Thousands upon thousands live outside the capitol of Avindr, it's just the capitol is the most concentrated location of the population. The townships and villages are far between but Pyrdain at large is the home of many more than are ever seen at once. You can go days on the road without seeing a single soul, then suddenly, you find yourself in a sprawling town...it's part of the appeal of our great land of Brithwyr, the progressing nation of Prydain that calls it home
---- passage from "Prydain: An Annotated Guide To Modern History" by Simon Mallomant
It was almost too wide. That was the thought that struck Alexandra as they walked four abreast down the dirt road under a brilliant night sky. So many stars dotted the endless expanse above, a full moon providing a soft light that illuminated the landscape with a gentle glow. They had passed the first three hours of walking since they left Miss Florence and the farmhouse in complete silence, each taking in the beauty of nighttime countryside. With the exception of Sophia, none of them had really ever been outside of the capitol city proper, perhaps Zooey or Luca before their banishment but they would have been too young to remember.
Sophia closed her eyes and smiled as the cool night breeze brushed across her face and laced through her hair. It was a familiar feeling from times long gone, a happy one, a welcome one. She was older and also the most recent of the group to be sent down to the caste of the Oonskat. Luca barely remembers short walks outside along the city walls, and Zooey could also recall small memories of taking walks near the city walls as well, but neither had ever been out in the open countryside.
It was magnificent!
No buildings or streetlights, no hustlers or the desperate, no steam clouds blocking the sky, no hopelessness lurking in every shadow; just fresh air and a clear sky above.
On either side of the wide road was just empty countryside, occasionally dotted with trees or hills. The road was wide, at least fifteen feet across, and was well-worn in by all the travelers it had seen over the past centuries. Being near the end of the season and the dead of night, they so far had not seen any others along the path. It was cold, but they did not notice, the wonder of being in the great outdoors gave them warmth, the excitement of leaving the city behind to see more of Prydain.
Every few miles there were off-shoot roads going in various directions, always marked by weather-beaten road signs: wooden posts jutting from the ground on the side of the road, with crossbeams listing nearby landmarks or villages. They stuck to the main road, the road signs indicated that eventually this course would lead to the Rotsen Mountains, many, many miles and days away. Being light of burden and no one else taking up the path, they were actually making good time on foot.
None of them spoke that night, it almost seemed wrong to break the night air with talking; the night birds, crickets, and frogs were a symphony unlike they ever heard back in the city. It was quiet at the same time, no sound of steam works, no one talking, no carts in the street, no one crying. They did not sleep that night either, the excitement and thrill of the adventure they were now on kept them awake and kept sleep far from their eyes. They all knew that their journey was hemmed by danger on either side: they were now wanted fugitives, declared so by House Cornelius, the attack on the Watchers being laid at their feet. They were used to having to be unseen, avoiding guards and those who would be offended by seeing them. But now they were targeted specifically and they had a long and perilous walk before them.
They did not notice their sore feet either, their shoes being wholly inadequate for an extended cross-country excursion. There was the thought each of them had to put in to one of the villages that the road makers said were somewhere nearby, but they were wary of being seen so close to Avindr; the city's soldiers might be searching for them there. It was better to keep moving, get the capitol far behind them and disappear into the vastness of Prydain. Stopping for water at secluded tree-covered groves that could be found a little ways off the road sometimes, they replenished their strength, took a quick breather, then returned to the road and their long walk.
It did not seem very long until the first rays of sunlight began to poke over the eastern horizon. They had been walking all night, many hours, but the time had flown by. Zooey let out a loud deep yawn when they saw the sun, almost as if the day was reminding her body how actually tired it was. With the sun coming up, they could get a better view of the immediate area they were passing by. Lush green grassland stretched out, the most green that Alexandra had ever seen. Some cottages or farms were visible in the distance, mere specks to their eyes. Small groupings of trees, grottoes, and large areas of exposed rock helped break up the singular view. It was truly a marvel to them; those that were seemingly trapped in the maze of the capitol with no reason or real hope of getting out.
Luca had to stop to try to wiggle a pebble out of his rapidly-decaying right shoe.
It was Sophia that finally spoke, breaking their night-long silence."This is wonderful."
"Yeah," Alexandra stretched, taking a look around as they were stopped, "I can't believe how beautiful it is out here, or how big."
