“As comfortable as a warm hearth might be, forget not the destination at hand.” - Old Jarldom saying.

“Take care on the road, now, y’all!” said the matron when the three left to continue their journey the next morning.

They had spent the night with the family, in the longhouse. The central area was fortunately more than spacious enough to accommodate fifteen people sleeping side by side. For their bed, all they had were soft and warm furs laid directly on the hardwood floor, but even that was plentiful and luxurious, for travelers on the road like them. The warm furs below paired with thick woolen blankets meant that their sleep through the night was a warm and comfortable one despite the frozen weather outside the longhouse.

In the morning, they chose to depart after the hearty breakfast, which consisted of grainy black bread eaten together with rich hand-churned butter, cheese, and slices of preserved meats, as well as marmalade made from local berries. The locals washed down their breakfast with some strong tea, lightly sweetened with syrup made from boiled tree sap and flavored with dried flowers.

“Thanks for thekindness and hospitality, ma’am,” said Aideen as she shook the matron’s hand in farewell. She had generously paid for their stay despite the matron’s unwillingness to receive more money from them, as Calais’ purchase of her husband’s scrimshaw already gave the family a small fortune as it stood, but Aideen had insisted.

Normally the family would have sold such handicraft in late autumn, after they slaughtered most of their herd in preparation for winter. They would have taken one trip to the city to sell both excess meat and their handicrafts in one go. Calais had paid over four times what the family would have normally earned from selling their handicraft to merchants in the city, so the sum alone was more than what the family usually earned in their yearly trading trip.

“Heard y’all be headed further west, to Istria I reckon?” asked the matron after she let go of Aideen’s hand, her chubby face slightly scrunched up in consternation. “Ya might want to stop by the next town and wait for a large caravan first, dearie. There’s been bandit troubles over there, everyone’s heard of it. Shameless villains, all!”

“Is it common for bandits to be an issue around here, ma’am?” asked Celia with curiosity from behind Aideen.

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“We be a hardy folk here, dearie. We ain’t gonna turn our blades against each other just ‘cus of some hardship,” denied the matron with a disgusted scoff. “Much less them folks at Istria. They be downright prosperin’ there! Ain’t no reason for them to throw that away and be bandits in the wild! Nay, chances are, the so-called bandits are rats from other places, jealous of them prosperin’ and trying to grab a share of the riches, the dirty way!”

“Thanks for the warning, ma’am,” replied Aideen with a nod. The woman’s warning was given out of goodwill, and it was sage advice for most travelers who intended to take the route indeed. After all, a small group of three would be easy prey for bandits. That said, her group was not most travelers. “Rest assured that we know what we’re doing on our trip there.”

“Good ta hear that, dearie! Take care now! May the sun be shining down your path!” yelled the matron vigorously as they departed.

******************************

An hour later, after the village had long disappeared behind the horizon…

“So, Aunt Aideen, are we waiting for a westward caravan at Port Levska, or are we taking a ship from there?” asked Calais while they walked. Port Levska was the western port of the Gulski Jarldom, and its largest commercial center, prior to the development of the port next to Gulski city itself. Even then, it remained a major commercial center since trade from the west of the continent generally flowed through it.

“Wait? What waiting?” asked Aideen back with a teasing smirk on her face. “We’ll just visit Levska since it’s on the way, but we’ll head west on our own, on foot, just the three of us.”

“Huh?” asked Calais in surprise at Aideen’s response. He looked at Celia in search of some support, but was dejected to find none there, as the younger woman had to cover her mouth to stop herself from giggling. “But, Aunt Aideen, you heard the matron back there, no? There’s banditry afoot on the roads of Istria. Just the three of us would…”

“Make for inviting prey, you want to say, right?” replied Aideen with a question of her own, the smirk never leaving her face all the while. “That’s just fine. Some bastards need to learn that some prey are more than what they could chew,” she said confidently. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of some bandits?”

“Well, mother always taught me to avoid conflicts if I could do so. I found those words to be quite wise, in my experience,” answered Calais with some nervousness.

“Calais, boy, playing it safe is smart, and your mother was wise to advise you to do so,” said Aideen as she held the young elf’s shoulder with one hand. “But sometimes, life isn’t so forgiving. Sometimes you have to make a stand, as a person. If you avoided all difficulties in life and played it safe all the way, you would be woefully lacking in the needed skill for such times.”

“Now, we still got quite another week and a half before we reach Istrian lands. I’ll make sure you know a lot more than just the basics of using that staff of yours by then,” she continued. “Also, you’re a pure Life affinity, right? With the Blessing of Life your healing should be on the stronger side… good enough to keep yourself alive, at least?”

Calais nodded nervously at her questions.

“If you can’t win, just keep yourself alive. You won’t die with me around,” said Aideen as a reassurance to the nervous young elf. “You should make full use of chances like these, chances to hone yourself against live opponents without truly putting your life at risk. It’s not often that such chances deliver themselves to you, after all.”