Somewhere Else Entirely

3 - At Palarand

As the caravan travels towards Palarand the mystery woman's flashes of memory and the accompanying headaches become more frequent. After refreshing themselves at Tanon's mansion a visit to the palace reveals perplexing news.

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The overnight sky had been clear so the early morning air was cold but not unpleasantly so. The woman was glad of her thick dress as she stood in front of the fire to get warm. Unlike the previous morning breakfast was crushed grains boiled in milk to make a kind of porridge. She was almost sick when she thought about where the milk must have come from, but then sense reasserted itself. Why not? It was a natural farmyard occurrence, after all. Her uncle kept a herd of - a shaft of pain stabbed into her brain. Ow! She staggered over to the bench and joined Merina and Silna.

"Another memory, my dear?" Merina recognized the symptoms.

"Yes, another one. About a farm..."

"You lived on a farm?" Merina raised her eyebrows and a relieved look came on Silna's face.

"No, I don't think so," the woman replied slowly. "I think I have an uncle who owns a farm... I was thinking about milk," she finished.

Silna's face fell. If this woman's relatives owned farms then she might very well be high-born.

"Oh. I think I understand," Merina said. "If there aren't any dranakhs where you come from, then the milk must have come from a different animal. Do you think you remember the shape of the animal? Could you draw it for us, perhaps?"

"I don't think so, Merina, I'm sorry. When I had that thought, then the pain came. I'm not sure I could draw much anyhow at the moment."

Merina's face remained speculative as they finished their meal and packed up ready to leave. The dranakhs appeared, backing themselves between the wagon shafts as the men mounted their frayen ready for the next part of their journey.

The road curved away from the plateau to rejoin the valley they had been following previously and it led away from the cliff back towards the mountains. But it was evident that this trend wouldn't last long, and soon a gentle curve began which dropped them steadily towards warmer regions. A pull-in at the side of the road was sufficient for them to take their morning break and then they were off again. Trees began to appear, and soon the road was bordered on both sides by open woodland.

The sky lightened ahead and the woman sensed that they were coming towards the end of the mountain part of the journey. It was difficult to determine just where the cliffs were because of the tree cover. Again the caravan halted, this time to take lunch. The trail stew had all gone and all that was left was old bread, cheese, a little meat and a quantity of dried fruit.

"Do not be too concerned, my dear," Merina told the woman. "This should be the last meal we have to take from our own supplies, which is just as well. Once we get down into the Valley we will be able to get fresh food and drink and even find somebody else to cook our meals for us."

The woman frowned. "Why would they do that?"

"Once over the canal and into Palarand proper we'll reach a major route which runs along the Great Valley. There are many stops for travelers and food is usually available at all of them."

"Oh."

As before, the awnings were put up but without side walls and the whole company apart from two lookouts took their afternoon nap. Here under the trees it was cooler and more pleasant and it was easy to drift off. After some while a familiar rumble awoke the sleepers and the caravan was made ready again for the road. Now, so close to home, there was a certain amount of anticipation.