Venturing South

"Well.. You already know that I'm staying here by my father's side," Carleen replied softly. "Don't get me wrong, I like travelling with him when we go sell our horses. But I would miss this place way too much if I were to leave."

Horknath sighed. "I understand. This is your home. It's nice to see you are attached to your family, you know?" He smiled. "Sometimes, I miss mine. But I do think they need their space. And I am a big boy, so I got away. ... then again, I am not the heir of a noble family", he added with a chuckle. "The only thing I feel tied to, right now, are my friends."

Carleen's smile vanished just a bit. Thankfully, Horknath wouldn't see it. "You must feel really attached to them, then. Are they old friends?"

Horknath breathed slowly. "The only friends I have", he murmured. "They were the first that saw behind what I look like. Away from your lands... the words I receive aren't usually... nice." He sighed heavily. "Well, on the other side, you are a ray of sunshine I have been blessed with, and I wish my friends would decide to never leave so that I could wake up next to you every morning. Well, until I get gutted for it, I guess", he added, only half-joking.

Carleen smiled once more, and laid a kiss on his forehead. She then stood up to gather a cloth, which she dipped into the now warm water. "Let's enjoy our secret for now, and not think about the day we'll have to part," she told him with a smile, as she began to wash herself.

Horknath nodded. "Agreed", he said gruffly, getting up himself. He towered over her, and he used his height to swiftly steal Carleen's towel. "Allow me", he grinned to her as he gently began to wash her body.

Carleen couldn't help but laugh kindly. "Please, Horknath. If you keep up like this, we'll never get to breakfast, and my first maiden will start to get suspicious ~" she didn't protest any further though, letting him clean her a little bit.

"Sorry", Horknath smiled merrily. He didn't look all too sorry though, as he gently swiped the wet towel over her shoulders, then her breasts and her belly. He just teased her a bit before handing back the cloth to her. "There", he said with a soft smile. "You're right. I'd get distracted. Do you have another one, so I can wash myself?"

Carleen held back a smile, but she found another cloth that she gave him, before finishing what he had started. She then washed her hair quickly, and braided it. She did not go back to her room to look for clothes before slapping Horknath's ass on her way with her own cloth, though, teasingly.

Horknath thoroughly washed himself with his cloth, then tying up his own - now cleaner - hair. He let out a startled, embarrassed sound when Carleen smacked his ass with the wet cloth, looking at her as she was leaving the bathroom. "And then I was the one getting distracted, huh", he rumbled as he followed her, sheepishly looking for his clothes to get dressed.

Carleen smirked at him. "I can't help it if you're hot, mister," she mocked him, as she began gathering clean clothes. She put on an outfit with pants on, knowing that she'd have to spar with Horknath later on. "I'll meet you at breakfast, and pretend that nothing happened?" she asked him, when she was finally done.

Horknath flushed, finally buttoning up his shirt. "Yeah. I will just... pretend that I got lost while walking around. That's not really unlikely", he snorted then. "Alright, I'll go now." He got closer to Carleen first, although, and bent down for a last, gentle kiss. He smiled at her, and then proceeded to open the window and disappear outside, on his way for the breakfast.

Carleen watched him get out, and sighed happily, before she proceeded to erase any proof of his presence during the night. Then she exited her room, heading for a breakfast with her father.

"Ah, there you are !" Valdyr shouted when he saw Horknath sitting down at the breakfast table. "You got lost, didn't you?"

Horknath scratched his head, looking embarrassed. "Well... listen, this place is big, alright? I walked and walked and then I didn't know where the hell I was anymore." He took a bite of his own food. "Where are the others?", he asked, voice muffled.

"Well, you probably missed the big news from yesterday night," Valdyr sighed, as he sat by his side. "Yvan broke his leg. As a result, we're probably stuck there for a few months. I asked Lord Sakrish, and he's willing to let us stay if we agree to work for him a bit. Is that okay to you?"

Horknath stopped eating. He took a deep breath. Then exhaled. "... how the hell did he break his leg", he asked, dumbfounded. "Of course, working for Lord Sakrish in the meantime is perfectly okay with me; we can't take the road again with a badly wounded mage. How is he doing now?" The first thought he had of course was the well-being of his friend. The second, however... He threw a quick glance to Carleen, without having Valdyr notice him.
More time with her.

Valdyr sighed deeply. "Yvan drank his ass off and fell off a balcony from the first floor. Nobody knows how that happened." He ran a hand over his face. "I was so sorry to embarrass our host with that, but well. Maybe settling down might make us some good."

Carleen didn't catch Horknath's glace, since she was busy talking a bit with her father about their business, and the training of her warriors. But she had learnt the news, and was happy herself, thinking about the time she and Horknath could have together.

Horknath sighed, then nodded. "I guess it will. At least we will have a roof on our heads, and food for the next few months. I will probably pass most of my time on the training grounds."

Valdyr snorted. "Well. We'll try to take the opportunity to take a look around still." He then sighed. "And I'll have to get used to this hot climate."

Horknath laughed, patting his shoulder. "I get you, my friend. I'll probably drop dead the moment I put a foot out of here. Not good to be used to the northern temperatures..."

Valdyr sighed yet again. "Well. Serah and I are going on the training ground a bit this morning, if you'd like to meet with us." He said, standing up.

"Oh! Yes, I'll probably go there too. I was planning to train anyway", Horknath told him, getting up from his chair. He was so fast at eating it was a wonder how he didn't end up with a bad stomach ache all the time.

"Alright, let's go then," Valdyr said, straightening up before he walked with him to the training grounds. Where Delilah was probably done with her own training and meeting up with Yvan ? êve

Horknath nodded and followed him to the training grounds, where Serah was already carefully doing the usual maintenance to her bow.
And yes, Delilah had indeed finished her training. She had gotten a good bath, a clothes change, and had walked up to their infirmary. She knocked. "Hello...?"

Valdyr smiled when he saw her. "I do hope you're not intending to spar with any of us using your bow," he told her.

"Come in," Yvan replied with a sigh, flipping through the pages of his book. He was already bored to death with just sitting in that bed for a few hours.