Harou seemed to feed off her excitement, he panted happily beneath his rider, his tail wagged, and he let out a joyful howl just before her heels dug into the soft rich gray fur of his body. They barrelled towards Travelers Hill together. The soft thud of her greater dire wolf's paws over the ground were like the rapidity of a wardrum, but that was nothing compared to the sound of her own beating heart. Nalineth leaned down against his body and clung to the rough of her mount's great neck. It was still a fair distance from where they were to where they were going, but nothing for her mount.
The distance faded away little by little, and with it, the little fort grew larger and larger. Which is not to say it was exactly sizable, as she drew closer to it she saw it for what it was. A minor, insignificant outpost. A mere waystation, a place for merchants to rest in safety behind walls before going west to trade with the Kekansi, or north to trade with the Ongeku.
The walls were simple wood at first glance, but as she drew closer, she felt a tingle in her skin, a tingle she knew very well. Her hairs stood on end, 'Magic. Someone used magic on these walls and… the gate?' She realized in the same instant a guard at the wall readied a bow and called down to her.
"Name and business!" He shouted with the booming confidence of someone who at least 'thought' themselves strong.
She got a good look at him from atop the wolf she rode, he was young, around her age if she were to judge. A faint beard on his suntanned skin, and he wore black chainmail armor over green leather beneath. His arms were protected by the many small connected links, and his head protected by a solid round cap that extended down to his cheeks and matched the color of his mail. On his back was a halberd secured in a leather device that she could see was slung over his shoulder. 'Smart, keep the melee weapon ready but not in the way.' She mused to herself as she appraised the rest of him. In his hands the bow tensed and for a moment she wondered how ready he was to really shoot… and then she saw him relax somewhat, easing the draw. 'Oh, I see. So as to warn… but not put off travelers. How inviting.' She thought somewhat dryly.
"Nalineth of House Pendar! And I'm an adventurer… sort of! Looking to stay the night and maybe find some work!" She called up and kept a pleasant smile on her youthful face. Her white teeth, long black hair, and slender, fit, warrior frame often led to attention from the men of her own people, but this was her first test of her charms on one of the Newcomers. She felt his eyes move up and down over her as the man assessed not a threat, but a woman. She felt him relax before he physically did so.
'Foreign men are still men, or so it would seem.' She thought with some amusement when he said to her, "Wait there, 'Sort of Adventurer' we'll open the gate and you can register for a night." He had a spark of amusement of his own in the way he spoke, before he descended to the stairs behind him and she heard the sound of a bar being removed and dropping with a thud.
She looked behind her from atop the hill and then scanned the horizon. The trees were cut back by the length of two bowshots, and near the fort itself in each direction there were a few small farms that dotted the landscape. A single small home, and some tilled fields. That gave Nalineth pause. She heard the creak of the double gate, but she was more interested in the farming.
Nalineth's mind raced 'No wonder they're concerned back home. Farmers are not passersby, they stay, they work, they live and die in the fields. Farmers mean people, and farmers need protection, security. All that needs things, metal workers to replace tools, finished goods, places to stay… In another hundred years, this isolated fort may be the centerpiece of a large town's defense, or become a castle protecting a great city at the crossroads of trade between the Kekansi and Ongeku.'
For a moment she patted herself mentally on the back for her foresight, then she snorted in another moment which was dominated by self awareness that she was just imagining one scenario. 'Get it together Nalineth, guesses aren't the same as knowing things. You're not a Lumase.' She snorted again just as the gate finished opening and the soldier of medium build and moderate height exited with halberd at the ready and a companion at his back. The one at his back was stooped, older, and walked like he had a perennial stick permanently shoved up his ass. His fingers were obviously thickly calloused and he was dressed in brightly colored silk clothing that seemed utterly at odds with the more practical field wear of either the soldier or those she saw past them in the interior.
The stooped old human held a clipboard in one hand and ink with a quill in the other.
"Can you write?" He asked in a creaky voice that sounded slightly condescending. His shifty, nervous eyes annoyed Nalineth immediately, as did his question.
"In both our languages, old man." She turned up her nose at him and thrust her hand down at an angle, he looked surprised briefly, but approached and held the document and ink out to her.
