Since the bridge was broken, they forded the stream upriver of it. The water only rose roughly to Khariâs knees anyway, which meant it was even less of a pain for the people behind her, who were both considerably taller. The water was cold enough that she could feel it even through her boots, but they kept it from dampening her socks, at least, which was more of a mercy than a person might think. Wet socks were right up there with minor stab wounds in terms of annoyance, particularly when they still had quite a bit of walking to do.
Hopefully, there wouldnât be quite so much of that after they talked to this horsemaster. Apparently, heâd used to breed them for Arl Eamon, which wasnât quite as excellent as being Orlesian and doing it for the chevaliers, but Khari liked horses so much she didnât even care that much. Sheâd never had one, though; but Ser Durand had taught her how to ride his, a big old cranky warhorse called Neige, presumably due to his coloration.
The first couple days had beat her up worse than Ser Durand usually did on the practice field, but by the end, sheâd loved it. It was an experience she was eager to repeat, and that simple thing put an obvious spring in her step as they retread familiar territory before pushing further on than theyâd yet had cause to explore. Even the scouts hadnât been this far, but theyâd told her to be on the lookout for potential new encampment locations, which was something she actually knew how to do, so she kept it in mind.
Seeing as how there was no special need for quiet, she hummed as she walked, some tune she couldnât remember the words to, one sheâd picked up a long time ago when spying on a traderâs caravan that had stopped close to her clanâs location at the time. Having never been much of a singer, sheâd surprised herself as much as the next person when she learned she wasnât totally tone-deaf. She thought the song had something to do with boats, or something. What were those called?
She stopped humming it. âEither of you know what those boat-songs are called? The ones sailors sing and stuff? I think it begins with an âs.ââ
Asala glanced at Romulus first, and then back to Khari. "I..." she began, shaking her head. "No? I d-do not. I am s-sorry," she stuttered. It appeared Khari's little hired thug comment was still in Asala's mind.
Khari waved a hand carelessly. âEh, itâs not important anyway.â She lapsed into silence for a while, focusing on navigating their path. They didnât know exactly where Dennet was, so she was actually having to attempt a combination of tracking, navigation, and sort-of-educated guessing. It seemed to be going okay, but she couldnât guarantee they were doing anything more effective than picking a direction and going in a roughly-straight line. At least they knew quite a few places he wasnât, by this point.
After a bit more tricky negotiation of some significantly-hillier areas, the path sheâd chosen spat them out near what seemed to be a very still lake, about waist-deep if she had her guess. As it happened, there was a flat, dry spot that wouldnât do badly for a camp; sheâd have to tell Lia about it later.
More importantly, the area also seemed to have a large occupied property on it, andâpoint for Khari, there were horses in a corral! âLooks like this must be the place.â Pointing that out was probably unnecessary, but she did it anyway, then picked out a series of bridges that would take them over the lake without any swimming. As they got closer, it became clear that there were both a barn and a house with a nearby workshop on the grounds, as well as several more fields, probably paddock, extending out behind that.
Well: nothing ventured, nothing gained. Khari approached the house and workshop. âHello? Inquisition here; weâre looking for horsemaster Dennet?â
There was a woman in the garden, who glanced up at their approach. From her age and clothing, it was a fair guess that she was Dennetâs wife, probably. âMy husbandâs in the house; just go ahead and go in.â She didnât seem to have any issue with them being present, which was probably a good sign, right? So Khari shrugged and did as sheâd suggested, opening the door to the house and stepping in.
Dennet's home was spacious, with two stories and multiple cozy rooms. It was all constructed out of wood, but looked to be well-maintained, and judging from the outside, neither the templars or mages had really struck out at the place. Across the massive red rug in the center strode a dark-skinned man in a leather vest and a green scarf, to meet his three guests. His head was shaven clean, and a greyed goatee and stubble lined his jaw and mouth.
"I'm Dennet. You're Inquisition? I've heard your people have been looking for mounts."
"We have," Romulus answered, his hood removed. He checked his boots briefly, careful not to track any unnecessary mud into the man's house. "Can you supply them?"
"Not at the moment. I can't just send a hundred of the finest horses in Ferelden down the road like you'd send a letter. Every bandit, or rogue mage or templar, between here and Haven, would be on them like flies on crap." The way he delivered the words, it was as though he'd been expecting the Inquisition to come knocking for quite some time, and had prepared this. "You'll have mounts once I know they won't end up as a cold winter's breakfast."
