She finished saying her goodbyes to everyone and rounded up Keseryn for the journey. It hadn’t taken much to pack for the both of them, Kes didn’t actually HAVE anything to her name, though they did make sure to pack the game board so that Len’s ongoing experience of humiliating defeat could be kept alive. Curly did as planned and snuck out ahead of them so he’d be able to keep an eye out for dangers on the path on the off chance this really was a trick on Balar’s part. All in all, Len was surprisingly optimistic about their prospects.

“I really don’t think that it’s a good idea to bring her,” said Balar nervously.

“Well then,” said Len irritably, “it’s a good thing that I’m not asking your opinion on this.

“We’re about to attempt what amounts to a coup here and you’re introducing an extra element of chance things. Do you really want to get us kicked out before you get your challenge?”

“I don’t, but this is more important. She’s coming with me. Hell, she was banished practically at birth, knows nothing of what her people live like, and hasn’t ever even seen more than a couple humans gathered at once. She deserves this, and she’ll be an excellent object lesson for the people I’m going to need to win over here. Trust me it’ll all work out.”

“I get the feeling you say that a lot,” Balar said, worry still plain on his face.

“Buddy,” said Keseryn, “you don’t know the half of it.”

“And you’re fine with this,” he asked her. “You understand the danger you’re going to be in just by being with us, right? More than that, the danger if anyone decides to take issue with your presence.”

“I guess that’s something that you two are going to have to take care of, isn’t it? Do I like it? Not really. Do I trust Len to pull it off? Again not really, but I want to see where she’s going with this. And if I get the chance to look at you assholes squirm a bit as she fucks with your system? Yeah, I’d call that a bonus.”

“You really ought to watch your language when dealing with other people,” Len put in mildly.

“Oh fuck off,” the girl said with no real malice in her voice.

Len smirked and let the subject drop. The girl was going to have some interesting times ahead of her if she stuck to that attitude, and Len was committed to helping her navigate those challenges, rather than ‘correcting’ the behavior. She owed it to Kes to let the girl grow into whoever she wanted to be.

“So, if that’s settled, should we be off? I’d rather not stick around for another night to give folks another chance to try and talk me out of this.”

“Well, if the two of you are committed, I suppose there’s no use in trying to talk you out of it any longer. Still, this is making our job harder.”

“Maybe a little bit, but I think you’re vastly underestimating the challenge if you think THIS is what’ll make the difference.”

“And I don’t think you fully understand the strength of the taboo of having a Banished with you. It’s been a primary tool of discipline for centuries, and it’s what’s allowed the Head to get away with his increasingly aggressive behavior lately.”

“All the more reason to start tearing it down early. I’m not about to allow a situation where my ward here isn’t welcome in anywhere I’m in charge.”

“Look at you being clever about things. I’m not your ‘ward’, I’m the girl whose parents you let get killed that you feel responsible.”

“I didn’t-” Len began.

“Yeah, I know, but can we cut it out with the ‘ward’ crap? It feels weird.”

“I’ve gotta call you something to strangers, and I somehow doubt that ‘daughter’ would work well for either of us. Seems a bit early to move on to the adoption front, if you ask me. If you’ve got something better than ‘ward’, I’m all ears.”

Len thought she noticed an alarmed blush spring onto Kes’ face but made a point of not acknowledging it.

“Fine, whatever, let’s drop it for now,” the girl said.

Balar, who had the expression of a man feeling left out of the conversation, just coughed and started for the gate. The three of them made their way out of the Hovel with Len raising her hand to wave goodbye without actually turning to see who’d come out to watch them go. It was a touch bittersweet to her leaving like this, she had more plans for the place and goals to accomplish, not to mention serious work restructuring everyone to continue the development, but that would have to be left to Moe and Larry for the time being.

Outside the walls of the Hovel, the wind was picking up. They only had a few hours of daylight left, so they’d have to make camp before too long, but Len was insistent on getting the journey started as quickly as possible. She needed to get this task accomplished as quickly as possible so that she could get to work reversing the mistakes this Head person had made and start cementing her control before Claymar tried anything. Unfortunately, with the way the weather was turning, that meant that they were in for several miserable days.

The next several hours were a trudge as the biting wind was joined by a light fall of wet snow. It soaked through her cloak and added rather impressively to the gloom of the setting sun. If this was all an omen for the days to come, Len was not inspired by it. Still, they made good time for all the unpleasantness of the experience, and the Hovel had vanished from view long before they decided to make camp for the night.

