Oh!” I said somewhat weakly. “I must remember to thank the Count and Countess more properly.”

We talked on about the situation, Prevet adding whatever she could to the discussion. Which was quite a lot as it happened, enough to help us make that further decision.

Finally, resignedly, I agreed that we should travel some more.

Prevet promptly sent Toria to scurry to the Countess to let her know a decision had been reached. I think ’twas that small gesture that finally brought home to us the actual enormity of the task in front of the staff here.

“Prevet,” I said, this time definitively, “how can we help you people here?”

“Well, frankly, Mistress, ’twould be best to exit the bath as soon as you feel refreshed so that we might eat as early as possible. The Countess will explain all to you over the meal...” She broke off with a giggle as all four of us stood up and went to climb out before she even finished her sentence.

… … …

“… Senidet was required to report to Milsy what she had learned, observed and implemented ...”

“Excuse me, Milady? Milsy?” asked Davvy.

“Ah! That is quite the story as it happens. When the Princess was here on her way up to you, there was an attempt ...”

After she described the shocking events that had taken place, we all understood just who Milsy had been, and indeed still was.

“… and now she has shown herself to be a highly intelligent young woman, she was placed in charge of House Blackstone should the Princess be called away at any time. When she accepted the task, she had no idea that she would be required to ...”

“Excuse me again, Milady. But I am getting confused. House Blackstone is somehow different to Blackstone House? Which is again different to Blackstone Hotel?”

The Countess smiled fondly at her husband, the smile clearly inviting him to explain, for some reason she seemed to feel he could do a better job of it. At least that’s the way it seemed to me at first.

He coughed diffidently.

“Mistresses, each of our noble families have a way of referencing that family and its descendants. My father the Duke is the King’s brother, so the King, my father, I and my sister all belong to the same noble family, which we term as being a ‘House’. In our instance it is House Navaben-ar, named after the area from which our ancestor came. That area now being beneath the greedy waters of the Sirrel, drowned when the Sirrel altered its course. The -ar bit on the end has come to mean something like ‘ of royal blood’ some say, others say ’tis like saying ‘son of’ just as many other societies do. Hence we have Robanar, Gilbanar, Terinar and many others. I confess I am hazy on the complete and full details of that, for sometimes the custom is NOT applied, Prince Keren, for example, is named after several former Kings of Palarand, but that is not relevant to us right now.

“Before the Princess married the Prince, she founded her own noble house which she named House Blackstone after she was granted the title of ‘Baroness Blackstone’. So House Blackstone is her family lineage if you like. Of necessity, this is the newest noble family line in our country, for she is only newly arrived here.

“She resided in the Palace until after the Yodan War but her inventions and experiments and her increasing army of accountants and so on were threatening the available space in the Palace. She then purchased not one but two mansions, not so very far from each other, one for her to reside in and set up workshops and offices and so on; for her guards to have a home base too. This one she named Blackstone House. So it could be said that members of House Blackstone reside in Blackstone House.

“The second mansion she determined to be available for residents of her lands to stay overnight when visiting the capital. This is named the Blackstone Hotel. Where you ladies shall reside for your visit. Semaphores have already been sent announcing your arrival on the day after tomorrow. No doubt Gullbrand will be arranging everything even as we speak. The Princess maintains the costs of the Hotel from her own funds, so there will be nothing to pay for you all. But,” he continued with a laugh even as he issued his warning, “the plans and funds are NOT expected to be available for a more permanent residency.”

“Errrrm … Gullbrand?”

“When the Princess was up with you at the head of the valley, there crashed onto the seashore of Plif a ship from a country called Einnland, a long way to the south of the Palamak mountains on the other side of the Great Valley ...”

And thus we learned of Princess Eriana’s arrival. We knew, of course, of some of her story from Captain Subrish and also from the Einnlanders that had visited Blackstone with this latest Royal Party, but this tale rounded out the picture of their arrival and introduced several other names which we had hitherto not heard.

I suppose, looking back on it now from afar, that meal was the single one in my whole life at which I learnt the most.

Amongst many other things, we discovered what a Stagecoach was, and the schedule set up to whisk travellers to the capital from the South Slip of the ferry, one of which we would be taking on the morrow. There were no less than three departures a day. We would take the one that left South Slip in the early afternoon and overnight at a roadhouse just shy of the capital itself.