"But... Winter is not for several more months," Asala said behind them. Confusion sat in her face before she turned to Romulus. "Is it not?"
âHe means we need to kill the bandits and stuff,â Khari pointed out, speaking slowly, mostly because she was unsure if that was supposed to be a joke or not. She was guessing ânoâ, but sheâd been wrong before. âWhich, actually, weâve done. Rom and I took out the mages a couple days back,â she ticked her list off on her fingers. âCyrus and some other people killed all the Templars down the road, and we got the bandits within a couple days of getting here in the first place, I think. Plus, well, we can send people to escort them, right?â She wasnât actually sure about the last oneâand it wasnât like she had the authority to just decide, so she shrugged.
Dennet appeared to give that some thought, then shook his head. âThatâs fair enough, but thereâs more mages and Templars and bandits in the world than you got rid of this week. If Iâm to work with you on a long term basis, I need to know that my family and my herds will be safe while Iâm gone.â
âUhâŠâ Khari frowned, thinking back over all that stuff theyâd talked about over the pretty maps before theyâd deployed here. She hadnât been paying the most attention, because most of it didnât really seem relevant to someone whose main purpose was âgo here, kill this,â but she had kept half an ear on all the stuff Leon was saying. And half of one of her ears was practically all of someone elseâs.
âWatchtowers.â The word was said with a tone of aha, and she snapped her fingers. âLeon said weâre planning on building watchtowers and stuff, to reinforce the Inquisitionâs control of the area. How about we go set markers down, make sure they put a couple up near your place?â
"Sounds agreeable enough to me," the horsemaster said, nodding. He crossed his arms. "Tell you what, I'll loan the three of you horses to speed you on your way, and see this done faster. You deserve something better than whatever knock-kneed nags you've got, or Maker forbid, going it on foot. Go find my daughter, Seanna, she's probably out near the stables. She'll pick out the horses for you and see them properly prepared."
Seanna wasnât hard to find, and once theyâd relayed everything, she gave them a warm smile and nodded, returning with three large horses, a bay, a grey roan, and a sorrel. Khari bounced a little on the balls of her feet, clearly excited if the huge smile plastered onto her face was anything to go by. They really were nice-looking horses, and she was tempted to do all the usual things Ser Durand had taught her: feet and teeth, mostly, but that would be rude, and she was sure someone called a horsemaster would know what he was doing anyway.
Since they were both redheads, she went ahead and approached the sorrel, reaching a hand out and letting him sniff her, rubbing his white-striped face with her palm. She glanced back at the other two, and a question struck her. âEr⊠you guys know how to ride, right?â
Romulus mounted the bay, a little uncomfortably, but by the way he moved, he wasn't riding for the first time. The third or fourth time, perhaps. He shrugged.
Asala had approached the roan and gently caressed the side of its muzzle with one hand, the other running through her mane. She whispered something to the horse, but what could be made out did not sound like Common. She then looked Khari, and then Romulus as if to see how they sat upon their horses. "Uh..." she began, before turning back to the roan. Surprisingly, she found the saddle without much difficulty. As if surprised herself, she beamed back at the other two...
Until the horse began to move forward. "Wh-what? Wait," she said to the horse, but it did not, continuing a lazy pace out of the stable. "Please stop?" she pleaded, but the horse continued to ignore her.
Khari was glad she hadnât mounted yet. Leaving the sorrel where he was, she stepped to the side and took hold of the roanâs reins. âOkay. So these are how you steer.â She placed the reins in Asalaâs hands. âBe sure to give her enough slack that she can move her head, okay? Then when you want her to slow down, pull back gently and gradually. Sheâll be able to feel it. Move the reins in whichever direction you want her to turn, further for a sharper angle.â
She grinned up at Asala, remembering when someone had to teach her all of this stuff. âIf you want her to move forward, just give her a squeeze with your legs, and a tap with your feet will speed her up. But maybe donât do that until weâre outside and I can ride next to you. Keep your spine straight, but try to relax into her motions. She knows what sheâs doing, even if you donât.â She patted the horseâs neck. âReady? Iâll be right next to you, so you donât need to worry.â Asala nodded, but the worry remained in her face. It wasn't clear if she didn't believe Khari, or in herself.