"I've never seen this much open space," Zooey agreed, "and I thought the open areas in the Market District were impressive!"
"I kinda wish we had been able to take Miss Florence's cart." Luca was still wrestling with the stubborn pebble.
"They needed it," Alexandra reminded him, "they had to go east somewhere; there were more of them then us, they had a lot to carry. Besides, I'm enjoying the walking, it's invigorating. I feel alive."
"I think my feet are going to begin disagreeing with you." Zooey could already tell she would be in pain later.
Sophia breathed in deeply. "The air is so fresh. No coal or steam hanging around, just clean air"
"I know," Zooey was also impressed with the lack of city pollution, "you don't get a layer of grime by just touching anything."
"That's only where we live," observed Luca, "the rest of the city was pretty clean."
"It's like they just dumped it all where we live." Zooey might not be far off the truth with her statement. "Damn nobles. Where they live it's all clean-swept streets and inventions of comfort and convenience; what do we get? Coal City as an alarm every morning and holes in our house, which was actually boards propped up against a broken wall."
"At least we had a roof," Alexandra pointed out, "there were many who had it far worse."
"People have probably already moved in," Zooey wrinkled her nose at the thought of other people living in the place they had called home together until just recently.
"Probably, it's not like we really had anything of value anyway." The only worldly possession Alexandra cared about was her pendant, which was also the current source of their hardships.
"Yeah, but it was my nothing." Zooey bit on her lower lip, trying to accept the fact that they would probably be unable to get their little hovel back if they ever did return to the city. "Maybe we could just live in that old farmhouse Miss Florence took us to."
"It was nice," Alexandra did not think it sounded like a bad idea, "I slept in a real bed! I never had before, it was wonderful."
"Better than the city by far," Zooey was now set on living at the farmhouse once their trip to the mountains was over, "the city is just over-crowded and covered in three layers of dirt anyway, at least any of the places they would let us live."
"Not here though," Luca too was enjoying the country air, "none of that here. I can't believe the smell! It smells so different!"
Sophia remembered the countryside sights and smells warmly. "That would be the grass and the trees and the flowers. I would always try to be near the flower carts in the Market, they always smelled a little like this, they smelled of somewhere other than the city. There's no factories here to take up the air with the smoke and steam they expel. There's no crowd's, there's no rush, it just is."
"It's kinda slow," Zooey was more a girl of action, "probably boring."
"I thought you wanted to live on the farm?" Alexandra echoed her words back to her, kneeing her in the ribs gently.
"Boring is better than the slums," Zooey rolled her eyes, "anything is."
"Haven't you had enough of fighting?" Sophia could not believe anyone would want more excitement, "we barely escaped the last fight we were in. We would have lost if Miss Florence and her friends had not shown up and surprised the soldiers."
"Yeah, yeah," Zooey glossed over that fact, "if they we're cheating with their magnetic stuff or whatever, we could have taken them."
"I'm hungry." Luca had finally shaken the pebble out of one of the many holes that dotted his shoe.
Zooey rubbed her stomach. "Me too."
"Okay, probably time for breakfast. Wow, without the sounds of Coal City starting for the day, I have no idea what time it is."
"Too early, that's what it is," Zooey slung her pack off of her back and onto the ground.
"What do we have in these anyway?" Alexandra took off her pack as well, "I was so eager to start I didn't even look."
"Dried food," Luca seemed to know, "some basic traveling supplies. I helped the friendly soldiers pack them back at the farm before you woke up. They even made me one of them!"
He took a scrap of green fabric from his pocket, golden embroidery on it.
"I wouldn't go showing that around," Zooey was beginning to rummage through her pack, "they don't seem to be popular with everyone else."
"They're what's left of a noble house, the greatest!" Luca was proud to be a part of something so important, old, and storied.
"I think it's great," Sophia admired the fabric, once part of an expensive tunic probably years ago.
"Me too," Alexandra added, "it's really cool. Keep that with you, it's something you can be proud of no matter what anyone may ever say to you."
"Food!" Zooey had found what she was looking for, the contents of her pack lying all around her on the ground.
"Breakfast I guess." Alexandra opened her own pack.
"This is better than we ever ate back in the city!" Luca took a bite of bread from a small roll that was in his pack.
"That's kind of sad," Zooey was nibbling on some dried fruit.
