59 The Long Road [4]

The carriage soon came to a creaking halt, the wheels agonizing as the horses huffed. Caina gripped the reigns loosely as she turned to an approaching soldier clad in the cities armour, an insignia of an aspis pierced by an arrow over each of his chest. His armour clattered as he drew near, ultimately halting by their side and looked up for a moment to Caina where he narrowed his eyes then just as quickly moved to Jaafa.

"What is your intention for coming here?" he asked, his accent heavy.

"Here to sell sir." Jaafa replied.

The soldier glanced to the carriage then nodded to another who without pause marched around the carriage and to the back. Caina following him all the way until she no longer could.

"Do you have any illicit substances with you?"

"No sir. Just a bunch of fruit." Plastering the falsest smile he could.

The other soldier was soon upon the back of the carriage and pulled himself up onto a little lip to pull open the curtain and peer in. Inside the dim interior he saw two things, a boy and a woman and a collection of baskets stuffed filled with something red. Looking between Noah and Liora's his eyes turned to inspective half moons before huffing a dropping down leaving the two to share shrugs.

Clunking down, the soldier moved to the side and shook his head the others way, him returning a nod. He looked back up to Jaafa and said, "everything's good then, you may pass." And stepped out of the way. Getting his own grateful bob from Jaafa before Caina snapped the reigns and set the horses to dragging them through the parting wall of half a dozen city guardsmen.

"That was weird." Caina muttered under her breath. Normally when a market was coming people could just enter without worry.

"With the war going on the cities are being more cautious," Jaafa whispered once they were past the wall and into the stone paved streets lumbering with life of carriages and Tallmire's regular inhabitants. "Heard rumours that Kanyon's trying to sneak some type of flame magic filled ball into Estalder. Haven't seen it myself but apparently when the magic is activated it incinerates half a city."

Caina shivered and turned to him eyes blared open, "that's insane? How did Kanyon even make that? Aren't they all idiots?"

Jaafa shrugged and swept his golden hair over his ear and cast a passing woman a sparkling smile and wink. Only getting a cringe away from said woman who picked up pace in the opposite direction. "Witches I'd think. Seems like something a coven would make. Doubtful their doing it willingly though so I'd say Kanyon probably enslaved them and had them make it."

"That's insane." Caina paled.

In Morea, well, Pregea in its whole, witch covens were the untouchable few. On their own they harbored anywhere from five to fifteen witches, all of whom were more than adept at wielding manos and ethos to highly proficient degrees. Just fighting a single well trained one was a challenge for five of the most elite of soldiers. Taking a coven, now that was insanity.

"I know. It's also terrifying." Jaafa huffed leaning onto his knees. "I just hope it's all rumours. Cause if it isn't Morea's in for one hell of a war."

That was assured, Caina gulped assuring herself that everything was going to be okay—something she knew was up far, far in the air—and scanned her eyes over the carriage logged streets, passing by a bakery wafting with exuberantly sweet scents and a leather worker where the scent of processing leather and salt kept all at bay. As she did so, she soon spotted a person, a young boy barely twelve of age, in his hand he held a long red stick tipped with a bulbous gold orb. He waved it back and forth screaming out, "rooms and board! We've got the finest meals this side o' the street and stables for your horses an' centaurs!"

It was a tempting idea but just as she was ready to guide the horses to bring her past the child another appeared from further down.

"No, we have the finest meal and board and even better stables for your horses and centaurs!" this one was slightly older and had the bumps of a growing woman.

The first boy turned mouth agape to her. "Liar! You can't even feed a dwarf!" he argued.

The girl chuckled and sent him a mocking smirk, "yeah, and like you can feed a duck."

The boy gasped, recoiled, then stomped his foot down, a vein rising over his forehead. "We can feed multiple ducks I'll have you know!" his tone defiant and proud.

"You forgot to put baby before ducks. Even then your cookings just going to poison them." The girl spun her cane, her hand on hip with her smirk never once faltering.

"Ma's cooking ain't poison you rat infested slobber dragon!" gripped his cane tighter looking ready to bare it down like a morning star.

His words had power it seemed as the girl shot open her eyelids and fire burned bright inside them. Her swinging cane halted and she stomped towards him, poking the bulbous end his way, "take that back! We don't have rats… anymore."

