She left her town early in the morning, before the sun rose. Her parents woke up with her, but Novar just rolled off the couch and went into the bedroom to sleep, without saying a word. They were worried for her, but it was so much more complicated than that. If Raya didn’t return, they’d depend completely on the generosity of the somewhat hard people of Olston to bring them food, money, new clothes when they were needed.
“Make Novar help out,” Raya told them, as they shared a small breakfast.
Her father frowned. He was still healthy, but was one of the oldest men in the town, covered in wrinkles and without any hair left on him. “Novar’s made it clear we’d need to force him,” her father said. He said it loud enough that her brother could hear through the thin walls.
“We’ll be fine,” her mother said. “I’m more concerned for you.”
“Well you needn’t be,” Raya told her, and touched her hand. The room was lit by only two candles, and out the window, the smallest sign of orange reached the horizon. “I’ve been on longer wilderness treks than this.”
“We know,” her father said. “That’s not what we’re worried about.”
They finished eating in silence, mostly. After a group embrace, Raya grabbed her bow and her quiver, slung them around her head and shoulder, and sheathed her knife at her waist. She wore a rough leather tunic over her smallclothes, but had packed a more civilized-looking blouse in her pack. Aside from that, her pack only carried the necessities—flint and copper, a small loaf of bread, as many coins as she and her parents could pull together from their own connections, and a writ signed by the council which decreed her to act on behalf of the entire town’s populace.
She set out, toward the glowing sky. Hemsten wasn’t on duty, this morning, but she waved and called good-morning to that day’s gate guard, a man named Tharin. There was a trail leading out of town, which ran all the way through the hills toward the east. It eventually connected with the Crimson Highway, but it was not Raya’s intent to reach that roadway. She followed the trail for two hours, before heading east off-road.
Not only was the Crimson Highway a tolled road, but if the Highwayman she spoke to decided on a higher price than she could afford, she’d be put to work until she had paid the difference. It was incredibly costly for no one kept the Highwaymen in order except their own self-governance. Due to that, they were little more than bandits—they could take her things if they wanted, or hurt her person. With the influx of refugees in this region of Radregar, the Crimson Highway would be patrolling in force, keeping lots of refugees and other brigands off the road. It was too busy to be safe, and too expensive to take advantage of.
The hills grew gradually shallower as she marched towards the east. She un-slung her bow a few hours after the sun rose and caught a couple rabbits to eat. Carrying them slowed her down a bit, but not too much. She knew she wouldn’t make the whole forty-mile journey in one day, so she stopped mid-evening when she found a small cave against the edge of a grassy ridge. It wasn’t very deep, but she checked a few rocky crevices to make sure there were no animals calling it home.
That evening, she skinned, cooked and ate the rabbits she caught and a few slices of bread. She unbuckled a water skin from her belt and took a drink. She hadn’t found any streams yet, so she was taking it easy with her water stock. There were more waterways close to Vagren, all flowing down to the Eremes to flow out to sea, and she could fill her canteen when she needed to tomorrow.
She would likely reach the city the next day, but she hadn’t yet decided if she should enter it in the evening when she arrived or wait until the morning after that. It would all depend on if Vagren kept a curfew and how many refugees were causing delays at their gates.
She set up a few traps around the entrance of the cave, before falling asleep with her back against the smoothest rock wall inside the cave. It took her a long time to fall asleep, but as she watched the sun’s last light fade from the horizon, she eventually drifted off into a tranquil world of dreams.