Aydine unloaded and unbridled the horses and let them nip at some near by grass.
"You hungry?" he asked.
"A little," I replied, watching Cobalt. He was such a wonderful stallion. Back at home he'd be worth at least 50,000. Perhaps more. Maybe 100,000!
Aydine smiled, just a little. "I'm afraid my cooking isn't quite five star. I hope you won't hold it against me."
I smiled and looked over at him now. "Of course not!"
He cooked some beans and toasted a couple of slightly stale rolls. Then he disappeared behind a rock and came back with a bucket full of water.
"This road follows a creek," he explained. "It is the only luxury through the Trivial Mountains though. And some people don't even realize it's there."
He portioned us out equal amounts of beans and we dined on a simple, and somewhat tastey meal of beans and toasted rolls. The water tasted better than any bottled water I'd ever had!
"This water is so much better than the water back home!" I exclaimed. "And your cooking isn't bad at all!"
He blushed. "All water here tastes like this water," he said sounding a little puzzled as to why I liked it so much. "And all of my cooking tastes the same too," he added.
"Our water back home isn't good at all. Everyone litters and pollutes the rivers and oceans, so we end up with dirty, stale tasting water," I said explained, since he seemed to wonder why I liked the water so much.
"Why doesn't your King do something?" Aydine asked, showing interest in me for the first time.
"We don't have a king. Infact, where I'm from there are many countries. Thousands. And the one I live in has a president, and its also a free country. Despite a lot of good things, the president can't do a lot about the pollution. Someone always has an opinion to stop him, and the president isn't like a king...there are a whole bunch of people who have to agree on a law for it to actually take place. It's complicated," I said, somewhat surprised at my lack of ability to describe America.
"That doesn't sound very good," Aydine said thoughtfully.
I shook my head. "It's not."
Now the sun was gone behind the darkened horizon and our only light was the fire.
We sat in silence for a moment. "We should go to bed. We have to get up early and I wouldn't want us being tired all day," he said.
He rolled out a thin matteress type thing, which sort of reminded me of a block of foam.
He bit his lip. "I forgot that I only had one bedroll. You don't mind sharing do you?"
I shook my head.
"I can sleep on the ground, actually. If you don't feel comfortable sharing the bedroll," he offered.
"I will be fine," I said smiling.
He hesitated and shrugged.
"Aydine, its really alright. It's really nice of you to try to help me get home, and I think the least I could do is share a bedroll with you."
He blushed and looked at the ground. "It's nothing."
I couldn't sleep very well at first. I doubted I would fall asleep at all. And I was almost half sure that if I fell asleep I'd wake up in my room again. But I must have fallen asleep eventually, because the next thing I knew, I was being shaken awake by Aydine.
"Huh?" I said as I sat up, somewhat confused.
"Morning," said Aydine. Then I remembered where I was. "I hope you slept alright. Did I make a fine enough pillow?" he said, with a lopsided smile.
I blushed hard. "I'm sorry," I said standing up.
"It's fine," he said rolling his eyes.
The morning passed uneventfully. So far I had yet to see a dangerous animal. Aydine cooked more toasted stale rolls, this time with some jam of a different flavor than I'd ever tasted before, with some rather creamy grits. Unlike the watery things my mom cooked from the paper packs.
I thanked Aydine for cooking, which he brushed off. He filled the three canteens with water from the creek, and we loaded and bridled the horses and set off.
"We're making excellent time," he said. "We may well reach Evapalation Providence by tonight! Usually the journey takes three or four days. Of course, that is done by those who face the trials of these mountains. It's not unusual for me to make this trip in half that," he said, nearly bragging.
I smiled. "Good."
Suddenly Aydine halted. "Shh," he said.
"Go!" he yelled. "And hold on!"
The horses were in a mad race suddenly through the woods. A scream pierced the air.
A mountain lion scrambled down from a ledge above and was in hot pursuit of us!
The horses were going at breakneck pace, but didn't seem to be afraid. It suddenly became apparent to me that these horses weren't even running top speed. They had confidence that they were quick enough to escape him.
After a few minutes the lion gave upthe pursuit and we slowed the horses, who shockingly weren't even breathing hard.
