Alistair felt tired and bleary-eyed, climbing out of bed the next morning. And thick-headed, from the lack of sleep. Having to trot off downstairs to fetch shaving water for the both of them at least cleared some of the cobwebs out of his head. Audienne was already up, and had water warmed and tea brewing, handing him a couple of mugs full of it to take back upstairs along with the water. The tea took care of the worst of the remaining fuzziness, so that he was feeling almost normal again by the time he'd shaved and dressed.
Breakfast was more tea, salted porridge, and fried fish, the fish having been dipped in eggs and crumbs and seasonings and fried in butter until crisp on the outside and flaky inside, and every bit as tasty as the stew the night before had been. Audienne smiled when the two of them complimented her cooking. She handed them a small basket when they returned downstairs later – more of the fish, and a couple of small loaves of bread, still warm for the over, with a small ceramic jar tucked in with them. "Chokecherry preserves," she told them shyly, then hurried back to her kitchen.
The others, when they gathered together in the square, were similarly burdened down with packed lunches from their hosts. Loghain thanked everyone for their hospitality as they tacked up their horses and packed away their belongings, threw a few more coins to the youths who'd gathered grasses for their mounts and mules, then they mounted up and set off again, following the trail-like road a short distance along the coast to where it split, and there turning inland. The coastal part only went some small distance further, to a tiny hamlet even smaller than the village they'd just left, Loghain said, while the inland trail would lead them into a network of trails that would, eventually, take them through the hills and out into the wilds.
It was very clear that they were climbing up into the Southron Hills now, the trails tending more to long upward reaches and only a few short downwards ones. Whenever the trails branched, Loghain and Lem would briefly consult about what directions were available, before choosing which path to take, in this manner trending gradually to the northwest, and a little more west than north. By mid-day, when they stopped in a large wild meadow partway up a steep hillside, the ocean was only just barely visible beyond the lower hills and treetops to the south of them, the village long since out of sight, though Lem pointed out a barely visible spit of land off to the southeast and said that it was the opposite headland of the bay from the village.
They shared the contents of their lunch baskets; the fried fish, bread – now cooled down – spread with the bright red preserves, a different dark and nutty loaf made with spouted grains, split and thickly spread with creamy white cheese – sheep's milk, Loghain said, from the hamlet further along the coast, which lay on the edge of a small grasslands area where such could be raised. There was also strips of smoked fish, and wedges of a shallow pie made of eggs and vegetables – doubtless sea bird eggs, Lem explained, not the kind they'd seen the day before, but a different type, black-feathered fish-eating birds with a later nesting season. That and a jug of minted water that Wilf had been given made a substantial and tasty midday meal for them, eaten leisurely while the horses and mules grazed.
"This would be a nice place to set up camp for the night," Lem pointed out, laying down on his back and chewing on a stem of grass.
"Perhaps, but we won't be stopping here," Loghain responded, sounding more amused than anything else. "We may not be in any particular rush to get somewhere at the moment, but I don't like the idea of being out of reach for too long, and we've days of travel yet to get to Ostagar, and then some unknown period of time there before we continue north to Lothering. Though we can take at least a short break before we move on," he said, and then rose to his feet, shading his eyes with one hand and looking around. "I wish I'd brought my bow; this looks like a likely place for small game."
"There's a trading outpost somewhere to the northeast from here, near where that river cuts through the hills" Lem said. "Wouldn't be too far out of our way to stop there; they'd carry things like bows."
Loghain hesitated, chewing on his lower lip and looking torn, then shook his head. "Better not. I'd rather get over to the western side of these hills as soon as we can; they get a lot rougher north of here, and around that river is supposed to be a particularly nasty crossing; too many steep gorges and damned few points where they can be crossed. I don't actually need a bow; I just wish I'd thought to bring one. Alistair, clean this up. Wilf, come with me."
Wilf obediently rose and followed Loghain some distance away from where they'd eaten. Alistair gathered up the baskets, jug and napkins from their meal, shaking out the crumbs and folding them neatly before finding room to store the baskets and the napkins away in one of the packs. The jug he took with him as he set off downhill, to where they'd crossed a stream shortly before entering the meadow. It wouldn't hurt to have some extra water, and the mint leaves still remaining in the jug would give it a pleasant flavour. Much nicer than the tanned leather flavour of the water in their waterbags.
When he returned it was clear that Loghain was giving Wilf a lesson, both of them having stripped down to just their leggings and boots and circling each other warily, Wilf with his hammer, and Loghain armed with his shield, and a stick instead of his sword. Alistair paused and watched them briefly, noticing again how skilled Loghain was in combat, several times evading or deflecting Wilf's hammer while scoring two distinct touches on him. Lem was sitting up and watching attentively, grass stem hanging forgotten out one side of his mouth, Crunch sprawled on his back beside him, Lem idly scratching the mabari's belly with one hand while he watched the pair.
"He's blighted good," Lem said approvingly as Alistair walked over to join him, sitting down on the other side of Crunch.
