Every Battle Lord's Nightmare by Linda Mooney

needed was to meet with me personally and to hear my proposals.” He grinned. “Of course, having Twoson here with us may have been the deciding factor.”
                “Probably. I still don’t understand why they chose not to send someone with us to represent the compound.”
                Sighing deeply, Yulen adjusted his seat. “One battle at a time, my love. Be happy North Crestin has joined our ranks. Now that they’re on board, along with Wallis and West Crestin, I hope word will continue to spread farther north and west. Or that it’s at least reached Corado.”
                “Guess we’ll find out when we get there,” she told him. Kneeing her horse, she advanced to the front of the line and waited there for him to join her.
     

Chapter Fourteen
    Directions
     
     
                As the caravan grew closer to Oka City, they realized the land was smoothing out. Becoming more of an open plain where the hills disappeared and trees were sparser. Not only was the greener vegetation less dense, but it had given way to scrub bushes and high grass. Which meant most of the larger wildlife like deer were gone. On the plus side, however, the rabbits and groundhogs appeared to be more prevalent.
                A couple of times, Atty joined Fortune, Paas, and a few of the soldiers on a hunt for game. Renken tagged what he called a dillo. The enormous beast had to have weighed in at sixty pounds once it was dressed. And the almost impenetrable shell it wore as body armor was too promising to throw away. Yulen had it stashed on the wagon with the armor.
                That night, when they set up camp by the roadside, they noticed a glow on the horizon. Atty stared at it in fascination. At the way it seemed to highlight the skies as if the sun had paused below-ground and refused to disappear entirely. She was aware of her husband coming up behind her, and commented before he had the chance.
                “It’s beautiful. It looks like some of the stars melted along the rim of the world.”
                “Yeah, it does.”
                “Is that Oka City?”
                “Yes, that’s it.”
                “Must be a big compound.”
                “Mmm, I’d say it’s about three times the size of Alta Novis. But that was long ago when I was a teenager, and my father and I came to see the battle lord there about buying some horses. There’s no telling how big the place is now. Or even if Don LeGreen is still running it.”
                He slid an arm about her shoulders and drew her close. The night air was cold. The wind blowing from the northwest was colder. Despite her coat, she shivered.
                “There’s a front blowing in. It’ll be here by morning.”
                “In that case, we need to go inside before you catch your death,” Yulen half-suggested, half-ordered. He immediately punctuated his remark with a sneeze.
                Atty giggled. “Preacher should practice what he preaches,” she teased him. She watched as he took a kerchief from his hip pocket and wiped his nose. Upon closer inspection, she noticed his nose was redder than usual. Lifting a hand, she placed it against his neck. “You’re warm. You might have a fever.”
                “I’m all right,” he muttered.
                “Does Fergus know you’re sick?”
                “I’m not sick. I simply caught a mild cold. Probably from that new council member back in Wallis.”
                “That’s not answering my question.”
                Yulen sniffed again, stuffing the kerchief into his pocket. “Or it could be allergies. I have problems breathing whenever I get around ragweed and some of the dry grasses.” He waved a hand at the landscape. “See anything out there that could be