Making good on her word, Khari padded back over to the sorrel and vaulted up into the saddle with the ease of long practice, steering the horse to sidle up next to Asalaâs. âMind leading us out, Rom?â
He looked to be concentrating quite heavily as he did so, slowly walking his horse out in front of them, and heading towards the nearby hill, where he could already spot a clearing that would excellently serve with a watchtower on it.
It took longer than it probably should have because of Asala. They did make progress however, despite the sudden starts and stops. Fortunately, the horse never broke off into a sprint, never going faster than a gentle trot. Eventually however, they made it to the clearing. "So, h-here?" Asala asked, clutching the reins with rigid arms, and a ninety degree bend in her elbows.
âMm.â Theyâd crested a ridge, and the spot theyâd found offered a pretty good view of the surrounding landscape, which meant it should work pretty well as the location of a watchtower. Plant an archer up here, even just one, and bandits would have a serious problem.
âWorks for me.â Now they needed something to mark the spot with. There was a dead tree nearby, so Khari steered her horse towards it and leaned over sideways, holding on with her legs and cracking off a likely looking branch. It was pointy at one end and the ground was soft, so after a few blows with the side of her fist, it was staked in there decently enough, an obvious irregularity in the landscape. Itâd do well enough for a marker, probably.
They turned their horses and headed back down the incline, looking for the next likely spot. There were a few minutes where no one said anything, and then Khari broke the silence. âSo, Asala⊠I was joking when I said I was a thug. You know that, right?â Well, she was kind of like one, in the sense that she wasnât much good for anything but hitting stuff, but she wasnât actually a criminal or a thief or whatever.
"I sus-suspected," Asala said, staring at the back of her horse's head. "You are... Not so bad as you s-said," she added. There was a certain tilt to her head, as if something came to mind, but she straightened and kept it to herself.
Romulus laughed softly to himself, before veering slightly to the right, gesturing towards a clear spot along the side of the road, with clear sight lines in both directions.
Khari laughed considerably more obviously. ââNot so bad,â she says. I can live with that.â She followed Rom off the road again, and repeated the process of marking the spot clearly, this time dismounting, gathering some loose stones, and arranging them in a large âxâ shape on the ground. As long as she told the others what they were looking for, it shouldnât be too hard to find.
Swinging back up, she put them back on the road. They should probably form the watchtowers into a rough triangle that included Dennetâs property, but more than three seemed excessive, so they only really needed one more. âHow do you reckon the others are doing in Val Royeaux? Never been there, but I hear itâs really fancy.â She also did hope to go someday, obviously, but it might be a little while yet before she did.
Probably not well," Romulus answered. "I've never known Chantry people to be reasonable. A few here and there, but those are drowned out by the rest that have never been outdoors."
Khari snorted. That seemed about right. They found a third likely spot and marked it as well, meaning that it looked like their work here was done. âGuess we should get back to Dennet,â she said, probably unnecessarily. âAnd then let the others know they have a pickup to do.â Getting that many horses to Haven probably wasnât going to be fun, but it would be a big help. Cavalry never hurt anyone⊠er, well, now that she thought about it that was a terrible way to put it. But theyâd done something important, anyway, and she was feeling pretty good about it.
Hopefully, there wouldnât be quite so much of that after they talked to this horsemaster. Apparently, heâd used to breed them for Arl Eamon, which wasnât quite as excellent as being Orlesian and doing it for the chevaliers, but Khari liked horses so much she didnât even care that much. Sheâd never had one, though; but Ser Durand had taught her how to ride his, a big old cranky warhorse called Neige, presumably due to his coloration.
The first couple days had beat her up worse than Ser Durand usually did on the practice field, but by the end, sheâd loved it. It was an experience she was eager to repeat, and that simple thing put an obvious spring in her step as they retread familiar territory before pushing further on than theyâd yet had cause to explore. Even the scouts hadnât been this far, but theyâd told her to be on the lookout for potential new encampment locations, which was something she actually knew how to do, so she kept it in mind.
Seeing as how there was no special need for quiet, she hummed as she walked, some tune she couldnât remember the words to, one sheâd picked up a long time ago when spying on a traderâs caravan that had stopped close to her clanâs location at the time. Having never been much of a singer, sheâd surprised herself as much as the next person when she learned she wasnât totally tone-deaf. She thought the song had something to do with boats, or something. What were those called?
