The next morning, the sky was clear, and they were on their way. Tanden sat up front with Jale, asking her questions, but now in Teltish so Soren could listen as well. He asked her questions about where they were, and the names of the types of trees they passed, but mostly he asked her questions about Tallenese culture. One thing kept coming back to mind.

"So, the whole eetorikey system." He heard Jale sigh but ignored it. "How did that start? Its just really unique. Is there some sort of religious reason? Maybe the gods—"

"The gods are brothers and sisters," Jale interrupted. "But there is a reason. Tallen Tiya used to be four separate kingdoms, each following the same gods, of course. Tiya, the Summer Kingdom, to the East. Tier, the Winter Queendom, to the North. Till, the Spring Queendom, on the Western Shore. And Tigo, the Fall Kingdom, in the middle. We're in Tigo now," she explained. "And the four countries were separate, but related, for many years.

"Till supplied the inner countries with fish and trade from the ocean, and was the richest, but the smallest of the countries. Tiya was the largest, and is a giant plain between the hills of Tigo, the lake and the mountains that border the whole country. It was also very wealthy, and provided the other countries with crops and livestock. Tigo is like this." She gestured at the trees around them. "Thick forests, mountains and hills. They provided lumber, and mined minerals and building materials. Tier was just as large as Tiya, but very sparsely populated and very mountainous. They did some mining as well, but really, Tier has always been the weakest of the four countries."

Tanden wasn't sure how this story was going to answer his question, but he was riveted anyway. "So why didn't another country just take the land?"

"No one wanted the land," Jale said. "But also, Tier's capital is very well protected by mountains, and it wasn't worth it. But then, hundreds of years ago, a young king, King Tallenarador, inherited Tiya. He looked at the other three countries and wondered why he couldn't control them all. Tiya was the biggest, and while not as rich as Till, was still quite wealthy. So he started the—" she paused. "In Teltish, it would be the War of the Seasons. He built an army and rode against Tigo, and then Till. He took them both easily and held them for an entire year, waiting for the snows to melt enough to move on Tier. He eventually took Tier, but he lost a lot. Scholars looking at the war now say that if he hadn't taken Tigo and Till first, and bolstered his army, he would have lost against Tier."

"But you said it was sparsely populated," Tanden said.

"Yes. But it wasn't the Tier people who almost defeated him, it was the weather. As if Tier herself was fighting them."

Tanden looked around at the snow, and found it very easy to believe that an army could have been defeated by the weather. "So then what happened?"

"Well, he wanted to turn the kingdoms into an empire, named after himself and his own kingdom, of course. So Tallen Tiya became the full name of the empire, and he named himself Emperor. But he wanted to link himself to the ruling families of each province, to prevent them from rising against him. So he sent out a call that each king or queen send him their eldest child. His wording was vague. Till and Tigo send him daughters. Tier sent him a son. Emperor Tallenarador married all three of them. He was the first eetorikey to marry multiple people and call them all his eetos."

"Nobody thought that was strange?"

"I'm sure people did," Jale said. "But he had just done the impossible and linked the kingdoms, so I don't think anyone was willing to speak up against him."

Soren cleared his throat to get their attentions. "Do you know if he married the prince for show, or did he like men?"

"I don't know. Different versions of the story tell it different ways. I once met a man from Tier who told me that the Tier Prince was actually the Emperor's favourite eeto. But I think every province twists the story that way. Growing up I was also told the Till Princess was the favourite. She bore him more children, and the royal family today is descended from her line."

"What happened to the other royal families?" Tanden asked.

"They're still around, but they're considered provincial governors now. Every Emperor or Empress still marries a member of each family, but it's a more ceremonial thing now, and they aren't expected to actually engage in a physical relationship. Our current Emperor is married to two other women who are considered his actual eetos. They live in his palace in Tallen Tiya. His other eetos, from the governor's families, live in his palaces in their respective province. He travels with the seasons to visit each province. And every year he switches which of his actual eetos will travel with him. They both have children, two each, I think."

"It all still sounds very confusing," Tanden said.

Jale shrugged. "I guess in some cases it could be, but usually it isn't so confusing. I have five siblings, through my father's different eetos. How do you do it in Zianna?"

"Oh. In Zianna we marry one person. The eldest child inherits the family's property and responsibility. I have two older brothers, so I wasn't in line. When two people get married, the one with lesser status—maybe their family isn't as important, or they're not inheriting anything—marries into the other partner's family."

"So Soren married into your family?"

"We aren't married," Tanden said. "Our people don't think two men can get married. It isn't right."

"Why not?"

"Honestly, I don't know. The more I meet other people with different beliefs, the more I think it doesn't make sense. Not to mention the fact that if the Goddess really thought I was a terrible person, she probably would have stopped me by now."

