It took them eight days to cross the Catoplean Desert. This western half of the Scarred Lands was not as harsh as the eastern half -- there was considerably more vegetation here, and fewer sandstorms; they even stumbled across a few small oases in the lower valleys, full of bramble and fig trees. There seemed to be fewer monsters here as well, though that was a bit harder to gauge -- Hiero's radiator worked so well that they were almost never accosted by monsters; it was possible the beasts were just keeping their distance.

The desert was dangerous, of course, and the terrain sometimes difficult, but it was not impassable. It occurred to Arai that this was probably the reason why so many western expeditions into the Scarred Lands had failed -- they were expecting to find the same conditions on the eastern side of the mountains as they had encountered on the western side. But the eastern desert was a true wasteland, bereft of life, and the monsters around Urumkesh and Panner's Canyon were much more numerous. In contrast, eastern expeditions into the west were fairly rare; most Galleans regarded it as pure folly to try to cross the Tarnak.

But Lady Melei had done it. And she was very pleased with herself.

"A triumph," she said, over and over again. "How many years has it been since an expedition of this size crossed the Tarnak? This is absolutely historic. They're going to be talking about us, writing about us, centuries from now, I'm sure of it."

"Really?" Shell asked.

"Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself?" Arai asked. "You still have to make the return trip, after all."

She waved that away. "We did it once. We can do it again."

The land grew flatter, and the grasses fuller, as they made their way further west, and soon they were surrounded on all sides by a vast tallgrass prairie: a seemingly endless expanse of green and yellow, decorated with wildflowers and the occasional blackjack oak. They saw thousands of butterflies here, alighting on prairie flowers, and small herds of zubr and yellow-striped jang as well. The jang were skittish creatures, though, and well-camouflaged; they had a tendency to vanish into the high grass.

Arai was the only one in the party who had ever seen these animals before -- albeit in a menagerie in Arl's City -- and Hiero and the others immediately began asking him questions about them. Were they dangerous? Were they good to eat? He had to admit that he didn't really know that much about them.

Lady Melei asked him again about Elent. "Tell me about this country," she prodded, for the umpteenth time. "Who are its leaders? How many people live here? How long would it take us to travel from one end of it to the other?"

Arai smiled a little. In the east, he had been the foreigner, ignorant of everything, but the tables had turned now, and he was the one answering their questions. It felt strangely gratifying.

"Understand that I've only visited Elent a few times," he said, "and only the far-western portion of it, where its borders run up against Arliel's Holy Empire. Most of what I know comes from stories I've heard, maps I've seen, reports from mercenaries, and so forth."

"I'll take what I can get," Melei said.

He nodded. "Very well. To start, Elent is the largest single nation in the west, both by population and by land area. There are possibly more people in the Holy Empire, but the Empire isn't really a unified nation -- it's a collection of independent states and city-states."

"And it's ruled by a queen?" Sir Estil asked.

"It's a queendom," Arai affirmed. "The monarchy follows the female line. I don't know how it started, but Elent has been ruled by queens for the last five or six hundred years."

"A strange custom," Sir Estil said. "A country ruled by women? It's like something out of a fairy-story."

"The monarch is always a woman," Arai said, "but there's a great council, too, called the Parliament, which makes laws, and the Parliament is mostly made up of men. Men command the armies as well, and the queen usually has male advisors. It's not as if men don't have any power at all in Elent; they simply prefer queens to kings."

"Still," Sir Estil muttered, shaking his head. "Strange."

"What do you know about the current queen?" Melei asked.

"Her name is Alfaze," he said. "She's reigned for something like thirty years now. I don't know much about her, other than that she's said to be a wise and experienced ruler." He paused. "It's been a few years, though, since I last heard anything about Elent. They could have a new queen now for all I know. Alfaze's daughter Yasmin was next in line for the throne, as I recall."

"The country is well-governed, then?" Lady Melei pressed.

"For the most part," he said. "The Queen's Men keep the peace on the roads; I don't think we'll run into any bandits or highwaymen. But Elent is a very big country and a lot of different people live here. The Tessians dwell in the Craglands south of the prairie -- what's left of them, anyway; Queen Alfaze destroyed their cliff-cities after the Skile Massacre. In the north are the Jek. They're a tribal people, and mostly rule themselves, but they pay homage to Queen Alfaze, and they'll go to war for her if she asks them to -- I saw Jek war-elephants once, at Fort Wyrm, at the border of the Holy Empire. And Magelight is a sort of city-state on the southern coast, ruled by the Mages of the Dark Mist."

