[center][h1][sub][color=darkred][b][u]G O R O U[/u][/b][/color][/sub][/h1]
[h3][i][b]On the Road...or In the Skies[/b][/i][/h3][hr][/center]
[@Ambra]Gorou tensed nervously as Rhea half-turned towards him, her animosity flaring like a newly lit torch. He had misjudged the situation, badly at that. He bowed his head and turned his gaze away, since he couldn't really make the bow that deep because of their riding position.

"My deepest apologies; I didn't mean to imply anything on your part." he said. "I'm certain you are immensely capable. I only meant that..." He looked down upon the traveling party, where the Prince was--as always it seemed--surrounded by others vying for his attention, and of course laughing all the while.

"...It's just that, everyone gravitates towards the Prince. The townspeople, our allies, the nobles of the court. Of course, we're all loyal to him. But I wanted to try and express that I would not overlook you, or the others around us. The Prince's life is not the only one that matters to me. Forgive me if I was untoward."

He sat in silence after that, listening as Rhea explained their route. When she snapped at him earlier, he heard something else beneath the anger in her voice, but he had already pressed her enough. He had tried to ease her suspicions, yet it seemed in doing so he had created a mistrust born not out of healthy judgement, but now genuine dislike. It would probably be better now to remain speechless--he had tried to explain himself the best he could, and anything more than that would probably just make things worse. He suppressed a sigh as he thought back to how this trip had begun. First with Miss Jauna, making trouble for her courtly reputation because he had broken his usual habit of keeping himself to himself, and now with Dame Rhea who was actively angry at him. Of course. He had never been able to handle people...only the sword.

Bolsan...that was about half a day's journey, on horseback. Considering they left Greymont in the morning, they would arrive not long after noon if they kept a brisk speed. Did that mean they would continue for the other half of the day? Although Banidrek might be a bit too far to reach before dark, they could make it before midnight if they rode on, or at the very least camp in the wilderness and get an early head start the next day. Then again, that might be too much for this group--Gorou was used to walking long distances, and he was sure those with military training could hold a march, but several of the others probably couldn't maintain that pace. Sir Maize might also have business in the towns they passed--no doubt the King would want to be kept well informed of his son's position, so taking the time to write regular reports and send them via local messengers would mean that they'd need to have more frequent stop-overs.

Also, he now finally had the answer to his questions: they would be engaging the pirate fleets in the north, to try and cut off the head. Gorou frowned slightly; it wasn't the strategy he would have chosen. The pirates could very well just select a new leader, or each different crew would assert their independence, and ultimately their level of activity wouldn't change that much. Not unless they were somehow conveniently all gathered in one place and the suppression force took out a huge number of them all at once--but then, that would require greater manpower than they currently had, and a more extensive war than they had planned for. But, he had taken the job, and now he had to see it through.

He turned now to scanning the roads and the wilderness beneath them, keeping a lookout for bandits. The Kingsroad was typically well-patrolled, and a contingent of what were clearly nobles and knights would not seem nearly as easy a target as a merchant caravan, but sometimes men were just desperate enough to do something foolish. Or, considering they were riding with the Prince, they might encounter some form of politically motivated enemy...but Gorou didn't think the royal family was disliked enough for someone in their own country to try and assassinate Eli, and they were very far from both the pirates and Ancaras at this point. Still, it never hurt to be vigilant.