I didn't ask Aydine about it though, I just assumed they were extremely fit.
I however, was quite out of breath. I looked over at Aydine and narrowed my eyes. "Those who face the trials," I said with a smirk. "That includes you I guess."
To my surprise he laughed. "A young mountain lion is hardly a trial," he said with a grin.
A group of ravens and vultures followed us for a while, but left when they realized the lion wasn't going to stalk anymore.
We decided to take advantage of our stolen time, and slow down to a floating trot and enjoy the scenery.
"It's really a gloomy place," I mused aloud. "But it's also beautiful."
Aydine nodded. "Indeed. Most people don't get the chance to take in the beauty of the Trivial mountains because of the battles they face on the way. And many don't make it out at all," he said. "You are very lucky to see it this way."
I smiled. I certainly was. The canopy above us was thick, lush and dark green. Small flickers of sunlight filtered through. The soil on the path was dark and rich. Every now and then the trees would break and we would get a spectacular view of the mountain range.
After about an hour we picked up our pace to a gentle canter. It was not long before we crossed the Heart River, and the landscape seemed to change slightly.
"Its not far now," Aydine said.
I nodded. Now the sun was a bright orange ball, and cast eerie evening shadows among us.
Thirty minutes ride took us to thinner forest and flatter land. Aydine didn't need to tell me we were almost out of the Trivial Mountains.
Finally, just as the sun disappeared behind the horizon, the horses stepped out into a flat, seemingly endless field.
I gasped at the sight of it. The just appearing moonlight shone down most bright and illuminated the tall, thick, green grass.
Aydine dismounted, so I did the same.
"We will pitch camp here tonight. And then tomorrow we will reach the beautiful city of Beacoupe!" he exclaimed, sounding excited.
I supposed that Beacoupe must be quite an attraction for the residents of this place.
We laid out the bedroll and pillow again and built a fire. I was starved after not eating since breakfast.
Aydine produced some potatos, and a round of cheese. He also laid out some of the stale rolls. Then he unwrapped a chunky looking little package. It contained what appeared to be cured meat, or perhaps dried meat. I couldn't tell.
"I've been saving this," he explained. "For tonight. I thought we'd eat a bit more fancy, and have the rest of the rations since we will be buying more supplies in Beacoupe."
I smiled. "Sounds delicious!"
"I hope so. Let's put this water on to boil. I'm going to go fill the canteens with water, because there is no place to stop for water after to depart from here. And I want you to go along just incase...something...from the woods comes out here after you," Aydine said.
He poured the last of the canteen water that we had into the pot and hung it over the fire on the thick branches he'd drove into the ground.
I stuck close by him as we ventured into the dim forest. It turned out that it wasn't too far to the creek, but I appriciated being with Aydine as opposed to being alone back at camp.
When we returned the water was boiling.
Aydine put the potatos in the pot and sat down to wait.
Once the potatos were softened and cooked all the way, he took them off the fire, and drained the water into a wooden bowl. He set the pot on a rock, and found a large stone and put it in the wooden bowl and washed it.
Then he mashed the potatos and used his knife to shave off some cheese from the round, and then he placed the pot over the fire again and stirred it constantly with a wooden spoon.
Once the cheese was melted into the potatos, he placed the pot on the rock again and washed the meat in the wooden bowl of water. He placed the cleaned meat on the packing and poured out the water. He spooned the mashed potatos into the bowl, and then poured some of the canteen water into the pot.
He sloshed it around and dumped it, and put it over the fire again. He threw in the meat, which sizzled almost instantly.
After the meat was cooked and placed on wooden plates, he toasted the rolls and portioned out our dinner.
The potatos were better than I expected. The cheese took out some of the blandness from lack of salt. Perhaps Aydine knew that. The meat was salty from curing, but the washing had reduced this and it tasted almost like fresh meat, but not quite. Again, perhaps he knew this.
After our bellies were filled, we headed for the bedroll. It was a bit more cushiony tonight, with it laying on the soft grass.
Listening to the steady pace of Aydine breathing next to me I fell asleep much faster tonight. I had dreams of the party. It was like a video on repeat.