Voyage

by Comrade Bagel Muffin

Route de Baume

Escutcheon and Dusk rode on Turkeyleg's back as the two older stallions walked just ahead of them. The heavy rain had stopped halfway through the night, and the group had continued out on the road south first thing in the morning. The dirt roads had been turned into giant muddy bog.

"That place was by far the worst inn I've ever stayed in." Dusk complained. "Only two stars out of five."

"Two out of five?" Escutcheon looked at her. "Even with the bad mold, no service, and the haunting."

"Yeah, but the hot bath was nice. And the beds were nice." Dusk smiles and snuggles up against Escutcheon as the two are carried along the muddy road by Turkeylegs, until an hour later they get onto a small cobble stone road.

"Well hopefully we'll be staying at a better inn tonight." Atlas smiled looking up at the blue slightly cloudy sky. "If we keep up this pace we'll make it to the half way point inn."

"Half Way Point Inn that's an odd name. What's it half way to?" Dusk cocked her head. "Why, do you know somepony in that inn?"

"No, but half way point inns are normally better than off the road inns." Atlas answered. "And it's no not a name it's a type of inn. Tivi is such a large nation that the kings built inns every 65 kilometers. They're called half way point inns. They're normally supplied by the local aristocrat and a small portion of the national tax."

"They're actually very nice and the ones on this road are certainly in the top tear of the half way point inns."

"Why's that?" Escutcheon asked.

"Because this is the road to Balm. It's one of the richer towns in the kingdom, and the local aristocrat is a very liberal stallion. He supplies the inns near his town with a good amount of food and money."

"So he's not one of the war hawks?" Escutcheon asks.

"No and he is a very respected aristocrat, if you can convince him to go against the conflict. You'll get a good pull toward peace."

"So he's still in for war," Dusk said sourly.

"He's for self defense," Red corrected.

"Can you tell me what you know about him?" Escutcheon asked. The next three hours were spent with Red Wine and Atlas telling Escutcheon and Dusk everything that the two of them knew about the liberal and slightly eccentric stallion that they would likely be meeting tomorrow evening. It was an hour before night fall before they arrived at the road side inn. The group was escorted to a table and given a meal before being showed to their room.

"Amazing this room is just amazing," Dusk said hopping onto one of the plush beds.

"And the bathroom is really nice too. I call first." Escutcheon went into the bathroom, and enjoyed a nice hot bath. Before joining Dusk and the others who were already asleep in the other room.