The Blue Desert

Chapter Eighteen

It did not take long for Anan to become bored during their journey. Two days after the dust storm, Anan came up with an idea. She began to question Silius more about the desert people. There was little more he could tell her about them, and after he droned on for awhile about the crops that they grew in the desert, Anan brought him back to the topic she wanted to know more about; the language.

He told her what he knew and after another moment, she asked him to teach it to her. At first, he said no, believing it would be a waste of time and that she would be difficult to teach. But Anan continued to ask until he finally agreed the next day.

Since Silius could easily guide Sandstorm without the use of the reins, it was easy for him to make the motions with his hands and still ride. For Anan, it was more difficult. Bayen was a willing mount, letting Anan make all sort of motions with her hands while she shifted her seat at the same time, and he still kept walking in an almost-straight line.

Vayta, on the other hand, jiggled and pranced beneath her when she let go of her grip on the reins, forcing Silius not only to teach her the desert dwellers' language, but also give her lessons in riding. Though Anan had never been fond of lessons, she applied herself because she knew she would be bored if she didn't.

The journey seemed quicker with something to occupy her mind. Though it was difficult for Anan herself to perceive, her riding and her knowledge of the desert peoples' language improved under Silius's teaching. In this manner many weeks passed, and it wasn't until Silius mentioned it that Anan noticed the lake's edge beginning to curve.

The moon was full again, marking another full month since Anan's escape from her father's palace and the marriage he had arranged for her. She and Silius were seated comfortably in the sand, the moon and a flickering fire casting light on the map before them.

Silius was scrutinizing the map in an attempt to locate their position on it. Eventually, after many moments of silence, he pointed to a spot on the map. "That is where we must be, approximately," he said, and Anan leaned in to see.

"So if the lake is beginning to round out, how long do you think it will be before we reach Tria?" she asked.

Silius's finger began to trace a line from where they were, curving around the edge of the lake that Anan had allowed him to draw on the map with a piece of charcoal. He drew a line to Tria's border, calculating in his mind how long it would take them to travel that space.

"Perhaps two or three more weeks," he said with a frown.

Anan stared at him in disbelief, barely able to comprehend his words. "Just two or three more weeks?" she questioned, just to be sure.

"A month if we encounter unlucky weather," he amended.

For Anan, that meant the same thing as 'yes.' A grin broke out on her face. "We will be in Tria by the end of the month."

"Perhaps," Silius reminded her, but he still smiled.

Anan leaned back on her hands, content to linger with that thought. Cool Trian palaces, warm bathes, a change of clothing, her uncle. Her excitement wavered at the thought of him. Would he be happy to see her? It occurred to her that she had never questioned Silius about him. Of course, he would never have met the emperor personally, but he would at least be able to answer some of the questions she had about him and his family.

"What is the ruler of Tria like? The emperor, Saila?" Anan asked.

Silius turned to look at her, his eyes narrowed in a calculating look that Anan had come to know well throughout their weeks of travel together. "Why do you ask?"