They spent a whole week living under the overhanging rock and waiting for the rain to stop. When the clouds finally cleared and the sun came out, they spent a few more days there. Pustakawan washed the bedroll and blankets, letting them dry in the sun. He washed their clothes and gave Vevie a few of his spare clean clothes to wear, while he washed her hair using a basin they had made from a log that they had hollowed out using coals. She could only wipe herself down while he had made a screen of branches around her and stood guard with his back to her. Pustakawan wouldn't allow her to get the wounds wet yet, although they appeared to be healing well.
"It's so nice to be clean again," Vevie sat in the sun, turning her face up into the warmth when she was done.
"It's nice that the rain has stopped," Pustakawan agreed. "We can't stay here for much longer though. The tribes in this area don't get along well and they may start looking for those people I killed. Once our things are dry, we'd best move on. You've improved a lot. Do you think you'd manage a day on the road again?"
"Yes," Vevie combed her hair out with her fingers, letting the wind flutter through the dark coloured hair. "It's getting boring here and the hunting hasn't been that good either, has it?"
"No. Not really. We'll have to find somewhere a bit richer to stock up on our food stores. Either that or find some work we can do along the way."
Pustakawan tested the hunting bow he'd been making. He'd made two. One for each of them.
"Sounds good," Vevie stood up and stretched with a wince. "Are you going hunting? Can I come?"
"Not yet," Pustakawan shook his head. "You're not ready to draw a bow yet with that wound. It's just closed. I don't want it tearing open again. You're going to have an ugly enough scar as it is. No need for you to try and make it worse. You'll be getting married one day and your husband might come after me if I don't treat it well."
"He'd have to get through me first."
"All the more reason for your future husband to assassinate me."
"Unless I kill him first. If the Bloodsuns have harmed my family, I will kill each and everyone of them."
"With pleasure," Pustakawan added, having gotten to know Vevie better over the last few days. It wasn't the first time he'd met such a cold and bloodthirsty woman, but it was the first that hadn't been an enemy. Quite an interesting experience.
"With pleasure," Vevie echoed, agreeing. "I'll kill them in the same way they killed my family. I won't ask you to help unless you want to."
"We shall see what happens and what news we can learn," Pustakawan checked the arrows he had fletched to see whether the glue was dry yet. "I never make a decision without sufficient information to inform me. In fact, I'm surprised the Bloodsuns didn't catch up with Chimcham and let him get all the way home."
"You know how Chimcham made a covenant with the surrounding tribes," Vevie said. "Well, that covenant wasn't just with them, but all the tribes in the warlands that want to oppose the Bloodsuns. While I was being carried back to the Chamois Tribe camp, the tribes we passed through had already finished their preparations to slow the Bloodsuns down. News was that Engarson was sent after me with a third of the Bloodsun army. The warland tribes plan to completely destroy that section of the army by the time they reach the Northern Warlands."
"News indeed," Pustakawan raised his eyebrows. "They won't be enough to stop the main force of the Bloodsuns from sweeping inward and conquering them all though, will they?"
"No," Vevie said, "but I heard that there was another plan that will follow up to attach from the main force's rear."
"I wonder who would have the strength to do that?" Pustakawan wrinkled his brows in thought. "The Inselbergers are too far away and wouldn't bother. The Bloodsuns only want the warlands, anyway. The Hanging Valleys are also too far away and have their own wars to deal with. That leaves the Archipelagas, the Oxbowmen and the Redland tribes."
"You're forgetting your own people in the Jejarum Isles."
"You're forgetting that the people of the Jejarum Isles are isolationists with a superiority complex as high as the sky. The Rajah will not want to get involved in a poor place like the warlands," Pustakawan snorted. "He'd only send the Armies of the Flame if someone poked them hard enough or there would be great profit in going to war."
"I think the Archipelagas wouldn't really be bothered sending their people over the seas unless they were sure they could hold some of the mainland against the tribes," Vevie tilted her head in thought.
"And the Redland tribes are already being harrassed by the Westersuns, which are the cousins and allies of the Bloodsuns," Pustakawan rifled through his books for a moment.
"Which leaves the Oxbowmen," Vevie scratched her nose and the two looked at each other with a shrug. "Why the Oxbowmen would leave their lake though, is a mystery."
"I agree," Pustakawan picked up a handful of arrows and a bow, "but there's no point speculating without more information. Stay here and prepare the fire. Boil more water if you can manage it. I'll be back soon. Hopefully with some game that we can smoke and dry overnight."