I had no plans on cooking, however. This break was mostly intended for the horses, who were the ones doing all the work. We just used the opportunity to eat at the same time. I gave my companions some bread, fruits, and dried meat to eat while caring for the horses. Fortunately, they weren’t picky and ate whatever they received without complaints. I put something into my stomach too before we went back to the road. Our goal was to reach the village I wanted to stop at before it got too late. At that point, we could rest for real.
“I’m going to walk now. I’m too bored to sit all the time.”
Selva declared this and didn’t climb on the carriage front seat this time. Wico, on the other hand, seemed fine to cling to my head forever. After another hour or so, we reached the border between Geola and Makji. Geola didn’t have that large territory in the first place. The main city was surrounded by villages, which acted as support a few hours away in all directions, and that was pretty much it. It was on the level of a barony or small viscounty from one of the surrounding kingdoms.
We had moved through a few such villages already. Most were comprised of one or several species living together, and people seemed to be relatively healthy and happy. The villagers were mostly farmers, often tending to fields, animals, or both. It was planting time right now and a majority was busy in the fields.
The border itself consisted of a military post from Makji because Geola didn’t care whether people came in or out of their territory. Makji also wasn’t wary of Geola itself but of potential troops from other countries using Geola as an invasion vector to their territory.
The military post was manned by feline subspecies. It wasn’t my first seeing some, since Geola had inhabitants from most of the species in the region. The fighters here looked very similar to the slum siblings I was giving food to. Their size varied from half of mine to slightly taller than me. They were all mostly furred, with relatively small ears on top of their heads, and extendible claws in place of nails. Another noticeable aspect was that most of them were women, with very few men to be seen.
“Are you going to be okay, Tila? Folks from Makji look down on men. I can do the talking if you want.”
“Please leave it to me, master. This is my caravan and my job.”
“Oh… How praiseworthy. All right, go and break a wing.”
“Yes, master.”
I halted the carriage in front of the closed gate and a couple of Makji soldiers came out to meet us. They looked at me with disdain and addressed the two women in my group.
“State your city of departure, your business, and your destination.”
“We come from Geola and we’re heading toward Alfiro to do some trading.”
They looked unhappy that I answered but still chose to talk to me.
“What are you selling, merchant?”
“Weapons and iron ingots.”
They looked at each other for a moment before coming to inspect my goods quickly. Eventually, one of them signaled to open to gate.
“Go on your way. Don’t cause any trouble.”
“Thank you. A good day to you, my ladies.”
I made the horses move forward again and we went through the border without any trouble. I guessed these people saw a lot of merchants like me all the time and there was no reason why they would make it difficult for us. Trade was a good thing for everyone.
After going through the military post, the nice and well-maintained road ceased to be. It was replaced by an uneven dirt road with potholes here and there. Even though the land and scenery were the same, there was no mistake about being in a different territory now. To be exact, it was a barony that we would need to go through before reaching the duchy of Chian, where Alfiro was located.
As we continued forward, we soon came across our first Makji village. The mood was very different from the ones in Geola. Most of the people working in the fields were men and were controlled by force. Women would supervise them, with whips in their hands, and didn’t hesitate to use them whenever they felt the pace was slowing down.
I watched the scenes together with Selva, who couldn’t help asking about it from the carriage’s side.
“Are they slaves, master?”
“That’s right. Makji and Taifau encourage slavery while Thuk and Geola forbid it. In Makji, most of the slaves are men because they’re considered inferior to women. Free men also have fewer rights than free women.”
“How come? Aren’t we all equal to sel?”
“We are. There’s no difference between men and women and each gender has the same chance of increasing their ranks.”
“Then, why?”
“It’s their culture. In Makji, the queen and head of noble houses are always women. It’s good for them if men are treated like subordinates because they can stay in power.”
“Why don’t men rebel?”
“Kahah, my disciple, if only the world was that simple. They can’t rebel because they don’t have the power to do so. Women monopolize magic teachings and are very careful about men increasing their ranks. In Makji, people believe that strength is equal to power. That way, women can keep their power forever.”
“Weird. Why doesn’t anyone do anything about it?”
“They do. Why do think Taifau and Thuk hate Makji so much? It’s one of the reasons they’ve been at war with each other for an eternity. They can’t accept a culture so different from theirs.”
The crack of a whip resounded and we turned our heads to see one of the men crying in pain. Selva concluded after a moment of silence.
“I don’t like this country.”
I had to concur with that statement.