"You'll get lessons on law and government, and on how to investigate problems and resolve disputes, and reading and arithmetic if you need them. I wouldn't worry about being behind; they're used to getting trainees at different ages and with more or less earlier education."

"Oh, phew, good." 

Arina spends the next while intermittently peppering him with questions about Haven and about what being a Herald is like, in between staring at the scenery. She's very energetic. 

Her level of excitement is pretty endearing! He can talk about Haven and share stories about other Heralds and their accomplishments.

She seems to find his stories very engaging! Eventually Yfandes prompts them to stop for lunch. 

Lunch is good. So is the chance to walk around and stretch his legs a bit.

They make pretty good time on the road, and reach the Waystation he marked almost a whole candlemark before sunset. 

Arina seems to have finally run out of energy for questions. It's clearly a lot of riding for her, and she's wincing and walking slightly bowlegged as they dismount and approach. 

"We've come a long way today. Spending a lot of time riding will get easier eventually, but we're both going to be sore tomorrow." He makes a face at the state of his own knees. "Why don't you go sit down while I get us some dinner."

"I should go look after my Companion..." She sits down, though, yawning, and makes a face as she tries to smooth out her wind-tangled hair. "Maybe in a bit." 

Abras gets a fire going for some stew, and gives Yfandes oats and a rundown while it heats up.

:Think I should offer to help out with Datsi? I don't want to be rude but I'm worried she's going to fall asleep on the spot.:

:Hmm. I worry she'll feel badly about herself if you need to do it for her: a mental chuckle, :I'm just imagining what you'd be like about that, so much guilt and feeling inadequate. But maybe you could get everything else set up right there for her, so it's easier?: 

Abras should really be used to Yfandes being entirely too correct about him by now, but he blushes anyway. : That's a good compromise.: And he puts everything Arina is going to need right where she's going to need it, and then returns to the campfire and enjoys the warmth and definitely doesn't think about watching through a Gate as fire consumes the whole horizon and then the stew is done.

Arina gets a bit of a second wind back and heads out to rub Datsi down and make sure she's set up with grain and hay and water, and then comes in and flops back down. "- Ah, that smells amazing," she says cheerfully. "I'm ravenous." She doesn't seem to notice anything up with Abras' mood. 

Small mercies, he thinks as he hands her a bowlful. He doesn't know who knows how much of what happened but he hopes it's as few people as possible.

Arina thanks him and wolfs down her food and is yawning and drooping again by the end of it. She looks around drowsily for where to sleep. (The Waystation has a couple of narrow straw-filled mattresses, currently hanging on the wall, and some spare blankets piled on a crate.) 

Abras wrestles the mattresses onto the floor at opposite ends of the room, hands Arina her share of blankets, rolls up in his own blanket and is out like a light.

He's tied up on a bale of hay with Krebain leering down at him--

He's running for his life with Tylendel and Gala-who-is-also-Yfandes is dying to save them--

Tylendel is shoving him through a Gate and then burning burning burning, everything he was and could have been going up in flames--

He's awake in the Waystation and it takes several frightened seconds to remember where he is.

Arina is scrambling up beside him, "–wha...?" She tries to summon a mage-light, doesn't quite have the control to pull it off, and instead fumbles to light one of the candles from the embers of the fire. "Abras? Are you all right - you were...yelling, I think, or something...?" 

Fuuuuuuuuuck.

"Everything's fine--sorry--I, uh, must've said something in my sleep. Sorry."

She gives him a very dubious look, underlit by candlelight. "Um, if you're sure you're all right." She shrugs and blows the candle out again and then lies back down. 

Abras also lies back down and proceeds to spent most of the rest of the night wishing it was possible to unobtrusively avoid someone in a group of four on the road with nobody else around. 

Arina doesn't say anything about it in the morning, or noticeably look at him oddly at all. She's uncomplaining while they prepare and eat breakfast with tea and pack up, despite the fact that she's visibly very sore and moving stiffly. 

Maybe she fell back asleep and forgot all about it; maybe she's just being polite. Either way, he'll take it. He's extremely groggy before breakfast and pretty groggy afterwards too, but as long as nobody asks him to do anything that requires brains he can fake his way through getting back on the road.

There is not that much demand for brains in the routine work of getting ready, and Yfandes can prompt him along when he gets distracted or forgets what to do next. Arina is fairly chatty again, on the road, but mostly doesn't seem to expect answers from him, or notice when his answers are very monosyllabic. 

They camp at another Waystation that night. The rest of their trip back is long, monotonous, and uneventful. 

:Gods, I am SO relieved to be back: Yfandes sends as they finally ride through the gate into the palace grounds. :Also, awww, look at Arina's face: 

(Arina has been staring around at the big city in amazement and awe.) 

:Aww. Hope she has a good time here.: Mostly he can't wait to detach both of them from Yfandes' saddle, give her a rubdown, and take a nap in his own private quiet cozy unquestionably-indoors bed.