“Good,” Ruven replied, bowing his head. His mouth twitched as if he meant to say more, but couldn’t seem to make the words come. He adjusted Taegan’s cloak once more, then took a long step aside with a tenuously neutral expression on his face. “Goodbye, my son.”
“Goodbye, Father,” Taegan echoed, forcing a slight smile as he turned to Ember. “We’ll be back before you know it.”
The king did not reply, only nodded his head before turning to go. Even though it had been his idea to send them away, he seemed to be having a much more difficult time of it than Taegan would have expected. It would be the first time they’d be apart for longer than a few weeks. It would be the first time Taegan had ever left Aefraya. Both thoughts filled him with apprehension.
“He’s your father, of course he’s going to worry,” Zorvut said wryly as Taegan mounted his own horse. “He would worry even if we weren’t at war.”
“You’re right,” Taegan admitted with a sigh. As nervous as he was, he couldn’t feel any such emotions from Zorvut, only an eager determination. “It’s just... strange, to see him so nervous. It’s rare to see him emotional at all, I suppose.”
A soft protectiveness welled up from the bond, and he managed a smile at Zorvut, who was still watching him closely. The horses started off at a peaceful walk; it would be a long journey.
After an hour, it had become too dark to see, and Zorvut pulled out a torch. Taegan watched him hold it to his hand for a moment, visibly concentrating—then a flicker of flame appeared between his fingers and caught the torch, illuminating their path, and Zorvut looked back over at him with a satisfied grin.
“Soon, I’ll be able to do a lot more,” he said, and Taegan couldn’t help but grin back. The hope in Zorvut’s face would have been apparent even without the echo of it in the bond, and he too, hoped that would prove true.
They traveled well past midnight that first day, sleeping late into the morning before breaking camp and setting out once again. Traveling straight through the night would be difficult, especially when they neared the more mountainous terrain that served as a natural border between Aefraya and Autreth, but staying off the main route during the peak morning hours for now would hopefully help them avoid most of the traffic, the greatest risk of danger.
But during the day, they passed very few others on the road, a handful of merchants but not much else. With times being what they were, Taegan wasn’t surprised—who would willingly be on the road with the threat of an orc invasion constantly overhead? His heart would pound and leap up into his throat the first few instances they spotted the form of another traveler drawing near; although they would often look curiously between him and Zorvut as they approached, it didn’t seem as though anybody recognized them outright, and the interest seemed to fade away as soon as they were out of sight. Still, he wondered if anyone quietly made a note of seeing them and might make a connection—or a lucky guess.
“Maybe it would be best if we were a little split up,” Zorvut suggested, sensing his nervousness.
“Perhaps,” Taegan replied hesitantly, but shook his head after a moment. “No, I don’t want to go too far from you. It might be more dangerous for you to be seen alone.” Zorvut seemed to consider it, then sighed.
“You’re probably right,” he conceded, glancing away. “An orc traveling around by himself might draw more attention than the two of us together. I don’t think anyone’s likely to tell the difference between an orc and a half-orc on sight, either.”
“Maybe we should wait until we’ve entered Autreth,” Taegan said. “We’ll be less of a spectacle there.”
“Well, it won’t be as risky to be seen together there, of course.”
“Fair,” Taegan agreed. “I was also thinking... Maybe we could see how far apart we can get while still being connected. It might come in useful to be apart but still able to communicate.”
“Hmm,” Zorvut replied, clearly surprised at the prospect. “I’ve never thought of that. But you’re right, that could be helpful. I still think we should stay close for now, just to be safe, but like you said. Once we get into Autreth, we’ll try it out.”
“Nothing too extreme at first,” Taegan interjected quickly, and Zorvut chuckled. “Just... to test the limits.”
“Of course,” Zorvut replied, and he smiled faintly at Taegan. “I love you.”
Taegan felt himself blush, not expecting the affection. “I love you, too,” he stammered, glancing away. “Of course I do. What brought that on?”
“Nothing,” he said with a shrug, grinned as he turned to look out toward the road again. “Do I need a reason?”
He paused, then added more quietly, “Pull your hood up. A caravan’s coming up the road.”
Taegan silently obliged, pulling the hood of his rough brown cloak up over his head. The color was not at all flattering, but he supposed that was the point of it—though he would have appreciated it if the garment were only ugly, not both uglyandscratchy. Ahead of him, Zorvut lifted the cowl of his cloak higher up to cover the lower half of his face. If his tusks were not visible, from a distance—and if it were later in the day with less light—he could possibly pass as a very tall, strong human, maybe made to seem taller from the size of his horse.
The caravan came into view as Taegan rounded the corner. It was small, just two horse-drawn carts, each with a driver and three figures walking alongside. From the distance they were at, it was hard to tell if they were elves, but the carts looked plain and unassuming, one with a crate of apples peeking through the tarp that covered the back. By the time they were close enough that Taegan could tell they were three elves, a half-elf, and a human, he could see each of them staring directly at Zorvut, his impressive height far more eye-catching than his own average stature.
Taegan gave them a polite nod of greeting as they passed on the road, which they returned. One elf that was walking alongside the carts swiveled his head to watch Zorvut as they passed and did not turn his attention back to the road in front of him until Taegan glanced back at the group surreptitiously. He could just make out the farm logo emblazoned on one of the carts, painted in green lettering. He did not recognize the name, though it seemed safe to assume that they were farmers or merchants heading into the city to sell their wares. Most of the land on this side of the capital was still used for farming.
Their last conversation still fresh in his thoughts, he imagined one of the apples he had seen peeking out from the cart. As he thought about it, he tried to push the thought toward the point in the back of his head where his bond with Zorvut was.Apple, he thought toward the bond, concentrating as hard as he could while still keeping an eye on the road ahead and focusing on the reins in his hands.Apple. Apple.
Confusion started to trickle from the bond, and he glanced up to find Zorvut looking back at him with a strange expression.
“Are you thinking about apples?” he asked incredulously, and Taegan stifled a laugh.
“It worked,” he said, nodding. “I was just thinking about what we were talking about with the bond, and... I don’t know. I thought I’d experiment.”
Zorvut chuckled, stopping briefly so they could travel side by side. “That was very strange,” he said, shaking his head with a wry grin. “It was faint, like... like trying to remember a dream about an apple. But I definitely felt it.”
