The pair hurried to the carriage after I called out to them and climbed aboard. They had only just sat down when the carriage rolled into motion. The driver ensuring that they left on time and kept to their schedule. The drivers had to keep to strict schedules on the road to ensure the carriages between the cities kept their commitments. They would probably set out on the return journey a day after we arrived in the capital. There was some allowance and leniency for problems on the road, but having two hungover passengers wasn’t considered one of them.

We were soon out of the small town and back onto the country road. It was lumpy and the carriage rocked about every time we rolled over a pothole. Lillia and Altria didn’t look to be enjoying the ride at all. I wondered if we were going to need an emergency stop at some point on our journey. I felt sorry for them, we were going to be spending most of the day bouncing around country roads in this carriage. I was glad that I hadn’t decided to stay up drinking with them last night.

“I bet you two wish you had gone to bed when Theo and I did now?” Serin asked, with a bit of a smirk.

“Ugh, yeah. There isn’t anything we can do about it now though. I just hope the road flattens out soon.” Lillia replied, briefly lifting her head up from where she had been slumped at the side of the carriage.

“I’m afraid you’re out of luck. You know the roads are awful until we get close to the capital.”

“I know.”

The carriage rocked around as we rolled over a particularly big pothole. Lillia and Altria both looked like they could throw up at any moment. Luckily, we didn’t hit another one that big for a while and the pair managed to avoid being sick. After a few hours on the road the pair started to regain some colour and stopped looking like they could keel over at any moment. As their state improved, so did the mood in the carriage. Just looking at them earlier was making me feel uncomfortable.

It was early afternoon when we rolled into a small town. The carriage stopped outside the local Inn. The driver slid open the hatch to carriage.

“Would you like to stop for lunch? If we stop here it means we won’t reach a town this evening and we’ll have to camp on the road. I’ll leave the decision up to you.” She said then slid back the hatch.

“Well, what do you think?” Asked Lillia.

“I’m not fussed either way. I’m happy to camp on the road if you two want to stop for a while.” Answered Serin.

“I don’t mind either.” I replied.

Lillia turned to Altria.

“Should we stop? I wouldn’t mind getting off the carriage for a bit and having some food.” She asked.

“I’d like to stop, seeing the others don’t mind. I’d really like to stretch my legs and eat some proper food, even if that means sleeping in a tent tonight.” Answered Altria.

“Then we’ll go and have some food.”

Lillia climbed out of the carriage to speak with the driver for a moment, while the rest of us made our way into the inn. The inn was quiet inside, there was only one person other than us in the bar. We quickly sat down at the nearest table. Lillia soon joined us after her talk with the driver.

“What did the driver say?” Serin asked Lillia as she sat down.

“She said we have two hours, but she would prefer it if we left sooner. There’s a good spot for a camp she knows on the road. We’ll need to leave by then if want to set up while it’s still daylight.”

“Well, that shouldn’t be a problem. It seems pretty quiet in here. I think we’ll be done in that time.”

“These roads aren’t that dangerous, and she knows the way well. We can always set up in the dark if it comes to that.” Lillia said as she looked over the menu.

While we were talking a waitress came to take our orders. Serin and I both ordered a beer with our lunch. Neither Lillia nor Altria looked particularly happy at the sight of alcohol yet, both ordering soft drinks with their meal.

Our food arrived quickly and all of us tucked into our meals. We had eaten and paid well within the time that our driver had requested. We were back in the carriage in a little over an hour since we had stopped. Once we were all back on board, the driver spurred the horses into action with a crack of the whip. A few minutes later, we had left the small town and were back on the open road. We didn’t pull into another town that day and we didn’t stop moving until we reached the camping spot that the driver had mentioned earlier to Lillia.

The carriage started to slow, before pulling of the main road down a small side track. We followed this for a few minutes until we reached a flat and sheltered looking grassy area. The driver pulled the carriage over on at the edge of the grass and stopped the carriage, then opened the hatch to speak to us.

“This is the place I told you about earlier. We’ll stop here for the night.” She told us.

“Thanks.” Replied Lillia.

We all piled out of the carriage and grabbed our gear, ready to set up a camp for the night. The driver had unhooked the horses and led them to a nearby tree where she tied them, before giving them some food and water. Before long the four of us had set up our tents and built a roaring fire. The driver had gone back the carriage and was sat on the driver’s seat. Seeing this Serin went over to speak with them.

“Would you like to come and join us? We’re just about to cook some dinner, you’re more than welcome to join us.” She asked.

“I wouldn’t want to intrude.” She replied.

“You wouldn’t be. The others would all like you to join us, and it can’t be fun sat out here all by yourself.” Serin said pointing back to us.

Seeing this we all waved over to the pair.

“I suppose I can come and sit with you all.” The driver finally agreed.

Serin and the carriage driver walked over to the fire and joined the rest of the group.

“Oh, I forgot to ask, but what is your name?” Asked Serin.

“It’s Rosa.” She answered a little awkwardly.

It looked like she wasn’t used to being invited to join her passengers or having them speak with her like this. I kept on forgetting that this world had a strong class system and not everyone treated the working class as well as Serin and the other girls did.

“Rosa, that’s a nice name.”

“Thank you, milady.”

“I’m Serin, feel free to call me by name. The man over there is Theo.”

“Hi.” I said with a wave.

“The elf girl there is Lillia and the catkin is Altria.”

“Hi.” They both said with smiles.

“I’m sure everyone will be happy for you to talk to them informally.” Explained Serin.

We all nodded in agreement to her.

“Um thank you.” Rosa replied, still looking a little awkward in the situation.

“Don’t you have your own tent?” Asked Serin.

“Oh, no. I just sleep on the driver’s seat.”

The three girls looked at each other and shared glances of agreement.

“Oh, you can sleep in our tent. One of us will share with Theo.” Announced Serin.

“I couldn’t….”

“I insist. I would feel bad knowing you were sleeping out there while we were all wrapped up inside. It just doesn’t seem right.”

“Well, if you insist.” Agreed Rosa.

“I do.” Serin said with a laugh.

“We’ll draw lots between the three of us, when we decide the watch order.” Lillia said, meaning who would share my tent.

“Sounds fair. Agreed Serin.”

I just left them to get on with it, not having any objection to any of them sharing my tent with me. I knew it would be difficult to try and check in with Celine while we were camping out like this, but now it was going to be all but impossible. Hopefully she would continue to behave.

“Do you travel this route much Rosa?” I asked, changing the subject before it became uncomfortable for her.

“Yes, this is my usual route. I travel to the capital, then return with the next fare. I have two days off when I return to Dunshelm before I set off back to the capital again.” She replied.

“I see, so you must know this route pretty well.”

“Yes, I’ve lost count of the times I’ve passed this way.”

“Do you often sit with your passengers like this?”

“Not often, it’s mostly the nobility that travel like this. I normally keep to myself and they don’t often take an interest in what I’m doing as long as we get to the destination on time.”

“Doesn’t it get lonely out here like that?”

“Lonely… Yes, I guess it can do, but I’m pretty used to it now.”

“Well don’t worry, we’ll all keep you company tonight.” Altria told her with a smile.

“Thank you, it does make a nice change to be invited into the group like this.”