"Sorcerers?"

He nodded. "Yes, but also a criminal syndicate. The Elentish incorporated the city into the queendom about a hundred years ago, but they mostly leave the Mages alone, like the Jek. The Mages of the Dark Mist are ruthless. I've heard rumors about them sacrificing children to their Scorpion God. I don't know if they're true." He shrugged. "But the Tessians keep to themselves, and we're not likely to encounter any Jek or Dark Mist assassins on the way to Palais."

"That's the capital of Elent?" Sir Estil inquired.

"Usually," he said. "There's another city on the other side of the Elent Sea, Pantheme, which sometimes serves as their capital as well. It depends on which dynasty the queen belongs to. It's complicated."

"I'm glad you're with us," Lady Melei said. "If not for you we would be totally ignorant of these things. How long will it take to get to Palais, do you think?"

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"I have no idea," he said truthfully. "I know it's on the other side of the Great Prairie, along the shore of the Elent Sea, but..." He shrugged again. "Like I said, I've never been here before. I can only guess."

They continued making their way west, through the vast prairie, their wagons flattening the grasses as they rolled over the land. Arai had heard stories about nomads living in the Great Prairie, but they saw no sign of anyone, anywhere; the grasslands appeared to be totally uninhabited. With no roads to follow nor paths with which to find their way, they simply continued west, in as straight a line as they could, in the direction of the Elentish heartland.

Arai spent much of his time in Lillandra's wagon. She was recovering quickly and was already back on her feet -- probably Shell's healing potions had had something to do with that; she had drank down an entire vial -- but Arai didn't want her to push herself too hard, and had insisted that she spend most of her time in the wagon, resting. She obliged him, and the two of them spent many long hours together, chatting quietly, but sometimes just sitting there, saying nothing at all, and simply enjoying one another's company. They didn't talk much about the change in their relationship, but the change was evident. Having finally expressed and accepted each other's feelings, the tension and confusion that had characterized their earlier relationship was gone, replaced by a kind of sweetness, a kind of shyness, which manifested in lingering looks, secret smiles, and, occasionally, a little teasing and flirting.

"So you're finally together now?" Shell asked Arai eagerly. "It's official?"

"Official?" He snorted. "I haven't asked her to marry me, if that's what you're asking."

"But you love her," she said, "and she told you she loves you."

"I...yes."

"Well, it took you long enough. I thought the two of you were a couple from the moment I laid eyes on you, you know."

"Really? But we were always arguing."

"Exactly."

He snorted again. "You think you're so smart. Oh, by the by, I've been meaning to talk to you about something."

"What's that?"

"Your ears," he said. "I think you ought to cover them up."

"Cover them up?" She frowned. "You don't want anyone to know I'm an elf?"

"I think it might complicate things," he admitted. "There are no elves in the west. People are going to be staring at you; you're going to wind up attracting a lot of unwanted attention."

She chewed on her lower lip. "You're probably right. It was bad enough in western Galleus; it'll probably be even worse here. But what do you suggest I do? I can't hide my ears under my hair; they stick out too much."

"You could put your hood up."

"I don't want to wear my cloak all the time," she complained. "It's hot."

"Well, you'll have to figure something out. Talk with Lillandra. Maybe she can put a glamour on you or something."

"Unlikely," she sniffed.

Later that evening, just as the sun was going down and just as Lady Melei was about to bring the caravan to a halt, Sir Farrow and his outriders spotted a small barn and cottage, situated near a copse of trees, and surrounded by sheep fencing. It was the first human habitation they had seen since leaving Galleus, excepting the bandit camp.

Lady Melei urged the caravan on, hoping to make it to the cottage before dark. When they were close enough, she shouted out a greeting, but she got no response. Arai was sure the homestead had not been abandoned, however, because there were plenty of sheep milling around in the fenced-off area, and the cottage and barn looked to be in good condition. "They're probably hiding," he told Lady Melei. "It's what I'd do, if I saw a company this size headed for my farm."

