Meddling in Foreign Affairs

Chapter 9: On a Boat

Byulat woke Dismas up as the sun was setting so that he could also get some sleep. Dismas reluctantly took control of the paddles, but as soon as Byulat's breathing evened out and he appeared to sleep, he stopped paddling. The river was taking them in the right direction anyways, so Dismas didn't see the point in trying to move it faster. He was tired and lazy.

The stars were pretty, and Dismas enjoyed watching the scenery go by. They were already out of the mountains by the time Byulat had woken him up, so they were likely in the area where the river was the border between Dragstyenost and Tyrlim. His guess was confirmed when he saw a bunch of lights in the distance. The only major cities along the border were the Crossroads, which was actually four cities that were in the corners of Dragstyenost, Maiorsem, Tyrlim, and Zufluch. Over time the separate cities melded into one city with four distinct parts, and they were the center of multiethnic culture in the East, with a mixture of dwarves, elves, humans, and halflings that was almost unthinkable anywhere else.

It was less impressive to Dismas now, knowing that halflings were just dwarves. Zufluch was a land with a very small population, but was the only place with a majority of halflings over other races. Like humans, halflings kinda just lived anywhere that seemed most efficient. And while the population of halflings in Tyrlim was larger in number, humans had the clear majority there, and the royal family was human.

There was a harbor at the near end of the Crossroads that people passing through were expected to stop at before going through the city, but no one stopped Dismas, so he didn't worry too much about it. It was likely that the just didn't see the small boat passing by in the darkness, and they couldn't hear it since Dismas hadn't been paddling for a while.

Dismas hadn't been to the Crossroads for a little over a year, so he carefully watched the streets that he could see in order to evaluate if it would be a good place for him to come back to again soon. Considering how late it was, the streets were busy enough when they were lit that he would probably have an easier time stealing there than he was having in Sdelki before he was captured by the dwarves. It would probably do him good to come back again soon, as long he was sure that his appearance would be different enough that he wouldn't be recognized.

Despite there being a few people out on the streets, there was an almost eerie quiet as they floated down the river. Dismas was a little scared to make noise, even though he knew no one cared about a small boat making its way down the Escatar River. He was startled enough to rock the boat when a thylak started barking in a nearby house. It was quiet again soon after, but Dismas' heart was left beating uncomfortably fast. He was on edge until they were successfully past the end of the Crossroads and the lights were a safe distance behind them.

As the boat meandered onwards, Dismas found himself distracted by the stars. His life had changed so much, but they were still just as beautiful as they always were. It had been a long time since he had looked at the night sky far away from the lights of a city, and he always loved to watch them when he was on the road or in a small village. He took comfort in knowing that no matter what he did, they would never change, and could never judge him.

Just as the sun started to come up on the horizon, he thought it might be a good idea to make it seem like he'd been paddling all night. Byulat wouldn't sleep forever. To be honest, Dismas was kinda surprised that Byulat was sleeping so much. He knew the dwarf didn't trust him, but he must have been so exhausted from their speedy trek through the tunnel to Tselzo and his turn in paddling the boat that he was able to sleep soundly all night.

Although he fully intended to paddle for a bit, Dismas found himself completely distracted by the scenery. Zufluch's grasslands were mostly left to grow naturally, but Maiorsem was used heavily for agriculture and animal husbandry. Dexis lazing about in the fields were dwarfed by their morop companions, who were around the length of a full grown man and who ate enough grass that they had to be moved around by their herders almost constantly. No matter how often Dismas traveled, he found it amusing that such differently sized animals could live in such companionship. And they were also both so tasty, but in different ways that were complementary to each other. It was astounding to him that people spent the time to raise and breed such animals, but he was glad for it. The world of food would be very boring without meat.