Journey to Edral
I had been traveling with Imaad for many months now. He was initially my guide through his homeland, but that time had long since passed. However, I was not ready for my time with him to end. I asked if I might continue to accompany him on his future travels, and he graciously accepted.
Our current journey was to the capital of the Edralian Empire. Imaad had some business there. Some kind of diplomatic mission, I did not fully understand it. I never did have the charisma needed for diplomacy. It did not greatly matter, however, I would follow him to any destination.
Which is not to say that this destination was disagreeable. Edral is the greatest world power to ever exist, and I had not yet had the chance to visit its capital for myself. I had read accounts, however, of the grandest city in the world. A great castle looming over a city of a million people, with such prosperity that the paupers lived like princes.
I was just getting ready to ask Imaad if we could stop, we had been riding all day thus far, and I needed a brief respite, when I saw it. Just the tops of towers peeking over the horizon. I pointed this out to him.
“Ah, yes,” he said, “It’s said in the city that once you can see the towers you’re only a week of riding away. And every time I’ve found myself on this trail, it seems to be the case.”
“A week?” I muttered. I do not believe he heard me, as he did not respond. I am a learned man, with an education in mathematics, and I did some simple calculations. We had been traveling about twenty miles each day. If we could see it then, and it was one hundred and forty miles away, that would mean the castle would have to be over two miles tall.
“Two and a half miles,” Imaad said, “Well almost, but they keep building it. I’m sure it’ll reach the mark in another few years.”
I had apparently been talking to myself. Generally I only had that habit when I was alone, but I had recently taken to doing it with him as well. Perhaps it is because of how close I feel to him. He feels like a part of my life rather than an intrusion upon it.
Imaad continued, “It’s good that you can get your shock out of the way now. You’ll fit in better without standing awestruck at the scale of it.”
“Two and a half miles? I have read accounts of travelers, but nothing that could prepare me for this!”
“Ah, the stories. Yes, I’ve heard them as well. You’ll find that they all underestimate the city.”
“I can see that, but why? What motivation would they have had to downplay the city?”
“It’s no lie, just people spreading stories as they can. Tell me, if you had to translate someone’s tale of traveling to a place with towers two miles tall, would you have believed them? Even to the point that you would include it in your translation? Or would you assume that it was exaggeration and change the height to something you thought possible?”
“I suppose I would change it.”
“Exactly. Now let’s stop and take a rest, we’ve been riding for a while, and I could use a break.”
During our rest, I found myself hoping that, in that massive castle, our rooms would be near to each other, or perhaps the same.