"Well. You're best off out of there. Sit down, you're trembling, help me eat this, goodness, did she expect me to eat it all? Good thing I'm hungry, after all."
The l ady shuffled meat and peas and placed the side dish with half of each in front of Liz.
" Liz . . . tell me more about this world. Start with why the troops are here."
Liz blinked. World? Must be an expression, where she comes from. How very odd. "They, well some troop or other, come by three times a year. They train with the local troops and the citizen's militia, so we're ready if either the Marchessaus come back down from the northwest, or the Arbolians decide to add us to their empire. Some times bandits form up a large group and cause problems too. So we all fight. Well, the able bodied over fourteen and under fifty. The women are supposed to be either archers, healers, watchers or couriers, but a lot of them get sent off to be cooks and such. I'm not very good with a bow, so I mostly ran courier duty. They're early, on account of the mild winter we've had."
" Hmm, all right, how will that affect me, as a visitor." Her brows drew together. "Not that I have the slightest idea of where to go when I've finished visiting."
" I don't know." Liz admitted. "I suppose you could ride courier duty with me."
" Well, I don't know where anything is, and I have a baby, so perhaps I had better look into the healing part of your organization, in the unlikely event anyone expects me to join in."
" Umm, M'lady? Where are you going?"
" Away. I . . . am fleeing, and I don't really remember why." She frowned and her eyes were distant. "I don't remember. I don't have anyplace to go to , so I suppose I'll stay here for a bit, and move on when it seems like time to go. I must have wandered around the hills west of here for almost a month before I spotted smoke from the town. Not a bad way to live, but a bit boring."
" Oh, umm, if this were a normal winter, you wouldn't say that."
" Perhaps not. So, does everyone just drop all their work and go do this militia stuff?"
" Only for a few hours on three afternoons. Then we have a festival day, with all the groups working together. It won't start for a week. They'll drill with the baron's men for the first week. They're the important part, the militia is a last ditch, desperate sort of thing." Liz tapped her fingers. "I don't have a horse for the courier's group, anyway."
" Take Phantom, he'll be ready for some exercise in a week, if not sooner".
Liz gulped. "He's, um, a bit heavy for the courier's."
The l ady smirked. "He's also fast. You'll see."
They picked through the meal, fed and changed Quail, and sought their beds.
As she drifted off, Liz wondered a bit at the sudden turn her fortunes had taken. How long would it last, and what she would do, where she would go, if this strange lady left as abruptly as she'd arrived?
Chapter Three
Tuesday, February 17, 3493 AD
Jeramtown, Arrival
T he bath was occupied by officers. Liz scowled and went to the kitchen for hot water. So the lady managed, if not a bath, at least to get clean. She opted first for her riding clothes, and Quail on her shoulder, sought the barn. Phantom was as big and black as Liz remembered, and when she led him out into the yard, even the bright morning sun couldn't point up any faults to his conformation.
A straggle of the troops came out and admired him too.
"Where did you find a horse like that?" One of the young officers from last night, the closest one to nice, walked around the stallion.
" I bred him myself, in the Kingdom of the West, which, as the tavern keeper mentioned, isn't known here. I suppose it could be so far west it's east."
" Never heard of it." The officer circled the horse again. "Will you sell him?"
" No." The lady looked at Liz. "Do you have any ideas about the going rates for stud fees around here?"
" For him? Twenty crits, at least, no doubt going up after he's got foals on the ground to point at for quality."
The
The l ady shuffled meat and peas and placed the side dish with half of each in front of Liz.
" Liz . . . tell me more about this world. Start with why the troops are here."
Liz blinked. World? Must be an expression, where she comes from. How very odd. "They, well some troop or other, come by three times a year. They train with the local troops and the citizen's militia, so we're ready if either the Marchessaus come back down from the northwest, or the Arbolians decide to add us to their empire. Some times bandits form up a large group and cause problems too. So we all fight. Well, the able bodied over fourteen and under fifty. The women are supposed to be either archers, healers, watchers or couriers, but a lot of them get sent off to be cooks and such. I'm not very good with a bow, so I mostly ran courier duty. They're early, on account of the mild winter we've had."
" Hmm, all right, how will that affect me, as a visitor." Her brows drew together. "Not that I have the slightest idea of where to go when I've finished visiting."
" I don't know." Liz admitted. "I suppose you could ride courier duty with me."
" Well, I don't know where anything is, and I have a baby, so perhaps I had better look into the healing part of your organization, in the unlikely event anyone expects me to join in."
" Umm, M'lady? Where are you going?"
" Away. I . . . am fleeing, and I don't really remember why." She frowned and her eyes were distant. "I don't remember. I don't have anyplace to go to , so I suppose I'll stay here for a bit, and move on when it seems like time to go. I must have wandered around the hills west of here for almost a month before I spotted smoke from the town. Not a bad way to live, but a bit boring."
" Oh, umm, if this were a normal winter, you wouldn't say that."
" Perhaps not. So, does everyone just drop all their work and go do this militia stuff?"
" Only for a few hours on three afternoons. Then we have a festival day, with all the groups working together. It won't start for a week. They'll drill with the baron's men for the first week. They're the important part, the militia is a last ditch, desperate sort of thing." Liz tapped her fingers. "I don't have a horse for the courier's group, anyway."
" Take Phantom, he'll be ready for some exercise in a week, if not sooner".
Liz gulped. "He's, um, a bit heavy for the courier's."
The l ady smirked. "He's also fast. You'll see."
They picked through the meal, fed and changed Quail, and sought their beds.
As she drifted off, Liz wondered a bit at the sudden turn her fortunes had taken. How long would it last, and what she would do, where she would go, if this strange lady left as abruptly as she'd arrived?
Chapter Three
Tuesday, February 17, 3493 AD
Jeramtown, Arrival
T he bath was occupied by officers. Liz scowled and went to the kitchen for hot water. So the lady managed, if not a bath, at least to get clean. She opted first for her riding clothes, and Quail on her shoulder, sought the barn. Phantom was as big and black as Liz remembered, and when she led him out into the yard, even the bright morning sun couldn't point up any faults to his conformation.
A straggle of the troops came out and admired him too.
"Where did you find a horse like that?" One of the young officers from last night, the closest one to nice, walked around the stallion.
" I bred him myself, in the Kingdom of the West, which, as the tavern keeper mentioned, isn't known here. I suppose it could be so far west it's east."
" Never heard of it." The officer circled the horse again. "Will you sell him?"
" No." The lady looked at Liz. "Do you have any ideas about the going rates for stud fees around here?"
" For him? Twenty crits, at least, no doubt going up after he's got foals on the ground to point at for quality."
The
Similar Books
Monument 14 2.5 - What Mario Scietto Says
Emmy Laybourne
A Long Road Back: Final Dawn: Book 8
Darrell Maloney
Murder & the Married Virgin
Brett Halliday
Diamond Solitaire
Peter Lovesey
The True Account
Howard Frank Mosher
Waiting for Something
Whitney Tyrrell
Forsaken - Book 2 (Star Crossed MC Lovers)
Sierra Rose
The Love of Her Life
Harriet Evans
Ask Me
Kimberly Pauley
Vampire's Forbidden Territory (Sídhí Summer Camp Series #2)
Jodie B. Cooper