Alexi chuckled nervously in reply to Katherine's... jibe? It had to have been, she seemed in too high spirits to [i]actually[/i] have taken offense. Hopefully.

"I guess we did, didn't we?" He offered her a wary smile, following at her side as they made their way out of the city. Just in time, it seemed, as the crowds Katherine had warned of were already building the closer and closer they got to the gates. Early risers, the farmers were, by necessity. Alexi nodded to those few he happened to make eye contact with, but more than not kept his eyes forwards, breaking only when Katherine moved off to the side.

Ah yes, they were to ride their horses, not simply walk them. It was an obvious enough thought, really didn't warrant 'realizing' at all, and yet... 

Well, they always said you never forget how to ride a horse.

Alexi mounted his horse cautiously, but successfully, managing to pull himself up to sit comfortably as Katherine turned over to him. He returned her words with a nod and smile that might have been [i]more[/i] relieved than was necessary. It was hard to help, the thought that he could set the pace more than welcome to one who hadn't ridden a horse in longer than he cared to admit. They needed to make time, certainly, but at least he didn't have to worry about his escort starting them off at too fast a pace and causing him to embarrass himself.

Not that starting off at a crawl wouldn't do the same.

"Very well then, let's go boy." Leaning forwards to whisper the second half to his horse, Alexi managed to nudge his mount into a stately walk. He took a moment to adjust to the rhythmic bouncing upon the saddle as they began to move forwards, recalling similar experiences from before until finally pushing his horse into a steady trot. No reason to wear the horse out, and if it seemed they weren't making good progress after a while -or if Katherine seemed impatient with the pace- he could always go faster.

For now, at least, they seemed to move well enough, Alexi slowly recalling more and more of his childhood romps on horseback as they continued down the road.

"I guess you don't forget..." He murmured the words to no one in particular, focusing on his riding and the road before him... while trying to ignore the forest they would soon have to enter. It wasn't the swamp, and the road was one that saw decent travel, but those were not the comforts they could have been.

Better not to think of it for now.