Baladin: Chapter 5

 

Chapter 5

I left Bridgetown following the way the Troupe had planned to go.  They had told me that they were planning head to the interior of the land before circling around to the river to the south of here and to head to the Headwaters before slipping across the boarder and into West Thyme.  She thought of her time with the Troupe, years ago, and the first time they had crossed to boarder.  How she thought that the Westerlings would be strange to look at of covered with scales.  Sir Pulsiver had laughed at her and said deary, I was born in West Thyme and half the crew is from there.  The people there are just like the people from East Thyme, and really, they all share more in common than with those of the other lands, where people are really odd.

There were two roads that traveled beside the river on this side of the river.  There was the river road that skirted the edges and stayed within sight of the River.  It stopped at major tributaries and required ferries to cross from side to side, but the farms usually did better because the land was fertile and flat.  And there is the Land Road which made the same jaunt but was half a day’s travel inland from the River.  The standard practice before the War of Succession was to travel the River Road, but during the war the raiding and the pillaging of the towns and the bridges stopped that practice and the most important towns and roads moved in from the river.  The land was not as good, but raiders were caught more often before they could reach the other side.  The roads were straighter and the money that was spent made the roads better too.  The war that shaped this nation and the other had lasted longer than the peace had so far.  Ninety-seven years of peace compared to one hundred forty-seven of war. 

The road rose over another hill and back down again before it split, one heading to the River Road, one to the South and the headwaters of the Thyme and lastly one into the interior, where the bulk of the people lived far from the river edge.  It was where most of the people lived, but it was also very sparse lands.  Most of the cities and the large town rose within a day’s journey of the River, but that accounted for only one in four citizens. Alphonso, the Ringmaster, once remarked that there were two nations around the river’s edge, I had said the East and the West, but he ignored me and said the River’s Edge and the Hinterland.  He said the Hinterland of East and West was more alike than the strip close to the river and the same could be said for the other.  After a year with the Troupe, I had begun to see his wisdom, but by the end of the two years I understood it. 

The crossroads were sheltered a little on the south side with a band of tall trees.  There were a mix of mangoes, jackfruit and nut trees like almond and cashews along with a meddling of lesser value trees.  With the end of High Spring the trees seemed to understand that they should produce more fruit before the heat becomes too much.  I began to help myself to some of the ripest fruit knowing I would have to buy it soon.  The sound of several horses alerted me to travelers on the road.  I saw them come marching through the grove.  They were a patrol of the Earl’s Mounted Regulars, a de facto police force that patrolled the land along the roads.  They were too late for me and my family, but they might help if the Earl is alerted.  I flagged them down and told them what they would see in Bridgetown, they thanked me and spurred their horses forward as if they might catch sight of the slavers running.

I looked at the way finder in the road.  The road back to Bridgetown said as much, the Barony of Bridgetown, forward was to the Cooperwood Barony, towards the river was Mangrove Barony and away to where I was going was Olive Stone Barony, to where my Troupe was headed and perhaps more evidence of them being conspiring with the slavers.