She turned up her nose to the functionary and scribbled down her information while giving a silent thanks to her father's foresight. 'Thank you father, for having the wisdom to ensure I'm educated in the Newcomers written language. I wouldn't want to begin this by seeming ignorant or uneducated.' She suppressed the shudder at the narrowly avoided mortification, finished the document quickly and handed it back.
He took it gingerly and looked it over. "You want to stay till you've found work… going east?" The functionary looked up at her with surprise. "Most of your kind look for work that takes them north or west…"
"My kind? I'm a human, old man. Same as you." Nalineth looked daggers down at him.
He was nonplussed, "Well, yes, but that's beside the point. But it's your life, go where you like, just follow our laws while here. Welcome to Traveler's Hill, your wolf can stay with you as long as he's tamed enough to keep from reacting badly to the other beasts." The old bureaucrat shuffled away with the same stick up his ass posture and seemingly forgot about her.
The guard however, did not, he actually blushed a bit with embarrassment. "Don't mind him. He's old, from a part of the Empire that has… well… some backwards attitudes about some things still."
"It doesn't really make for a warm welcome though." She frowned a bit, "He doesn't make for a good first impression." She shook her head vigorously.
"Well, fortunately, 'I' am your first impression." He spoke up enthusiastically and glanced over his shoulder and grinned when he saw a soldier rising up the steps to take his position. His arms opened widely, "My shift just ended, so let me welcome you to Traveler's Hill!" He said it with even greater enthusiasm and a broad and generous smile spread out over his face.
"It isn't much, but it's a simple fort, nothing like the colonies further east, of course they're not much yet either, not compared to back home!" He turned on his heel and let her fall in beside him, still riding her wolf.
'He seems to have absolutely no fear of Harou. Is he stupid? Is he just that strong or that confident? Or does he simply lack any fear of death?' She glanced down at him where he walked at her right side. Harou seemed equally interested, as if he understood the human meant no harm… but also intrigued the great beast. She wondered if her questions were shared by her wolf.
"So you weren't born in the colonies?" Nalineth asked him with interest.
"Oh by the bones of god, no." He shook his head, "None of us were. I was born in Hoburns. In the Holy Roble Kingdom." He pointed to one of his peers in matching armor, a man who stood at the head as tall as the direwolf and had an obviously very mixed heritage, elven ears, odd, bark-like skin, and a very human face, he was a mass of muscle even obvious through the armor he wore. "Borli over there was born in the slaughterlands."
"Slaughterlands?" Nalineth asked with interest.
Her escort nodded his head gravely, "Old beastman empire territory, after they were wiped out, or rather, while they were being wiped out, some of the areas that were occupied by the great commanders included 'ranches' of people who were raised for food like livestock. The beastmen empires had practiced selective breeding to try to raise 'meatier' food. His ancestors were among the liberated. Not everyone is as big as he is but… the ones who are, well I'm glad he's on my side in any fight."
"I can see why." Nalineth said softly, "By the way, I didn't get your name." She looked down at him and away from the behemoth while she rocked slightly back and forth on the slowly walking wolf.
"Just call me Jord." He shrugged. "Anyway, most of us are here because we wanted some kind of an adventure, so we joined one of the martial branches or came to the colonies and joined on arrival."
"I get that, that's why I want to go east." Nalineth said enthusiastically. "I've been hearing stories about you Newcomers since I was little, but except for seeing a single merchant when I was little, and that through a window, I never got the chance."
"Well, I hope we don't disappoint. I've seen my share of Ongeku people and you're a… unique people, very different from us in a lot of unexpected ways." He nodded at his own statement, emphasizing the words even more.
"Do you dislike our customs?" She asked slightly frostily, pursing her lips until he denied the question.
"Not at all, it's novel, but… what can I say? I'm Empire born and proud of it, your people are fine… it's just… I don't want to offend you, but may I speak my mind honestly?" He said, rubbing the back of his head uncomfortably.
"Go on." She said and folded her arms in front of her chest.
"You're not the friendliest folk, given the reception you got from our resident paper pusher, I realize I may seem out of line in saying that but… my people are very cosmopolitan, except for a few stubborn old holdouts, we don't much mind big differences between a place like the far east and the west, or north and south. We all follow the same god and share the same loyalties, we're just used to different traditions. But when your people see us living as we do… it's hard not to feel like we're resented."