"The scary thing is he's just as good with pretty much any weapon you can imagine," Alistair said. "At least I've yet to see him sparring where he didn't know how to use any particular weapon, and use it well."
"Impressive," Lem said.
"Frightening. Don't forget he expects us to learn as many weapons as we can too."
"There is that," Lem agreed, looking thoughtful. "Don't think I'd ever want to end up on the other side of him in a serious fight."
"I almost did once," Alistair said, and fell silent, remembering that day, reaching out to ruffle Crunch's ears as the dog rolled back over onto his belly.
"When was this?" Lem asked after a while, when it became obvious Alistair wasn't planning to say anything further.
"The Landsmeet where his regency was overthrown. Solona had thought of having me fight him, but..."
"But?"
"But she wanted me to promise to spare him, if it was possible; she'd promised Anora she'd try to, you see. And I... I just couldn't her that, so she had Zevran fight him instead."
"Zevran – that was the elf, right? Or the bard?"
"The elf. Elf assassin; an Antivan Crow."
"Hah! A Crow? Must have been quite the fight," said Lem, sounding impressed.
"It was," Alistair agreed, softly, unable to keep the regret out of his voice. Remembering that spectacular fight, and how it had ended; how he'd stormed out of the Landsmeet chamber not long afterwards, so angry that it hadn't been until his ship was hours out of dock that evening before he finally began to calm down again. And began to regret... but it had been too late to turn back by then.
Far too late, by the time they reached port.
He'd missed part of what Lem was saying, he realized, and returned his attention to the here and now. Something about Loghain's shield technique, he thought, but thankfully Lem didn't seem to be expecting any answer, just rambling to himself as he watched the sparring. The sparring soon ended, Loghain smiling and clapping one hand companionably to Wilf's shoulder, saying a few words of approval. Wilf's face lit up with a happy smile, and he nodded, then set his hammer down and began pulling his shirt back on.
"About time to move on, I think," Loghain called, moving toward his own pile of discarded clothing. Lem and Alistair quickly rose, gathering in their mounts and mules, tightening loosened girths and making sure everything was properly secured.
The trail dipped down between the hills after they'd crossed over the crest of the hill they'd been on, dropping into a shadowed valley alive with bird-song and criss-crossed by streams. It would have been a pleasant place, if the coolness and moisture hadn't given shelter to ravenous swarms of biting insects. Loghain and Lem both had containers of fly-bane, and shared the citrus-scented oil with the others. It was still a miserable few hours until the trail split again, and they were able to follow a rising path up toward the crest of the next ridge-line to the west. The trees and flies both gave out some distance before the grassy crest, a natural meadow that ran for several miles along the ridge.
"Antelope," Loghain said softly, reining in his horse and gesturing to the north. "Lem?"
"On it," Lem said, quickly dismounting and tossing the reins of his horse to Alistair, pausing only long enough to remove his bow from the gear packed onto its back before moving off. Crunch immediately set off after him, ears raised in interest at the sight of the small herd of animals.
Loghain looked up at the sky. "Late enough to set up camp, I suppose," he said grudgingly. "Better up here where we can see what's around us than somewhere like that last valley."
He led the way to one of several stoney outcrops that dotted the long meadow, and the three of them were soon setting up camp adjacent to it, Alistair seeing to unladening and staking out all the horses and mules, while Wilf cleared an area for a firepit, and gathered some rocks to make a ring around it. Loghain strode off in search of firewood, back toward the mouth of the trail, their hatchet in hand.
By the time Lem returned, carrying a pair of gutted antelopes – the horned animals were quite small, not even as big as Crunch, who judging by the state of his muzzle had already been well-fed on all the organs – they had a fire started, and a kettle of water standing ready to heat for their evening tea. Loghain had found some wild herbs while gathering firewood, and he and Lem soon had the two antelope roasting, and were discussing whether to have the herbs as a salad, or braised.
"All right if I go for a walk?" Alistair asked; after riding for most of the day, he didn't feel like just sitting here, and what little he could see of the view around them was spectacular.
"Of course," Loghain said. "Don't go too far, and take your sword with you."
Alistair nodded, and after only a moment's hesitation picked west as a good direction and set off that way. It gave him a good view of the slowly setting sun, and once he'd reached the right point, an amazing view. There was two other ridge-lines visible to the west, and beyond them, just barely visible in the far distance, a hazy, flatter area glinting with specks and threads of reflected sunlight that he knew had to be the southeastern reaches of the Korcari Wilds, the light reflecting off the wetland ponds and streams that made up most of it. He found himself wondering how far south they were from where Flemeth's hut was; it was at least a couple of days ride further north, he thought, based on admittedly hazy memories of the maps he'd seen. Not to mention some distance west, as well. Call it... four, maybe five days? He wasn't quite sure.
He glanced back over his shoulder toward the camp, where Loghain was laughing at something Lem had apparently said, Lem grinning as he responded, their words too faint to make out from here, just the distant tones of their voices rising and falling. Wilf was stretched out with his head resting on his bedroll – napping, Alistair guess – and Crunch was wading through the long grasses toward him.
