The next morning they continued their journey to Exeteri. The scenery began to change now from the Brannock they had come to know. The low rolling hills were changing. They became taller and steeper. They were entering the highlands of Brannock. The city of Quinta was the gateway to the highlands, and its roads ran back towards the other cities.
Nessa was just the traveler she said she would be. She never complained and never grew tired of walking. Indeed she was pressing on more so then they were. A clear road ran between the cities of Exeteri and Quinta, and although they always kept it in sight, they stayed off this road during the morning hours. Yet after a while, their path became hard, as the hills rose higher, and they were forced to follow the road.
"It will still be some time before anyone notices I am gone. The absence of you three will be noticed first, I am sure," Nessa said as they reached the road, "We should be safe on the road until we get to the city."
"We didn't talk with you're father about which direction we had decided to take," Carson said, "Yet Exeteri is the closest of the four cities and the furthest east. It is the most likely route for us."
"Yes," Keirian agreed, "You're father will surely guess which way we have taken."
"None the less, I think we have no choice but to take the road," Nessa said, "The hills are coming closer together and none of us know these lands well. I know the road, yet little more. I would rather not get lost."
"Yes, I agree with Nessa," Sanchen said, 'And I don't like the idea of leaving the road and running into more Gors. The road will be safer I think."
So they went up the ancient road to the next city, where hopefully they would find their fifth companion. The road took them along the bases of the hills, winding between them and sometimes rising up the slopes. The sun was high in the sky now, yet the cloud cover kept it off of their faces.
Keirian and walked along side Nessa and asked her about her rashness the night before. "Why were you so eager to leave?" he said.
"I am tired of my father's condescending ways," she answered, "If he had his way, which he mostly does, I would never leave the palace. Yet I desire to walk the paths of the world, to explore the lands around me. He does not understand."
"I do," Keirian said, "That is what I have wanted always as well. That is why I am here. I have always desired to travel, to learn of the world. I understand where you're coming from."
"Yet you were aloud to leave," she pointed out, "I never have been. Always I see visitors in the palace from other cities, or men from our own city who have returned from their own travels, telling tales. Yet I was never allowed to have these experiences. I'm sick of it. Sick and tired of living within walls. It was time to take my life into my own lands, and no longer leave it in my father's."
Then a hint of regret came into her voice. "I'm sorry for pulling you three into my own problems. I know you don't like the idea of leaving without my father's blessing. It was selfish of me to do what I did."
"To tell you the truth," Keirian said, "I had hoped that you're father would have granted you permission to join us when you first spoke out. You seemed strong willed, which is something that everyone who takes up this journey will need to be. A quality which I believe the three of us already own. I wish we had your father's favour, yes. Yet I am glad, somehow, that it turned out this way."
Nessa smiled at him as they kept walking down the road, catching up to the other two. All day they walked, with only a few stops for a quick bite to eat. There were no other travelers on the road. None of the lord's men from Quinta came behind them. As the sun fell they were now quite deep into the highlands. Dark covered the sky as the moon came up to greet them. A whole day's march was behind them. Finally after one last curve around the hills they saw the city of Exeteri. Night covered it, yet the lights from the windows and streets made out the form of a city upon a low hill. Around this low hill was a wide open area, before the land turned into the highlands again. They continued down the road to the city's entrance.
