They left at mid-morning the next day after a bowl of oats boiled in milk.
Stegran had used his knife to draw a map out on the table before them as they ate. Again he pointed them towards the lake, warning them to go east. To go east now would only send them back to Macedon, to go west they would hit a range of mountains that could not be passed this time of year. Their route was set.
No offer was made for them to spend another night, but a deal was made for the wine, and they had a small sack of beans to add to the load already carried by the pack horse.
At least it had stopped snowing; the sky was blue once more.
Alexander and Hephaistion said their farewells and then headed out of the village, going north.
They had not gone far when Hephaistion reined in his horse and jumped from its back.
"What is it?" Alexander asked, seeing Hephaistion checking their supplies.
Hephaistion frowned and shook his head. "The axe, one of the pots and the rope have gone," he replied. "Illyrians are nothing but thieves. We haven't anything to trade now, everything we have we need." He stepped away from the pack horse, going to his own and leaping back onto it.
"That one night cost us," Alexander said, summing up their feelings. "I think, where possible, we should avoid any contact with villages."
"Perhaps we should go east. It'll bring us closer to Macedon, but so long as we stay far enough…"
"My father will not send for me," Alexander said, interrupting. "Not yet. We can't go south, Thebes and Athens will have spies looking for us, we could be held hostage or killed. I won't go east and appear to be hoping for forgiveness, ready to be recalled the moment his heart softens. The mountains stop us going west, just yet, and so we will go north."
"North," agreed Hephaistion, and pushed his horse forward.
They rode across a large stretch of open land, in to some woods and almost through them, stopping when they came to a clearing to make camp. Seeing to the horses they both went hunting, setting snares and tracking game through the snow, but the animal, a young boar by the look of it, stayed invisible. The tracks came down to a stream and then disappeared.
"We should have brought some dogs with us," Alexander said as they headed back to their camp.
"The ground's too frozen, and even sight hounds would have trouble spotting anything that isn't there to be seen," Hephaistion countered. He turned and smiled at Alexander. "We can live on what we have, and things will change for us soon. You are not that bad a hunter, Alexander."
Alexander grinned, and cuffed Hephaistion on the arm, who would have put the greatest actor to shame by the way he pretended it hurt. His spirits had lifted once more when they arrived back at their camp, and he set a fire while Hephaistion filled the remaining pot with snow, and laid the furs out on the ground to make their bed for the night.
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The next day, they awoke to snow, once more. They broke camp early, after eating what was left of the bean stew, from the night before.
Attempting to make ground, it became more of a struggle to go forward, the horses stumbled across the uneven, icy, ground. The sun was enclosed in the grey of the sky and a wind came up, almost blinding them in the snow. With no other choice they headed for the shelter offered by a hillside with a rock face forming a natural semi-circle which gave them some protection from the elements.
This time, Hephaistion had thought to gather wood, and they were grateful for it, able to start a fire and see to the horses, before huddling under the furs, holding each other for warmth.
They passed a long day like this, only emerging to check on the horses before it grew dark. It was then that they discovered the pack horse had broken free, the rope that had been holding it was broken. Worse still, the horse had gone through their supplies, ripping open the bags of beans, spilling them in to the snow, before taking off in to the wilderness.
Hephaistion tried to salvage what he could, while Alexander wrapped his cloak around himself and headed off to see if he could find the animal. There was no sign of it and Hephaistion had only managed to retrieve enough for another meal. Alexander checked on their two horses, praising them, as whatever had spooked the packhorse, enough for it to break free, had not affected two seasoned cavalry horses.
He came back to the campfire, to find Hephaistion sitting by it, his cloak and furs gathered around him. He was waiting for the fire to melt the snow he had placed in the pot.
"I should go and set snares," Alexander said, sitting down beside him.
Hephaistion looked up at the sky. "It is too dark for that. But we should head on first thing in the morning, no matter what the weather. We should try to locate a village."
Alexander kicked a loose stone in to the fire, it hissed as the water on it evaporated. "We have nothing to trade."
After considering their situation, for a moment, Hephaistion replied. "I would let Briseis go. Bucephalus is strong enough to carry two."
Alexander shook his head. "No. We aren't trading our horses, not when the fates might take kindly on us." He looked to Hephaistion and smiled. "Perhaps, a kind Goddess would make a rabbit hop our way."
Hephaistion added what beans they had in to the pot. "If it would hop its way in to this pot right now I would be grateful," he said, returning Alexander's smile.