Kael
By the third travel day, I had learned which part of the cart seat would find the bruise.
All of it.
The second day had taken us farther along the protected road, through two inspection posts and a village where the evening meal included something other than travel bread. I remembered the village kindly.
The seat had not improved.
At the river landing, I was therefore willing to admire almost any form of transport that floated.
Our assigned boat stood on the far side of a cargo barge. Between us and it lay a line of people, bundled goods, three guarded loads and a man who appeared to own every basket on the bank.
The route leader checked our booking with the landing clerk.
Then she returned.
"We wait."
"How long?" Valeria asked.
"Until the downstream boat clears the narrow reach."
That was the kind of answer which sounded precise until you tried to use it.
We settled beneath a strip of shade beside the baggage.
