The caravan began to wake a little before dawn. I rubbed my eyes and looked over at Aelyn; he was lying prone on his sleeping pad, with one eye buried in the blankets. Outside I heard the clatter of dishes and the crackle of a fire. I stood by the edge of my bed and pulled on my loincloth. As I was tightening the ties, Aelyn stretched and opened his eyes, then averted his gaze from me and began to dress himself with his back turned.

  Oh, well. I pulled on my dress and slipped my feet into my sandals. I walked over to the door, opened it, and looked out. I felt Aelyn behind me and resisted the impulse to lean back.

  “Breakfast?” he said.

  “Sure.”

  It was some kind of fruit and a crunchy cereal. I looked over at Aelyn.

  “What can I do to help?”

  He looked around. “We can harness our wagon.” He led me over to a corral, where I saw several large lizards. They stood at least two meters at the shoulder, with a frilled crest surmounting a beaked head and a short tail. All had orange and black markings, making them look like Dr. Seuss had fused a tiger with an herbaceous dinosaur.

  Aelyn had picked up a large melon-shaped object. He approached one of the creatures and held it up. “This is our kamcha, Sella. She adores kurchi and will do anything for it. Isn’t that true, sweetie?”

  I estimated Sella’s weight at over a ton. I hoped she, like an honest politician, would stay bought. Stella snorted happily and sauntered over, plucking the fruit out of Aelyn’s hand with her beak. She tossed it in the air, caught it in her open mouth, and bit down. Juice ran from the corners of her mouth, and she made a low hooting sound. Aelyn slapped her haunch fondly.

  “That’s my girl.”

  Sella nudged him, and he shook his head. “That’s enough for now. Let’s go.” He turned his back and she followed him obediently out of the corral. He pulled a harness of the front of our wagon and draped it over her neck. I watched as he secured the straps around her shoulders and body, tugged on them to test the fit, and then clipped a couple of reins through a nose ring.

  “Did you follow that?” he asked.

  “At a distance,” I said. “I’m not doing it unsupervised.”

  “Fair.” He grasped my hand and helped me up on the bench at the front of the vehicle. “I’ll drive for the first bit. Once we’re on the trail in line with the others you can have a go.”

  I nodded as he settled in beside me. Wagons were peeling out of the encampment and forming a single file to head down the trail.

  “How do you decide the order?” I asked.

  “Mast calls it.” He pointed at a flag dangling from a wooden pole at the front left corner of our wagon. On it I could see the numeral nine. Sure enough, there were eight wagons leading us, and the caravan master’s was in the lead.

  “How many wagons are there in total,” I asked.

  “Thirty-seven. Twelve are Elven.”

  I looked behind us to see Raina guiding her wagon onto the trail. She looked at me and waggled her eyebrows salaciously. I shook my head sadly.

  Aelyn was delightfully oblivious. “There are guards every two to three wagons,” he said. “And a combat Mage at the head, middle, and rear of the column.”

  “Do you expect an attack?”

  He shrugged. “We always expect trouble. But it rarely comes. The biggest risk is becoming complacent.” He scanned the surrounding forest. “Around here, the likeliest ambushers would be the goblin tribes. Individually, they are not much trouble. But in large groups, they can be quite dangerous.”

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  “I see,” I mused. “Quantity has a quality all its own.”

  His eyebrows rose. “How interesting,” he said, “I have never heard it put that way…but, yes.”

  I felt a warmth rise in my chest. Screw attribution; I was taking the win.

  “Tell me my role,” I said.

  “Healing,” he said promptly. “Any wounded will be brought to you. I do not want you trying to navigate a skirmish.”

  “Right,” I said. “In that case, when we stop for a break, I’d like to set up the interior of the wagon so I can handle casualties better.”

  “Of course.” He glanced at me. “What is your capacity? That is—”

  “—how large is my mana pool?”

  “Yes. I ah…realize that this is a sensitive question.”

  “No worries. Just keep them coming.” I caught his worried gaze. “Really, Aelyn, I can cope.”

