Kiss!

It's about time to head out, though.

Okay, okay, fair.

Where to?

Landward gate. They're heading north.

Okay. Not going to stay the night here, then?

There should be an inn up the road they can make by late evening.

Works for her.

Off they go, then.

The Anzatzi Principalities, despite their overall minor size and diplomatic weight, sit at the end of one of only three trade routes between the Dreaming Sea and the Realm, and the wealth that brings them doesn't seem too poorly distributed, either.

The capitol of Maizhekor Principality - the sea trade province, the only principality with extensive contact with Prasad, and where Eridani came ashore - was impressive and almost familiar, their architecture and culture heavily influenced by the flow of trade and people that washes over all cities that overlook the Dreaming Sea. That familiarity continues inland, at least as far as they make it by the evening. The inn has a familiar mix of languages buzzing around the common room, fine foods, and an innkeeper who thinks well of Eridani's lineage.

They make better time, though, than they would have in nearly any other place Eridani has visited, so the afternoon's travel has still taken them nearly to the edge of Maizhekor Principality, to where the coastal wetlands from the meeting of the country's two greatest rivers fade into firmer ground and fertile soils. That time is in large part because of the road at the center of the Anzatzi Principalities.

The Heart Way - or the High Road, as anyone not wrapped up in poesy calls it - is a truly massive boulevard that glides from Nechara at the inner edge of the Hundred Kingdoms to the shores of the Dreaming Sea, continuing submerged under the surface until it breaks off in a sudden, jagged edge. The Heart Way is very clearly ancient, its surface a smooth, uniform sandy-brown, cool to the touch even in the greatest heat, no signs of wear on its surface even after at least a millennium of use. It's a hundred feet across from ditch to ditch, arranged as two massive roads with a twenty foot green between them. It runs straight and true, its slope unchanging even as the land rises and falls around it, meaning that - especially in at the inner edge of the coastal wetlands - it's very often on a broad swath of raised land, even above the ridge that divides the river valleys. This road is the lifeblood of the region, and it's rather heavily coveted (and, from every briefing drilled into Eridani's head, it can't fall into enemy hands).

Even several kingdoms and two empires' worth of trade can't overwhelm the road, and the Principality here at least does a very good job of keeping the road clear of obstruction. The inn is down the slope to the side of the High Road, on packed earth and stone raised above the still somewhat soggy ground. The side road is less incredibly nice, but still in pretty decent condition, and it continues on past the inn to the north.

Eridani can also pretty easily get a nice large suite for herself and Wyld if she wants. There's a lot of inns along this road, and this one isn't very crowded right now.

She got a budget for this. No reason to stint.

Massive soft bed and private bath it is! (There's also a small public bathhouse in this area, serving the clusters of inns and miscellaneous services for travelers, but, well, there's rules for using a public bathhouse.)

Rules are for people who don't know how to break them. This is a rule Eridani knows how to break. (The secret is throwing money at the problem.)

(Nobody relevant has any objections to her renting out the entire bathhouse.)

What's Wyld think?

She thoroughly approves.

"I have my own bathhouse back home, you know," she comments. "I should show it to you when we figure out how to get back." Lazy smirk. "It's bigger than this settlement - so, an actually decent size."

Giggle. "You must need an entire river to feed it."

"It's built into one, on the shores of a lake - part of a temple and palace complex my girlfriend gifted me."

"Generous of her."

"She and my second in command keep conspiring to get me to take breaks from the campaign trail. It's terrible."

"Taking time for the little pleasures is what makes life worth living."

"I know. But some opportunities close fast..."

Noseboop. "Opportunities come back. Or you make new ones!"

Giggle. "Planning to join the conspiracy, then?"

"If it seems necessary."

"I'm sure they'll welcome the help."

"I'll be the extrauniversal branch."