The early one made the journey to the capital in one hop, with several changes of animals, during these days of longer daylight. But we could not leave so very early, and the evening departure would get us to Blackstone House late the following night. So we were scheduled to be on the middle one.

We would be taking this stagecoach thingy since our poor frayen required several days of rest in which to regain their strengths. The Count and his guards, and our Rangers, would escort the stagecoach on its way through central Palarand. The Rangers would be issued some frayen from the stables here.

Eventually, this highly educational repast drew to an end.

Countess Merizel then announced that: “’Twas time for a nap.”

“Excuse me, Milady? Nap?”

… … …

“Eeeeeekkkk!” I made a frantic grab to prevent the tellyskip from falling from my hands. Count Terinar laughed, the meany. He had warned me I would be shocked and therefore had not allowed me to lean on the wall of the King’s Tower for my first ever use of the instrument.

Gyth took her turn, again keeping well away from any possibility of dropping such a valuable instrument the many hundreds of feet to the unforgiving rockiness below us.

Waxerwet had not been able to force herself to come along the walkway from the Upper Guard House and Davvy had (thankfully, I deem) stayed behind to ‘keep her company’ even though Prevet, Danet and Toria were there as well.

Now we knew what to expect, we were allowed to lean the tellyskip on the parapet and thusly gained a far steadier picture of things that were unimaginably distant just a few seconds before.

“Mistress, if you focus on the semaphore tower over at South Slip ...” He waited patiently whilst I gained the target “… and now lower this end of the telescope ever so slightly, which shall raise the other end ever so slightly, then you shall see the next semaphore station in the chain ...”

He talked me through the simple steps of following the semaphore as it went across the country to the capital itself! He then led Gyth through the process of following the chain that ran mostly along the banks of the mighty river, until she found the small town of Sheldane. Indeed she spied a further chain continuing beyond Sheldane.

He demonstrated to us the vast width of the Great Valley, and just some of its vast length; and at long last I fully understood why the Prince had suggested that the Consociation should be in Brikant.

And I at last finally fully and completely understood the entirety of the meaning in the phrase “her horizons had been widened”.

And the vastness of the sea took all our breaths away. I began then to appreciate more of Swayga and wondered at how she had manage to wander all the way to the farthest point of Palarand away from her beloved sea.

… … …

“… so glad that we came, and after this evening’s post-nap viewings from the King’s Tower, I am now more than happy we decided to travel on. What other wonders shall we encounter in the capital? Gyth and I thank you, Milord, for the opportunity to visit the King’s Tower. And not simply because we can now tease our two too cowardly colleagues!”

Everyone except Davvy and Waxerwet laughed; they just blushed.

“But I do have some questions for you Milord, if it pleases you, about what we saw through that tellyskip thing ...”

“Telescope! T E L E S C O P E, actually,” gently corrected the Countess, who helped me enormously by spelling the word out letter by letter.

“Oh! I thank you Milady. Yet another thing learnt on this wondrous day.”

“You were asking, Mistress Julina?” said the Count.

“Ah yes. We saw the chains of semaphore stations marching across the lands but I also espied other structures that were similar, and yet smaller with none of the arms the semaphore things have. Instead they had a sort of circular arrangement of arms. What were they?”

“Do you know how a miller grinds his grains?”

His question took me slightly aback. “Not exactly, Milord. I know only that all the mills I have seen have been beside rivers for they require the water power to operate.”

“That is a good start! Those mills you have seen have large wheels attached to them, wheels made of a continuous chain of buckets so the river power drives the millwheel round, which movement is then converted to driving the miller’s grindstones round. Those structures you saw today are similar, but they do not use the power of water but rather that of the wind.

“As opposed to up in the valleys and in your mountains, the wind down in the Great Valley floor is nearly always from the north-east, from the sea in other words. It almost always dies down of a night, and springs up again during the day, getting stronger as the day heats up. The arms of those windmills you saw are very like sails on a ship, they catch the wind and the force drives them round, just like the water force does on a watermill. That circular movement is also converted ...”

