Blood Moons Rising

Chapter 16

The train stopped at many such villages and cities for long periods of time. The ones built by the indigenous people were more natural, built into natural features or made to look like them, disturbing the environment around them as little as possible. Those built by the immigrants were less so. More sprawling, fewer gathering places, more boarding houses and the like made for people to live alone. They also had more factories, more businesses, more modern conveniences like a standard of running water and sewer systems, electrical power, a larger variety of food and cultures meshed together.

Nevada noticed that, in the guide book left in her trunk, that someone had put a small dot of ink next to every place the party was planning on stopping, and when they stopped at the same places for long enough she found letters waiting for her at the post office.

There were four unscheduled stops due to mild quakes, sudden weather, twice they had to transfer their tickets and change trains because the track they were heading on had been covered by an avalanche or mudslide. After three weeks it was beginning to feel as if they would never get there. They were running terribly off course.

Nevada took up reading local news bulletins, when they were available in the language she could read. She found nothing about Cameron or the party, but did find out about the increased natural disasters becoming more common across the country, and in others over the sea, though that news was delayed by the distance between them. There was also growing unrest between various religious factions, though the reports did not slant it that way. Some small burgeoning groups were fighting with others and their local governments and the indigenous people, fighting mainly over portions of land they intended to build temples on or the right to re-institute animal sacrifices.

She also used them to teach Qetzl how to read, along with the guide book, and how to speak more Anthean phrases. She had not anticipated they would be travelling so long, but was trying to make the most of the time. By the time they got to the Eham province she was certain that if she were a less focused person she would have completely forgotten where they were heading.

They got off at what was considered the Capitol of the Province, Ittanima. Through the process of translation, it basically meant "the place where the people gather." According to the guide book, it used to just be the place where the Eham tribes would gather together twice a year to trade or find spouses outside of their own tribes, but in the last few decades had become a small city full of meat processing factories and supply outposts. It reminded her of how cowboys in old movies used to refer to Dodge City, only without the guns.

There was no shortage of violence, to be sure. It was simply more visceral and personal. Within ten minutes of getting off of the train and heading to the nearest boarding house, they saw three fights. The last one, just outside the place they planned to stay, resulted in a stabbing. Qetzl seemed fascinated with watching drops of blood bouncing off the frosted ground and frozen-over puddles. She was just happy there wasn't snow on the ground, because the times they'd come across it he had been nearly impossible to pull away.

The boarding house was surprisingly comfortable, and it was soon apparent why. The majority of the people there were women from various backgrounds. Many of them were wearing cosmetics and had their hair done elaborately, and had clothing much finer than the people on the street.

"It's a brothel." Nevada signed at him.

"What is that word? I do not know it." He signed back.

"A house where women live who sell their intimacy to men."

He looked incredibly confused, "I have never heard of such a thing."

Nevada shrugged. It was not likely, in a place as sexually permissive as his home, that there would ever be a need for such a thing. A middle-aged indigenous woman ran the place and rented them a single room at a reasonable rate. She was a little concerned that they would have to share a single bed, but they only had so much money to work with. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, far from it, he'd been incredibly respectful since they'd stopped having sex. It was more that she didn't trust herself.