28. Cumin (Patreon)

"So you will be my entourage?" Aloe stopped her wheelchair in front of the group of soldiers.

It would have been easy to let Farah push her all the way to the entrance of the palace, but she couldn't allow herself to continue seeing the woman after their farewell. It hadn't been easy to push the loaded wheelchair with all her belongings from the main palace to the outer gate – the journey hadn't even begun and she was already dead tired – but that was preferable to having an awkward farewell, or having another send-off.

A soldier stepped forward whilst the other tended the camels. She had recognized them from afar, they were the same soldiers that had carried her palanquin along this month.

"We have orders to carry you to Sadina, venerable scribe." The soldier slightly bent forward.

"I must thank you for that." The travel back home was bound to be hard on her body and mind, so having familiar faces around, no matter how poorly known, relieved her weighed soul. "But I have a question of my own. The road between Sadina and Asina is rough at best, dangerous at worst with the sandstorms, what is the intended route for this journey?"

"We have taken such obstacles into account, fret not," The soldier unfurled a scroll and revealed a map drawn on it. "We intend to take the trade route going to Aramita from Asina, and once we rest on the coastal city, we can make our way to Sadina."

The soldier traced a V shape in the map connecting the three cities with the movement. His finger started at the Heaven's Starway, the mountain range where Asina was close by, and directed to the coast of the Cessan Sea, where one of the few natural ports of the rough Ydazi coastline existed. Sadina couldn't be found on the map so easily as there weren't visible landmarks highlighting its position, but the soldier tapped on the location where Sadina should be with absolute certainty.

"I see." Aloe examined the map, but it was crude at best. She didn't know how someone could navigate with it. The zoom was too far away and there weren't enough details, it felt more like a souvenir than an actual navigation tool. It wasn't a local map but of the entirety of Ydaz. "I just wish that the journey will not take a toll on my body."

"We have also accounted for that." The soldier moved out of the way and pointed at the backside of one of the camels, where they were dragging something.

"Is that a sled?" The scribe's expression morphed into a mixture of curiosity and shock.

"The path between Asina and Aramita is sandy enough that sled transportation is not uncommon, especially for nomads, but if it proves too bumpy for your liking…" The soldier clapped and one of the others slightly raised the sled to reveal protruding wooden bars. "We can also carry you in arms."

"You have turned the palanquin into a sled?" Aloe stated horrified.

"And vice versa. It is convertible." The soldier puffed his chest with weird pride.

"I…" Words failed to come to her. Mostly because her mind failed to comprehend how they had done that in such a short amount of time. "How do you intend to carry me out of the city?"

"I am sorry to notify you that the wheelchair will be too cumbersome for us to carry on the trek – wheels and the desert do not mingle well together – but if you want, we can escort you on it at least until the city gates. Otherwise, we will also use the palanquin to take you out of the city."

Aloe grew dizzy at the image, bile gathering in her throat. She was not comfortable with the gazes of people already, and her crippled state only made that worse. Having thousands of passersby look upon her as she was carried by four men on a glorified bed made her stomach tumble.

"I… understand. Push me on the wheelchair to the city gates and then carry me on the sled if the terrain is suitable enough. I would not like to tire all of you this early on the trip." She diverted her aversion to humility. A favor to them rather than herself feeling sick at the thoughts of others.

"Understood," The soldier dedicated her a military salute. "Men! We march!"

His voice thundered across the palace gates, and the soldiers obeyed unconditionally. Military discipline at its finest. The scribe pondered at the sight of the palace guards opening the gates and the soldiers walking the camels forward from their reins. I wish that discipline trickled up to the imperial family. Venom slowly gestated in her mind.

The commanding yet accommodating soldier walked behind her and pushed her wheelchair. As the uneven path of the city tiles met the wheels and her waist began to protest, Aloe remembered she was donning strength and not toughness. A thought was enough to change that.

Still not fast enough. Her bones and skin still remembered it. If she had been a blink slower yesterday, who knows what would have happened with her neck? Aloe bit her lips, pushing away the thoughts of that despicable woman, if it could even be called that. Faster. I need to be faster. Even if she increased her vitality, every effort would be in vain if she couldn't change her internal infusion in time.

Although she opted for the wheelchair and also the fact that it was barely past the first light, there were plenty of eyes on her as they walked down the main avenue. Fortunately for her declining sanity, most of the eyes were focused on the three soldiers leading the camels with all the luggage and tents rather than her. That divergence was only exacerbated by the distance between her and the animals of burden. She didn't know if the soldier pushing her did it on purpose or not, but she thanked him in her mind nonetheless.

Like Sadina, the main avenue of Asina was full of stalls. Some were already populated, whilst others were being mounted. Life always started as soon as first light, and that held truer the less income you had.

Whilst her mind whispered that it was better to not look, to not dwindle on the myriad gazes, Asina was frustratingly beautiful. The scarce glow of early morning gave the city a scamp look that was bewitching to the scribe. In a twisted way, the city felt like a battlefield.

One she couldn't hope to desert any sooner.

The blue city walls of Asina filled her views, but another sense of her tingled as the smell of spices reached her nose. Hmm? Aloe sniffed the scent, it was weak but distinctive, prompting her to change into acuity. Is that…?

"Stop!" Aloe ordered. The shout took a lot of her and she found herself panting soon after.

"Is there something wrong, venerable scribe?" The soldier pushing the wheelchair rushed to her side, worry littering his visage.

Aloe blushed after noticing the spectacle she had put on. "Uhm, sorry for the cry. I just smelled cumin."

"Cumin?" The soldier slightly tilted his head in confusion.

"Yes, sorry." Aloe bowed and reached a hand for her purse. It wasn't the coffer with the tens of silver coins, but the pocket money she kept in her satchel. "I really like cumin, could you buy whatever you can with this much money?" She handed the soldier two fajats.

"I… of course." The man accepted the money and rushed to the nearest stand selling the seeds, but his expression shouted "I want my worry back" at the four winds. Even the matronly clerk at the stand looked pissed at having to make a trade whilst she was still reading everything up.

Sorry. Aloe apologized internally to the man once more. The other soldier had stopped with the shout, but they stayed in place until the other soldier came back to Aloe.

"Will this be enough, venerable scribe?" He held a small bag of cumin in front of her.

"Yes!" Aloe's emerald eyes lit up in joy. "Thank you so much!"

"Uhm… I live to serve." The soldier blushed at the heartfelt gratefulness, the confusion in his visage only exacerbating. Then he walked to the other soldier to hand them the bag.

"Wait!" The scribe shouted at him and the armed man gave her a "What now?" look even if he kept the words to himself. "Could I have the seeds on my person? I like to… eat them," Aloe revealed with uncertainty.

"You eat the… cumin?" This time the soldier couldn't hold his shock.

"Well, they are meant to be eaten, no?" Aloe blushed and cursed at herself for the stupid excuse. "If they are used as condiments, why not food?"

"Right…" The man handed her the small pouch, leaving it on the scribe's thighs, and went back to pushing the wheelchair without further words.

I am going to kill myself. Aloe moaned in shame.