Aydine was sitting with his back turned, tending the rolls over the fire.
I smiled at this. "Morning," I said, standing.
He looked back at me and said, "Good morning. Did you sleep good?"
I took a seat beside him. "I guess I slept okay."
He turned, and for the first time I saw true concern in his eyes. "Do you miss your home?"
"A little," I replied, not meeting his eyes. "But this place is wonderful, so I guess I really haven't been homesick. It feels very...familiar or something."
"Camblia is a wonderful place," Aydine said. "At least you're enjoying your time here. A lot of people wouldn't even try to make the best of it. Meanwhile, I have a bit of a tough choice t make today."
"What do you mean?" I asked quietly.
"Well, we have several routes we could take to reach Camblia City. What I can say for sure is we are quite litterly surrounded by water. Two lakes, and rivers linking them both. It acts as a giant moat for this field. That is why it is called the Field of Security. We could to up through the Arctecia Mountains, but the tribes on either side of the river are not on friendly terms and have a private and ongoing war. It would be a quick route, but it's not worth the risk. We could go up inbetwen the west Crystal River and the norther edge of Camblia Lake, but the river there is rapids, so we might get badly hurt, and end up carried into the Arctecia Mountains anyway. We do not have a boat to cross the lake either. There is a very long way to the south, across the River of Destiny, but we do not have such time, although it would be a marvelous tour of Camblia's southern and eastern edge. I think our safest bet is crossing the River of Destiny at Camblia Lake's southern edge, and continuing across the Frozen Beach of Camblia, although that's even colder than the Arctecia Mountains. Stopping in Frozen Township, and then on to the castle. By the way, the south eastern side of Camblia Lake is frozen. Well, the land surrounding. The sheet of ice over Camblia Lake is too thin to safely carry horses, or really people either. On the west and east parts it is warm and very beachy, although there is not a town on the western side. There is one on the eastern side. It is a popular summer spot. Shore Cove. Anyhow, it will be very cold crossing the Frozen Beach of Camblia. But it's also the fastest safe way. Do you think you can handle it?" he asked looking seriously at me.
"Yes, but I don't think either of us has much choice given the selection of routes," I said, wrinkling my forehead, and looking down.
He glaced away and nodded. "Yes, and we've got to keep moving anyhow. If you were summoned by Helaria, the worst thing we can do is stay stationary. And we must move quickly anyway," he said, sounding concerned. "You should know, that if you were summoned, a group of several large wolflike creatures will come to seize you and take you to the Darklands to Helaria's Castle. Wherever you were placed - so to speak - they will go to find you. If you are not there, they track you," he said grimly. "And whoever, if anyone, was involved in helping you escape...well, if they are female, they are raped and killed, and if they are male they are eaten. Alive," he said.
I gasped. The risk he was taking!
"Aydine! Why would you risk such a thing? How could you? That would be too much to live with if you got killed on my behalf!" I raved.
He shook his head and waved off my protests. "I would have felt bad to leave anyone to die. And it's my duty to Camblia mostly," he said.
I nodded. It wasn't as much for me as it was for Camblia...I guess I couldn't expect him to really want to go out of the way for me. After all, he didn't know me, and it wasn't his place to help me personally...it was for his country.
He finished with the rolls and handed me one, and stood up to take care of the horses as he ate his.
I ate sitting where I was next to the dying fire. I looked up at the early morning sun, just broken over the horizon over the field.
A gentle wind was blowing and the green grass looked like an emerald ocean with light waves rolling across it.
The air was clean, and easy to breath. It really was a wonderful place.
"Alice, can you pack up the bedroll and pillow?" asked Aydine, breaking my thoughts. "There is rope next to it to tie it with," he said.
"Sure," I said, and washed down the last of my roll with the last of the first canteen's water. I rolled the bedroll, and laid the pillow atop it, and wrapped the rope twice around and knotted it.
I took it over to Aydine, who was strapping other items on Ember. "Thanks," he said smiling and taking the roll and tying it onto Ember.
I picked up the bridles and figured I could assist further. I bridled Thunderhead and Cobalt who both reguarded me cheerfully. They seemed energized from the night's rest.
Once Aydine finished packing up, he kicked dirt over the fire, and thanked me for bridling the horses.
He gave me a leg up, and then mounted Thunderhead, and he looked around a bit and chose a direction.
I didn't understand how he knew where he was going in this mass of green. I trusted him though. All you could see in any direction was tall, dark green grass.
After a while, I noticed that the horses were walking along what appeared to be some sort of path. The grass was broken and pushed down ahead and Aydine seemed to be following his path.
At midday a few birds were sighted above us, but otherwise things were uneventful. When suddenly as we were passing under some magnolia trees, a blue jay swooped down and ambushed Ember, hitting him on his poll.
