A Scandalous Widow

New Estra, Two Hundred and Ninety Years Before

The road branched off and they paused on the fork to consider their options.

The road that seemed more travelled, the gouges from wagon wheels deeper, the greenery pushed further back, and the undergrowth trampled to dirt, lead towards the mountains, but it was possible that it curled back to the river. Travelling the road into the forest had taught Thaelen that colonists and cattle did not travel as the crows flies, more as the worm slithered, the path meandering leaning away and then closer to the river. Combined with the canopy of leaves, he sometimes lost his sense of direction and had to consult the position of the sun or the compass in his pocket in order to reorientate himself.

“That way I think goes to where the Ridetens have settled,” Harry frowned at the road. “Very wealthy group from Greibron - shit,” they grimaced. “Veralden. They’re from Veralden,” they corrected themselves. “They have a lot of convicts with them, and plan o