A Rock and a Heart Place (gxg)

Chapter 13

From a size perspective, the nation of Dallinia was the largest on the continent, but the vast majority of the country was an uninhabited desert. Because of all the harsh landscape, there were only three cities. Tefra, the nominal capital, was located near four large oases to provide water to the farms that would be needed to support a population in the middle of an otherwise desolate wasteland. Haldi, to the east, had extensive iron and coal mines, and been able to dam up a few streams to make their own water supply. The final city was Lalut, which supplied horses to the rest of their nation from plains up near the border with the nation of Honan. The cities didn't have a formal government, most rules being dictated by whichever merchant clan decided to make up their own law. Gold ruled above anything else. Because of the pirates off the coast of Appalya being a threat to sea trade, quite a bit of commerce went through Tefra, making the clans wealthy beyond belief.

Of course, most of the work to maintain such a population was done by the many slaves in the cities. Slaves actually outnumbered the rest of the population, though there was no way for them to organize and rise up for freedom. Tefra, with its vast farms near their water sources, supplied a lot of food to the other cities, so if it fell, then the other cities would be hard pressed to sustain themselves.

Thus, the goal of the forces from Southington, was to do exactly that. To take Tefra. Medya, Inez and Katja were two days ahead of the main force, because they wanted to meet with the person who had hired Medya prior to any battle just in case they could be of assistance. They had spent a full day of their lead just travelling to the western trade road, so they would look as though they were coming in from Appalya, and not from Southington, and that left them just one day to meet with the mystery person and then organize any aid that might be available.

Once that was done, they had a very simple plan. Liana and the rest of the forces would just make the last part of their trip into Tefra after dark and attack the dozen or so clan houses as rapidly as possible from the south. There was no trade road heading south out of Tefra, as Southington was the only town in that direction, and even the gold hungry traders of Tefra wouldn't stoop to trade with their ex-slaves. So, a force coming from that direction would be immediately noticeable unless it was dark. 

Tefra had no walls of any sort, since the desert itself offered them a lot of protection from any enemy that might dare to march an army towards them. But the distance from the south wasn't long, only two days from the mountains, and a force with sufficient water could get their troops into the city with little warning. The forces from Tefra was used to taking barrels of fresh water onto their ships for voyages, so those barrels were loaded onto wagons instead for the journey through the sands.

Inez had never been to Tefra, though she knew her mother had been born there and had heard many wonderous stories about it, so to her this was exciting. To Katja, it was one of many new things she'd seen in the few weeks that she's been with the ladies she still considered her moms, and she was delighted to see yet another new place. But to Medya, it was like going back into a nightmare.

The buildings were primarily sandstone, with large fabric awnings, and what little timber there was in the city was hoarded carefully because of how hard it was to get. The only trees in the area were mostly in the farms outside the city center that were used to grow fruits, not make lumber with. Occasionally, an enterprising citizen would dig a deep well which would allow for a small garden in the city, but it was rare.

Nobody even looked twice at the trio, outsiders being common in the city, though Medya knew that not everything was as it seemed. Eyes were everywhere in the city. Unsuspecting travelers were good targets for slavers. She led the way to the Green Oasis Inn, the tallest building in the city that wasn't a wizard's tower. Had she felt confident that her old master's tower was still empty, she would have suggested staying there, but the inn would suit their purposes nicely. They were able to get a room with two beds on the top floor, which was perfect, and then went up to relax for a bit. They had stuck with rooms like this ever since they had stopped needing the tent. They would just push the two beds together, and then sleep with Inez spooning Medya and then she would spoon Katja like little nesting dolls.