“You are persistent,” she sighed. She gave the appearance of being annoyed, but Kre could see a hint of a hidden smile playing at the edge of her lips. “Perhaps though, you are right. Your intimate knowledge of this land could prove useful in helping us get where we need to go.”
Kre sat a bit straighter on his horse and smiled. It certainly felt nice that his potential usefulness was being acknowledged. “So, there isn’t much around this area. Most of this region is still pretty underdeveloped. There really is just the one major road, leading from Sandort on the north end, capitol of the Milo Region, to the City of Wand, the capitol of the Lapisal Region to the south.
“Sandort really is the only location of any note on the eastern half of the region. Most of the pioneer settlers focused on the northern shore for the access to the fishing industry, bypassing the apple trees that grow wild and bountiful deeper in the region around Mintas.
“Right now,” he said gesturing in front of them, “we’re headed southeast of Fort Cowl, which will eventually take us to the highway, but it’s going to be a longer ride through the hills and forests than if we had stayed on the Sandort trade road that loops out from Sandort and taken the highway south from the city.”
She was silent, as if contemplating his wise words. Kre smiled, feeling satisfied and even a little proud at the geographic knowledge that he as able to display. If only Lowil could see him now… his former teacher would be proud of the accurate recall of information that he just performed.
“You have lived in this region for nearly your entire life,” she said finally, “and yet, you do not have any idea of what is actually out here.”
She gestured in front of them, just as Kre had done just a moment prior. “To the southeast, it is true that we would eventually reach your people’s road, but long before that we will come to a settlement. If we keep our pace, we will reach it just after nightfall, which is good because we should not wander the forests at night, just the two of us.”
“What settlement?” Kre demanded, his damaged pride showing through in his anger. “There’s no settlements anywhere between here to the highway. You are greatly mistaken!”
“And that,” she smiled, “is why I am leading and you are following. You did not even know our destination existed, let alone how to reach it. If you wish to continue to be surly and antagonistic to me though, I do not have to share any more information than that.”
Growling on the inside, Kre nevertheless knew that he would have no peace and learn nothing else until she was satisfied by his adoption of a more positive attitude. In that way, he was reminded of Syonette and he felt a sudden wrenching in his gut as he remembered that he would not be seeing his friends for a very long time.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled.
“Pardon?” she asked sweetly. “Were you speaking to me or down to the horse?”
He lifted his head up and bit the inside of his cheek to stop the snarky retort that he already had queued up. “I’m sorry Kitalia. Please, tell me more of this magical, mysterious settlement that none of my people have ever heard of.” It was still snarky, but it was much less so than what he had intended to say at first, so he considered that a win.
“Wait,” he called out before she could respond, “that’s it then… this is an Ylveryan settlement, right? A secret Ylveryan settlement. That’s why it’s not on any of our maps.”