Henry road with Elaeria ahead of even the vanguard of their column, both having woken up long before anyone but the servants had begun to stir and well before the Sun's first light touched the still smoking ruins of Unity Town. His arm was no longer in a sling but he rested it on the pommel of his saddle to give it the rest it needed; being well and fit would raise the morale of those few who still had the courage to fight if required but in practice he knew it would be some weeks before he could wield a sword or shield properly with the arm. Inside his head a constant dull ache made itself known, throbbing just behind his forehead.

[b]"There's a river there, we can water the horses and stock up on water."[/b] Elaeria drew him out of his reverie, pointing to one of the wide and deep rivers that ran through Elianst's landscape. Henry nodded his head, pointing to a cleft between two hills through which the road they followed ran.

[b]"There's another river just beyond those hills and another every two or three leagues; from here there's no need to stock up on water supplies except perhaps for the horses and a small supply for the wounded. We'll reach the border city just after noon. I imagine we'll shed the wounded and the less willing there; if we press on quickly we could get the Queen back to Eleshir just about when the sun sets. We need to be cautious but there's no sense staying on the road longer than required."[/b] Henry grunted as a stab of pain shot up his side but he quashed the pain, shifting in the saddle to take some weight off it. Mercifully, Elaeria pointedly pretended not to notice.

[b]"A good plan. I will make one alteration though."[/b] She called over one of her nearby men, Henry noticed that two dozen men, fit and armed, rode with the Princess and all had the toughened, wind burnt skin of a Frithsian; clearly some form of honour guard had accompanied her to the Academy. Briefly Henry wondered whether she had expected trouble and then remembered who Elaeria was: she would [i]always[/i] be prepared for trouble whether she was expecting it or not. 

[b]"Go back along the column and tell Sir Glen Major he is to take over command and keep the column moving. Have the Queen and her guard join us here with whoever is prepared to move quickly straight towards Eleshir. Is there a more direct route to the capital if we stray from the roads?"[/b] Here she turned back to Henry who nodded, pointing again to the river before them.

[b]"There's a less well known path on this side of the bridge that will lead us more or less directly to the capital, I know the roads well enough from the war. If we look armed then bandits are less likely to bother us but I do wonder whether it's not best to wait until we're properly within inner-Elianst."[/b] Elaeria shrugged, showing she had thought the same but had stuck with her original plan and nodded to her man.

[b]"Oh, and here. The carriage with medical supplies had something I thought you might need, seeing as I won't be getting rid of you if Louise is with me."[/b] She held out a small leather pouch which, when Henry opened it, let out an aroma he was acutely aware of. He sealed the bag and nodded to her, showing his understanding. Such herbs were rare to find but had the ability to mute one's pain and operate their body as per normal while under its effects as long as the taking of the herbs was not prolonged; what made them so rare was the fact they had little to no side or after effects.

[b]"We'll wait by the bridge for anyone to join us. We depart in two hours."[/b]