“Well, let’s make sure your father’s taken care of first. Then we’ll want to head west for a bit until we’re out of site of the caravan,” Xan explained.

“Why?” Taika asked, eyeing him.

“Wouldn’t you be startled if an entire cart just disappeared into thin air?” Xan asked back.

“I guess…” Taika said.

Truthfully, it was more than that. After the card game last night, Xan was pretty sure that a lot of them still felt suspicious of him. The last thing he wanted to do was draw more of their attention.

Taika straightened up from where they were bent over Xan’s crudely draw map.

“Alright, just give us a bit,” she said.

“No rush,” Xan called after her as she climbed up into the cart.

Shadow bent down from her perch on his shoulder to sniff the empty bowl that was still in his hands. She surreptitiously began to lick it.

“Hey, that’s not for you,” Xan said, gently pushing her back.

Shadow snuffed at him in frustration. Then she blinked down to the ground and scampered over to the middle of the camp to search for any leftover scraps.

“Good luck!” he called after her. He waited for another minute, letting the seconds tick by. From within the cart he could hear Taika waking her father and encouraging him to eat. The thought crossed his mind once more that he was useless, sitting out here alone while Taika was doing everything she could to help her father. He quickly stood up and pushed the thought aside, determined to make himself useful.

Almost everyone in the caravan had eaten by now, so they were busy breaking down camp and watering and feeding their horses. Xan returned the empty bowl and spoon, dropping it into a bin with the other dirty dishes from breakfast. Then he looked around for a moment, not sure what to do next. His gaze landed on Lila, and he made a beeline for her.

The Suidan woman was holding up a canvas bucket full of oats, trying her best to hold it steady while her horse ate.

“Morning, Miss Lila!” Xan called to her.

“Oh! Good morning!” she called back. She tried to wave at him, but in doing so she almost dropped the bucket.

“Can I help you-?”

“Oh, no, it’s alright. Old Clopper here prefers that I feed him,” Lila said. She adjusted her grip on the bucket so she could pat the horse on his neck. The horse grunted approvingly.

“Alright, then. So, Lila, I was wondering if you have any more of those herbs you gave us?” Xan asked.

“Sure do,” she said.

“I’d like to buy some. How much are they?” he asked.

The horse finished his oats, crunching on the last bite loudly. Lila put down the bucket, patting her horse on the nose.

“Well, let me see now,” she said. She began searching through the pockets in her apron. Then she started searching through the various crates in her cart. Finally, she found the one she was looking for. She opened it up and held up another small pouch.

“Here we are! Licorice root. A pouch this size will be…” she briefly counted on her fingers, “two silver.”

Xan fished around in his pockets for a moment before he pulled out a handful of coins.

“I’ll take enough for six silver,” he said.

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“My…” Lila exclaimed softly. “Has he gotten worse?”

“Well, no… I mean, he’s no worse off than yesterday… that I can tell. But, I’m no doctor,” Xan said.

Lila hopped down from the cart. She took the silver and put it into one of her apron pockets. Then she took Xan’s hand. She pressed the pouches of licorice root into his palm.

“This is mighty kind of you, boy,” she said, holding his hand tightly for a moment. Xan looked down at her hand, then down at the ground.

“I wish I could do more,” he said quietly.

“I already told you, boy,” Lila said, shaking his hand to get his attention, “You’re already helping her a lot more than you think. I’ve seen it happen time and again where people run themselves into the ground caring for a loved one who was ill. Having you here to care for her is just as important as caring for her father.”

Xan looked down at the short Suidan woman with a smile.

“Thank you, Miss Lila,” he said.

“Anytime, boy,” Lila said. Then she patted his hand and released her grip.

Xan made his way back to the cart, tucking the herb pouches into his pocket. As he approached he was surprised to see Dogan there. He was standing at the back of the cart, talking with Taika. He saw Xan approaching and waved.

“Good morning! Just came by to make sure you have everything you need before we part ways – and to express my thanks again, lass, to you and your father,” Dogan said.

“No thanks needed, Dogan,” Taika said. “We were just doing our duty as Verdans.”

“All the same, lass. You take care, now,” Dogan said, shaking her hand.

“I think we’ll manage,” Taika said.

Then Dogan offered to shake Xan’s hand. When Xan took it, Dogan pulled him in close and whispered, “Remember what I said, son. Watch yourself, now.”

Xan nodded discreetly. Then they separated, and Dogan headed back to his wagon, giving them a wave in farewell. Soon the two groups parted ways, with the caravan heading east while Taika and Xan started heading west.

They continued down the road for the next few minutes. The road curved its way around another large hill, then down a grassy bank. Once they were at the bottom, Xan looked back to make sure the caravan couldn’t see them, then looked around to see if there was anyone else coming up the road.

“Alright, here’s good,” he said.

Taika gently pulled back on the reins. Then she looked up at Xan expectantly.

“Well, now what?” she asked.

“Now, we let Shadow work her magic,” Xan said. He picked Shadow up off his shoulder and set her down on the seat between him and Taika.

“W-wait!” Taika cried. When Xan looked up at her, her cheeks began to redden in embarrassment. She looked away, then looked back again. “Is it going to hurt?”

“Not at all,” Xan said. “We’ve done this plenty of times, there’s nothing to it. Though you might want to close your eyes – the first time can be pretty disorienting.”

Taika didn’t look like she was completely reassured, but did what he suggested. She closed her eyes and gripped the reins tight.

“Alright, girl, do your thing,” Xan told Shadow.

The silver weasel trilled. Then she bent down in a ready stance, digging her claws into the boards of the seat. Xan watched as a light began to glow from a spot between her chest and her throat. It grew steadily in intensity, getting brighter and brighter. Right as the brightness reached its peak, Xan reflexively closed his eyes and braced himself.

For an instant, it felt like his entire body was being squeezed, and he couldn’t breathe. The next instant the pressure was gone. He took a deep breath, thinking to himself that he would never get used to that. Then he heard Taika cry out in amazement next to him, and he smiled as he opened his eyes.

They were still on the road, but now they were surrounded by large trees. Their bare branches reached up into the sky, gnarled and twisted. When they had separated from the caravan mere minutes ago, the sky had been a pale blue. Here above the trees, however, there was a thick cover of gray clouds. Taika stared around open-mouthed at the sudden change of scenery.

“That’s some trick,” she said.

“That it is,” Xan said, reaching over to pet Shadow.

“But, where are we? This doesn’t look like Vaimea,” Taika said.

Xan scanned the road. There was a break in the trees a few yards away, and they could faintly hear the hustle and bustle of people, horses, and carts coming from that direction. Xan indicated it to Taika, and she set the horse into a trot towards it.

A few minutes later they came clear of the trees into a wide field. Remnants of campfires could be seen at intervals on either side of the road, beside which a few straggling campers were packing up their supplies and loading them into packs or onto carts. Those who were packed and ready were making their way onto the road, doing their best to finagle their way forward through the traffic. Looking up above the crowd, Xan and Taika soon saw where everyone was going.

A large, arched gateway was set into a high stone wall about fifteen feet tall. The hewn blocks had been worn smooth by decades of winds and rain. On the wall above, soldiers in half-plate patrolled, bearing blue-green sashes on their left shoulders and round shields on their arms. A few of the soldiers also carried long spears whose heads glinted in the early morning light. The gate itself was wide and tall, with heavy wooden doors reinforced with iron bars. The doors had been thrown wide open, and a steady stream of carts was slowly making its way into and out of the city.

Xan looked edgewise at Taika, giving her a cocky grin. “Welcome to Vaimea,” he said.