"Rituals?" he mused. "I suppose we did, now that you mention it."

"What were they?" she asked, her curiosity peaked.

"Creating a fire to cook meat," he replied with a grin.

"That's not what I meant."

"I know, I'm just teasing. If you want a bath, then far be it for me to deny it to you. Lead on, Mistress Natalia."

"Please don't do that," she asked.

"Do what?" he replied.

"Don't call me Mistress Natalia, it has some rather unpleasant memories associated with it. I'd much rather you just call me Natalia."

He bowed in an exaggerated manner, "As you wish, Natalia."

They stepped onto the pier, the crew scampering about them as they prepared to begin the unloading process. The two threaded their way through them, making their way north, to where the town itself lay behind a wooden palisade.

"We are truly on the frontier," noted Natalia. "I'm surprised to see only walls of wood protecting the town. I was expecting something more impressive?"

"I doubt there's sufficient stone around here to build walls," offered Athgar. "I rather suspect we'll see lots of wooden buildings once we enter."

They made their way to an opening in the palisade, a gap that allowed traffic from the docks to enter freely. There were wooden doors here, but they were swung wide open, and judging by the accumulation of weeds, had seldom been shut.

True to his guess, the town consisted of wooden structures, mostly of cut timbers, giving it a woodsy smell, and Athgar half expected a deer to wander out from between buildings. It reminded him of his own village, Athelwald, though the general shape of the buildings varied considerably, much more so than he was used to seeing.

They halted on what appeared to be the main street, taking in the view and trying to spot an inn that might suit their purposes.

"That looks promising," said Natalia, pointing at a rather large building. She turned to Athgar, but he was looking eastward, down the street to where a group of horsemen rode through the gate, their mounts covered in dust and dirt.

"Temple Knights," said Natalia.

"Saint Mathew?" he asked.

"Very good," she said in response, "you're learning."

"They look like they've had a tough time of it."

"Perhaps," she mused, "but it is of no concern of ours. We need to be on our way."

"To where?" he asked. "We haven't found an inn yet?"

"Yes we have," she said. "I was just telling you about it when you were distracted by those knights."

"Oh, sorry," Athgar turned his gaze where she pointed. "I suppose it looks as good as any other."