A minor ding went off in the back of my head. I knew immediately ’twas one of those ideas that needed to grow. Despite this, I could still follow the Count’s explanation.

“… into a driving force for the grindstones inside the buildings. Being so reliable a force, the wind-driven mills can be built anywhere that will catch the wind. Should the mill be required on a day when the wind is not so favourable, then dranakh are used to turn the grindstones.”

“Ah!” said Gyth. “That is why almost all of them were in use as we watched them. ’Tis near the Harvest Festival to mark the end of the gathering.”

“Indeed. And as we have mentioned often in the past few bells, the rains shall follow shortly after the Festival, so all produce needs be secured before then.”

Waxerwet then joined in, startling us younger ones with information new to us that we didn’t know she knew. “I thought that the Harvest Festival was held in differing parts of Palarand each year, and we know ’twas in Palarand City last year. Why has the venue not changed for this year? And why is it relatively later this year?”

The Count looked at her with some respect. “Mistress Waxerwet, you have posed good questions there. The reasons are simple and yet complex since they involve the culmination of several factors. Some of those reasons I am unable to speak about without the King’s permission but I yet deem the ones I CAN tell you about are sufficient to explain.

“Much, it might be said, has changed in Palarand in the last year ...”

This statement was greeted by good-natured derision and laughter.

“… and the King has made several proposals to the other rulers in the Great Valley. A convocation has been called and many of the rulers have again descended upon Palarand’s Palace, for, frankly, other venues would not be suitably large and grand enough to host them all. We have also had a war with Yod recently, which, coupled with the ever-increasing population, has meant that little time has been available to prepare a large enough festival ground in Brikant, where the Harvest Festival was due to be held this year. It was deemed that this year the Festival shall be held once again on Palarand City’s Shevesty Field and that the rotation shall begin again in Brikant next year.”

“I see. Thank you, Milord.”

The conversation then drifted off, as good conversations do, onto other subjects and sooner rather than later we found ourselves describing our journey down the valley.

And through that, we got eventually onto the subject of the railroads.

I deem I impressed both the Count and the Countess with my knowledge on the subject for their eyebrows raised on several occasions.

“When we approached the Castle here this morning, we were delayed by some gunpowdering they were doing. It looked very much like a railroad bed was being made in the valley wall there, gently sloping up. But the track was pointing directly at this castle. Now in Haligo we saw an old castle had been demolished to make way for the railroad track, but that is surely not the case here?”

The Count laughed in genuine pleasure as he exchanged a glance with his wife. “Maker! There is no way in which that is ever going to be possible. However, there is a glorious joke present here of which you will be unaware.”

We all looked at him, our attentions captivated by the laughter and the sincerity in his voice.

He grimaced though before continuing. “To our everlasting shame, last year the now Princess Garia was very nearly abducted from this castle. The miscreants managed to get her to walk into one of the lower levels of the castle – you will have gained an idea of our levels from this afternoon’s after-nap introductory tour I took you on – where she and her maid fought them off successfully. That railroad bed you saw being constructed shall pierce the wall of our castle and then the tracks shall be laid along that very tunnel allowing trains to pass THROUGH the castle and out the other side.

“We deem that is the only way we can get a workable railroad track to get round this corner where the two valleys join without demolishing most of the town outside, or without making a tedious climb up high and an equally tedious descent the other side. On that other side of the castle, we shall construct a gallery such that the railroad bed passes on arches built above and across the trade route. This shall be nigh a mark long before there is sufficient edge space for the railroad to run along the very side of the road.”

It was soon established that all this work would take years to achieve, that they were just getting what they could done of the basics before the rains put a stop to it all for nearly a threemonth.

We chatted about some others subjects and I am sure we could have sat there and chatted all the night away.

But the Countess started to feel a little strained and we all raised ourselves to our feet.

And so the most pleasant dinner drew to a close.

The Countess herself still found the energy to conduct us to the seamstresses where they had already managed to make our dresses ready for a final fitting. She left us there and waved herself away, wishing us all a good night.

As for the rest of us, well we indulged ourselves in this department of the castle for about a bell before we too trooped off to our beds.

… … …

“But we are going sideways, not across!”

“Aye, Mistress. ’Tis the strong current, you see. I reckons though as how ’twill be a hand of moments afore ye sees the difference.”

