The carriage was late, again.

Water-heavy clouds rolled in from the west, bringing a chill to the air surrounding the lonely platform. Ydel sat at the edge of the rickety wooden platform and propped her chin up in an upturned palm, wondering if she'd make faster time walking. Seddleburg was only fifteen miles through the wood; not a terrible trek. But then again, there were the packages to consider.

She turned around and grabbed one from the stack. Nothing particularly noteworthy from the outside; just brown paper wrapping, twine, and a name written in neat black ink. Ydel briefly wished she had handwriting so nice as that on the package. Hers was a dreadful scrawling mess of inconsistent lines and curves. But then, she didn't do much writing anyway.

"Hoi, miss!" The burly voice of the carriage driver caught her attention and she scrambled up to her feet, scooping up the rest of the little boxes hurriedly. "Swiftly now," the driver said impatiently. "Got four more stops after this one and we're two stops behind on time!"

"Funny how that happens every week," Ydel mumbled into her armful of boxes, but the driver ignored her and urged his horses onward even as she was still settling into her seat. Fifteen miles, and she'd be home again.