The Blue Desert

Chapter Twenty-One

The next morning as they rode, they resumed their lessons and continued them as the days passed. Anan was distracted by what Silius was teaching her, but not so much that she didn't notice the ground turning firmer and the tufts of hardy grass growing where there used to only be sand.

The changes stirred her excitement, and Silius took a break from the lessons to tell her about the rest of the journey.

"Up there," he said, pointing into the distance, "that wall of green is the forest. There is a path through it that leads to Tria and meets with the path to Darea. If you travel too far to the left, you will find yourself in the swamplands. It is not a safe place to travel through; there are many poisonous animals and a muck that if you step in will pull you down and suffocate you."

Anan shuddered. "Is this place well travelled, that they would have a path?"

Silius shook his head. "Very few travelers come this far. Even the road from Darea to Tria is not well-traveled. It is a long and arduous journey, and it's quite possible for a merchant to lose most of his wares on the journey. Even so, the path was necessary to create or else there would be absolutely no travel between the two countries, and no trade which would do harm to both economies."

"But if there is barely any trade as it is, why would there be harm?" Anan had never had an interest in trade, but she was curious to learn all that she could about this place that was to be her home.

"Darea and Tria both produce different things, items that the other country does not. The few merchants that travel on a frequent basis between the two countries trade those things with each other, bringing back to their home what that country lacks. It isn't much, but it does make a difference."

Anan frowned and nodded, trying to grasp the information. "We should reach the edge of the forest by nightfall," Silius added.

Anan felt a chill of excitement. She had never seen a forest before. Vasda had such few trees; she had only seen a small number of them on their journey, and she had never seen any during her life confined within the palace walls. Her mother had told her about forests. What would it be like to be in one?

Bayen picked up on her excitement, stepping quickly, and Anan urged him into a faster jog. Suddenly, Vayta and Silius burst past them at a gallop, and Bayen eagerly drew astride them. At first, Anan's mind took her back to when Kevresh had done the same thing; her chest constricted, and she lost her balance.

Then she saw Silius, perched perfectly on Vayta's back without a saddle. It was not Kevresh. Slowly, gritting her teeth, Anan righted her seat as Silius and her brother had told her to do. She sat deeply in the saddle and gripped Bayen's sides with her legs. Just for a moment, she closed her eyes, trying to feel the joy that she had seen on Kevresh's face.

With a gasp, she opened her eyes; the wind was whipping at her face and her clothes, somehow her hair had gotten loose of its braid, but Anan was certain she could feel why her brother loved to ride such. She realized they had ridden onto a ridge. She looked to her left and saw that the lake was coming to an end. The water was lapping at a pebbly shore. With a few more strides they were passed it; they had left the blue desert behind.

But for some reason, Anan didn't feel sad. Instead, she laughed. A happy, bubbly laugh that she felt before it escaped her mouth. Silius looked at her, smiling. He had stopped wearing his hood weeks ago, and his face had tanned beneath the desert sun. Now the line of color that had separated his eyes from the rest of his face where he used to wear the covering was barely perceptible.

It only took a moment for him to catch on, and they laughed as their horses galloped to the end of the ridge and back onto stable ground. They pulled them down to a jog and then a walk. Silius gasped for breath, hunched over Vayta's neck. Anan was breathing heavily; riding was more work than she thought.