The curse of the jewels, book 1 - The Peasant Queen

VI - Great Eastern Road twenty years earlier.

The visit to the shaman took place half a dozen years later. Only the three indigenous peoples of Uv-Polin, the so-called Ancient Peoples, mastered magic. The Gems charged a lot for their services; as for the Stoltzts, only a handful of them had power. In both peoples, they were at the top of the hierarchy of their domains. Only Bawck Shamans were widespread enough to trade extensively in magic. By gathering all his wealth in gold and jewelry, Jensen was rich enough to afford the services of one of them. He hoped, however, that he would be satisfied with the stones he would collect from Deirane's body. The peasant was willing to let him have them all if he could rid his daughter of the burden.

Early one morning, Jensen put his daughter on the cart bound for the nearest tribe on the Chabawck Plains. The Bawcks were seen as savage, warlike and consequently disliked by the human population. So they stayed quite far from the population centers. Jensen had installed a comfortable bed in the back of the vehicle. However, Deirane preferred to sit next to him. Cleriance would have accompanied them, if his condition had not prevented him from such a trip. They said their goodbyes, each hugging or kissing him. Even Elhrine broke her reputation as a pest by blowing a kiss on her sister's cheek.

The journey was to take much longer than a day, more like seven or eight. At first, the path followed the Alcyan Ford. They passed through several villages as small as their own. At the point where the river flowed into the Unster River, their path joined the great northern road that led to Sernos. As the river came into view, Deirane's eyes widened like marbles. The Alcyan was no small river. Up to her village, it was even navigable. Yet, compared to the giant river, it looked tiny. The girl had never imagined that a river could be so wide.

The novelty of the places she was visiting acted like a balm on Deirane. She had never left the limits of the village where she was born, except to go to the nearby town of Ortuin, which was her home, and she would soon leave her kingdom. It was with curiosity that she discovered everything she saw. This attitude delighted Jensen who was beginning to be worried about his daughter's prostration since her return.

Jensen headed south. He didn't follow the road to the capital. Instead, he took a side road that led away from Unster. By late afternoon, they finally came to a wide road. This was the Great Eastern Road that linked Sernos to distant Nasïlia, more than a thousand miles away. Until then, Jensen had driven his carriage quickly. Now that he had reached an important trade route traveled by many travelers, he knew he could find many places to sleep under cover. Nevertheless, it was almost pitch dark by the time the first objective was reached.

They spent the first night in a travelers' inn. The inn was not very well known, but they'd be better off there than outside. So far from the capital, the roads could be dangerous. Jensen put their wagon in the shelter and led his horse to the adjoining stable. While he went to reserve the room, Deirane stayed behind to look after the horse. She preferred to wait until the last moment to enter this unknown place in the presence of such ominous-looking individuals. She could easily imagine them stabbing her in the back and trying to steal her stones.

Deirane had time to unhitch their horse and begin to strangle her when her father joined her. He didn't want to leave her alone for too long in this unknown place; however, his credits were limited, and he had to negotiate for a long time to get a good price. Deirane had had time to examine the stable. She had noticed two strange animals in a distant stall. They were reptilian, bipedal creatures, with mouths full of teeth.

"What are they?" she asked.

Her father glanced over briefly, his face immediately expressing annoyance.

"Dwarf dragon lizards," he replied, "the Stoltzts use them as mounts."

"Dwarves, I can't imagine what the normal ones look like."