The man and woman exchanged a look before Grinsa faced the captain again.
"Am I to understand, then, that there are separate Qirsi and Eandi sovereignties in the Southlands?"
"Ya didn't know?" Pelton asked in his heavy lowlands accent, eyeing the man.
Grinsa glanced at Cresenne again and shook his head. "No. We were… eager to leave the Forelands, and in our haste I'm afraid we didn't learn as much about our new home as we might have otherwise."
"More's a pity," the first mate said. "Ya woulda been better off taking th' otha route down."
The white-hair frowned and looked at Rois.
"What he means is the Qirsi clans hold th' west, th' Eandi th' east. Ye'll have little choice now but t' cross through th' Eandi sovereignties if ye're t' reach Qirsi lands."
"Do no Qirsi live among the Eandi?" the woman asked, her brow creased.
Whatever his feelings about Qirsi, Rois would have liked to find some way to smooth that pale forehead once more. But he wasn't going to lie to them.
"Very few, ma'am. And them that does have a hard time of it, if ye follow me."
"If you knew this when we first-"
The man laid a hand on her arm, silencing her. She continued to glare at Rois for another moment, though, before finally looking away and raking a hand through her long hair. The baby let out a small squeal, but no one else made a sound.
After some time, there was a knock at the door and Cook and his assistant came in bearing the fish and two loaves of bread. The old man had a smile on his face when he opened the door, but seeing the captain's expression and the frowns of his guests, Cook's face fell. He and the boy served everyone quickly and without a word, before fleeing the cabin.
"I swear t' ye, ma'am," Rois said when they were gone, "we thought ye knew."
She stared at her wine, her lips pressed thin, but after a moment she nodded.
"Ye've paid t' go as far as Yorl, in Aelea-"
"And how much farther is that?" Grinsa asked.
"We're about to Redcliff now," Rois said. "With a bit o' luck and a bit o' wind, we'll reach Yorl in the morning. But what I was going t' say is this. Ye having saved my ship and all, and me taking a shine to th' baby there-Bryntelle, isn't it?"
The man smiled. "Yes. Bryntelle."
"With all o' that, I could see clear to take ye south to Shevden, in Tordjanne. Or better still, Ferenham. That's in Qosantia. No charge, o' course."
Grinsa glanced at the woman, who gave a quick shake of her head. He held her gaze, though, and after a moment she shrugged, looking unhappy. "That's a generous offer, Captain," the man went on, facing Rois again. "What would we gain by going farther?"
"Well, some o' th' sovereignties are better fer yer kind than others. Stopping in Aelea, ye'll have t' go through that one and Stelpana before ye reach Qirsi land. Them's two o' th' worst."
"Why are they so bad?" Cresenne asked.
The captain shrugged. "They bore th' brunt o' th' Blood Wars when they was fought. Folks don't forget, even after more than a century." He wasn't sure that either of them knew anything about the Blood Wars, but they didn't ask, and he didn't see any reason to go into it lest it lead to more ugliness. "In any case," he said instead, "once ye're in Qosantia, ye can cross t' th' Ofirean Sea and get passage across t' whichever o' th' clan lands ye want."
Again Grinsa and the woman shared a look. After a few moments, Grinsa actually smiled and reached to take Cresenne's hand.
"Actually," he said, "I'm not certain that we want to spend that much more time aboard any ship, even one as fine as yours, Captain."
Rois nodded. "I think I understand. In that case, let me offer ye this. I know a farrier in Yorl who's always got a few beasts he's tryin' t' sell. I expect I can get ye a pair o' horses at a fair price. Yorl's the farthest point inland on th' Aelean shore. Ye can make for Eagle's Pass and head due west across th' center o' Stelpana. They're no kinder t' Qirsi there, but there's fewer o' them. There's more people in th' north, near the Companion Lakes, and in th' south near th' seacoast. Steer clear o' those areas."
"All right, we will. Thank you."
"How well do ye know th' lay o' th' land?" Rois asked.
The white-hair shook his head. "I'm afraid we don't know it at all. If you have a map we can look at, I'd be most grateful."
"I don't," the captain said. "But I can describe it for ye some." He looked at Cresenne. "Go ahead and eat a bit, ma'am. It'll do ye good t' have a bit in ye."
She gave a tight smile and nodded. And as they all finally tucked into Cook's fish, Rois began to tell Grinsa and the woman about a few of the more important features of the land south of the Border Range. Pelton put in a word or two along the way, and both Qirsi asked questions now and again. Describing a land so large to strangers without the aid of a map was a bit like guiding a blindfolded man through a rocky shoal, but by the end of the meal, both of them seemed to have a better sense of the Southlands.
The woman's anger faded during the course of the supper, but only slowly, and even as the evening was ending, Rois could see that she remained withdrawn.
"Is there anything else you can tell us about these Blood Wars you mentioned earlier?" Grinsa finally asked, as they lingered over one last cup of wine.
Rois shifted in his chair. He felt the first mate staring at him, but he ignored him for the moment. "There's not a lot t' tell," he said. "There've been Blood Wars in th' Southlands for hundreds o' years."
"Some say there were only th' one," Pelton put in.
"But they've been over for a hundred years," Grinsa said, looking from mate to captain.
Pelton nodded. "They 'ave."
"And still it's not safe for us in Eandi lands."
The first mate looked away. "Joost 'cuz th' wars ended doesn't mean folks like white-hairs any more 'an they did."
"Are you from the Southlands, Pelton?"
The first mate pushed out his cheek with his tongue and nodded, his eyes trained on the table. "Naqbae," he said.
Grinsa frowned.
"Th' southernmost sovereignty," Rois told him. "Th' Horsemen, they're called."
"And yet our Horseman is a sailor," Grinsa said.
Pelton looked up at that, a grin on his round face. "I can ride, too. All us Horsemen can."
"But you don't like our people very much, do you?" Cresenne asked him, a guarded look in those ghostly pale eyes.
"Fighting white-hairs is what my kind are famous fer," he said, not shying from her glare. "No other sovereignty has held back th' Qirsi armies th' way th' Naqbae did. When th' Stelpana were bein' pushed back across th' K'Sand and th' Thraedes and finally th' Silverwater, an' th Qosantians an' Tordjannis were countin' their gold, we were forcin' th' T'Saan back int' th' hills. T' this day, we hold both banks of th' Grand Salt."
"That doesn't answer my question," she said.
"It's as much o' 'n answer as I got," he told her.
The baby had long since fallen asleep, but she stirred now, perhaps sensing her mother's anger, and she began to fuss.
"Perhaps it's time we were getting back to our quarters," Grinsa said, a smile fixed on his lips. "Thank you for a fine meal, Captain, and as well for all you've offered to do on our behalf."
Rois held out a hand, which Grinsa took in a powerful grip. "It's th' least I owed ye." He stood, stepped to the door, and held it open for them. As the woman walked past him, he inclined his head slightly, and said, "Ma'am."
A small smile touched her lips, but she said nothing.
"We'll put int' Yorl by midmornin'," he told Grinsa, as the Qirsi stepped past him. "Once we're in Eagles Inlet, th' waters should be calmer. Th' lady shouldn't have any more troubles, on this trip at least."