"So you do have rats! Ha!"

The girl's expression faltered, her cheeks flushing.

"No wonder your stew tastes like rat droppings!"

A clunk came from her as her arms dropped, cane's tip thunking hard on the ground as her head hung.

"No wonder me an' ma are getting all the buckles an' not you! You can't even keep the rats out! Ha-ha!" he cackled cruelly. Only, the next second the girl lunged, her arm swinging and before the boy even realizing her palm had met his cheek and he was sent collapsing to the floor still gripping his cane.

"You bully!" she screamed, cheeks wettened with tears as she quickly spun around and shot into the distance leaving the boy confused, eyes wide and mouth agape just holding his blistering cheek seemingly uncomprehending of what just happened.

"W-wait, Jillie!" he called out but was too late as the girl was gone. He slumped weakly and stared opposite himself to the cane she'd dropped.

Caina finally pried away her attention, her head shaking and eyes rolling. "Children," she murmured. The carriage clopped further into the city, passing by a weeping girl being held tightly in a butch womans arms. Her expression seemingly reminiscent of a demons ready to burn a city to cinders, and passed even them by.

The further they went, the thicker the masses grew.

"Turn here," Liora poked her head out from the carriage curtain causing both Jaafa and Caina to bounce slightly. "There's a nice tavern down the street. The owners a friend and me and Harv used to park there when we came to sell wheat and hay." Caina turned down to Liora with an incomprehensible shake of her head but nonetheless snapped the reigns and pulled the horses to the left sending them down the still bustling but tad bit barren street.

"Have you come here often Ms. Rostrea?" Jaafa asked, fingers clenching and unclenching around his swords scabbard.

"Mmm, every now and then. Mostly it was Harv coming here on his own. I was taking care of Elenora back then. Actually… thinking about it it's been a few years since I went and farther than Redle. Wow… time just flies when your old."

Jaafa chuckled, "I can't imagine." An action that caused an immediate silence to take the carriage. Sweat accumulated on his back from the silnce and turned to the side, Caina's expression sour while Liora's was frowning and filled with something he couldn't even imagine.

Liora soon huffed and pulled her head back into the carriage. Not a second later did Caina's elbow jolt outwards and into the mans side, just below the ribs where it hurt. "You're supposed to say she's young." Her whisper screamed.

"But she's not!" he whisper screamed back.

Caina growled and rolled her eyes to the side drawing her head in a light circular motion. "You've never been with a woman before, have you?"

"I have, plenty." He defiantly exclaimed, "in fact, I have plenty waiting for me back home."

"I'm sure you do. Sticks, stones, and pillows with holes cut into them no doubt." Puffing one last time, Caina wholly ignored the flushing and bit-lip silence coming from Jaafa's indignant face.

The carriage clattered rocking the innards just as Liora stepped back from the curtain to the driving box. She stagered, Noah's hands shot up to catch her murmuring 'whoa' but she caught herself by grabbing the siding. Didn't stop Noah from getting an almost mythical glance at her rump, it fullness forcing her dress to stick like glue to her ample curves even lightly creasing down her crevice. The licentious thoughts it's cataclysmic rippling did rising unholy, impure thoughts into tightening his loins, added with the fact that he knew Liora went commando only furthered his rising desires. Him having seen her naked before and even felt her soft body—ignoring her then bloody self—made holding back the blood even harder and arduous task.

Steadying herself, Liora turned and lightly stumbled her way back to her seating opposite Noah. Before setting herself down atop a pillow she reached behind herself and pinched her dress free from her buttocks, then swiftly spun and sat down. Noticing Noah's tight posture, flushed cheeks, and diverted head. Her brow rose then thought back just milliseconds. 'He was looking at my butt?' she warmed, lip quivering threatening to rise high yet thankfully didn't. Smile brightening she though of how cute Noah's reactions were. Almost like a boy embarassed when he was finally begining to realize that girls were pretty and made their penises tingle.

Just as quickly her smile faded and her mind raced back weeks to when she'd first met Noah, when she'd failed to tell him she was bringing him clothing, when she had seen his penis. It's girth, length, everything. Had she not wanted to keep herself low key she would have likely lifted a hand and sent a seering slap against her cheek yet now all she could do was just not look at him and just try to skim that thought away.

Even if she did end up ultimately failing.