One of the few bonuses of the evening was that for once, Len wasn’t on a journey where some modicum of stealth was required and they were able to build up a proper campfire to keep the weather and beasts at bay. The fire crackled away cheerily as they roasted up some of the vegetables that they’d brought along from the greenhouse. Unseasoned roasted vegetables weren’t the tastiest of treats, but Len had mostly gotten used to the experience by now. At this point she’d have murdered someone for a bottle of Tabasco, but she knew that such hopes were for naught. She did hope that the Kelvachians would have something more to offer on that front than the Orcs, though. After the meal, Balar bid them good night and climbed into his tent. Keseryn and Len stayed up to play a game of Chakar before retiring themselves.

* * * * *

After a moderately uncomfortable night in a cramped tent with a snoring Keseryn, Len was grumpier than usual when she woke up. Her mood darkened significantly further when she realized that, in spite of packing plenty of food and assorted supplies, she’d forgotten to ask Cookie for any of the Caff that she’d gotten so used to drinking in the mornings. This made the quest to get to Kelvachian territory all the more urgent in her mind, but the rumblings of withdrawal didn’t make it any easier to attain.

They had a simple breakfast that covered the basic nutritional needs while doing nothing to lift her spirits, doused the fire with enough snow to quench the embers, then began their journey in earnest. There wasn’t a whole lot to say during the first leg of the trek. Len was familiar with most of the terrain, nothing interesting reared its head, and they whole experience was just generally dull. A little of the pep had been taken from everyone’s step by the crummy night of sleep they’d all endured, and the fact that they had three more days on the road was settling in.

For his part, Balar was doing better than the two women. He was a trader who spent a good deal of his time traveling from one corner of the tundra to another, and didn’t seem too bothered by the conditions. Still, he had the common decency to at least look weary from all the howling of the wind from the night before, so no one involved was particularly exuberant. Eventually, it was Len who broke the silence, curiosity overcoming her gloom and the pinprick headache having receded enough that she felt up to basic conversation.

“So, what exactly is your city like? I’ve heard rumors about how it’s mobile, but not much about how that actually works.”

“It’s actually a pretty large undertaking. The city can technically be broken down and moved when necessary, but it’s tricky. Every building is on a sort of sled, you see, and every family has access to pack animals that can be used to move their hut when the situation demands. The animals themselves belong to the Clan and are confiscated if a family is banished, but this lets us keep enough on hand to move when called for. Still, it’s been several years since a Crossing was called for last, and it’d be a disaster if we had to rush it.”

“Wait, you mean that with an invading force present, next to no fighting force left to oppose them, and no clue when they’re going to attack, you haven’t even gotten yourselves ready to move?”

“We have not. There’s been some talk of it, but the Head remains unconcerned of the threat, confident that he’ll be safe. This is part of why I’m so desperate to have you do this. We aren’t prepared for nearly any threat that might come our way, we haven’t needed to be for a long time.”

“Well that’s just fantastic. Any other glaring holes that I need to be made aware of now that I’ve already thrown my lot in with yours?”

“That I can think of? No. That pretty much sums up the risks involved at the moment.”

“Oh, so only a mad leader who’s systematically crippled your society while the enemy is at the gates. Let me guess, the bread and circuses have done enough to keep everyone distracted as things crumble and now no one will be able to understand when things have totally collapsed.”

“Oh, people know it, they just don’t care. There’s plenty of bickering, but everyone assumes that when the fallout hits, it’ll all hit the other guys. That, and none of them are willing to get Banished themselves and earning a death sentence for their entire family.”

“I suppose I can understand that, but it’s pretty fucked. I mean, you’re literally coming to an enemy hoping that I can bail you guys out from your mistakes. You should have straightened this out years ago.”

“People tried, it’s just that not enough tried at the same time and those that were got crushed before they could make any headway. The Head’s grip is strong enough to strangle any dissent and people are afraid. They’ve got every reason to be.”

“Still… I don’t like it. Not sure how I’ll be able to fix it but believe me: something’s gonna need to change once I’m in charge.”

“You’re saying that you’re looking to take power, only to actively make the position you’re claiming weaker?”

“I suppose I am. Look, whatever happens, I’m only gonna be around for so long. I’m not taking over for the glory of the Demon Army or even something more generic like filling my pockets. I’ve got reasons for needing the authority over this place, but I’m not really interested on being wholly responsible for the lives of everyone here. You’ve got a civilian population with what appears to be a military leader and that’s only going to get worse once I’m in charge. I think the best thing to do will be to start working towards something different as soon as I take over. Different,” she held up a hand, “but still beholden to the Demon Alliance. That’s gonna have to be set in stone, I’m afraid.”

“I’m sure we’ll be able to come to some sort of arrangement,” said Balar. “But I’d caution against getting too far ahead of yourself. You haven’t even gotten the challenge yet, let alone won it.”

“Yeah yeah,” Len muttered. “I’m gonna need to know more about this Head of yours before I settle on anything on that front. What can you tell me about him specifically? Tell me as much as possible.”

“Very well,” he said, and proceeded to do just that.