Larend grins, passing the tomato to the boy and ruffling his head as he bites into the remaining carrot.

This seems to be much more the sort of spoiling Erald is used to, as he takes Larend's tomato with a bit more confidence and boldly bites into it, doing his best to copy Caled and not let any juice dribble down his chin.

"You hungry?" Calvorn directs at the shadows where Falnis sits.

"Not for tomatoes and carrots, Calvorn, if that was you offering to share your fare."

"Not my fare," Calvorn grunts. "I suppose that makes an extra tomato and two carrots for whoever wants them."

Marabir looks as though he wouldn't mind taking up the offer, but nobly nods to Larend.

"You should have it, Larend, given that you gave up your own."

Tyronius seconds this suggestion with a curt nod of his own, and Calvorn tosses the tomato to Larend, who catches it with a grateful nod at the princes.

"I suggest this time, you pack enough water so nobody needs to get tempted by muddy puddles," Aerendir says, somewhat unfairly to Calvorn. "And I suggest that rather than only stealing what we need to eat now, you might as well steal what we'll need to get to the other side of that forest if you're stealing anyway," Aerendir says. "And make a note of what you do steal so we can pay the farmer at the end."

"Indeed, we do not wish to steal from any farmer, be he Caladormist or not," Marabir agrees.

"And have you somehow magically acquired waterskins while I was asleep?" Calvorn replies irritably to Aerendir. "You can fill up Lord Orthran's if you wish, but I have no intention of lugging a bucket halfway across Hyrond. And good luck stealing more vegetables now that the mist has all but cleared."

"Our intention is to arrive at our destination by dusk, and it is already noon," Tyronius interjects calmly. "That is only six hours or so of walking, and assuming my men were successful in reaching his fortress, Lord Ravalor will not be far behind, if indeed he does not arrive before us. As such we shall not require any more appropriated consumables from the local peasantry."

"I can't believe you had a whole night to steal food and full awareness we had a six-hour walk ahead and didn't think to get more than six carrots and six tomatoes," Aerendir says judgementally.

"Twelve carrots," mutters Calvorn defensively, though he decides that is as much as he wishes to argue the point.

"Well, I personally think that wasn't a terrible breakfast, all things considered," remarks Marabir as he finishes his second carrot, in the tone of one making the best of a bad business. He does not appear interested in having a turnip.

Fortunately for the prince, Caln and Aerendir seem more than happy to eat whatever the others do not want.

Within half an hour the party have eaten, drunk, and packed up the little gear they have on them, and set out into the midday sunlight which shines down upon the land. Calvorn, true to his word, hoists Erald onto his back, his cloak still wrapped about the boy, as Tyronius and Caled walk behind him, followed by Falnis, whose cloak is once more pulled low to shield him from the sun, and then Marabir and Aerendir. Larend and Caln bring up the rear of the procession, both walking stiffly at first, but slowly loosening up. The set a faster pace than the night before, and waste no time in attempting to conceal their tracks. Calvorn does, however, guide them on as secluded a route as possible, steering them toward rows of pine trees which line paddocks, and down into pockets of trees which follow the banks of streams that wind across the farmlands.

"There is a certain charm to these lands, I must admit," Marabir remarks, after they have been walking for perhaps an hour.

"Yes, in a quaint sort of way," Caled agrees. "When there aren't a bunch of rebels trying to kill us."

They continue on, once or twice coming to a halt as a farmer comes into in the distance. But if they are spotted, there is no sign of it, and they meet no resistance on their journey. By late afternoon they climb to the crest of a high hill to see the Helard Woods stretching out in the distance.

"Time to find out what all this urgency is about," pants Calvorn, pausing to shift Erald's weight on his shoulders.

"Indeed," agrees Tyronius, making no effort to help.

"Are you all right there, Calvorn?" inquires Larend. "If you want I can-"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:25, Mon 13 Mar 2023.

"Larend, you are in no condition to carry a child," Tyronius asserts reprovingly. "Calvorn has the situation well in hand."

"Thank you for your vote of confidence, Your Highness," the ranger grunts darkly.

With that they set off once again, making their way down the hill and across the final farm before the forest. Within another hour they have reached the edge of the woods.