Nalineth felt a little embarrassment come to her face. "Old grudges, my people tend to hold them for some time… and we are proud of our ways, our traditions, and many feel they should still hold sway where you Newcomers live."
"You?" Jord asked her with interest.
Nalineth pulled her long hair to her front and fidgeted with it, rolling her fingers through the long shining dark hair. "I know more than some, about the past. I want to know more of your people in the present. Perhaps if we come to know one another better, we can make room for both our ways."
"Yeah. It's a big world." Jord grinned pleasantly up at her as they reached the other side of the fort. He pointed to a stall, "Your wolf can remain there, and you should stay near him, it'll keep horses at ease, merchants come and go from here, and you can approach them or wait to be approached." He leaned forward towards her as she dismounted with a deft jump near to where he stood.
He whispered it almost as if he were passing on a secret, and she instinctively leaned closer to catch what he said. "Listen I know the old bastard didn't mention it, but you can stay longer than a day if you want to, merchants come and go from here, though mostly 'go' right now. The return trips are maybe a week or two out. Take some jobs going west, make some Empire coin so you'll have spending money when you go east. That's my advice, Nalineth."
"Good advice, I will rest now, then join the fire tonight, you drink then, yes?" She asked hopefully, and she was rewarded with twinkling brown eyes.
"We feast like beasts and drink like fish, yes. Perhaps I'll see you then?" He asked hopefully.
"Yes, perhaps." She said and licked her lips at the prospect of the beer to come. 'We have that much in common, at least.' She thought to herself, her mouth filled with saliva as she thought about the food and drinks to come, and she wiped her mouth with a bit of embarrassment as he chuckled and left her to settle in.
Maeli listened intently as Latchi spoke. The deep blue hair of the woman shifted like it was alive with every vigorous motion and gesture of the warrior woman. She was transfixed by the zealous gaze of the dark eyes staring back at her. "You have to understand," Latchi said softly and somewhat reluctantly, "these are very dangerous people. That mage we took down, she killed three. Their warriors are brave and well equipped. My twenty was once forty. We've abandoned pitched battles, we're not using ambushes and deception. But we always have to know our way to escape. For you to be of help to us, we want you to embrace the foreign. Embrace the Newcomers like you are one of them. Use any excuse you can name, but make it believable. Be one of them, some Ongeku have done this sincerely… they're our targets too." Latchi clenched her jaw and her fists when she said that, and did not say a word.
"Scum." Maeli spat on her floor in that span of silence. "Traitors…"
"Of the worst sort." Latchi replied, and the others with her rumbled their agreement. "But you'll have to imitate them, 'convert' to their faith, or rather, give the appearance of it. Do whatever it takes, but make it believable."
"What if… what if they ask me to inform on my own?" Maeli asked hesitantly, "I'm not stupid, I know this is going to go farther, this is going to grow." She nervously looked to where her little sister slept peacefully. "What happens to her… if something happens to me? Betrayer of both sides… nobody will take her in… I want to help, I do!" Maeli hugged her own body against the shaking that began, looked down, and fell silent.
Latchi rose from where she sat, and leaned over the small table to rest a hand on Maeli's shaking shoulder. "Not to worry, I'll make sure somebody knows to take her in, and I'll slip you names occasionally, if it becomes necessary, when people come asking questions when we 'slip by'. Use those names to save yourself. But if it fails, I'll have her sent to my father's estate."
Maeli raised her hazel eyes to the dark ones of the woman who touched her. "Estate… are you a noble?"
Latchi gave a sardonic smile in return, "Latchi of house Pendar'gan. At your service. Not the richest family, but we do well enough. No thanks to… well never mind about that." She sat back down and shook her head dismissively. "That doesn't matter, the point is, you will only have to risk your own life." She folded her hands in front of herself on the table and sat with her back straight and eyes level down at the smaller Maeli. "So tell me, is our way of life, are our people… worth that risk to you, or not?"
Maeli recalled with bitterness the threat to the sacred tree, the 'offer' to let her sell her home, the demand for taxes to a foreign land, the arrogant declaration that she was now one of theirs, her blood boiled in her veins. There was no hesitation in her answer. "Yes."