Alexandra found a small loaf in her own pack. "Things are looking up!"
"You mean we're wanted by people we don't even know who seem to run the nation and soldiers tried to kill us? That we're walking to the Mountains because 'friends' of a lady we just met can help us? Things are looking up?"
"Yeah," Alexandra laughed at the seeming absurdity of their current predicament, "but we have good food for once!"
"No arguments there!" Zooey tossed several pieces of dried fruit into her mouth all at once. "Okay," she mumbled, still chewing, "things are looking up."
They proceeded to have breakfast in the middle of the great highway as the sun slowly rose in the sky. They still had encountered no other travelers. They ate at a leisurely place, enjoying the first solid and filling meal they had eaten in years. Considered light traveling rations by commoners, their breakfast was a feast to them. Laughing and joking, the four travelers let their feet rest before they became too sore to walk and also let their stomach's settle, their bellies not used to the generous amount they had just consumed.
Packing away the food and replacing everything back in their packs, they slung them up and began the long walk once more. The sun rose higher and higher, the day slowly passing as they trekked down the dusty highway. They skipped lunch, still full from the large breakfast at sunrise. The dew dried on the grass, watering the trees and ground. A tree squirrel or badger would occasionally peak their head up from a hole or from behind a tree to observe the lone travelers invading their realm. The day continued to pass by in relative quiet, it was not until a little before dusk that a new sound interrupted their stories and jokes.
Wheels running over dirt.
The sound of a horse. The creak of wood. An object came into view coming towards them on the road ahead.
The four friends huddled in closer, Alexandra in front, Zooey right behind her, Luca peeking around Zooey, and Sophia in the back. Alexandra rested her hand on the sword on her belt, Zooey slowly drew hers but kept it hidden behind Alexandra. Luca flipped open his pocketknife and held it at his side.
"Is it soldiers?" Sophia worried aloud.
"I don't think so," squinted Alexandra, "it just looks like a cart being pulled by a horse."
"Maybe a bandit!" Zooey tightened her hold on her sword.
"He's pretty bad at sneaking up on people then." Alexandra did not think it was likely.
"Maybe that's his trick!" Luca also had a fanciful imagination, "pretends to be an ordinary traveler, then surprise! Bandit."
"Be nice you two," Alexandra whispered as the cart drew closer, "hopefully he hasn't heard that four Oonskat are wanted for killing Watchers."
"We could stop him..."
"No," Sophia tapped Zooey on the top of her head, "you're not that kind of person."
"He can't tell anyone where we are," Zooey reminded her, "if the soldiers hear where we are, they'll ride out and catch us right away. Their horses probably even have the new steam-powered hooves, they'd be here in hours, not days!"
"Just act normal," the cart was almost upon them as Alexandra cautioned them, "we're just ordinary travelers out here for a stroll."
"If only that was true," Zooey whispered, the cart now pulling up to a stop in front of them.
The cart was a beat-up merchant's wagon, pulled by a single horse. A short metal chimney popped out of the worn angled roof of the cart, a man in a dusty long brown overcoat sat at the reins of the horse. His unkempt gray hair stuck out from under the brim of his old top hat. He took his monocle, wiped the dust from it using the collar of his coat, then replaced it back in front of his left eye. He blinked a few times and looked at the odd group before him now.
"Look at ye four," his voice cracked and cackled, "what are you doing out here all alone?"
"Just traveling between villages," Alexandra spoke fast, trying to allay any suspicion.
"Aye, which one you going to?"
"Ah," Alexandra realized she did not know the names of anything outside of the capitol, "the one straight up this road."
"I'd advise ye against that little lady. Better make for Brethwith instead, much nicer place"
"What exactly is straight up this road?"
"Well, this here road will take you almost all the way to the great Rotsen Mountains, fortress of rock and stone, they tower to the sky. Don't ye know where ye be heading?"
"Well, we're visiting friends. We were just told to keep heading this way." It was not a total lie.
"You'll hit some villages, some towns even. Most of the bigger settlements are to the east of the country. Just scattered villages and farms out this way mostly."
"Where are you headed? We haven't seen many others along the way," she tried to divert attention of themselves.
"Just heading to my home in Crecente, nice village to the south east. Was up north in Okino selling my wares, but the season's coming to an end I want to get a move on before the new travel restrictions are actually enforced. Damned Landskyp, what good do they do for us commoner folk? Just make things harder and harder every year!"
