Chapter 5
The royal caravan traveled for days before it reached the harbor. Aria faded in and out of the stupor that had surrounded her ever she arrived in Dhahara, the Desert City. She couldn't help flickering in the poison haze, but when she was lucid, she did her best to pay attention, to see and remember.
The caravan was ostentatious and opulent. Ikajo would settle for nothing less. Drohmeds, cattle, and no-beasts trundled through the hot sand as the large group of travelers rode or walked through the desert. Herrith and Aria rode with the king in the spacious wagon pulled by two bad-tempered drohmeds who occasionally rebelled from their servitude. When one or the other tried to pull away from the yoke, the carriage would lurch, causing Aria to briefly snap out of her fog. Once, afte
