Hideaway Strath enumero

for now, the imperator bid queen @Toula goodbye and the same for his son @Cornelius.

he returned to where @Valiria had gone.

"@Aquillius has gone to the hinterlands. i am going to join him. your brother cornelius has chosen to stay in akashingo. but i must quit this desert."

his eyes invited her to come.

she would make her own choice.

days became nights became days. he marked progress by the stars. 

long ago he had lived in the hinterlands, and when the familiar ridge of the mountains showed at last against the lowland, he felt restored.

once the saints had lived here.

but he saw with a small cold quirk that his son had known where to step.

"i am here," he announced in a loud voice that evening, yellow eyes sweeping for the maddened young soldier. perhaps here in this solitude, he might heal.