Ember was taken by surprise and he bolted away, bucking and thrashing about through the field
In his fit, I saw some of the gear flying off his back.
"Ember!" yelled Aydine.
But Ember wasn't listening. Just like his namesake, and his color, he was fiery and spirited with a mind of his own, and right now he had his own agenda to rebel against whatever had attacked him.
Cobalt looked onto the scene with interest but wasn't enticed to join in the romp.
Thunderhead snorted and pawed though, almost seeming angry at the nonsense.
Aydine cued Thunderhead into a gallop after Ember.
Unsure of what to do in this situation, I kept Cobalt still. He lowered his head to graze, as if to say "I've seen enough of this stuff!" In the distance, Aydine and Thunderhead were still in pursuit of the uncontrollable stallion.
Then, suddenly, Aydine looked like he was falling off the side of Thunderhead. But he was hanging onto Thunderhead's neck by his legs and he had taken ahold of Ember's halter.
They stopped, and came back at a lively trot. Ember looked annoyed that his fit had been interruped, and Aydine looked annoyed that it happened.
He halted and dismounted. "See what you did Ember?" he said pointing to the scattered luggage in the field.
Ember hung his head and sighed. Aydine was flushed with anger.
I laughed at the scene. Aydine looked at me strangely, and then began to laugh himself. "I'll help you get everything back together," I said.
Working together, it didn't take very long. Some remaining rolls had been trampled by Embers thrashing hooves, but nothing else was broken. The bedroll had hoofprints in it though!
Once Ember was once again loaded, we set off again in our previous direction.
"Water?" he offered a few minutes back into the ride.
"Sure," I said, grateful for refreshment. "Thanks."
"Ember is only three years old," Aydine said after a few minutes of silence. "so he's still pretty fiesty. He doesn't listen as well as Thunderhead and Cobalt. Although Cobalt is only six, he is very reserved and wise. There is something different about him to me - always has been. He is smarter than the others, and they are just about genius, so if that's any indication of his intelligence. And Thunderhead is twelve, and he is one of the oldest of my stallions. He is very wise and no nonsense as you may have seen."
I smiled and petted Cobalt. "Cobalt is wonderful. I've ridden some nice horses in my day, but I've never seen anything like him."
Aydine smiled. "And you'll never see another one like him!"
We picked up a canter now.
After a few strides, Aydine looked over. "Want to gallop?" he said.
I nodded. We cued them and they sprang into a flying pace that I wondered how they could produce and retain as long as they did, but it was a thrilling rush and I loved how it made me feel.
With the wind in my face and Cobalt under me, I forgot all about home for the time being.
But as we drew the horses up a few minutes later, I remebered what this trip was all about again, and it dampened my mood a bit.
Aydine pointed into the distance. "Do you see the horizon? You can barely see the towers of Beacoupe City just now."
I squinted to barely see what looked like a bump in the gradd, and nodded. "I see!"
Aydine nodded and smiled. "Let's go!"
Thunderhead leapt into a gallop again, and Cobalt followed him.
We lagged behind for only a second, and Cobalt easily kept pace with Thunderhead.
Ember tried to run ahead of the two stallions suddenly.
"Let's loosen up the reins and let them race!" called Aydine over the thundering hooves.
I grinned. "Alright!"
Soon as I loosed the reins, Cobalt knew what was going on. Thunderhead and Cobalt I could have swore looked at each other as if to say, "Let's show this kid a lesson!" and they, in harmony, burst into a pace still faster than they had been travelling in. Ember sped up to get ahead.
But then they slowed down! Ember gained ground quickly and got at least twenty horse lengths in the lead! Were they just going to let him win?
As if to answer my question, Cobalt and Thunderhead suddenly threw themselves foward into a gallop so fast that I got tunnel vision! They gained on Ember in what seemed like a second. They flew past with a WOOSH!
Ember pushed himself faster, but was not able to overtake the other two stallions. Aydine reined in Thunderhead, and I did the same with Cobalt.
Ember slid to a stop, almost upsetting his cargo again.
"Look," Aydine said, smiling.
I gasped. We were still a bit far, but now I could see the city better. It had a aurora that glowed a white-gold. "How beautiful," I said. "How does it glow?"
Aydine urged Thunderhead into a brisk walk, and smiled. "In the stones of the buildings, there are pigments of white gold. A magical sort. They come from the caverns and rocks from Roseland - the enchanted forest I told you about I believe. Roseland contains the most magic of anywhere in Camblia. Infact, it is the source of all magic in Camblia, really. It's full of fairies, and other mythical creatures. It boarders Kheroshetyne. Helaria doesn't enter it though, because the only magic Roseland contains is light magic. She cannot use any light magic - only the dark power I spoke of earlier. And still, not many know about the dark power, and nobody really knows anything about it."
As the sun began to set, the glow became even more brillant, as it reflected the setting sun.
