We left the land where I was born

They set out as the sun rose, soon leaving the rousing town behind them. Camon had roused himself long enough to eat breakfast and mount. With Iearnen's permission Legacy had taken a tax-chit from Camon's pouch to pay his bill. She paid hers with coin. The rhythmic noise of the hooves on the hard road and the jingle of tack were soothing. Legacy chatted to Iearnen about places she'd been and cities she'd visited. She was careful not to talk about her opinions or adventures. It was easy to reveal too much that way. She also did her best to limit herself to discussing the past 20 years. Abruptly she paused.

"Do you want me to shut up? I can, you know." Iearnen seemed to consider this before shaking his head no. He tossed his head in their direction of travel. "You want me to talk about Hardorn." Yes. "Well, there's not much. Ancar, as I'm sure you know, was the previous ruler. I avoided the land while he had control. Before Ancar was a succession of Earth-sense gifted rulers." Which had made the place unsuitable for her even then.

To anyone who was experienced with Earth-sense Chesh made an anomalous 'dead spot' by just existing, and became glaringly obvious when she was feeding. It was a lucky thing she hadn't taken dinner before noticing the herald was around. He hadn't noticed anything strange about her in her rest state, which showed how inexperienced he was. There was a good chance that would also protect her from Tremane, though she had no intention of staying in one place long enough for him to get curious. It was a chance that was unlikely to ever come again, and Hardorn was just about the only place in the area she hadn't been, having even visited Karse and Iftel.

"Hey, the border post already. We made good time." Iearnen glared. "For horseback of course." This would be her last chance to feed for a while. Camon was asleep, and likely to stay that way. "Don't bother waking him up. I'll get lunch. There seems to be a canteen attached to the post." She dismounted, leaving Nacheth free to munch the grass. With all the bushes around he would have a nice lunch. The interior of the canteen was dark and smelled of smoke. Several people in guard uniforms sat around tables enjoying a hot lunch. Surprisingly there was a bar. She walked up to it and took a seat, paying for a set of three lunch rolls. Camon was at that age where five meals a day weren't enough.

The bartender, an old one-eyed veteran took her order.
"It'll be a moment lady."
"That's fine." He left to go into the kitchen. Suddenly she felt an unwelcome presence at my side. Gods. Why me? Why always me? And why always the scuzzy ones? The gods, if they were listening, did not grace her with a reply. She winced at a gust of breath like a sewer.
"Well, hey there little lady. Interested in getting to know a real man?" He leered at me. If I see a real man I'll tell him you called. She did not say this out loud, which was probably more of a challenge than it should have been, seeing as the man had several stone on her. He seemed to feel her silence was permission for him to touch. She would have just removed his hand and asked him to leave, but then he groped her. Her left arm slid under his and wrapped around his shoulder, fingers upwards. He started to turn and she thrust her right knee into his stomach. As he folded over she kindly guided his head into the bar. Nice solid oak, they really didn't build like that anymore. She looked at the crumpled guard and yelled.
"What the HELL is wrong with you people? You're supposed to be Valdemar's first line of defence, and here you are, letting one of your own act like a drunken pervert! You should be ashamed of yourselves."

She escaped the resulting brawl by going through the kitchen, feeling a certain amount of glee at the violence.
"Here." Said the barkeep angrily thrusting the lunch at her. "Now get out before you cause any more damage." He winced at a crash.
"Why isn't the post officer stopping this?"
"Well," the barkeep said sarcastically "he's busy being unconscious on the floor thanks to you."
"If I were you I'd bill the crown for the damages instead of sending the charges through the Guard. If you send an account of what happened it practically guaranties there'll be an investigation." He got a thoughtful look and nodded.
"Aye, not a bad idea that." He turned to the side and passed me a second bag. "Hardtack and cheese. Now shoo." She smiled as she left, and was halfway back to Iearnen before she realised that in all the excitement she hadn't eaten.