My mind was threatening to reel away into madness.

If I thought yesterday had been a learning experience, then today had been even more so.

We had risen early, done our Tai Chi, enjoyed yet another warm bath, and consumed an excellent breakfast all before the second bell. I noticed on the wall of the small dining room we had used during our stay that the ‘repeater clock’ hung there told us ’twas but a few minutes after half past seven of the morning.

At eight o’clock, we went down to the courtyard into which we had arrived and there we sat on the tail of a dranakh-drawn wagon which left the castle and descended to the North Slip of the ferry. There were the four of us and two of the maids, Prevet and Toria. The wagon had been loaded with our belongings and was being sent ahead of us to minimise any disruption if there was a problem with any of the ferries. (Which precautions made us uneasy about our onward travel, I can tell you!)

Prevet and Toria then led us on a rapid foot tour of Dekarran town and explained that the narrow streets and tight corners were a natural defence – imagine, a maid knowing all this – and yet the entire population could retreat into the castle if it became necessary. She showed us, mostly I admit from vantage points, where various parts of the town were and once again the views of the vastness of the not-so-distant sea were somehow uplifting and yet in a strange way humbling.

There were three distinct areas of the town, we discovered.

Down at the water level was the wharfing area, naturally kept reasonably clear to allow for the rise and fall of the water’s surface.

From there, several short but quite steeply pitched ramps led up to the town area. Which was basically a crowded jumble of buildings either side of the trade route, which was strongly constricted by the buildings. It was teeming with people, wagons, carts, animals and all the rest. And ’twas extremely noisy.

The third level was, of course, the castle which wrapped tightly round the edges of the two valleys and which towered high above everything.

Prevet and Toria then guided us back to the castle where the Count once again showed us round some other parts of the castle, including the ‘Garia Gallery’. We learnt then of the vastnesses hidden within the walls.

Upon returning to the Countess, we had a final chat over a pot of pel with her before a carriage no less took us down to North Slip again, but this time we were surrounded by a file of guards and the Count himself. There we met with the Rangers who all looked as rested and well fed as we did. They had been loaned fresh frayen, all our Blackstone animals being stabled in the castle to recuperate until we returned.

We filed aboard the ferry which soon slid out into the water of the estuary, as we had been informed it was called.

There was so much to see and observe and evaluate as we set out, for the first time in our lives, upon a large boat to cross the largest river any of us had ever seen. I make no apology for my dropping chin and my awe-struck staring.

And the ferry’s crewman was right.

In just about five moments or so, the sideways movement of the boat visibly slowed. For a while there, we seemed to be sitting still, the shore behind us barely receding and the shore in front of us barely approaching. Then suddenly we reached a point where, without noticing, the shore behind had become further away than the shore in front, upon which more and more detail was emerging. Our sideways travel started up again, but this time it seemed we were being swept into the river’s mouth rather than out to sea. I made a mental note to ask about this, but freely confess that the question was lost swiftly in the enormous amount of new information that was pouring into my head.

An extra urgency in the beat-chanter’s voice made the rowers expend extra effort as they fought to cross this current going the other way. The steersman headed the boat at an angle to the bank we were approaching and we soon escaped the might of the current into a relatively sheltered spot.

Now I have said that this was the bank of the mightiest river we had ever seen, but in all honesty, this side was scarce a bank, more a gradual incline towards a flat expanse of ground.

“River’s at its lowest right now, so the slipway is nigh on a mark across to those buildings there,” my friendly ferryman explained. We gawped at the lines of tall poles that were around, scarcely able to credit the ferryman’s statement that after the rains, the poles would be all but submerged.

The Count gently took myself and Prevet to one side, the two of us for propriety you will understand, and he said in a low voice to me: “Don’t pay the ferryman. Don’t even ask the price. This journey, and that of your return are charged to the castle’s account.”

I murmured all our thanks and told him, gently, that the Countess was a lucky woman because he was so wonderful.

I laughed delightedly as he blushed. Prevet, discreetly, nudged me and grinned.

… … …

How can I describe the stagecoach? ’Tis a difficult task. Mayhap ’twould be better were I to begin by describing the reasoning such a vehicle was developed.

