Imperial

31. Soraya

Soraya's armies had begun the march to Shiraz that morning. It took a not surprising amount of effort to mobilize and move tens of thousands of men. The barracks had to be packed up, supplies had to be organized, weapons had to be handed out.

Somehow though, they had moved out on schedule. Soraya highly suspected that this was mostly thanks to Parvana's leadership and skill as a general. Not for the first or last time, Soraya thanked the gods for sending that woman to her.

Soraya sat in a palanquin towards the front section of the soldiers. The palanquin was small but elaborate. Just big enough for her to sit comfortably cross legged, on the outside it was decorated with a beautifully ornate pattern of winding ivy and dragonflies, all gilded so that it glittered and shone in the sunlight.

Inside, she sat upon small circular cushions in bright red, all decorated with beautiful golden embroidery. Sheer silk curtains in a dark purple covered the large windows of the palanquin, but Soraya had them all drawn back so that she could see her surroundings.

Their route to Shiraz took them on the ancient spice paths that cut through the thick jungles, the only safe roads that did so. It wasn't a direct route, but it was the fastest. At this pace, they would reach the walls of Shiraz within three weeks. If they'd tried to cut through the jungle it almost certainly would have taken them more than a month, and there would have been plenty of casualties along the way.

Soldiers marched in orderly lines in front of and behind the palanquin, while higher ranking generals and military officers rode horses to the palanquin's sides.

Sitting astride two steeds to the palanquin's left were Massoud and Dashna, both dressed in their best military uniforms. They seemed to be deep in conversation about something, though they were just far enough that Soraya couldn't make it out.

Soraya smiled to herself as she saw Massoud laugh out loud at something and Dashna's annoyed but amused expression. Despite the way they'd glared and argued with each other when they'd first met, it seemed that they were getting along well now. That was good. Hopefully it would help to foster stronger relationships amongst the soldiers as well.

Parvana herself was farther to the back of the army, directing the troops there to make sure the pace was held and no one fell behind. Soraya had no doubt that she'd accomplish the job with ease.

Soraya looked out of the palanquin windows to the huge towering foliage of the jungle on either side of them. The trees reached so high that they soared bigger than even some palaces Soraya had seen, and the foliage was so thick that it was impossible to see deeper into the jungle itself. It was a complete wall of green, as if the jungle too had secrets to hide.

The spice paths through the jungle had existed for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years. They were massive roads, large enough to field armies, and caravans of traders regularly passed through traveling from city to city.

Looking in wonder at the intimidating jungle, Soraya tried and failed to imagine how such a road had first been constructed. Who had first looked at the impenetrable jungle and dared to attempt to tame it? How many had died over the centuries for the sake of this one, winding road? Such questions always entertained her mind and kept her thinking.

Eventually, the sun sank behind the trees and the time to stop for the night came. The soldiers stopped marching and began to set up ramshackle camps. The four soldiers carrying Soraya's palanquin gently lowered it to the ground, and one came forward to help her down.

A group of soldiers had already set up a command tent nearby, a large dark red hut large enough for the important meetings and councils that needed to be held nightly. Soraya descended from the palanquin and entered the tent.