"Travel restrictions?" it sounded like the man was very upset.
"Saw the official notice being posted by some fellows wearing black and red back in Crecente right before I packed up to head home. They're going to start restricting travel during the off-seasons. They'll have the National Patrol stop and 'escort' travelers to the nearest sanctioned town to spend the rest of the time there before they're allowed to leave again. It's insane!"
"Wow, that sounds pretty bad," Alexandra couldn't believe that something so drastic would not be met with greater resistance, "why would they do such a thing? Why can't people go where they want?"
"National security or something like that," the man spit in the dust, "I guess something bad happened in the capitol, some rebels or something. Like stopping farmers and families is going to help."
Alexandra wanted to get the man's mind off that, hoping he was not aware who they were blaming for that. "How far is your home?"
"Just a few days travel more and I'll be there."
"Are there any places to stop and rest along the road ahead of us?"
"Some towns down some of the side-roads, but if you want to keep heading northwest, well, there's a town a day or three ahead, that's probably your best bet. The other towns are a day or two off this highway if you want to take the time. Ah, where did ye all say you were coming from?"
"A farm," Alexandra replied quickly, "a farm to the southwest."
Once again, not a total lie.
"Good harvest in those parts this time of year?"
"Like you said, end of the season and all that. Not a lot of work to be done at the second, we're taking the time to see a bit more of the country."
"Good for you," the man approved, "good to see as much you can while you're young. When I was a young man I was a sailor."
"You were on the sea!" Luca exclaimed, speaking up finally.
"Why yes I was," the man let out a big laugh, "we sailed goods from the west to the east, the Avindr mostly. Ah, those were the days. The sea is a powerful and wonderful thing. Not many people think of it."
It was true that the great sea to the south, the Saile, was still mostly a mystery.
"That sounds amazing," Luca was wide-eyed at the idea of sailing, "I wouldn't mind being a sailor sometime."
"Not a lot of sailing going on these days," the man sighed, "everyone's wrapped up in improving land travel with crazy new machines, even though they're restricting it now. Nothing makes sense anymore. The sea, it's full of freedom, but there are strange things out there."
"Like what?" Zooey asked now, suddenly becoming interested. The strange and out-of-the-ordinary always interested her.
"You see strange creatures far below in the blue, I'd be right afraid to go swimming too deeply. Some sailors claim to see lights far down beneath the waves even. Then there's the legend of the Sea Mistress."
"Sea Mistress?" Zooey thought it was a strange name, "who's that?"
"The story goes that she's a young woman, who was lost at sea centuries ago and no one tried to save her. They say she still haunts the waves and lures sailors to the bottom of the sea, if there even is one! All she has to do is touch your nose and you fall under her spell and you'll fall in love with her, do anything for her and never be seen again."
"Sounds just a little bit on the crazy superstitious side to me," Zooey blew it off, a little disappointed.
Religion, spirits, all that was relegated to looked-down upon superstitions. Steam and metal were the gods of Prydain; science had no room for otherworldly specters or theories. Opposing views of science and religion had clashed and threatened to erupt into civil war, ending the first golden age of steam. Libraries were burnt, machines destroyed, religious gatherings targeted for persecution.
Following a period of uncertainty in which much knowledge and science was lost, the Landskyp declared that religious belief was unfounded and a danger to societal peace and advancement; effectively ending theology in the country. Since that time, Prydain has entered the second golden age of technological achievement, and religious beliefs are seen as a disease and something to be afraid of.
"Believe what you will," the man sat back in his seat, "but there are strange things at sea, mark my word."
"We must get going, we have a lot of ground to cover before it is dark again," Alexandra tried to push the conversation to a close, better the man not remember them very much if later questioned.
"Right," the merchant re-positioned himself on his seat, "if you're going my way you can hop on."
"Thank you but we're heading northwest still," Alexandra lied about their direction in case the man was questioned.
"Suit yourselves, nothing much up that way anyhow" he flicked the reins and the horse began moving again.
The carriage slid past, a leaving just a dust cloud and a pair of wheel tracks in its wake. They stood there, waiting until the carriage was out of sight on the road behind them. They were afraid that maybe the old man would tell the soldiers where they were, but why would he? He had no reason to suspect them of anything, Alexandra was sure of it.