  Lunch was a brief break. Aelyn and I folded the bed against the wall, moved the pad into a cupboard, and set up three crude stretchers.

  “That will have to do,” I said. “Hopefully, all this work means we’ll never use them.”

  A couple of hours after lunch I excused myself.

  “Where are you going?” asked Aelyn.

  “Just back one wagon to speak with Raina” I said. “Girl talk.”

  He grunted. “Eyes open,” he said, “and come right back here if you see anything odd, or I call you. Please.”

  “Right.”

  I dropped off the seat and waited by the side of the trail for Raina’s wagon. She shooed Ryanth away and he ran off. I watched him trot down the road with a smile. He had no limp at all.

  “So?” she asked.

  “So, nothing. He has trouble even looking at me.” I looked at her in frustration. “What am doing wrong?”

  She looked at me curiously. “What do you know of Elven culture?”

  “Nothing.”

  She blinked. “But your Lyona is fluent.” We were speaking it.

  “Languages are a gift from my Goddess.”

  “You speak as if that is a literal truth.” She studied me, and I shrugged. “Very well. I shall assume you know nothing. We are a matriarchal society. Women head our families—often in partnership with their mates—but always as the final arbiter.”

  “How are you governed?”

  “We have royalty, but they are…constrained, more so than say, the Crown of the Empire.” She waved her hand to encompass the territory around us. “Our governance is more collaborative. It lies lighter on the people but does complicate decision making.”

  “I’m familiar with the concept.”

  “Good. In any event, the concept of female primacy extends to initiating a relationship.”

  I gaped at her. “You mean,” I said slowly, “that I have to make the first move?”

  She giggled. “What a delightful phrase. I must remember it. But yes.”

  I put my head in my hands. “I thought I was being more than forward. What do I need to do? Tie him to the bed and pounce?”

  Raina was laughing outright. “Yes, that would work.”

  “Goddess. On a completely different note: what is a group of Elves doing in an Empire caravan?”

  “Ah.” Her expression sobered in an instant. “We were originally on our own. We had formed a small caravan that was to travel from Reporta to Vandoran with a load of sensal.”

  “Sensal?” I asked.

  Her eyebrows shot up. I’d put my foot in it again.

  “Sensal,” she said slowly, “spider-spun fabric.” She pointed at my dress. “That.” She cocked her head. “Surely you have seen our work in Chai’noch.”

  “What happened?” I asked. I already had a notion.

  “We were to join Mast’s caravan three days outside of Reporta. But one day prior to that, we were attacked. The bandits knew precisely where the sensal was kept; they cut away the only three wagons that contained our goods.” She took a shuddering breath. “Four years’ worth of work. Two to raise the colony. One to harvest the silk. The last to prepare it and spin out the fabric. The value—” she stopped and looked out to the forest, “—is nearly incalculable.”

  “Was anyone hurt or killed?” I asked.

  She looked at me and nodded her approval. “No. In that we were fortunate.” She sighed. “We—Mast—called for help. Aelyn came. He—” she hesitated, “—has a name for himself. As a problem solver. So, he rides with us as we travel to Vandoran. But what we will do when we arrive…”

  I looked at my dress and ran my hand down the material.

  “How can you afford to give this to me, then?”

  Raina laid a hand on my cheek and turned my head to look down the trail. I saw Ryanth trotting alongside a wagon a few rigs back. He was speaking with a young girl about his age, who was laughing as she threw a flower at him. His gaze would have brought credit to a puppy.

  “That,” she said. Her gaze held me. “We Elves live long lives compared to humans. Children come seldom. Each is a gift. What you did for me—” she took a deep breath, “—is priceless.”

  “As if I had a choice,” I said.

  “The other thing you must understand,” she said, as if I had not spoken, “is that an Elven community is secured by a network of obligations. Within the family. Between villagers. Throughout the entire society.” She spread her arms and then pointed at me. “And you have—through your kindness—become part of us.”

  I held her gaze. “Well,” I said, “then surely such duty flows both ways.”