Jicks backed up, then held out a hand to Abi, who took it and hauled herself to her feet. “You’re good, girl,” the mercenary said, with a nod of appreciation. “Go run some drills with Bret. Now I want to see what this Herald is good for.”

Stev made a flourish with his sword, spinning it once and coming to rest in a guard position. “When you’re ready, Chief.”

Jicks grinned.

12

Once they all became accustomed to riding all day, the journey proceeded at a purposeful pace. Every day was fundamentally the same. Jicks and her lads, Stev, and Abi got up first, had a practice session, then got some sort of wash-up, either a full bath or just the basics with a rag and a pail, depending on whether they had stopped by a body of water or not. Abi got used to these ad-hoc baths in uncomfortably cold water, though admittedly she didn’t like them and hurried through them as fast as she could. Then everyone would eat. The other Masters would make whatever sort of bath they could manage while Jicks and the boys cleaned up the campsite and harnessed up all the animals. Stev and Abi helped with the hinnies. Then they’d be on the road, and if provisions were running low, they’d stop at the first village that had any sort of marketplace to replenish them. If there was a baker in the town selling pocket pies, Abi would always use some of her own money to get some for everyone, to vary their supper that night. She learned that every village had its own sort of traveler’s biscuit, every baker claimed his was tasty, and every one of them lied.

Twice on the way Jicks allowed a full day at a village, to get laundry done and allow everyone to have a proper hot bath. Which was just as well, because otherwise Stev would have started to look like a Trainee in Grays, rather than a full Herald in Whites.

The farther south they got, the more rugged the landscape became. Gently rolling hills became steeper and taller, the road got rougher, and there were fewer farms with tilled land and more with herds of sheep and goats and, occasionally, odd, shaggy red cattle. The craggy, towering hills were covered in brush and grass; trees grew only along watercourses and down in the valleys.

And the farms got fewer and farther apart. Not only were there flocks of sheep, goats, and the odd herds of cattle roaming the hills, there were also occasional herds of red deer or single stags. Despite being farther south, the air was cooler and damper, and the prevailing scents on it were bracken and gorse. It rained as often as it was sunny, and when it did, she, Jicks, and the Masters rode in the caravan. Mostly they listened to Jicks’ tall tales when they were confined to the caravan.