A Tale of Crown and Country

Lea

Lea found Odeila rather inconsequential. For her, it was a small town on the outskirts of a country she no longer cared enough about. Her view of Allriya was about the same as her views of Jayakan, or Reightneir. They were all just arbitrary lines drawn up by long-dead men on a map of a land mass. Individual cities had their own particular charms, but it was becoming harder and harder to point them out. The fantasy of running away had faded, and the number of extraordinary events that had followed, piled onto the fading limelight until she couldn't distinguish one from the other.

She had no future. Lea had always had a plan for the next day, month, or year. Always dictated by her father, by her position, by her country. The last one had been leading up to her betrothal to Prince Philton. She'd thrown those plans into a gutter, and with them any sense of stability.

But even though she didn't know what was going to happen in the next few days much less the next few months, Lea was content. She was learning to live by each day, rather than building for an uncertain future; it quelled much of the anxiety she'd been harbouring since before leaving Aldira.

Arlan had transitioned much more smoothly into that position, or maybe he'd always been like that. He never worried where he'd sleep the next night or what he'd eat for the next meal because he would just figure it out on the way.

That, Lea realized, was the real adventure in life. It wasn't hijinks and thievery, sea battles and intrigue. It was the everyday and mundane. The adventure lay in the revelation of everyday battles yet to be fought and mundane activities intoxicated with excitement.

So as much as Lea found Odeila to be much less invigorating as other cities she'd visited, she could appreciate the excitement of life that flowed through the streets. How everyone smiled as they passed her by, as laughter filled shopfronts despite crime in the alleys. The people here, nearly forgotten by their capital, had found a common alliance with the merchants of Jayakan.

Lea had never seen anything like it. Aldira was strictly regulated in its trade, and other cities around the country were far enough from borders to be too valuable in trade. Small towns hadn't the capacity to accommodate so many travellers. But Odeila was perfectly situated and enterprisingly affable enough to hold one of the largest trade markets in Allriya. She commended them for it. Odeila was a mixture of equal parts Allriya and Jayakan, and the citizens clearly represented it.

But they couldn't stay there long. The city wasn't as accommodating to the two runaways as it was to everyone else, and Lea was itching to get out. After their night at The Wairton Inn, Lea and Arlan saddled up their stolen mares and figured out where to go next.

The Jayakan capital was out of the question. Lea didn't want to spend time anywhere she had the possibility of being recognized. She'd been there enough to know someone might notice her, even if their prince had not.

"What about south?" Arlan suggested. He'd temporarily ceded control of their travels in light of his recent revelations. Now that Lea was in control of his secret, he'd diplomatically put everything under her power. She was the one who had to come to terms with him, and so she was the one who would, at least temporarily, control their movements. They'd both expressed how the other could opt out at any moment if they felt uncomfortable or things got out of hand, or if they put each other in danger. It was a mutual and invisible contract to remain travel partners.

"How do we know the bandits aren't still out there, trying to find us?" Lea argued. "Ilane, Yvern, Ikuth," she said. "That entire area is bottled up. And we can't risk going around, going through the desert."

"I agree."

"North it is."

"North it is."

They could cross the Inglewood Forest, stopping in Ihira before moving on, but that would only place them in northern Allriya. It would trap them. The divide between forest and sea was populated by large cities sure to be a danger to the both of them. No, they had to keep to small Allriyan cities in order to move about undetected. That left Reightneir alone. Its isolation meant Allriya hadn't developed many ties to the country, and as it was accessible only by those who were truly motivated to visit, it was the ideal land to hide in until things cooled off. Once Prince Philton returned home, her father became embroiled in a political spat, and her brothers found their places in the world, then things would calm down for her.

But she wasn't thinking that far ahead right now. Right now she only had to think which city to stop in next for supplies.

And it was Quaelsi.