"We don't mean them any harm," Melei protested.

"They don't know that. Let me check the barn." He went to the barn and knocked on the big barn doors. He got no answer, but he did hear a voice coming from inside: a child's voice, very faint. There was definitely someone inside. He called out to them: "My name is Arai, son of Hetsu. I'm sure we startled you with our sudden appearance, but I assure you we mean you no harm. We're a peaceful trading expedition, from the east, on our way to Palais. We only want directions, if you can give them to us."

He waited several moments for a response. Just as he was about to give up and return to the caravan, however, one of the barn doors opened just a crack, and a man's face appeared within it. He was an older man, with a gray beard, and his eyes were flinty and suspicious.

"You came over the mountains?" the man asked.

"That's right. Our expedition is led by Lady Melei, from the kingdom of Galleus."

"How is it that you speak such good Elentish?"

"That's a long story," he said. "Suffice to say, I'm one of Lady Melei's guides. Why don't I have her come over here and talk with you? She speaks Elentish as well." Lillandra had used the Stone of Many Tongues on Melei and several other members of the expedition, to facilitate communication.

And Lady Melei eventually managed to coax the family out of the barn, and to assure them they had no ill intent. The family consisted of an elderly couple, a much younger couple, and four children of varying ages -- sheep farmers, apparently, who lived on the very outskirts of the Great Prairie. Lady Melei presented them with gifts -- candy for the children, a set of knives and warm blankets for the adults -- and asked them for directions to the nearest town or village. According to the elderly man, the nearest settlement of any size was Rose Town, which was about twenty or thirty miles to the north and west.

"You'll find a rough sort of road about three miles north of here," the man told them. "It will take you right into town."

They thanked the man and his family, and the next morning they set out. They had no trouble finding the road, which they followed right into Rose Town. This was a small town -- more of an outpost, really -- situated on the edge of an oak savanna. Almost all of the buildings were painted a dark shade of red.

Three riders, wearing black-and-yellow uniforms, rode out to meet them before they entered the town. Arai recognized the uniforms. "Queen's Men," he told Lady Melei.

The riders were plainly astonished to see them, but they maintained a professional air. "Who are you, and what business do you have in the Queen's lands?" one of them called out.

Lady Melei urged her horse forward and answered them. She told them that they were a merchant caravan from the east, that they came in peace, that they were looking for opportunities for trade, and that she, Lady Melei, was the expedition's leader. The riders conferred with each other for a moment, then asked Lady Melei to accompany them to the office of Rose Town's chief magistrate. Melei accepted this, but asked if Arai, Lillandra, Sir Estil, and a handful of others might join her. The Queen's Men agreed, and a few minutes later, they found themselves shaking hands with the magistrate -- his name was Dorit -- and sipping tea in his office. He was just as astonished to see them as the Queen's Men had been.

"Yours is the first expedition to have crossed the Scarred Lands in over a decade," he told them, "and your caravan is the largest I've ever seen. How did you manage it?"

Lady Melei preferred to keep Hiero's invention a secret, however, at least for now. "We spent many months preparing for this journey," was all she said.

Dorit was full of questions. How long had it taken them to cross the desert? What sorts of trade goods did they have for sale? Where had they learned to speak Elentish? And so on. Lady Melei spent most of the night conversing with him, and in the morning she told Arai and the others of the arrangements she had made.

"Rose Town is too small to process our merchandise," she said. "So we're heading to the capital. Dorit's assigning a couple of the Queen's Men to the caravan to guide us there." She smiled. "We're going to be a sensation in the capital, he says. They might even honor us with a parade."

Lillandra glanced at Arai. "A parade?"

"Let's hope not," he muttered. "What about the assassin?"

"We'll be taking her to Palais, too," Melei said, "to determine if she really is the one who committed this massacre. There's some doubt about that, apparently. Dorit seemed to be under the impression that the perpetrators had already been brought to justice."

Arai frowned. Perhaps Nessa wasn't the assassin who had killed Princess Nattali and her entourage; perhaps he was mistaken.

Not that it mattered all that much to him. The important thing was, they were on their way to Palais, to civilization, and that their long journey across the perilous, monster-haunted Scarred Lands had finally come to an end.