A Journey

A Journey

                "So, how long are we really going to be walking for? It's already been more than half an hour and I've been imprisoned for a long while and walked all morning," the mage said.

                "About another hour to Piefern, and then we'll ride for Ovidden," replied Sable.

                "What? Ugh. I guess that's not too bad," said the mage. "Would you care to have a conversation to pass the time? I've not had the chance to have one in a very, very long time."

                "If you wish. Do not forget that you are now my prisoner, and that I will kill you if you attempt to flee," responded Sable.

                The mage chuckled. "No chance of that. I knew you'd be a stone-cold customer, but not this cold," he said, swiftly catching up to Sable. For someone imprisoned at least nine thousand years he was quite spry on his feet - though accounts indicated that the manner of imprisonment maintained the prisoners' good health.

                Sable remained silent, which prompted him to continue. "My name is Seth, just so we're on equal terms with all that," he said. "I only know your name from a... vision of sorts, I had while in my prison. And the vision ended pretty abruptly so - well - perhaps you could tell me a bit about the lay of the land?"

                "We're currently in Dafer. It covers a little bit of the north-west of this forest. To the south-west is Merisomet - where I come from. Merisomet contains most of the western edge of this forest. Directly to the west is Faron, which avoids the forest entirely. Not much of the forest lies within any land - although most of the nastier horrors locked up within have long since escaped.

                "We're heading to the town of Ovidden which is the capital of a rich and well-populated barony. There is a man - a liaison for the war preparations - who I'll take you to meet when we get there," said Sable.

                "That was... Informative and completely lifeless. Do you hate me that much?" the mage asked.

                "No. I'm not sure how to react to you, and it's not worth figuring it out until we get back to Ovidden," replied Sable.

                "You could just... smile or have emotion in your voice or something. How about you tell me about this war effort? It'll help you get revenge for something, right?"

                "Yes. Revenge for the deaths of my parents, my brothers and sisters, and countless other relatives." Sable paused for a moment before continuing. "Merisomet is a country much like this one - many levels of nobility and even royalty at the top. The low-kings, however, decided that they did not want a high-king anymore. They gained the support necessary to depose the high-king violently, and then they had to reward their supporters."

                "Though the coup was initially bloodless - the low-kings managed to kill the high-king and all in line for the throne quickly - it quickly became otherwise. The low-kings had promised their supporters much - more than they could give of what they took from the high-king. So, even though those who had not outright sided with the low-kings - even those who had not been asked - were called traitors to the new order, and many put to death as 'examples'.

                "This caused the war the low-kings had mostly managed to avoid - a few powerful Dukes did not simply hand themselves in for the killing or flee. But my family were merely lords of a barony. The Duke's men showed up on the day of the proclamation of treachery, and imprisoned them. I arrived home just in time to see them executed from afar. After that, I fled. I could have fought in the army of another Duke, but I would not have had a chance to kill the greedy count my family were killed for. Nor really any of those whose grasping hands had to be paid with bloodshed."

                "Uh," said the mage, unsure how to respond. After a few minutes walked in silence he said, "That's horrible. I can see why revenge drives you."

                Sable sighed and grimaced in response before speaking. "The war effort," she said, "is what I call the preparations being made throughout Dafer to invade Merisomet and install the king of this land - who happens to be legitimately next in line for the throne due to an old marriage alliance - as the high-king of Merisomet, thus restoring the old order. The low-kings are unprepared, but if they are not taken by surprise they could easily raise armies to crush any invading force. So, we prepare, and liase with the rebellions brewing in Merisomet.

                "But mostly we prepare, and prepare, and prepare. I've been aiding in preparations for ten years, and there has still been no war. Instead, the king of Dafer continues to pretend that he will renounce his claim or might recognise the abolition of the title, and plays at not having any designs to claim the high throne of Merisomet - and making it seem like his grandchildren may, to allay suspicion."

                "I see. What do you actually do as part of the war effort?"

                "Training, mostly. This land has few professional soldiers or mercenaries - even Merisomet only has great knightly orders to patrol the forest. As a cover I carry out patrols, and even wander here in the forest, for whichever lord I am serving. It is my second year in Ovidden, and I have spent eight years training heavy infantry in two other baronies."

                "Are you training heavy infantry here too?"

                "Yes. Obviously."

                "Oh, uh, are there any other trainers?"

                "There should be. A pair - light infantry training and support corps training - were supposed to arrive about three months ago. In fact, the liaison is only in Ovidden to greet them, which is lucky for you. The whole thing is... somewhat secret, so getting into contact with one of them can be difficult."

                "Well, thank you for offering to take me to meet one!"

                "That's fine. How about you talk about yourself for a while? I have said enough."

                "Yeah, if I was a spy or something you'd be toast! ... That was a very vicious glare. Alright. Well, I come from another world, one in which portals don't leave massive scars hanging around like in this one - uh, I can see them, in case that made you wonder okay. It was a nice place, but magic was weak within it, so I left via a portal to a 'portal hub' which are usually pretty strange, small realities with a lot of portals connecting to them.

                "I stayed there for a long time, until I stole a particular gem and then got into a fight with those sent to reclaim it - a pretty violent fight actually, with a lot of collateral damage. I was subdued (which actually involved killing me and then sticking me back together which is definitely not possible here) and then imprisoned there. I guess they ran out of prison space, which is unsurprising, and decided to dump us all here where we'd be someone else's problem."

                "That matches the tales. It is good of you to tell the truth."

                "Oh, I do that more often than I should, really. Actually, that was part of how I got caught in the first place. Now anyway, I have some other questions: what sort of reward or payment will I get if they do desire my skills? Say, if I'm incredibly useful. And what can I do with that money? Can I create my own estate or such?"

                "What I said about being granted a Duchy was no lie. Many will fall in the war, and unlike Merisomet Dafer has fertile (though dangerous) land beyond its borders that no man has claim to - should you be strong enough to be granted a title you would certainly be strong enough to set yourself up there. If your contribution is less, a county or a barony - though perhaps these area of each of these is smaller than you are used to. They are certainly far smaller than those in the Great Duchies to the south. My family would have been mere baronets there.

                "Dafer, Merisomet, Faron, and the countries beyond Faron - our north-western corner of the continent we live upon has very many nobles and kings for the space it occupies. I don't know why, but if I was made to guess, it is the flippancy with which titles are granted and the grandness of titles for often rather small patches of land."

                "Very interesting, Miss Sable. I think I believe you in return. Thank you greatly for the conversation; and may we reach Ovidan quickly."

                "It's said Ovidden."

                "That's what I said! Oh, stop glaring."