Or reasons, rather.

To get passengers swiftly from one place to another, in greater comfort than by riding upon a hard-bedded wagon, and swifter than by being drawn by a dranakh.

Just like the Shuttle set up up in Blackstone and Tranidor, these coaches depart to a strict timetable. This is so that the drivers and passengers all are aware of when to be ready.

There was a baggage compartment hung on the rear wall of the enclosed passenger space, a space that was fitted with a little door on each side, each door served by a set of steps up which the passengers climbed to gain access. The lower step was naturally about a foot off the ground so that it did not scrape as the vehicle progressed.

Inside the … the … the … cabin, I suppose, for ’twas indeed the size of a small pakh-herder’s cabin, there were two rows of padded seats, one against each of the front and rear walls. Across the middle of the cabin, stretching almost between the two doors was an upholstered bench. The sides of the cabin were half-walls above which there were rolls of what looked like leather to me, fastened to the ceiling of our box.

Three people could be seated comfortably on each of the end rows whilst each side of the middle bench could seat two. Thus ten people in all could be conveyed, five facing forward and five rearward. Each seating position had a leather strap dangling close-by for the passenger seated there to grasp onto, thus preventing them from sliding about too much.. The straps were securely fastened to the wooden ceiling that provided shade and some protection in the event of rain showers. The top of this roof was also extra baggage space should it be required, but that day we four Blackstonians, the two maids (Danet had stayed behind in Dekarran to continue to learn to ride a frayen, the two with us having done their lessons successfully) and two strangers, both men, were not travelling with sufficient baggage to make the use of the roof necessary.

Before ascending to the cabin, I and Prevet checked that all our bags had been delivered properly and had been loaded securely. I saw the Count talking earnestly with a man atop our contraption, the man I correctly assumed to be the driver. As we went to get in, the two men who would be travelling with us graciously suggested that we six women took the seats at the front of the cabin for: “It can sometimes get a little dusty towards the rear if the leathern cloths are not lowered over the openings.”

Then one said: “Look you, cousin. The front and rear openings on each side of THIS coach have been fitted with glass. That will keep out more of the dust!”

“Aye, Master!” called the driver from his steering box on the roof at the front. “Soon all the stagecoaches shall have glass windows that you will be able to slide up and down. Such development being driven by several complaints from customers that the interior becomes very dim when all the leather rolls are lowered.”

The two men laughed: “So you DO listen to we who pay your coin, then?”

“Only occasionally,” came the dry reply.

I made sure that Davvy had the corner of the front bench that favoured her one good arm, and that Waxerwet had the other corner; those two being the ones most likely to need the support of double walls. Gyth was seated between them. All three were facing backwards to our direction of travel, facing myself who could study their faces as we went along. Behind my back, and facing the two men seated in the rear were the two maids.

“Luggage compartment checked and tightened down.”

“Thank ’ee,” called our driver down to his assistant on the ground.

There then followed about two moments of comparative silence as we passengers all settled in and all those outside made more preparations. We could hear a few rattles and knocks from above as the driver adjusted his equipment. To my right, the ground assistant passed by heading towards the six frayen held in harness in front of us. He muttered as he almost had to shoulder his way through the mounted guards on that side. They soon got the hint and eased back slightly, affording him some more room.

“Harnesses checked and confirmed,” soon called the other man.

“Thank ’ee,” called our driver down to his assistant once more.

There was then a scrambling noise and a couple of grunts, the entire equipage rocking on the strong springs beneath us that were attached to the wheel axles. I finally worked out that the assistant had scaled the side of the coach to join the driver up there.

“All ready, down below?” came the driver’s voice once more.

The elder of the two men looked at us for confirmation before calling back: “Aye! All ready here, driver.”

Outside and to my left, the guard leader called his men to the alert, and then the driver whistled and clicked and we started off with a slight jerk.

We went along very smoothly for about two hands of casts, the driver using commands and his whip – and much cajoling – to get the six beasts all moving in some sort of harmony.

The elder man at the rear called out gently to us: “Ladies! I suggest you hold on now.”

I was almost too slow to take his meaning and I nearly rolled back into the maids behind me as the carriage suddenly increased its pace until it was going along about as fast as I had ever gone whilst riding a frayen.

