Chapter 47 – Waystation One
I had no idea how many hours had passed. We all took turns napping, broken up by conversation, with the occasional bickering, usually between Cori and Mariana. I didn't particularly care what it was about, but it seemed far more political than I was expecting. Cori had thoughts about nobility and wasn't shy about sharing them.
Eira had apparently gotten into a discussion with Smitty about those smut novels the kobold enjoyed so much. I had thought she only collected them for the art on them, but it turns out she was quite the avid reader. The things they discussed brought a blush to my face. I had read some of them, but I had no idea the depths of licentiousness they got to.
Myth seemed to be either napping or meditating. I could not tell which, but either way, I did not want to disturb her.
Helena focused on driving the birds down the road. Another person not to disturb.
I hated to admit it, but I was bored. I couldn't practice mana regulation, for obvious reasons. And everyone was busy with their own tasks and conversations.
This was not a good sign. We weren't even a full day into the journey, and it would easily take two or three to get to the border. Another day to get to the kobold village. And hopefully only another to get to the abandoned fortress to complete our mission.
I really should have brought something to do. Boredom was not the most ideal mental state. Your mind tended to wander, and it could go to dark places. Your mind on quests and journeys was often the greatest enemy.
In the other seasons, many travelers played songs or had travel games they had developed, but in winter, even with a heating crystal, you needed to stay bundled up to the point that it made such things too difficult. We could tell stories, but I wasn't sure how much I wanted to deal with everyone's attempts at entertainment.
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Our journey wasn't very interesting, much to my chagrin. We stayed at a few inns overnight, the food and lodging adequate, but disappointing compared to the fare I had become used to back in Revenstahd. This was to be expected, I supposed. Winter time wasn't a great time for traveling, and the roadside inns did their best considering the lack of business.
That said, I was glad we hadn't had to resort to sleeping outside yet. There would be plenty of that to look forward to on the mountain. It loomed ahead of us, like an edifice of doom. Well, ok, less doom and more 'snow-capped annoyance.'
The mountain had a name, I had no doubt, but I had never bothered to learn it, and it didn't show up on the Dungeon School maps under any particular name. Neither did the fortress we were going to approach.
It just occurred to me that we would be able to name the dungeon once we 'discovered' it. I did find that a very entertaining concept.
I stewed over possible ideas as we rolled ever closer to the mountain in question, the border growing nearer and nearer. The mental exercise kept my mind off my nervousness about crossing the border.
I had heard much about the Burgotovan border becoming harder to cross in the past months, ever since my sister's wedding announcement. I wished I knew exactly what was going on, but that was why we were making this trip. Well, this, and the dungeon stuff. So many things to keep track of.
I really wanted this entire stupid trip to be over already. Eira pulled me close, no doubt sensing my emotions. I appreciated the feeling of her being pressed against me. I wished we had more time to be intimate, but this sort of journey wasn't the place for it.
"You doing ok, sweetness?" She asked, her voice bright but still concerned.
"Just nervous. My brain keeps going over all the different ways this can go wrong, and that's just the crossing." I admitted, nestling deeper into the softness of her winter gear. It made her into the perfect pillow for snuggling.
Mariana shot me a judgmental look, but I didn't give half a damn what she thought. Though I wasn't sure if it was a look of jealousy, prejudice, or some other stupider third emotion.
"We'll be ok! If it doesn't work, we'll try a different idea. If they try to get handsy, we'll break their hands, easy-peasy." She laughed as she said it.
"Thanks, that does help. I admit I wouldn't mind finding an excuse to crack some heads. So much pent-up frustration. Pent up other feelings too." I smiled and waggled my eyebrows at her.
She giggled and gave me a smooch on my forehead. I loved it when she did that. I nestled deeper into her warmth.
We sat like that for a time, as everyone chattered about this and that. Soon, I felt the wagon slow up.
"We're getting close to the border crossing, gals. Get yourself ready. Especially Marchesi and Togalli. We'll need those invites. I got the Letters of Marque from the school and the guilds, so they won't ask too many questions. They're in the pouch behind my seat." Helena called from the front of the wagon.
I heard some kind of shouted instruction as the wagon slowed to a stop. We all climbed out of the wagon and passed out the required documents to everyone.
I could hear Helena talking to someone for a moment, though I couldn't make out the words. We sort of milled around the outside of the wagon, waiting for the inevitable document check.
