"Oh."
She was silent for a while, trying to comprehend the distances involved, but found herself entirely out of her reckoning. She sat up and took stock of her surroundings. They were coming to the bottom of a shallow valley, and the Wood was beginning to take on the deep blackness of night. She was hungry again, and said so. With a smile, Anest handed her a pouch of dried fruit and nuts and a small water skin. As she began to nibble away, she noticed Brogan watching her. The big man smiled tightly and drew abrest. "Well," he said, "you've certainly perked up a bit. In a day or two you'll be as travel-worn as the rest of us."
Trying to overcome her shyness, she asked, "Do soldiers always travel like this?"
With a wry glance at Anest, he replied, "Not always. Most of what we do is waiting and watching for things to happen."
"What kinds of things?"
Looking forward, his gaze narrowed as he considered his words carefully. "We defend the Four Kingdoms. There are bad things about, as I'm sure Anest has told you." Her sudden bleak look told him that Anest had, in fact. Seeing this, he continued. "Most of what we do is not so unpleasant. We get to see things that others never see. Most people in Brand are husbandmen and artisans of many a craft, who spend their entire lives within sight of their homes. These men," he indicated the trailing company, "have not only seen all of Brand, but have seen at least some of the entire Four Kingdoms, and some of what lies beyond. Over half of these men have never laid eyes on this northeastern part of the Old Road before, nor ventured into the boundaries of the ancient elf kingdom that began, in its southeastern corner, where Belloc's lands are. It's a kind of trade-off, really: one kind of freedom for another."