Surely they can’t keep up this pace for very long?

Surprise was written over all the three faces that I could see. A low chuckle came from the men behind me.

And then a grunt of surprise.

For Count Terinar’s grinning face now appeared at the door to my right. “Everything alright, Mistresses? We shall be like this for a few marks now.”

“I can scarce believe it, Milord. The poor animals shall be beyond exhaustion by the time we get to Palarand City!”

He grinned back: “Ah! You shall soon see how we deal with that problem. Now, if you shall excuse me, I need a word with my guard commander.” He sketched a sort of salute and increased his pace so that he disappeared from our view towards the front.

Revealing another face grinning at me.

Mompik too was thoroughly enjoying the cantering all the animals were doing.

A low voice behind me asked, in a slightly shocked tone: “Did she just say ‘Milord’?”

Toria’s voice answered him with a mixture of pride and amusement: “Indeed, Master. That was Count Terinar, son of Duke Gilbanar. He and his men are escorting us to Palarand City where we have urgent business with Prince Keren.”

That news seemed to drive the men into a shocked silence so we women studied the countryside to either side, passing comment on all that we saw.

The fields spread out as far as the eye could see. Most of them were vivid with colours as the scurrying figures of the farmers tended the crops. Some fields were empty though, both of people and colour and it took me, us, just a little while to realise that these crops had already been harvested.

We watched fascinated at all the activity on either side of the road and soon began to make some sense of how these people went about their business.

“I wonder if those farmers take a nap in the full heat of the day?”

“Not at this time of year, Mistress,” answered the younger man. “The crops must be brought in and stored afore the rains. ’Tis a very busy time for them all.”

“Why are we slowing?” suddenly asked the older man. “We don’t normally slow here.”

“So you travel this stagecoach regularly, then Master?” asked Waxerwet.

“Indeed, Mistress. We find this arrangement of travelling to be most beneficial. We can conduct our business in the capital and be back home some two days quicker than we used to be able to do.”

Just then the Count pulled up to the window on the right.

He addressed the men first: “Masters, I trust you shall indulge me. We shall be but a quarter of a bell here, for these good Mistresses have travelled all the way down from Blackstone and I would fain show them the battlefield where one of their friends was so infamously killed by the treacherous Yodans.

“Mistresses, the stagecoach would not normally halt here, but as we shall be stopping later at a roadhouse to pass the night, we shall not be delaying any further progress today. Indeed, I doubt we shall be more than half a bell behind the company’s schedule when we get there. I have requested our good driver to allow me to take you to the memorial erected to those that died here that day, amongst them young Jasinet.”

And so it was that we gained even more information, but this time far more sombre in nature. Our two travelling companions asked the Count for permission to accompany our party, and the driver despatched his assistant too when the Count promised to give a full description of the battle.

Four of the guards, who already knew the history, were sent on ahead to warn those involved of what had happened and that the stagecoach had not been attacked or anything. Four more were allocated to holding the animals, which then allowed the driver himself to join in with the history lesson.

And then the Count, with authority, compassion and great tenderness talked us all through the events of that dread day. Where the Yodans came from, how they halted the column, where the desperate defence had taken place and how they fatefully killed a dranakh deliberately. Such was his storytelling power that I for one could almost see the events actually happening around me. The men travelling with us were also deeply moved and very grateful for the detailed explanations.

We Blackstonians were weeping gentle tears as we were led finally to the stone memorial and ran our fingers over the engraved name of our friend. Even Davvy and the maids, who had not known Jasinet, had ‘moisturous eyes’ as we climbed soberly back into the coach.

I arranged for myself to be the last to climb the steps and turned to the Count with one foot on the ground still. I said with as much sincerity as I could pack into my voice: “Milord Terinar, on behalf of all of us, and of all ‘old’ Blackstonians, I thank you for this service you have done us today. I am doubly glad now that we were convinced to continue to the capital rather than just rest in Dekarran. We find it a relief that dear Jasinet, and all the others who gave their lives in defence of our Princess, are not to be so easily forgotten.”

There was little conversation amongst us once the stagecoach had again got up to speed and we rushed onwards. The two men had offered their condolences to the guards and to us and then they too leant back in their seats and allowed us all to think our own thoughts.

