Chapter 14: The Gathering of the East
As summer came to a close, Nusair ibn Samman led his tribe of the Kholaj Badawi northward along the eastern edge of the great Kholaj Desert, then across the Harrud River and eastward to the town of Sab. After a brief trading interval, the tribe crossed the Meshkal River and proceeded eastward. They skirted the southern edge of the Shiraz Plains and headed straight for the foothills of northern Kandestan.
There were no posted signs or roads to define their path. The land was covered with the usual web of faint game trails, but nothing made any of them distinctive or important. The Badawi didn’t need them. They had been making this trek for many generations, as long as they had been Badawi. They noted the landmarks, the type of vegetation, the feel of