Jale glanced at Soren over her shoulder. "So you two like men, only?"

"No," Tanden shook his head. "I like everybody. Soren's a little more specific, he mostly likes men. But he likes women, too. Let's just say that if I was an eetorikey, I would give my eetos permission to have fun together. In fact, I would encourage it."

Soren scoffed. "Only if you were in the same room as us."

Jale laughed. "You're very interesting men. I'm glad you decided to hire me for this trip. Usually I guide diplomates or rich men and women who treat me like a servant and just want to quickly travel from one province to the next. I was a little skeptical when you introduced yourself and called yourself a Captain, but you're not like most rich men."

Tanden grinned. "No, I'm charming and eccentric."

"That much is certainly true. And Soren, you're not like most employees. I've really enjoyed listening to you put him in his place."

"Someone's got to do it," Soren said, and although he wasn't facing them, Tanden could hear his smile.

"Maybe he's why you're so different," Jale teased, nudging Tanden with her elbow. "Now, would you like to learn how to drive?"

It took two days to reach the town, just as Jale had expected. The road they were following began to wind back and forth along a steep incline, until they reached the plateau on top. The village was clustered tightly together on the plateau, with a sharp drop on one side and the forest on the other.

Although Jale had let Tanden drive a lot over the past two days, she took charge again as they entered the town. It consisted of one main road that went right through the middle, with tiny buildings nestled together on either side. The buildings were all short, all one story, made of stone with wooden roofs. It was a bright, sunny day, warm despite the snow, and people milled about everywhere. They all stepped out of the carriage's way and watched it pass.

Jale started talking, and Soren dragged his attention away from the town to lean closer and listen. "This is Morie Caro, a pretty average sized town for this part of Tigo. Nearly everyone in Till speaks Morcean, that isn't the case in the other provinces. So you'll have to let me do all the talking. I'll rent rooms for us at the inn, get the kyloe in a barn for the night, and do some trading for supplies. I just need you two to not cause any trouble. Morie Caro is along a trading route, so they're used to seeing strangers. But not people like you. You'll draw a lot of attention."

"He usually does," Soren commented.

Jale flashed him a smile over her shoulder. "Yes, I'm not surprised. But listen—you might be charming, but you're a Teltish Lord in a country that doesn't care. Just keep that in mind when you interact with people."

Tanden nodded. "I always keep that in mind."

Jale looked a little skeptical, but Soren knew he was telling the truth. There was a reason Tanden insisted on introducing himself as a Captain. "Well," Jale said. "I'll set you up with food before I take care of everything else, so you'll be occupied, at least."

Tanden nodded again, but he was looking around and didn't seem like he was listening to every word. "Where are all the men?"

Soren realized suddenly that everyone they were driving past were women or children. It hadn't seemed odd to him until Tanden brought it up.

"Either hunting or at the mine," Jale explained. "Morie Caro is one of three villages that work the Caro Mines. That, or they're at the inn." She pulled on the reins, and the kyloe slowed to a stop. "Here we are. Be good," Jale added, before jumping off of the driver's seat. Soren wasn't sure if she was talking to the kyloe, or them.

They followed her inside, where she started to talk with the man behind the counter. What she called an inn, Soren would have called a tavern. The front room was filled with tables, with a huge fire in middle. Just as Jale had guessed, quite a few men were scattered around, drinking or eating or playing cards. Every one of them stopped to stare when Soren and Tanden walked through the door.

One of the men sitting closest to them stood up. He was burly, but like most Tallenese men, shorter than either of them. He grumbled something at them. A look of concentration flashed across Tanden's face, as he tried to put together the few words he knew. Soren stepped a little closer to him. The man hadn't sounded friendly, and if he lunged Soren wanted to get in front of Tanden.

Then Jale appeared at the man's side, and said something, her tone laced with sarcasm. The man looked at her, and his frown turned into a smile. They talked back and forth for a moment, until he lumbered back to his table and sat down. Jale turned to them, one eyebrow raised.

"I didn't do anything," Tanden said.

"I know. It's the way you look," Jale replied. She jerked her head towards the other side of the room. "Come."

They followed her, and sat down at the table she had indicated, which was far away from everyone else. "I told the innkeeper to bring you some food, and we have two rooms rented for the night. Stay at this table until I come back." She turned to call something over to the innkeeper, gave them another nod, and walked away.

Soren felt a little uneasy with her gone. He was so used to relying on Tanden to talk to locals, or using his seemingly endless knowledge to explain things that were doing on around them. Here, Tanden was as lost as he was, which was both a little nerve wracking and interesting.

They talked quietly as they waited for the innkeeper to bring them food. It didn't take long for the innkeeper to slide two plates piled with food in front of them. It was some sort of roasted meat and potatoes, covered in thick sauce. They stopped talking to dig in.