They began to trot downroad, Ali holding the reins to his horse tightly. He had ridden before but not for long. Mostly to help sheppard various animals. Mave asked her question and Ali had a hard time answering, fumbling like a boy with his mount to keep it on the road. "Light, no!" he said, then realized he sounded very rude there. 

Ali still had goosebumps from earlier. Just as the horse had wandered off that sent the gleeman away, he had felt it. He didn't know why. He didn't feel cold at all. "Sorry," he replied, hunching his shoulders up as the last shiver escaped his spine. "This is all a bit much to me. No, I don't know anything. At least concerning why they would want to go after me." 

With a ghost of a smile, Mave spoke. "You're a good man, Alidren Baldyr." she said. "And for that I will take your word on it. Though I fear we both know a bit too little to survive for long. We need to make as good as we can on time." 

"What are we running out of time with?" he asked her. 

She didn't answer. Instead she bade her horse to go faster, and Ali followed suit. The rest of the day they rode without speaking much, only stopping when they believed there was someone else on the road. But there never was. Ali's da would probably call it 'jumping at shadows.' Though considering last night, he had every damn right to. What worried him was that Mave seemed on edge. Even facing down the Myyrdraal, she had been calm. 

"Blood and ashes, I just realized something." he said out of the blue, as they had stopped by a small stream during the late afternoon, their horses taking a much needed drink. 

"What?" 

"We're heading toward the Forest of Shadows." Ali explained, a grim look on his otherwise handsome face. "They're impossible to traverse. I think only Jain Farstrider has ever been able to do it..."
[@Penny]