Just the sun disappeared behind the horizon, we came into the city.
Without street lamps, the streets were illuminated. There were many people milling around the street, who made their way around us. There were plenty of other horses and carts as well.
Shortly, we halted in front of a grand looking building. It said 'Le' Hotel Beacoupe', so I assumed this was where we'd stay the night.
We hitched the horses outside the hotel, and went inside.
A man at the desk, with an odd, very pointy mustache, who resembled a french butler, waved us over the the desk through the crowded lobby.
"Monsouir Aydine!" he exclaimed. "What you do in Beacoupe? Who is the lady?" he asked enthusiatstically. His "the" sounded like "zee".
"We are on the way to the Castle - long story! This is my friend Alice," Aydine said smiling.
"Oh, just friend eh? I thought sure you would get first girl who come by to be girlfriend! You not see many ladies out there. Not even a mare! You stay with the stallions too much, Aydine. You take pretty girl on date in the hotel resturant tonight - no charge!" the man said bowing dramatically.
"Ah...sure," Aydine said blushing heavily, rubbing the back of his neck.
The man scribbled something down on some papers and then handed Aydine one of the papers, and a key.
He muttered something in french loudly across the lobby, and a boy came over. "You get Somme to help with luggage. And show this note to your waiter tonight. Here is your room - it is the best avaliable," he said, bowing again.
Somme smiled. He obviously didn't know english though.
The boy carried our things upstairs cheerfully, but wouldn't leave until Aydine tipped him!
I laid out on the big, elaborate bed and stretched.
"I'm sorry about that man. His name is Amontine. He breeds his mares with my stallions every other year, and is rather...uh, fond of me as you can see. He is always making jokes about me needing a girlfriend," he said looking towards the window, but not at me. "I accepted the dinner offer, because I figured a free dinner wouldn't hurt, and I hate to turn him down on anything, because the man has a rather bad temper that you don't want to set off."
I nodded and smiled. "It's alright. I'm starved. Can we go on our date now?" I asked, teasing.
He blushed so hard I was almost sorry for saying it.
"Yes, we can go," he said smiling, but not making eye contact.
Heading down the crowded hall, we made our way to the dining room. Waiters were running around madly.
One zipped over to us immediately. "Table for two?" he asked, bowing. Aydine nodded.
He seated us by a window. There was a candle on the table, and a gold napkin with gold utensils.
Someone was playing the piano softly in the corner.
It was all very relaxing. The waiter returned with a golden colored drink to fill out glasses with. It glowed like the city!
"It's a juice, made from golden apples. It is a classic drink in this city. It's said to work wonders on body, soul, and mind, since after all, it comes from an enchanted forest," Aydine explained, seeing how I hesitated to drink it.
I smiled and took a sip. It was sweet, and very fresh tasting. But there was a difference in it than the apple juice I was used to drinking. It was...energizing!
The waiter returned to us. "The special tonight is chicken on the grill, with alfredo sauce and pasta," he informed us.
An Itallian dish in a French-like setting? Of course, magic apple juice wasn't French either.
"I'll have that," I said.
"Me too," said Aydine smiling.
The waiter bowed, and hurried away.
"Where are we headed tomorrow?" I asked, trying to make things less awkward in the stiff enviorment.
"Nowhere," Aydine replied smiling. "We must make haste, but we can't kill ourselves. And we are a day ahead too. I want to show you this city. Then the next day, we will head for the mouth of the River of Destiny. We will sleep before crossing it."
I smiled. A day of rest sounded good. I wanted to see this beautiful place anyway, in full.
The waiter served our dishes promptly. It was divine! Along with the pasta and chicken, he brought a basket of breadsticks. I ended up eating three! Aydine's stale rolls were okay, even stale, but these breadsticks sure beat them, slathered in butter with a touch of garlic.
I was getting sleepy by the time we were finished eating, and I think Aydine noticed, or maybe he was tired too. He summoned the waiter, and handed him the note and a tip. The waiter smiled, bowed, and thanked Aydine graciously. Then we returned to our room.
I inspected the bathroom here, and Aydine showed me how to fill the tub...you had to pump the water into it! It was warm though. Aydine said the city sat on a natural hot spring, so everyone had hot water here.
I spent a good twenty minutes bathing. It felt so wonderful to be clean. I put back on my clothes and rejoined Aydine, who was reading a book from the small library in our room.
"If you'd like, you can borrow a pair of my clothes tonight, and wash those you have on."
I smiled and nodded. "That would be nice. Thank you."
I changed into the clothes he provided, and washed my old clothes, wrung them out, and Aydine helped me hang mine to dry.
I laid down on the bed beside him. It felt like a cloud, or maybe it was just because I had been used to the hard bedroll for about three days now.
Laying on the soft, warm bed, I fell asleep without meaning to. The sleep was deep, and much needed.