The caravan made its way from the city into the distance. It was only a short march from the gate to the edge of the forest surrounding the city.
Tekiel City was built on a plain, surrounded on three sides by forest, while a mountain rose in the west. The plain, along the river, made for excellent farmland in addition to being relatively safe from the surrounding spirit beasts which preferred more forested terrain.
With the exception of once-in-a-century beast tides, the spirit beasts that attack the outer wall are simply desperate or confused.
This isolated location makes Tekiel City the second safest city in the region, only behind Seacloud City at the foot of Seacloud Mountain.
While most cities can feed their citizens themselves, Tekiel City is known for its variety and quality of crops, leading to quite a lot of caravans from and to the city to fill the pantries of other great clans in other cities.
When they reached the treeline, Aria started talking to Sana, "From now on, we need to stay vigilant, but you need to remember to stay relaxed as well. The trip to Blackwood City will take at least five days, so make sure not to exhaust yourself. We're in the back, so we need to watch the back. You'll take the right to behind us, and I'll do the same for the left."
Sana nodded and started watching her surroundings. The forest itself was darker than she expected; the shadows deep in the forest were especially thick. She could see maybe twenty meters into the forest before her view was blocked by tree trunks. Still, she tried to look out for movements or strange shapes anyway.
"Since we're outside the city," her mother continued, looking out behind and to the left of her, "we won't be keeping with the strict Closing times. Instead we'll keep to about ten hours of travelling and five hours of resting. Meaning we should be resting exactly twice a day but it is very easy to get out of order in the wilderness. So, instead of five days, to simplify, we'll say ten 'days'."
A few hours later, the eighth hour since their journey began, Sana started getting tired. She tried to relax, but the excitement of the day and the subsequent normalcy of the trip made it difficult.
Then, during the tenth hour, a signal was passed to the back that a potential campsite was spotted. The wagons were quickly led off the road and into a place with relatively little foliage. They were arranged into a circle in a sort of makeshift wall.
A campsite was quickly erected with tents, a feeding place for the horses, and a central campfire for cooking. Sana helped her mother erect their tent themselves, and despite many people wanting to help out, her mother simply refused any help.
When Sana sat in front of the campfire, she was approached by the caravan leader. Her mother was doing another sweep of the surroundings. "May I sit with you, Lady Sana?" he asked, bowing his head.
She agreed, and after sitting down, he continued, "How is the trip? Not as exciting as expected?"
"Not at all, it's great! I always wanted to see what the outside was like. And it's not nearly as boring as my tutor's lessons." Sana realized what she had said and, blushing, looked at the caravan leader with pleading eyes.
He laughed out loud in surprise but caught himself and said, "Don't worry, I'm not gonna tell anyone what you said. Outside the city the rules are a little more fluid anyways.
"Normally I would be the one doing the last sweep but, with Lady Aria here, I am surprisingly free. Having someone with her strength with us feels freeing. The guards in Blackwood City aren't gonna know what to do when we show up with a Martial King," he added almost mockingly.
Seeing the questioning look on Sana's face he said, "Even having just one Martial King is considered exceptional for a city. A few decades ago our city already had one Martial King."
"Yes, Elder Bara, I heard she was a Martial King in her youth." Sana interjected.
The caravan leader continued, "Well, technically she still is, she just isn't able to fight with the same strength. But yes, it was a big deal when Tekiel City had one. When Elder Bara's strength started to wane and Lord Andrus, who was the most talented of the Martial Arts practitioners in the city, disappeared, people were very nervous," he continued with a frown, staring into the fire.
Sana was entranced and held her breath. She never heard about her father disappearing but it made sense. She knew her mother was an outsider, her father must have met her at that time.
"But when he came back as a Martial King, he came back with another Martial King in tow. It looked like the worry was unnecessary. I mean, a city with two Martial Kings is completely unheard of.
"Blackwood City's strongest Martial Arts practitioner, for example, is the eldest son of City Lord Hitam. He is a Martial Lord, above a Martial Knight like me. Normally a city has one or two Martial Lords per generation so showing up with a Martial King is certainly gonna be interesting.
"Thankfully, City Lord Hitam's third son is said to be good friends with Lord Andrus and Lady Aria, so we shouldn't be looked at with too much suspicion."
"Yes, ...friends." A voice muttered behind them. The caravan leader quickly stood up and exclaimed, "Lady Aria!" with a bow. Her mother ignored him, looking into the distance with a complicated look on her face. "We should at least be invited in. I just don't look forward to meeting that nutter again."
With a shake of her head, she simply motioned for them to take a bowl of food. Sana thought it tasted pretty bland but didn't complain since the others seemed to enjoy it. Her mother looked lost in thought the entire time and didn't talk even when they went to sleep. The furs serving as cushioning were harder than she was used to, but she was tired enough from the traveling that she fell asleep immediately.