The man holding her hand wasn’t the man she’d married, but Tara couldn’t convince herself that was true. He felt like the same person, he had the same way of thinking, of speaking and the same humors. His touches felt the same as she remembered.
This Thomas even had the air of worldliness to him, though he’d never been beyond the village of Stonewall before; he’d absorbed every bit of knowledge of the world from anyone who would talk about it. In the two days they’d been riding in the carriage and the two days prior, he’d talked endlessly with the Knights. He probably knew more about Relarch than any of the native Knights did simply because he’d gleaned every little bit of each individuals knowledge.
And Tara got to hear all about it when the Knights couldn’t take any more questions.
Relarch was one of two human nations on the continent of Teminev. It claimed all the land east of the Evenflow river as far south as the Great Bay and as Far East as the ocean, including the village of Stonewall, but not Ignea. To the north, Relarch ended at the mountains and the borders with the Vulak Tribal lands. That border was less defined and varied depending on the success of Vulak Raids or Relarchian expansion. The Vulak rarely organized in large enough numbers to siege a Human Fort, and the Humans didn’t really want the land for more than a buffer between the lands they did want and the Vulak Tribal Lands, so they also rarely committed the resources to expand. Half a dozen forts along the border changed hands every couple years. It was a constant war neither side seemed committed to try to win.
The truth was that Relarch was politically, though not geographically, centered on the city of Fork where the Starshone met the Evenflow. The Counties and Duchies closer to the Capitol felt more of the Kingdoms influence while the lands farther out, such as Stonewall, may have forgotten that they were part of a Kingdom.
Tara sat at the front of the carriage, beside Thomas. He was sleeping, but Tara was content to just snuggle by his side.