… … ...

Not that long afterwards, in the shadow of one of the semaphore stations, the driver slowed again and pulled off the road into a roadhouse. There the mystery of the speed of travel was solved as the six frayen drawing the coach and the eleven frayen beneath the Count, the guards and the Rangers were all replaced! The four guardsmen sent earlier had of course already changed.

The driver announced a halt of just over a quarter bell as opposed to the normal half a bell, that he might recoup some of the time lost by our unscheduled battlefield tour. So we women had a barely dignified visit to the facilities.

It was only at the next stop to change beasts a few bells later that we had time for a refreshing pot of pel. This was the scheduled ‘nap’ stop so we easily made up the rest of the lost time by having a shorter nap. I had not believed we would sleep at all, but we quickly surrendered to our suddenly heavy eyelids.

… … …

“Milord, there are a number of questions that have occurred to me as we hurtled across this part of Palarand. So might we start with the one that is to me the oldest?”

The Count grinned at me, motioning with his hand for me to continue as he chewed his last forkful of main course. A main course that Gyth and I had already rolled our eyes at, with the beginnings of an understanding of what had been meant when the others were more enthusiastic about my Consociation idea.

“That railroad bed, sloping up from the Teldor road and eventually to go into your castle. From my understanding, there is currently a degree of difficulty in producing the steel rails for railroad tracks and that there are still some years to go before all the planned track shall be laid. Why are they working on that right now, as opposed to next year or the year after, or even later?”

A final chew and a quick swallow, accompanied by a little grimace, ensued. He took a quick swig from his mug of ale and then he looked around the table.

He was quite flattered to be the only man at our table, and grateful to the maids who had served him as well as us. The guards and rangers were all seated, apart from the hand of them on duty, at a large table across the dining room. Our two fellow travellers had met some business contacts and were eating with them. The driver and his assistant were seated with their company fellows and their hand gestures told us they were recounting the details of the battle. The rest of the many guests this evening were unknowns, some travelling to the capital, some away from it. Some may even have been making their way cross-country.

“Mistress Julina, I confess to being pleasantly surprised by your knowledge, particularly that of the railroads. Why, you know more than I on many facets of the operation. You may not, however, be aware of the full routing that is planned. Her Highness encouraged us all to ‘think big’ and that is what the planners have done.

“It shall be necessary to have a railroad run through Dekarran. That is absolutely clear.

“You mentioned last e’en that your journey downvalley led you through the gorge at Haligo. And you mentioned also that there was some problem encountered there that forced them to change their plans. They discovered that problem only by trying.

“We are trying to see if there will be a problem that forces plans to change down at Dekarran! If we were to leave it all for another five years then maybe we shall discover that problem THEN and only then try to find a way around it.

“My father decided to try to gain as much advanced warning as would be possible. What you saw is just the planned route to the walls of the castle. It does not mean that we shall yet actually breach the walls. Captain Jokar is already tearing his hair out at the security aspects of allowing trains and strangers access to the lowerish levels of the castle. He insists that the railroad tunnel, or – probably – tunnels, shall be sealed away from other ramps inside the castle. New staircases shall need to be made to provide connections to the levels below and above the tunnels. And things like that. So we need to discover potential problems as soon as we may.

“You would do well to also bear in mind that Her Highness also told us that steel rails are the best, but, treated gently, wooden rails would also function. So all this rail laying might happen sooner than expected.”

And so the evening went on, we women asking the Count and each other many questions. I deem that our chatter eventually drove him away but he was (and is) so good-mannered that we shall never ever know. He was sitting laughing with the guards when we took ourselves to our bedchambers.

… … …

The Tai Chi helped in the morning as had the warm bath, but I cannot in all honesty recommend that roadhouse for either the quality of their mattresses, nor for the quality of their food. Adequate would be the politest expression I could find.

And still they told us that it was one of the better ones on that oh so busy main road.

The two men had managed to get some more business done by riding the rest of the way with some colleagues, in less comfort, but deep in business conversations. ’Twas only after they left that we realised we had never discovered their names.

