The Pyramid of Stones

The horse had stopped in front of the pyramid of stones. Hesht slid off, and landed on his feet, at the base of the pyramid. He removed three of the stones from its base, and sifted around the hole under the stones for a moment, and then brought out a pair of clay pots with lids, and two leather bladders. He broke a waxy seal on one of the pots, and then removed the lid. Astra could see a pinkish block shaped like a shark's tooth in the pot. Hesht poured what looked like water from one of the bladders into the pot, and the block started to dissolve. He then did the same with the other pot.

Hesht took a kind of stick and stirred the pots about once a minute. After a few minutes, he took the stick out of one and raised it above his head. Astra was not keen on cold soup, but she was hungry. Astra grabbed the pot with both hands, and much to her surprise the pot was warm.

As she raised the bowl to her lips, she saw a faint wisp of steam rise from the surface of the liquid, and felt a little heat against her lips. Somehow the block had heated the water, or the water was already warm when Hesht poured it in. After a cool night and a damp day, she was grateful for this unexpected luxury. The fluid in the pot had the consistency of a creamy chowder, and was a bit sweet and fruity. The closest meal that she could compare it to in Aqualaria was a kind of rum and raisin pudding that was popular during the celebration of the week after the harvest, but this meal was thinner, and could be drunk. It also did not have the stinging and sleepy qualities of the rum. Astra complimented Hesht on the meal, but he did not say much.

After Astra had finished, she was refreshed, and had to guard against falling asleep. Hesht had also finished his meal. He placed the pots and one empty bladder back in the pyramid, but handed the other to Astra. It felt like a typical leather skin, and so Astra concluded that the heat came from the block itself. The bladder was attached to the ends of a long, thin leather string. Astra placed her fingers of her left hand on one end of the loop, took the bladder in her right hand, and moved the bladder around her waist, and then passed it back through the loop. The bladder now sat on her left hip. Hesht had by now replaced the three stones at the base of the pyramid, and was trying to use it as a block to mount the horse. Astra brought the horse around, and with a little effort, managed to get Hesht back on the horse.

Astra then pointed the horse in the direction of the third cache. Hesht then spoke softly into Astra's ear.

"With this horse, we sh- should make b- better time. I th- think w- we only need to st- stop at t- two places between here and the b- border. S-something from the th- third cache, and some food from one of the other ones. The s-sixth, maybe."

Astra replied, "When should we out of Hespan?"

Hesht answered, "W- with the horse, we sh- should be at Darvaze Yepanhan with some daylight left. W- we will have the th- third cache soon. The s- sixth around noon. Cross the Old Frontier Road. Then v- very quick to D- Darvaze Yepanhan on a good road."

"The Old Frontier Road? Does that lie on the border?"

"No. It is a league and a half behind the border at Darvaze Yepanhean. The road runs from n- north to south, and is ab - bout a quarter league or so behind the old borders. You know, from before the Verboten War, in time of our fathers. The borders are farther west now."

Astra knew a little about the Wars of Verbotian Succession from ambassadors to the court of Allaria from the Havnheim. It was one of those stupid and petty wars of shifting alliances, with Allaria on one side and Hespan on the other. In between were little princes of little states between the great kingdoms manuevering for advantage. Their combined armies looted and pillaged the Eastern Kingdoms and the western fringe of Hespan for years, until the land could not support them.

"If we g- get hurt before the Old Frontier Road, w- we may have tr- trouble. Th- there are packs of w- wolves that are best avoided. We should be able to outrun th- them. Th- this p- path is n- not used much. N- Not many thieves v- venture here. Once we get to the Old Frontier R- Road, then it is a different s- story. There are more farms there, and more travelers. The road is better, but that is where we may see thieves. There are also s- supposed to be ghosts from the war, too, but I haven't s- seen any. Not up close, anyway. But I don't travel that p- part at night.

"What about the possibility of us being seen by the men of Still Manor?

"I d- don't think s- so. W- Why would they w- want to ch- chase you? I know a f- few people in Darvase Yepenhan and Yepenhan. Once you are th- there, th- things will get nicer."

"I am looking forward to that!"

Both Astra and Hesht fell silent. Hesht was calculating how much he would get for what he would bring out of the third cache, and how much would be left over after they reached the port of Petrona. He wanted to continue on with Astra, and become a heroic knight. If he could get sixteen gold pieces, that would leave him with one gold piece and change equivalent to most of another, which went quite far ....

And then his heart skipped a beat, and he felt a little woozy. A cold fact set in. The couriers of the alchemists had their own code, and one key part of it was that any proceeds from the sale of items had to be brought back as soon as possible after the item was sold. As a courier, he was bound by honour to get the owner's share of the sale to either Doazda, who made the item, or Ghermiz, who discovered the secret of making it. While he did not think that he did anything wrong, he did not want to talk to Doazda right away. If Doazda asked why him why he helped Astra leave Still Manor, he was sure that he could not answer. But Ghermiz lay more than a day away. Should he ask Astra to wait? Was waiting safe? Or should he tell her to press on, alone to Petrona, over country that she did not know? Suddenly he saw potential problems that he had not seen before.

Astra had troubling thoughts of her own. She was not particularly afraid of this sparsely-used trail. The existence of the Old Frontier Road bothered her. She was less afraid of Hesht's "ghosts" or thieves that she was of Gilder or Doazda. If the Old Frontier Road was well-travelled, and it formed junctions with the western roads that Hesht had told her about earlier, and was it possible that Doazda could send some men along those roads west and then turn north and cut them off? She put the thought out of her mind. Perhaps she was panicking. Hesht did not seem to think that Doazda would have that much interest in her, and besides, even if they were to hunt her, wouldn't they go straight to Petrona? And what rights would they have to do anything there anyway, as it was not Hespaniard territory? She assured herself that by this time tomorrow she would most likely be out of Hespan, and beyond the reach of her pursuers.

1. Around this time, Doazda's pursuit is in progress.
2. Well within an hour, Astra and Hesht arrive at the third cache.

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