He couldn't help smiling at the dog. "Hiya, Crunch... come to enjoy the sunset with me?" he asked, unable to keep his fondness for the dog out of his voice. Not that he was trying to at all. Crunch made a whuffing sound, then butted his head against the side of Alistair's knee.
"Ow! I get the picture, you only like me for my ability to scratch your ears properly," he said, and sank down to sit on the ground. Crunch promptly stretched out with his head resting on Alistair's thigh. Alistair sighed, a contented sound, as he sat there rubbing around the base of the mabari's ears, silently watching the sun inching down toward the far horizon, lost in memories of his time in the wilds.
Loghain glanced up from stirring the pan full of herbs as Alistair walked back into the circle of firelight cast by their fire. The sky behind him was still showing the last of the sunset, streaks of red and purple-pink down near the horizon, the sky shading from a dark blue in the west through purple overhead to star-speckled black in the direction they'd come. He found himself smiling briefly at the expression on Alistair's face, a relaxed, happy expression, before turning his attention back to the pan. "You're just in time, we're just about to eat."
"Trust a Grey Warden never to miss a meal if he can help it," Alistair said, and watched curiously as Lem finishing up scraping and salting the second of the antelope hides.
"Help me wash, will you?" he asked Alistair after setting the rolled hide aside, and the two went a little away from the fire so Alistair could trickle water over Lem's hands without making a mud puddle near where they'd be sleeping later. That taken care of, the pair of them went digging in their gear for tin plates and mugs, and some bread leftover from their lunch earlier in the day. It was a good meal, if simple; the antelope a little tough, but tasty all the same, the preserve-spread bread, and the braised herbs, accompanied by honey-sweetened tea.
"We'll be keeping proper watches tonight, and every night from here on out," Loghain told them as he wiped his plate clean with the last bit of bread. "Good practice. Two and two; Lem, you and I will take the first watch. Alistair and Wilf will take the second. We'll switch around on subsequent nights."
Lem nodded amiably, remaining squatted down near the fire where he was, empty plate beside him and folded arms resting on his knees.
"Yes, ser," was Alistair's response, with Wilf following his example a moment later. They cleaned up from their meal, checked on their livestock, then Alistair and Wilf spread out their bedrolls and lay down to sleep.
Loghain and Lem settled in on watch, Lem moving out away from the fire and keeping his back to it to allow his eyes to adapt to the dark. Loghain was pleased by that; the hunter was an intelligent man, and clearly well-skilled at his trade as well. He'd have to find out if Lem knew how to write reports and make maps, and if not see that he was trained in both, even if it meant turning him over to Varel and Woolsey's less-than-tender tutelage once they finally returned to the north; it was always useful to have a few well-trained scouts available.
He wrote in his journal for a while, making notes about their trip so far, occasionally rising and walking a circle around the outskirts of the area they occupied. The horses and mules were all quiet, which was a good sign. He caught a sight of unexpected movement only once, and quickly recognized it as Crunch, wandering around exploring. He considered whistling in the dog, than decided against it; Crunch made an excellent outlying guard, and would doubtless give warning if he noticed any predators of the two- or four-legged kind anywhere in the vicinity.
A little after midnight the dog returned to the fireside on his own, a large snake dangling from either side of his mouth like a particularly villainous moustache. Not a venomous one, thankfully, those being almost non-existent in the south anyway, just a particularly large specimen of garter snake, a danger to mice and frogs perhaps but not humans.
"I hope you're not planning on eating that," he said softly to the dog. "Lots of small bones. Not very good for you, you know."
Crunch snorted, and gave a little shake of his head, the head and tail of the snake whipping around.
"If you're going to play with it, do it somewhere else," Loghain reprimanded him sternly. "You'll have snake guts all over the place in a minute if you're not careful.
Crunch snorted again, then walked away around the rock pile, returning a minute or two later without the snake. And walked directly over to Alistair, nosing his cheek and then licking at his face, occasioning a very hurried waking.
"Hey! Stop that!" Alistair exclaimed, fending off the dog as he sat up. "You have antelope gut breath, you know."
Crunch merely sat down and panted, with a very doggish grin on his face. Loghain snorted, amused. "Time for you to be getting up anyway. And wake Wilf; it's your turn at watch."
Alistair nodded, rising to his feet and stepping over to lean down and shake Wilf's shoulder, the other man waking as quickly as Alistair had.
Loghain, meanwhile, called Lem back in, then moved over to stretch out for sleep on his own bedroll. He glanced at Alistair, who was crouched down stirring up the coals of the fire, and had to bite back a laugh. "You might want to clean your face," he said, keeping his voice carefully neutral. "Crunch has left snake blood all over your cheek."
"Snake blood...! Gah!" Alistair exclaimed, looking horrified, and scrubbed at his face with his sleeve.
Loghain did laugh then, before settling back with his eyes closed, and a faint smile on his face.