This morning, the sun had risen at such an angle that some of the rooves of distant Palarand City were reflecting the light towards us. We had seen the city the evening, or late afternoon to be more accurate, before, when we arrived. A distant blob with a barely discernible skyline on a seeming platform that was raised slightly above the surrounding countryside. This morning it looked somehow a little more real.

When we were all ready to board and ’twas discovered the men would not be with us, the Count had another word with the driver.

“There are only the women with you today. I would propose that you take them directly to their destination, I can guide you through the city. This saves them having to dismount at the market, gather their baggages and then hire someone or something to carry them the rest of the way. I shall make it alright with your masters and would be personally grateful were you to do that. You know by now who I am, and you could tell them, if necessary, that I commandeered you …?”

“Milord, that won’t be necessary. I would be glad to do that small service. Blackstone Hotel is not far from the refurbishment facility we shall eventually end up at, so it will actually shorten our journey slightly. I will send a semaphore now to tell them what we shall be doing.”

So it was that we departed a hand of moments after the scheduled departure but soon we were bowling along again at the usual rapid canter.

… … …

Palarand City is larger in area than Tranidor, but only if you do not include Tranidors West and South. The streets of the capital are narrower and twistier. There are more buildings in Palarand City, squashed in more tightly. And more workshops. And a lot more steam engines, all pouring out smoke and vapour which added to the unaccustomed heaviness of the air.

Our driver did his best to name things, point out places of interest and so on, but did finally realise we were getting overwhelmed with all the information. However, there were indeed some interesting facts that emerged that we could all recall afterwards!

I, for some reason, remember particularly clearly one of his statements: “The City has built up over the years from the original which was, as far as anyone can tell, founded by the Chivans. They had constructed a strong (for those times) fort here, placed on the centre of the raised part of the land. They also built many other things they deemed a fort town required; for example a huge arena for sports and other audience-involved ‘meetings’.

“Nowadays, the old fort, most of it that is, is in what is known as the Old Town. And they recently discovered the sporting arena as being beneath the soil of what is nowadays known as the Shevesty Field, where the Harvest Festival is to be held tomorrow.”

We gawped all around when we got to the Old Town to see if we could see any of that ancient fort the driver had told us about.

Hah!

The Count explained loudly to all of us, guards as well as coach passengers, some more facts.

Remarkably, the great sprawl of the modern Palace actually straddles the walls of the Old Fort. New parts of the Palace contrast starkly with the other parts – both the old and also the even older parts!

But I must say the flag flying atop the tallest tower of that enormous Palace was strangely proud, strong and reassuring.

We turned a sharp corner, almost too difficult for the coach to negotiate but our driver did manage, much to the disgruntlement of other road users, and I had to gasp. The sunlight was coming at just the right angle to reflect from some glass windows of a building close by. The effect was to cast pools of glorious gold onto the street surface. For a fanciful moment, I imagined that this might have been the origin of the old tale about Palarand City, but I swiftly realised that that saying had been around a lot longer than glass windows.

Surprising to us was also the number of women we saw riding frayen. Even though some were only doing so to make some obscure statement rather than out of necessity. Those ones were easy to recognise; they looked like they spent more time in the hair-styling rooms than in the saddle. Why would women need to ride about the town? Surely they could easily walk?

The driver did take a slight detour to take us past Blackstone House, where there was also a flag flying. The same colours as the one we saw shortly afterwards flying atop Blackstone Hotel – the House Blackstone colours. We arrived at the Hotel after just a turn or two in the streets from the House and pulled up outside. The stagecoach could have turned into the courtyard but the driver doubted he would have room to turn around and get out again! Six harnessed frayen require a good deal of space.

A squad of men and women exited the building and gathered round us as we descended from our most comfortable transport.

A large man, obviously in charge, came forward, scanning the six of us as he approached. His briefing must have been good (thanks no doubt to the Countess and her semaphores) for he made straight for me after seeing the colour of my hair. He got all our names right as he said: “Mistress Julina, welcome to the Blackstone Hotel. And Mistresses Waxerwet, Gythy and Davabet. My name is Gullbrand and I run these two establishments on behalf of Her Highness.”

I must confess that I was showing off my own briefing as well as my abilities when I replied; «Milord Gullbrand! Good day!» in as best an Einnlander accent as I could muster in their language.

---