"Hey!" West called after them.  "I'm not sleeping with this arsehole." He motioned towards Saena.  "One of you are bunking up with me."

Saena wanted to say something.  It took all her willpower not to.  She had to keep the peace - and West had made it mighty obvious before that he did not want to talk.  If only he'd listen, surely he'd... at least understand.  It was going to be a hard day or two... but it'd be worth it for that protection.

He had paid for these rooms.  He had paid for that food.  If it wasn't for him, they would probably be sleeping in the gutter with Saena.  The least they could do is give him the courtesy of letting him pick which room to sleep in.  He rolled his eyes and quickly picked off the last of the food on the platter.

Saena on the other hand just slid into bed.  When the seafood was finished, West got into the other bed.  Neither said a word to the other.

Although hours later, when Saena stirred from her sleep - she could've sworn she heard West quietly weeping.

West woke up before the crack of dawn.  He hadn't gotten much sleep.  He rubbed the tiredness from his eyes and left the hotel room.

Already, fish merchants and other shopkeepers were setting up.  Some of them almost never left their spot, because a good, easy to see location was worth thousands of gold.  By the west exit, was a large open field where people could rent horses or carriages for trips between cities.  It would probably work out being a little pricey, but a carriage would conceal him nicely from the army.

"How much is a trip?"

"Well that depends," said a young red-headed boy.  "You headed for Arikov or Morikov?"

"Can you just drop us off at the crossroads that lead to Ilma Taleb?" 

The boy considered it for a moment.  "I'll still have to charge you for a trip to Morikov... which is 20 gold."

West sighed, but he had expected as much and agreed to the driver's terms with a small nod.  He parted with his gold, and hopped into the covered carriage.  "Do you know the inn up on the cliff?  The big yellow one with the vines crawling up it?"

"Yearh," the boy replied - his farmer's accent stretching the vowels out. 

"The rest of my group is there.  Can you drive up and meet them?"  The boy nodded, and in the still darkness, the carriage made its way along the stony roads up to the inn.

~~~~

Saena was woken by the sun rising through her window.  West was gone.  She sighed, dreading having to spend two more days with him.  She quickly got dressed and collected her belongings.  She left her room and rapped loudly on Ai and Ismene's door.

"You awake?" she called through it.

"He's probably around.  Maybe getting breakfast." Saena said with a shrug.  She went down the stairs, just as West was re-entering the inn.

"The cart's waiting outside," he said, pointing out the window.  West walked back to it and hopped back inside. 

"Just the four of ya?" The driver asked.  West gave him a nod.  The man grabbed the reigns of his horses and waited. 

The sun was starting to rise.  The bells that sounded the opening of the gates could be heard throughout the entire city.

West didn't say anything, and simply watched the city roll by.  The cart approached the gates. 

"Wait," said a voice from outside the cart.  The cart stopped.  "Routine check," the voice said once again.  Saena peered from the opening, turned pale and snapped back to where she was sitting.  Instinctively, she held her breath.

Had West planned this?

A face looked in through the back opening of the carriage.  He was tall - about the same hight as Tsane and wore a People's Army uniform, complete with peaked cap and leather gloves.  An eyepatch covered his left eye, and his brown hair fell loosely around his ears.

"There you are," he said with a smirk.  His eyes flicked from West to the girls he was travelling with.  West had also turned pale.  All of a sudden, his plan had fallen into complete madness.  The man stepped inside the carriage, sitting down next to Ismene.

"Should I go?" the cart driver asked uncertainly.

"Yeah," West said.  His voice sounded choked.  "You can go."  With a jolt, the cart started up again.  It went through the gates, and out into the farmland.

"Well, aren't you going to your friends?" the soldier asked in Ziran.

West drew a deep breath to regain his composure.  "This is Commander Lie."

What was Lie doing here?  Had he seriously just decided to come along for the ride?

"The pleasure is all mine," Lie replied to Ismene.  With a smooth smile, he added "and what's your name?"

"Lie," West said quietly, and dragging his name.  "What are you doing here?"

"Just decided to tag along.  Is that okay?" He said, stretching out in the carriage.  He grinned at West, who replied with a strained grin of his own.  Noticing his discomfort, Lie added in Ziran "Don't worry, I'm not here you fuck you over." From the corner of his eye he glanced back at Ismene.

West remembered that he had mentioned the foreign girls last night.  So this is what it was all about.  He cursed himself for being so stupid, but at the same time it might not be too bad.  It might be kinda fun to travel with Lie for a day or two.  He glanced at Saena.  She wouldn't like it.  But she can just shut up and deal with it.

"I wouldn't try anything with them," West said in Ziran so that the girls couldn't understand.  "They're both real prudes.  They'll burn you alive if you try anything."

Lie just laughed to himself.

Lie frowned slightly and looked away.  He glanced at Ai for a moment.  He never thought he'd think it, but she was too young.  Probably more Losay's cup of tea - and he wasn't going to start stepping all over Losay's toes.  His one exposed eye shifted to Saena.  He'd have to be mighty drunk to even attempt that one.  Imagine that, two drop dead gorgeous ladies, and that thing all from the same family.  She almost looked like a man!  Suddenly, Lie realised something.  The gears in his head started turning.  She looked familiar.

It was still before lunch time when they reached the fork in the road.  West and Lie spoke almost non-stop during the journey.  Mostly small talk and crude jokes.  It was all very light hearted - a real change from the serious conversation the night before.  But every so often, Lie's eye flicked back towards Saena.

The carriage stopped. "You sure you wanna get off here?" The driver asked.   West nodded, and he slid out of the wagon.

"We've just got to walk down this road.  It's not much further now."

The group pushed past one more thick layer of shrubbery.  Greeting them on the other side was a steep cliff downwards, and a great expanse of water opened up before them.  West stepped a few paces forward, standing on the cliff edge.  He pointed down into the water. 

Saena had never visited Ilma Taleb before so she joined him.  Down below them the remains of the city could be seen.  Birds nested in the remains of a church steeple, which protruded from the water in the distance.  The flat roofs of the tallest buildings were exposed from the water, although covered by a thick layer of moss.  Some had been overtaken completely by plant-life.  With a quick glance, one might even mistake them as floating gardens.

Beneath the surface, the city was much harder to see.  The spiked walls could be made out, as well as a couple of collapsed buildings, but for the most part, whatever rested below the water was a mystery.

West glanced at the book Ai carried.  He silently festered over the fact that he should be the one carrying it, but instead just said "Open it up, let's find out where we need to be."