Chapter Text
A day out of Hossberg, Kinnon started to look nervous. They weren't travelling with dwarven merchants, this time. There was nothing to stop the sandstorms, this far from the river, with a templar travelling with them. So far, though, the weather had held -- the unceasing pounding of the sun, while they slept, and the chill air while they rode at night. And the camels had been surprisingly stable, now that he wasn't trying to ride atop a massive tower of goods. Still, even with a proper saddle, spending this long in it, at the rate they were travelling, was something he wasn't looking forward to repeating on the way back. Maybe he could convince Peryn to take a boat with him, on the return trip.
He hissed and shifted position, staring out across the seemingly endless red wastes. "Are you sure we're going the right way?"
"Of course we are." Anders pointed up at the sky. "The moons rise in the direction of Rivain. To the right is toward the Waking Sea. If we keep going half a turn from the moon, we'll wind up in Vol Dorma."
"After that, it's the Imperial Highway right down to the coast," Cormac assured him. "I heard there used to be a bridge, but it fell into the sea."
"I have never seen the Imperial Highway," Peryn admitted, leaning comfortably in the saddle of the camel he'd been working with for years. "I have heard it is grand, but it is also Tevinter... I do not know that it is a kind of grand one should wish to make again."
"Stone and hard work," Fen'Din replied, quietly. "The path is already there. The hard work is done. If we maintain it, what remains will be forever -- or until it is struck down by something we can't overpower."
Peryn gave Fen'Din a curious look. "With hope, that is not a thing that will happen."
"Everything comes to an end, at some point," Anders said with a cheerfulness at odds with his words. "Just some things we hope won't end in our lifetime."
"Not camel rides," Kinnon groused. "That is something I would definitely like to see end in my lifetime." He squirmed in his saddle, trying to ease his tailbone, and glared at Anders and Peryn, who made it look deceptively easy. He squinted into the glare of sand that seemed to stretch on forever and wondered why anyone would choose to do this on a regular basis.
"You do not wish to ride this route on a horse," Peryn informed him, tossing a small jar of candied desert figs into the saddle, beside Kinnon. "A horse needs water -- far more water than a healthy camel. Far more water than you can carry."
Kinnon opened the jar and fished out one of the round, pink sweets. "I don't know how to ride a horse, either."
"Are you serious?" Cormac twisted around in his seat, knowing that Anders was leading the caravan. "You're Fereldan -- you're a Horse Lord, according to yourself, and you can't ride a horse?"
"There weren't a lot of horses, where I was. We weren't nobles or merchants." Kinnon shrugged, shooting Cormac a sharp look.
"Maybe you can take it up, while we're in Ferelden, again," Anders suggested, half a smile lingering under his hood and veil. "I'm sure there'll be a merchant willing to give pony rides."
"I know where you sleep, Jan," Kinnon shot back.
Anders held up his hands in surrender, feigning innocence. "Very well. Perhaps you'll let Peryn choose your rides instead?"
Kinnon glared at Anders as though hoping he would combust, his own face turning red under his hood. It took Peryn a second to make sure he had heard that correctly, before he let out a belly laugh.
"I am sure I can find something more comfortable than a camel, yes?" Peryn teased through Kinnon's scowl.
"I would hope so," he drawled.
"For those of you who haven't travelled with us before, that's going to be me, once we get to the coast." Cormac pointed at Kinnon. "So, enjoy him now, because I promise you won't enjoy me, later."
"It's true." Anders laughed. "He's not just going to be cursing the boat, the sea, and the man who put them together, he's going to be hurling dramatically, for punctuation."
"You know, we could probably just ride down into Orlais, if you don't mind another couple of days," Kinnon pointed out, looking a bit spooked.
"Depending on the route we book, we'll only be on the water overnight." Anders shrugged. "Overnight's not too bad. The month around Rivain to Tallo was bad."
"I have no idea how Fenris didn't kill everyone on the way up or back again." Cormac chuckled and shook his head. "A month at sea and he hates the smell of fish."
"Yeah, but unlike you, he wasn't throwing up, the entire time." Anders snorted.
"Perhaps, if it is only one night, you should not eat, the day we sail," Fen'Din suggested, picking at a dense, honey-soaked cake.
"Perhaps he should have beer," Peryn advised, with a crooked smile. "Or anijswater. If he is very drunk, maybe he will just sleep."
"And then throw up on the other side of the sea," Anders scoffed. "I think I'm with Fen'Din. Better he should throw up in the sea, where I don't have to clean it up."
"Seconded!" Kinnon agreed, instantly.
"Hey, we're stopping in Cumberland, right?" Cormac blinked and glanced at Anders. "There's mages in Cumberland. I bet there's a Circle shop, too. Not beer. Sleeping potions. Wake me up when we get to Ferelden."
"I'd say wake me up when we get to Vol Dorma, but who can sleep like this?" Kinnon grumbled, watching Peryn fluff a pillow and lean back cozily. "Him, apparently." He sighed. This was going to be a long trip.