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The first night

The Lady signed for Mary to sit down in one of the chairs at the table. Mary sat down and soon she was joined by the Lady and the two aari. After a while, Kopa and Nihal also joined them.

As they sat talking, people came in with plates full of food and placed them in front of them. Mugs with water and cups with hot tea were also served to them.

The conversation around the table revolved mainly around the journey back to Salmis. Mary ate and listened, she learned a lot by listening to the others.

Apparently, it would take three days before they left Domne. That was the part of the trip that Kopa and Nihal worried about the most. Mary discovered that although the two men each had their area of responsibility and command of different groups, their responsibilities overlapped on a lot of the time.

She thought it was something that could lead to problems. But it seemed that the two men were able to cooperate without any problems for the most part, and that they had very similar views. Mary was struck by the idea that it was probably because they put aside their personal prestige and worked towards the same goal; To make sure the Lady was safe.

This led Mary to wonder whether that approach would not have resolved a lot of the conflicts that Zerden had so often talked about between different officers within the castle in Dermes. It felt like it was something important, that the difference in how the two groups worked was the clue to something bigger. But she couldn’t grip the conclusion of what that was.

When the food had been eaten, the discussion continued and Mary felt relatively bored. She looked at the desk that was in the corner and wondered if she would dare to ask if she could go over and sit there.

A moment later, the Lady didn’t seem as involved in the discussion as she had been. Mary leaned closer to her and said quietly.

“Your Grace, can I go sit down at your desk? I don’t feel like I can contribute much to the discussion.” The lady smiled at Mary.

“I think it’s time you called me Tariana, Mary, and of course you can go and sit at the desk. I would have avoided this discussion if I wasn’t obligated to listen,” she said. Mary smiled back and stood up and excused herself before quickly walking towards the desk.

For a while, Mary sat and just looked at the paper, the ink, and the cut quills. She had not had the opportunity to write on paper with a real pen since she had lived at home with her parents.

Carefully, she took out a sheet of the paper, picked up a pen and dipped it in the ink. She took a deep breath and began to write. She wanted to make a list of all the words she had learned, so she could practice them herself. She started by writing the word in Salamis, which was a bit hard because she didn’t know how it was spelled.

She simply wrote it as it sounded. After that, she wrote the same words in common language. In the beginning there were a couple of ink blots on the paper, her lack of practice was showing. But after a while, muscle memory switched on and the lines became cleaner, and the writing became less trembling. Some words in Salamis took her a long time to decide how to spell them.

She worked with great concentration until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw the Lady, Tariana she corrected herself, standing behind her. She also discovered that the others had gotten up and stood in smaller groups and chatted.

“It’s time to retire for the night my friend,” Tariana said. Mary nodded and poured some sand over the paper to soak up excess ink before she folded the paper and stood up from the desk.

She and Tariana then joined the others and said good night. Before Kopa retired, he put his hand on Mary’s shoulder.

“I’m on the other side of that tent wall” he said. “If there’s anything, just shout and I’ll come.”

Mary smiled and nodded. He must have been worried about her first night outside the city, Mary thought. It warmed her heart that someone considered her feelings.

She went with Tariana into their bedroom and changed into nightclothes and crawled under the blankets of her bunk. After saying goodnight, there was a relaxed silence in the tent.

Mary was lying there thinking, she was surprised at how comfortable the bunk was. She thought it would be hard and uncomfortable. But she found it surprisingly soft. The blanket and furs protected her from the cold and made her feel safe and secure.

She said a prayer and asked God to watch over all her friends in the city and all her old and new friends here in the camp in the middle of nowhere.

After that, she lay listening to the strange sounds surrounding the camp, silent voices speaking a foreign language, muffled footsteps in the grass, banners flapping in the increasing wind, and the sway of the occasional tree. She fell asleep with a feeling of being safe and yet in the middle of an adventure.

She was awakened early the next morning. Tariana urged her to dress warmly and comfortably, it would be a chilly spring day, she said. Mary heeded her advice and then they went out to eat their bowls of porridge while the camp was taken down all around them.

Mary had had the presence of mind to put the paper, that she had written the night before, in the pocket of her cloak so that she could read it while she was in the carriage. As she ate her porridge, Mary watched, fascinated by how quickly the grey-clad people packed up the camp.

When she was done, the camp was almost completely packed up and stowed on carts, ready to leave. While the last things were stowed away, Mary walked with Kopa, Tariana and the two aari towards her waiting carriage.

When they settled down, everyone was ready to leave. Mary was deeply impressed by everyone’s efficiency and determination. Even the kitchen in the castle had nothing on these people, she realized.

The long caravan of grey-clad riders was set in motion and the small hill where Mary had spent her first night outside the city soon disappeared from view.

Tariana and the two other women began talking about things they needed to do when they got home, duties they had had to postpone for the sake of the trip. Mary took out her paper and began to repeat her words.

She felt relieved that she recognized most of the words and discovered that they seemed to be added into her memory. She kept repeating them and tried to put them together into sentences.

A while later, Mildy began to teach her new words and Mary put her list aside. Soon the two other women were also engaged and taught her new words and interrogated her on the old ones.

Everyone was impressed that she managed to learn the new language so quickly. When they stopped in the afternoon to make camp, the women had begun to teach her phrases and sentences.

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