Before dawn, they're all up and ready to continue. They bid the innkeeper farewell and went on. As they journeyed further South they met more villages, as the forest gave way to settlements or farmhouses on small patches of land with fields of cotton or flocks of sheep grazing on hills. The farther they went the larger the fields got and the greater the number of sheep. At noon they stopped to rest and have lunch. Blankets were spread out and it was like a picnic. Luna one of the youngest princesses on the tour age twelve came up to Nick as he was eating with a sad look on her face.
" Brother Nick! Can I ride with you please?" She asked looking at Nick with her big brown soulful eyes.
"Why! Is something wrong with your carriage?" Inquired Nick from the little girl.
"No! Nothing is wrong with it, but I would get a better view of the kingdom riding with you and at least I would be away from Lune".
"What about Lune?"
"She keeps complaining about everything. How she looks, how the journey is too slow, how it's too fast, how she hates waking up early to get in the carriage, I will soon lose my mind" she said this with a sigh and dropped her hands to her side and did a little act like she was about to faint with exhaustion.
Nick laughed at this and said "ok you can ride with me".
She squealed and hugged him and ran back to continue her meal.
Luna just like her twin was a child of a black moor woman that came up onto the shore of the Kingdom as a stole away on a distant merchant ship. the king wanting all types of women laid with her and she died later during childbirth, and it would have seemed like she never existed if not for her twin girls who are brown skin like the bark of timber and thick black hair that seems to be ever standing and no amount of combing or brushing could keep them down. it was a curse as far as Lune was concerned, cursed to be so blatantly different in so many ways but Luna didn't mind she was glad to be different.
When they were ready to start moving again, luna was already standing by Nick's horse. Nick carried her on his saddle and got in behind and wrapped his hands around her while holding the reins of the horse. He rode as always at the front of the convoy.
Luna was mesmerized by the fluffy white of the sheep and cotton. she had a lot of questions "What are those white stuff like clouds with legs?" asked Luna., pointing at the sheep.
"Those are not clouds, those are sheep, animals" answered Cravter.
"What about those tiny cloud flowers?" asked Luna.
" those are cotton, they are used to make fabrics and clothes like what you are wearing"
luna's white eyes and brown seemed like they wanted to pop out of her head as she stared in amazement looking down at her red dress and back at the cotton fields.
"That's impossible" she screamed "those are white and what I am wearing is red".
Cravter reins his horse to walk alongside Nick's and he went on to explain how cotton is combed, treated, spun, woven, and dyed to turn it into the fabric.
"The same thing was done to the wool of sheep, what is made into the coats we wear in winter". He burst out laughing at the look of amazement on Luna's face.
At nightfall, they arrived at the farm of a big family and the family, who was more obliged to host them for the night. They asked their workers to clear their biggest barn because there was not enough room on their farmhouse to accommodate them all. So they all ate dinner outside and went into the barn to sleep on makeshift beds. Nick went around checking on everyone. Most were okay but others especially the princesses had lots of complaints about the sleeping arrangements. Those that weren't comfortable sleeping on beds made out of hay grass covered with blankets slept in their carriages. And Nick promised them they would be well taken care of when they get to the Oral city.
The next morning they had a quick breakfast, washed as best as they could, and continued. Luna rode with Cravter this time and he was happy to have her. They rode still passed fields of cotton, passed a silk mill too, and got to a tiny village where they had lunch, at the end of the day they got to Penscol town. That was where most of the weaving and dying and even leather making was done.
They had a tavern where some stayed while some of the locals accommodated some others. They spent the next day there, resting or sightseeing. Cravter took Luna to see the weaving looms and large drums of color used for dying the textile and also the leather shops but they couldn't stay long there because of the fumes. The evening before they left the village gave them a feast alongside entertainment which everyone enjoyed.
After a day's ride, they arrived at Oral city. The commercial center of the textile district Of the South. This is where all textile fabric made in the region is gathered then from there they are distributed to the other cities and the capital. Same way, the products of other cities first come to Oral City from which it is distributed to the towns and villages where it's needed. it had a calm, quiet setting about it. As carts and wagons of clothes are loaded and driven out of the city, for one thing it was very colorful even more colorful than the capital was. The houses made of either wood, stone, or both were painted in different colors and the windows had flowers.
There were also large warehouses, each warehouse belongs to different merchants who deal in a specific kind of textile, from silk, cotton, to leather, and so. even just merchant dyes.
The District chief welcomed them and made his entire castle Available for their use. They spent a week there and every day different merchants insisted on hosting them on a feast. And after days of traveling, they all settled down and enjoyed themselves to the fullest. Even engaged some of the local maidens in nighttime affairs.
On the night before they left. Cravter got all the bastards and some of the legitimate who had not been educated enough and he taught them about the south.
"Each district makes major production on particular products. The South makes fabrics, clothes just like cotton, wool, silk, and leather. Different farms like those we saw and stayed at on our way here, plant and harvest the cotton or take care of the Sheep and cut them for wool Or bred silkworms. They treat this raw material and spin it at the farms into thread and these products are then bought by weavers and dyers of towns like Penscorl where they are dyed and woven into clothing than from Panscorl they are bought by the merchants to the Oral city where traders around the kingdom come to buy from them.
This way they make money to pay their taxes to the capital which provides them with security. With this system, every district is useful to the other and the kingdom is prosperous".
Frank raised his hand to asked a question. Cravter nodded and Frank asked.
" But what do the other district produce, and how is it determined which district produced what".
"Well! We would know about the other districts during the tour. But for the other question, the climate and topography are one thing. The climate and topography of the south favor cotton. So they produce that"
Lune, twin sister of Luna raised her hand to ask a question. Cravter gave her the go-ahead.
"How did all these districts agree to live as one under the rulership of the king?"
" Good question lune." Smiled Cravter. " In the beginning, the districts were kingdoms of their own. Until they were plagued by dangerous enemies that no kingdom could defend itself. So they all came together under the banner of king Emrord who gathered troops of all districts and fought to defeat the enemies. After the war, the kingdoms began trading together and found it more profitable to them to pay taxes for security and share their produce with the other kingdoms while the other kingdoms shared with them. With years passing the danger of attacks seems to subside and the kingdoms were in the process of breaking again. But our father had the idea to forge alliances by wedding daughters of chiefs of each district. That's why the mother of, Frank, mezolu, and princess Olivia is the city to the chief of the south district."
At this point, the class was dismissed and they all went to bed.