The old man’s eyes followed her arm, to her finger, to the distant peaks of the Elmas. "To the Elmas? What in the Lord of the Earth’s name for? Don’t you realise there’s a war going on?"
"I have family. They live on the other side of the Wondhip Pass."
"In the lands of Petrya? Dangerous place there, for a girl like you."
"No it isn’t," Ella risked. "You just think that because you don’t live there. If you grow up there it’s fine."
He regarded her incredulously. "Whatever you say, it’s no business of mine. It happens I’ll be going in that direction for a time. Care for a ride?"
"Are you sure? That wouldn’t be too much trouble? Are you certain that," she gestured with her head to the drudge, "he won’t mind?"
The man laughed — a rich and hearty sound. "No, young lady. I don’t think he will."
Ella felt quite comfortable perched next to the old man. She’d already been unconscious in his presence and he’d shown she was safe from harm, besides which, he seemed quite a jovial sort.
"I’m Ella," she said. "What’s your name?"
"I’m Evrin, Evrin Alistair."
"That doesn’t sound like a Halrana name."
"Good! That means my father was telling the truth when told my mother he was an outlander."
Ella chuckled. "So where was he from?"
"You ask a lot of questions don’t you! The curiosity of youth, I suppose. He was from the lands far to the west, across the water from Altura."
"Across the water. Yes, I’m sure he was." Slightly miffed, Ella was silent for a moment. No one lived across the water to the west! Still, if he didn’t want to talk about it then that was his right. "You’re a merchant?"
"Well, you could say that."
"What’s your cargo?"
"A little of this, a little of that. It’s wartime and almost anything can be a valuable cargo now, for those brave enough to make the journey. Tell me, how did an Alturan girl come to have family in Petrya?"
"Umm… I’m from the last village, Rowen. My mother’s sister met a man from across the pass. He’d come to look for… trading opportunities." Ella stopped at a harrumph from Evrin. Was he laughing? "What?"
"Nothing, nothing," he said. "Just got something caught in my throat, that is all. Please, continue."
"So she went back with him and they were married. I spent a lot of time there as a child, so I’m going back there now."
"Ahh, I see," said Evrin. "What town was it, this town across the pass?"
"It was a small village, just a collection of buildings really. In the middle of nowhere. You wouldn’t have heard of it." Ella paused, thinking furiously. "Mintown, I think it was called."
There was another harrumphing sound from Evrin. Ella looked at him suspiciously.
"Sorry, sorry," he said. "I’m in need of a little liquid, that is all. Is that beer I see in your satchel?"
"Would you care for some?"
He turned slowly, a twinkle in his blue eyes. He looked like some kind of grizzly animal, with his ginger beard and sun-darkened skin. "Oh, yes. Yes, indeed."
They shared one of the large bottles of dark beer. Then, at Evrin’s suggestion they followed it up with the second. It made Ella feel slightly warm and light in the head. Evrin grew jovial and began to sing — rather than speak — the activation runes to control the drudges.
"I have a secret to tell you," he confided to Ella. "I’m a drudgesinger. It’s like a bladesinger but more powerful."
Ella chuckled and almost went to tell Evrin that her brother was a bladesinger, but caught herself in the last instant. She was a village girl from Rowen, she reminded herself.
"How does it work?" Ella asked, unable to hide her curiosity. "Is it a difficult thing, controlling them?"
"Controlling them? Of course! It’s because they don’t want to be controlled. The left one is called Tortoise, it’s because he’s always slower, which makes the cart veer to the left. The right one is called Geezer. It’s because his joints creak like an old man’s."
Ella laughed. "No, really."
She looked over at him. He had a stone tablet on his lap. It was glowing softly, lit up with the runes. She could name a few, but others were incomprehensible to her. The matrices were quite complicated, but she was sure that with time she could figure some of them out.
"Well, here goes then. This tablet is the controller. A controller is linked to a construct, or to multiple constructs. These small symbols are the runes, and the groups of runes are called matrices. You will see them both on the tablet and on the drudges."
"Matrices?" said Ella. She had to be careful here. "That is a matrice?"
"No, no. One of the groups is called a matrix. The plural of matrix is matrices. Groups of matrices. Understand?"
"I think so," Ella said. This was hard. She was terribly curious but she had to pretend she had no understanding of lore whatsoever.
Evrin continued. "The runes that are lit up are the ones that have been activated. Activated means they are doing something, or they are prepared to do something. To activate a matrix we speak its activation sequence. Watch."
He gestured to the left construct, Tortoise. "Forahl-an-ahmala."