Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 402
24
Through dusty, unventful days the passenger carriage had
trundled its way south. Calandria May knew the shape of the
seats intimately now; she felt her body had become moulded to
conform to them, it certainly wasn’t the other way around. The
primitive suspension of the vehicle sent every jolt and rattle of
the wheels up her spine and into her throbbing head. And the
thing was slow, stopping frequently at mail drops or to
exchange horses.
Still, it was all they’d been able to afford with the last of
their funds. This route would take them unobtrusively into
Iapysia, where hopefully they could acquire some faster
transportation. The country was in enough chaos that
hopefully a couple of stolen horses wouldn’t be missed.
"My, you’ve become a paragon of caution," Axel had
said to her when she told him of this plan. "What happened to
‘get the hell down and find Armiger at all costs?’"
She’d shrugged. "What’s the point? We don’t have the
weapons necessary to destroy him anymore. All we can do is
observe until we can contact a passing ship and call in a strike."
Their last reliable information had Armiger on his way to
visit Queen Galas, who was either dead now, or still holed up
in her palace, depending on who you talked to. Either way, it
seemed unlikely that Armiger would still be going there,
because her cause was doomed. They were rattling along in
this carriage because the queen was their only lead. But there