"[i][b]B[/b]ecause you are not my friend at all. You have met me once and presume too much, Sir." Freda declared in a very dismissive tone. He spoke again but she didn't listen this time, trotting ahead as far as she could whilst not abandoning her "charge"[/i]. It was already bad enough to be in a deep marsh full of things wanting to kill you, now she was stuck with her squire. The boy was obnoxious, vile and resentful of her family. She had taken him on at her father's behest, ten or so years ago now. He had been insufferable ever since the start from being stupid, annoying or just flat out obnoxious. 

"[i]You are getting slower already. Those fat thighs are probably the cause - you're so much bigger now. What have you been eating?[/i]" He spoke in a slurred tone, he was drunk of course. He was always drunk after the first mug of mead he had, it never stopped. An endless stream even in this place! She hated it, the desire to boil over and pummel his head into her pommel grew immensely though one scan of the horizon calmed her, light was coming and they were nearly at the coast, it had been a long ride but she just kept galloping at one point, through the night - she was spooked in all fairness but the facade was easily kept with her drunkard companion. It was at least some company, even if he was an waste of space. A thought crept through her head and remained. What if she was the cause of it? If she had not trained him properly, which she agreed to in any honesty; he was hopeless. Could barely swing a sword, tie a lace, fix his armour - let alone wear it. A scrawny rat to the end, even though he ate like a horse. Quite literally like one. She wondered if giving him a nosebag would be more apt, a snort came out of her only to laugh suddenly, spurring her horse off. She was having more fun with her thoughts than anything else, probably having turned insane if she couldn't do that.

"[i]What are you laughing at! Hey! Dammed, woman! I'll have your head![/i]" The words grew ever distant at the wind, the thuds in the soft ground and the coast was in sight - the giant white cliffs on the western border of the North. Or Northlands; whatever they were called. Civilization died at this point, some said, which is debatable. It seemed to be a trivial question, really, but she had not been here before - rarely meeting people of any significance from at least these lands; no one ever left, they said. But now she was going to visit the very King of these lands with a plea of aid and pledge of service, the whole idea of switching banners that was not of her country men? How had it come to this. Why? What was her father doing. He never told her anything more, he had wanted her to join his Honour Guard, be his general - but there was no faith there. No belief, just mindless games and pleasures. War would come and it would be exactly what she wanted, an unwind? Even now, she debated it because it honestly sounded much better than what she was doing, reaching the end of this thin, overgrown road seemed to give her that answer.

[i]She sighed once last time, a plume of smoke coming out her mouth.[/i]

Later...

"[i]A craggy pool filled with crawfish? See them. They're wiggling around in the mud, awaiting tide. They're dinner. So, wet your hands and catch me several. I will do the same. Fail and I'll clout you hard. Please?[/i]" Reasoning with him was like trying to ram a cow through a tiny door. It'd never go through, but he would at least try - he was fond of tasks, she thought, he actually shut up when he was working. Perhaps that was his calling? To work with no tongue. That would be nigh perfect, she thought.

"[i]As you say, woman. I am staved as it is.[/i]" He spoke more for himself but he was noble enough to still be vaguely polite now and then. It was rare, but it was nice. Especially since she was far away, settling their horses by the shoreline. In their ride they had find a way down to the bottom, where it could offer more protection  - the beaches were wider this time of year, as if the water had been drained away slowly, it was farer away than she remembered it at night. Strange. Freda settled the horses into a nook and prepared out some moss and dry driftwood to prepare a fire. It was still light out but it was quickly turning, overcastted and foggy it was not the most pleasant afternoon not in the slightest, but this far north she expected worse. This was mild to her expectations. Nothing came of the dark clouds, even if it was threatening to rain endlessly. She prayed to the Phoenix that it would not rain and he answered the woman, letting a heavy wind come in to blow the clouds away. Though this wind had been there already, so it was no miracle. 

"[i]Crawfish, then. All in this cup. Like you said, there was thousands. How'd you cook them?[/i]" The fire was roaring at this point, well hidden behind the rock cover but the smoke was unmask-able, yet dissipated in the darkness with no light to illuminate it. 
"[i]We boil them, Henry. Give me that cup and I will pour some water into it, then just set it over the fire. Unfortunate, they must be alive for that. It offers more flavour, the cooks say. Cruel, but they will have a clean death. Painful, but clean. Heat is the product of the Phoenix. Which you know.[/i]" Henry bobbed his head, offering over the cup which Freda filled up and set over the flames, placing the metal cup just next to the burning logs - deeming it'll be good for now. 

"[i]How long, then? We just eat them as they are? Or, uh, the shells right? Think my mother had them cooked for us once. We had a grand chef at Cambridge. I hated your chef, always put too much salt on everything. I bet it was your doing, witch.[/i]" Freda ignored him this time, going to just lay down by the flames and stare up into the stars, having grown used to the boys jabs so much so that ignorance became her default answer. He kept it up. But the night was too good to be mad at, the stars clear as day and no danger to be found here. Her prayer was her shield, the flames the promise. 

[i]She concluded faith was her shield and her the paragon of it...[/i]