A Brief History

First thing the next morning, Miashgon and Xavier went to the stables to prepare their horses for the long journey. Both had a number of horses they enjoyed riding, all of which would be able to make the journey, so the first thing they had to do was choose their steeds.

Miashgon chose a beatiful black horse, with a white stripe on its face. The name of this horse was Anz, and Miashgon had used him many times to travel to the capital of Ashgor, a much longer distance than would be between any of the ports.

Xavier chose a smaller grey horse, with no markings whatsoever. This horse was named Zado. Although he had never traveled any long distances, he was a strong, obedient horse, and difficult to spook.

The young men spent the next few hours making sure everything was well prepared for their trip. They were set to leave right after noon, so after the stablemen had been told which horses to saddle, and had been given the packed material, the princes set back towards the castle for a quick meal.

At the table with their fathers, Miashgon and Xavier talked about their plans with their fathers:

"Shelk will be your first stop, I assume?" said Miashgon's father.

"Yes. Better to start from the North, and work our way south. No need to waste time backtracking," answered Miashgon.

"Plus," interjected Xavier, "if we get it done in a month and a half as we're attempting, we should be able to check in on Swun around Aldor."

"Not that he'll need checking up on," commented the elder Japonte, "That man is the most resourceful man I've met in a long time. On top of that, he's as strong as a bear."

Miashgon nodded, "He looks it. You said he was of noble descent?"

"Yes. It turns out his lineage can be traced back almost as far as ours. It is possible that his ancestors came across from Orna with our ancestors." the King smiled, "Extremely possible in fact."

Xavier's father cut in, "I haven't heard the name Eduerj before."

"Well, if you're only thinking on the history of the last seventy years or so, you wouldn't," replied the other King, "the Eduerj family has been very out of the politics of the continent for the last few generations, simply serving as dukes in southern Rijero. Swun is the first to be in the army since his great-grandfather."

"Really? Previous to the past generations then?" said Xavier, suddenly interested.

"Well, as I said, Swun's great-grandfather served in the Rijero army. A general in fact. His father was a close man to my great-grandfather. In fact, he was granted his little piece of land after my great-grandfather abdicated the throne. All the ancestors before that were with the royal families, living in this very castle. One of the last to leave the castle before it became completely the Japonte's."

Xavier nodded, and a thoughtful look crossed his face, "It's too bad I don't have the time to read the history. His family could be quite interesting. Not to mention pertinent to Anugo's Power."

Miashgon's father gave Xavier a stern look, "As far as Rijero's people are concerned, the legend of Anugo's Power is nothing more than that. A legend."

Xavier grinned, "That may be so, but as far as this prince is concerned, there is more to it than that."

Miashgon shook his head, "Don't tell me that you're going to turn this into a search for the blades?"

A laugh came from Xavier, "No. No intention whatsoever, but you can't tell me that if you could have a blade, you wouldn't take it."

"I would. However, I don't have that opportunity. I think its time we turn our minds back to the trip at hand."

Xavier shrugged, "I suppose. So it will be about ten days between each port, so that gives us two to three to inspect each port, and to rest. Then we'll have about a month or so to ride back from Jotola. We should get back with about a week to spare before the coronation."

The conversation continued through the meal, discussion on problems that could happen, and what needed to be inspected in each port.

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