Traveller's Hill was barely a hill.
More of a mound.
Maybe even just a pile.
The only defining feature was a dead tree trunk rising above the wheat like some starving, craven scarecrow.
Eirian eyed it as they waited for the Bandri to arrive. The dried-out, twisted branches had been worn smooth by the wind and rain, like the trees found along the edge of the still water, and now they almost looked like bony fingers protruding from the ground.
She turned to Chenzhou, Mingzhe, and Yuze, the three of them sharing a canteen next to their horses. "I'm already regretting this, but I'm going to ask anyway. Why is this called Traveller's Hill?"
Mingzhe and Chenzhou immediately shared a look and then looked away.
Yuze clearly didn't want to speak, looking at the two of them, but sighed when they refused to speak.
"It's an old folk tale." Fox broke in. Stepping away from the Li and the guards the captain was arranging.
Eirian followed him up to the tree stump.
"At the beginning of time, the prairie was a forest, but the forest died when humans came and planted the wheat. All but one. One tree refused to die and stood alone as the rest of the forest withered away." Fox stroked the soft wood. "It became a shelter during storms. A guiding light to travellers. When the Camelia was first built, the founder took a branch and set it in the foundation of the estate as a blessing."
"What kind of tree was it?"
"Ume."
"Plum," Eirian translated. "I love plum wine."
Fox didn't comment, but she heard the judgment loud and clear.
"Who doesn't?" He offered cheerfully.
"How did it die?"
"It was struck by lightning during a terrible storm. It caught fire, and the entire borderland burned with it."
"A wildfire?"
Fox nodded. "The worst the land had ever seen. Everything between the Still Water and the Blooming Gorge burned. Thousands died. The tribes actually consider that burning to be the beginning of their existence. Their creation story."
Thoughtful, Eirian reached out and touched a branch. The wood was smooth as silk. "A wildfire in a prairie is especially devastating."
"Even the tribes are careful with fire in a fight," Fox agreed. "Carelessness is not easily forgiven." He tilted his head to the left. "Your magic would be…"
Eirian, following his train of thought, grinned.
***
Chenzhou watched Eirian and Fox converse about the tree, pleased that she was fitting in so well.
He turned when Yuze nudged him. His friend grinned. "Things are going well? With Eirian?"
Mingzhe, adjusting his saddle, glanced over.
"Oh, yes? Why?" Confused, Chenzhou glanced at her again.
Yuze stared at him, then frowned. "Well, you kissed her."
Chenzhou flushed and hissed. "What? I did not!"
Taken aback, Yuze blinked. "You did."
"I did not." Chenzhou hissed in a whisper. His eyes darted to Mingzhe, who'd turned his gaze back to his saddle and was staring intently at a loose thread.
Yuze glanced between them. "You did. She told me you did."
Chenzhou's mouth opened and closed without a sound.
"She said you kissed her on the cheek a few days ago? When you asked her to go over the reports I gave you?"
"I-" Chenzhou blinked. "I-…oh gods…I kissed her on the cheek!"
He paled dramatically and Yuze reached for him, suddenly concerned he was going to keel over.
"It's hardly a bad thing," Mingzhe said quietly. "She is your wife."
Chenzhou sputtered. "But we aren't- We haven't- Not like that!"
Mingzhe and Yuze stared at him, bewildered.
"We agreed we weren't going to be…like that."
Mingzhe and Yuze shared a look. "Why not?"
"Because- because I bought her! And I have Anna." His voice broke at the end.
"You didn't buy her," Yuze sighed. "Bride prices aren't out of the norm, especially at the level in society you two belong to." He paused. "Even though I told you that was a terrible idea."
"She's hardly so weak that she can't protect herself either." Mingzhe pointed out. "If she minded, you'd be ash."
That, more than anything else, seemed to reassure Chenzhou, and he relaxed, but only for a moment.
Chenzhou's eyes darted to Eirian, to Mingzhe, then landed on Yuze with a clear glaze of panic.
Yuze deeply regretted bringing it up now and made a promise to himself never to ask anyone about anything personal ever again.
"What will you tell Anna?" Mingzhe asked, eyes back on his saddle.
Chenzhou turned to him, crestfallen. "I don't know. I- I still love her, but…so much has changed." He choked up and struggled with his words.
Mingzhe reached for him, but stopped himself before he actually touched him.
"That's not…" Yuze sighed, tried to will Mingzhe into saying something with his mind, or summon some natural disaster.
Yuze was not the person to give advice about personal relationships when his own had ended so badly.
"People change as they grow," Fox said, suddenly appearing at Yuze's side. The spymaster clutched at his heart as it jumped in surprise, but Fox ignored him. "It's not the worst thing, if you're honest about it."
Chenzhou looked around wildly for Eirian, but she was still standing next to the tree, looking out over the prairie.
He relaxed. "I know people change, but how do I say that? I promised I wouldn't leave her."
"So you stay together and you're both miserable?" Fox's mask was rather infuriating when his voice was so bland. "What if you become so miserable together that you harm one another?"
"We wouldn't do that." Chenzhou's reply was immediate, but even he recognized that it was no guarantee.
Fox shrugged. "People change, and misery is like a disease. It spreads from person to person until no one is spared. You won't hesitate to hurt one another when it reaches that point. No one does."
Chenzhou, Yuze, and Mingzhe all stared at him in surprise and horror.
"That's…rather terrible," Mingzhe commented. "You sound as if you know that situation personally."
"We all have a story, don't we?" Fox said, infuriatingly bland.
~ tbc