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her
finger, examining it, though she knew the burn was as nothing. “No.
I traveled within my own country and then crossed the channel.”
    Amusement lit his features, gleaming in
his eyes. “One must wonder what you could have done that would make
you feel the need for such an extensive pilgrimage.”
    Aslyn didn’t know how to respond to
that. Thankfully, she was not required to. The squire approached
them to report that they’d managed to right the cart and repair it
enough for travel.
    The huntsman rose abruptly. “We should
be on our way, then and see if we can pick up the
trail.”

Chapter Three
     
    The cart was full almost to overflowing
with family and household goods by the time the soldiers had helped
Jim and his wife onto it. Enid turned to smile at Aslyn. “Find
yourself a spot on the back.”
    Aslyn looked at the cart doubtfully.
“Thank you, but I believe I’ll walk beside the cart.”
    Aslyn was acutely conscious of the
party of men behind them, watching their departure. She was not
aware of Kale, however, until he swept her off her feet. Stunned,
she stared up at him, her mouth slightly agape as he strode toward
the creeping cart and deposited her on a mound of linens in the
back.
    Without a word, he turned, strode back
to his horse and mounted. Pulling the horses about, the group
departed in the same direction from whence they’d come. Aslyn
watched until they became black specks and finally disappeared over
a rise.
    The ‘town’ of Krackensled, Aslyn saw as
the cart slowly rumbled up the main thoroughfare, was little more
than a large village, though it boasted a maze of crisscrossing
roads lined with cottages and a few shops, and as poverty stricken
as the majority of the bergs she had seen in her travels. She had
learned to expect it. She had not learned to accept it.
    Her nurse had often tried to impress
upon her that life was not fair, that one should not expect it to
be. Fairness was a concept of civilized man that directly opposed
the laws of nature. Nature randomly selected individuals and gifted
them with beauty, or superior strength or intelligence … or not.
Those with superior strength or cleverness had long since
established dominance for their line in the days when true
civilization was born. Everyone else was left to scramble for
survival.
    The rich inherited wealth. The poor
inherited more babies, to make them more poor still, except,
perhaps, in joy or love. But, however joyful the occasion of a new
addition to the family, Aslyn found it difficult to believe the joy
could outlast the toil required to rear them, or the heartache of
burying them, as was so often the case with the poor.
    That was not to say, of course, that
the poor were passed over when nature bestowed beauty, superior
strength or intelligence. She’d seen enough to dispel the
prejudices of wealth and privilege she’d been born to. It was
merely that those who were fortunate enough to receive those
attributes in poverty found them more a curse than a gift. Her own
poverty since she’d fled her home had taught her that
lesson.
    Without the protection of wealth and
position, a beautiful girl only became prey for the privileged. The
strong were reduced to the status of beast of burden and the
intelligent were left to rot in ignorance.
    Life was, most assuredly, not
fair.
    Despite the size of the town, the
streets were almost deserted. Aslyn wondered if this was due to the
season’s inclement weather, the rumors Enid had told her of, or
merely typical of the town, which, in truth, did not seem large
enough to attract a great deal of commerce. The few people they
passed on the road stopped, watching the slow progress of the
cart.
    Aslyn had learned to gauge the
desirability of remaining in a town by the expressions she
encountered on the way in. Towns seemed to have a life essence of
their own. Some gave one the feeling of welcome. As often as not,
they gave one the feeling that one’s departure would be