"Maybe we could go to one of those towns he talked about," Zooey flexed her sore toes.
Luca's own foot was still smarting from the pebble he had been wrestling with earlier in the day, "yeah, a place that has chairs would be a welcome sight."
"It's too far out of the way," Sophia counseled, "it would take at least two days out our traveling time. That's time that the soldiers could catch up with us or find us in the village."
Alexandra agreed.
"Sophia's right, the more we stay in the shadows the better, off of the beaten path. Not many people are out traveling at this time apparently, so we should be pretty safe on the road, but a village is more dangerous. They might have national soldiers there. The old man said that word has already gone out about what happened and how we're the ones who did it. The more we avoid people the better."
"So no chairs then, darn," Luca resolved to walking.
"Fine, fine," Zooey tried to play it off as if she did not care, "avoiding people, got it. Well, let's hurry then, no use standing around just talking about it."
Pausing for just a moment more to take a few more seconds of rest, they resumed their lonely walk down the mostly-vacant highway.
The sun rose higher in the sky; it was an unseasonably hot day. They talked as they went along, but they really had no stories or jokes to tell one another that the others did not know at this point. Zooey lamented once again about people taking their possessions back in Avindr, which the others thought was funny and they told her they could not recall any real possessions to begin with.
Zooey meanwhile was happy about her new sword, taken from a fallen Cornelius soldier when they were fighting in the Winnowing Chamber. It had a good weight and she seemed to enjoy pulling it from its hilt and admiring it in the sunlight from time to time. It glinted brightly when the sunlight hit the ridiculously-sharp blade. Alexandra kept having to shield her eyes, so she would not be blinded by Zooey walking right next to her.
An hour.
Two hours.
Four hours.
Evening was on the way now, the sun was beginning to get lower and lower to their left in the west. A sudden glint in the distance caught Alexandra's eye. At first she thought that Zooey was just holding her sword in the light again, but giving a quick glance over her shoulder told her that Zooey's blade was safely secure in its hilt.
Another glint of light!
Something was definitely ahead on the highway. It was the exact same kind of reflection that Zooey's sword had drawn when exposed to the sunlight.
She stopped, everyone else stopping behind her confused. Squinting her eyes and putting a hand above her eyes to block the direct sunlight, Alexandra scanned the distance up ahead on the highway. Shapes, shapes moving fast in their direction.
"Someone's up ahead," she did not take her eyes off the road before them.
"Maybe another merchant trying to hurry home?" Sophia hoped that was the case.
"I don't think so," Alexandra shook her head, "it's a group, moving fast. I think I saw a sword."
"Soldiers," Zooey was beginning to draw her own sword.
Alexandra quickly reached behind her and pushed Zooey's sword back into its hilt.
"Wha...?"
"They'll see it's reflection," Alexandra told her quickly, "we have to hide, now!"
"There's no trees or anything!" Luca spun around, trying to look for a suitable hiding spot.
"Over there Alex," Sophia pointed to the left side of the road.
Alexandra followed her gaze and saw what she was indicating: a field of tall grass. The reeds were at least four feet high, high enough to duck down and hide in. Alexandra gave a quick glance back ahead, the shapes were much closer now. They were close enough to begin to reveal their true identities: men on horseback, riding at top speed. Why were they riding so hard? Had they seen them? Was this it?
"Quick!" Alexandra bounded over to the side of the road, "to the tall grass!"
"Maybe we could take them by surprise..." Zooey did not want to run away again.
"Too many and they're on horses!" Alexandra coaxed her away from the center of the highway. "Come on, live to fight another day!"
They quickly cleared the road and covered the hundred feet or so the where the high reeds sprouted. Diving in, they crawled a good distance into the field and then ducked down. Luca was the last one into the reeds and dove in headfirst. He quickly shimmied to where his friends were already hiding. Sophia shut her eyes tightly and covered her head with one hand, the sound of hooves growing louder and louder. Luca slowly, making sure he did not make any noise, reached into his pocket and gripped his knife. Zooey, who was laying on top of her sword to keep it's reflective metal hidden, also re-positioned her hand so she could pull it quickly if need be. Alexandra also slowly reached for her pendant with her right hand, still tightly fastened around her neck.
No one spoke, no one moved, no one breathed. They were perfectly still, being able to do nothing but wait as the horses drew closer.