I did some mental calculations and realized that we were just outside Waystation One.
I wasn't entirely sure how many there were, but this was the oldest of them, and as a result, the soldiers stationed here seemed to have been given a stiff stick up their rectums as standard issue equipment.
They seemed to think there was some kind of prestige to it, but it was just a duty station for those deemed not good enough for the city guard, or even the royal army. I could almost taste the pretension in the air.
Soon, a guard approached us.
"Papers." He barked at us brusquely. I see social graces were still lacking in the guard training. I grimaced as he took our documents and appeared to look over them intently.
Theatre, the lot of it. It was so deeply irritating. He stopped for a moment and looked over the wedding invitations, and looked at me and Togalli with a hard stare for a long moment.
"Noble wedding, huh. The one with the insurrectionists?" He said suddenly, with a tone of amusement more than anything.
"Sadly, yes. Unavoidable, but needs must, you understand." Mariana said with her best impression of a proper noble. Which she was at one point, but that was neither here nor there.
"It's a lucky thing they sent you one. You're on the exile list, but exceptions were made for the wedding. And these are your retinue?" He looked at everyone. We made for a really motley crew, when I think about it. A kobold, a human, a dwarf, two Burgotovan elves, a wood elf, and a half-elf. Lots of pointy ears to go around.
"Mine and hers," Mariana said, pointing at me. Oh, thanks a lot, I was really hoping to keep attention off me as long as possible. The guard turned and looked at me before turning his eyes to the invitation. He looked at it for a long while.
"Marchesi? Am I reading this right?" He asked, his eyebrows raised.
"Yes. Is there a problem? I know I'm in exile too, but I do have the proper papers." I had a sinking feeling forming in my guts, and I know it wasn't because of the lackluster porridge I had for breakfast.
"Please give me just a moment. Don't go anywhere." He quickly jogged back to the guard station.
"What did you do, Marchesi?" Mariana hissed at me angrily. "You'd better not have done something illegal on top of getting kicked out. That would be so typical of you! I swear by the gods above and below!"
"Oh, stuff it! What ever is happening is not my fault you unrepentant boob priestess!" I flipped a rude gesture at her.
"Ah, how I've missed that attitude! It's been a while, Alta!" A male voice called out. We all turned to look at the speaker.
He was tall, blonde-haired, his skin the sort of tan one gets from the sun shining off the white snow. His face had a wide smile on it, and was familiar to me.
"Lucio!" I exclaimed and ran forward and embraced him. Of all of my family, he was one of the few I actually liked. He and his twin, Elio.
"Such a lack of decorum! I suppose it is fine!" He said, his smile defying his words as he returned my embrace, picking me off the ground. We held the embrace for a few moments before he set me down.
"What are you doing here, Lucio? Shouldn't you be at home, preparing for the wedding?" I asked, backing up.
"Our dear parents decided that both myself and Elio would better serve the family elsewhere. We were, for lack of a better term, uninvited." His smile turned to a grimace. I knew him well enough to know he was angry about it, but he worked hard to never let anyone see his anger.
"Where is Elio then?" I missed him as well, and was sad he wasn't here to greet me, too.
"They stuck him all the way over at Waystation 15 near the Tarkotan border by the port. He's loving it. Says he gets to go fishing every day. You know him." He shrugged.
I was sad that he was so far away, but at least he was happy. Lucio was definitely not enjoying the mountain pass duty.
"Well, there's that at least. As much as it breaks my heart to leave, Lucio, me and my party really need to get going to make it to the wedding on time." I really meant that. I wanted to spend some time catching up with my older brother.
"As much as I would love to do that, sis, I have to detain you for a little bit. Hopefully it won't take terribly long." He frowned. It was an expression I wasn't used to on him.
"But, my party-" I started to retort.
"They can stay inside the waystation and warm up. I need to speak to you. Just the two of us." His eyes shifted to the side, indicating both my companions and the other guards.
Oh, this was serious. Very serious. And so very typically. I cursed my luck and my fortunes. I turned to my friends and teacher.
"Sorry, gals, this might take a while." I shrugged and made the best, most apologetic expression I could manage.
Everyone groaned with annoyance as a team of guards led them inside the station along with the wagon.
"Don't look so sad, sister, it'll be a good time to catch up, have some spiced tea." His usual smile appeared. "And you can explain all this news about you having duels, I keep hearing tell of."
I winced at his words. Oh no.