She stopped humming it. âEither of you know what those boat-songs are called? The ones sailors sing and stuff? I think it begins with an âs.ââ
Asala glanced at Romulus first, and then back to Khari. "I..." she began, shaking her head. "No? I d-do not. I am s-sorry," she stuttered. It appeared Khari's little hired thug comment was still in Asala's mind.
Khari waved a hand carelessly. âEh, itâs not important anyway.â She lapsed into silence for a while, focusing on navigating their path. They didnât know exactly where Dennet was, so she was actually having to attempt a combination of tracking, navigation, and sort-of-educated guessing. It seemed to be going okay, but she couldnât guarantee they were doing anything more effective than picking a direction and going in a roughly-straight line. At least they knew quite a few places he wasnât, by this point.
After a bit more tricky negotiation of some significantly-hillier areas, the path sheâd chosen spat them out near what seemed to be a very still lake, about waist-deep if she had her guess. As it happened, there was a flat, dry spot that wouldnât do badly for a camp; sheâd have to tell Lia about it later.
More importantly, the area also seemed to have a large occupied property on it, andâpoint for Khari, there were horses in a corral! âLooks like this must be the place.â Pointing that out was probably unnecessary, but she did it anyway, then picked out a series of bridges that would take them over the lake without any swimming. As they got closer, it became clear that there were both a barn and a house with a nearby workshop on the grounds, as well as several more fields, probably paddock, extending out behind that.
Well: nothing ventured, nothing gained. Khari approached the house and workshop. âHello? Inquisition here; weâre looking for horsemaster Dennet?â
There was a woman in the garden, who glanced up at their approach. From her age and clothing, it was a fair guess that she was Dennetâs wife, probably. âMy husbandâs in the house; just go ahead and go in.â She didnât seem to have any issue with them being present, which was probably a good sign, right? So Khari shrugged and did as sheâd suggested, opening the door to the house and stepping in.
Dennet's home was spacious, with two stories and multiple cozy rooms. It was all constructed out of wood, but looked to be well-maintained, and judging from the outside, neither the templars or mages had really struck out at the place. Across the massive red rug in the center strode a dark-skinned man in a leather vest and a green scarf, to meet his three guests. His head was shaven clean, and a greyed goatee and stubble lined his jaw and mouth.
"I'm Dennet. You're Inquisition? I've heard your people have been looking for mounts."
"We have," Romulus answered, his hood removed. He checked his boots briefly, careful not to track any unnecessary mud into the man's house. "Can you supply them?"
"Not at the moment. I can't just send a hundred of the finest horses in Ferelden down the road like you'd send a letter. Every bandit, or rogue mage or templar, between here and Haven, would be on them like flies on crap." The way he delivered the words, it was as though he'd been expecting the Inquisition to come knocking for quite some time, and had prepared this. "You'll have mounts once I know they won't end up as a cold winter's breakfast."
"But... Winter is not for several more months," Asala said behind them. Confusion sat in her face before she turned to Romulus. "Is it not?"
âHe means we need to kill the bandits and stuff,â Khari pointed out, speaking slowly, mostly because she was unsure if that was supposed to be a joke or not. She was guessing ânoâ, but sheâd been wrong before. âWhich, actually, weâve done. Rom and I took out the mages a couple days back,â she ticked her list off on her fingers. âCyrus and some other people killed all the Templars down the road, and we got the bandits within a couple days of getting here in the first place, I think. Plus, well, we can send people to escort them, right?â She wasnât actually sure about the last oneâand it wasnât like she had the authority to just decide, so she shrugged.
Dennet appeared to give that some thought, then shook his head. âThatâs fair enough, but thereâs more mages and Templars and bandits in the world than you got rid of this week. If Iâm to work with you on a long term basis, I need to know that my family and my herds will be safe while Iâm gone.â
âUhâŠâ Khari frowned, thinking back over all that stuff theyâd talked about over the pretty maps before theyâd deployed here. She hadnât been paying the most attention, because most of it didnât really seem relevant to someone whose main purpose was âgo here, kill this,â but she had kept half an ear on all the stuff Leon was saying. And half of one of her ears was practically all of someone elseâs.
âWatchtowers.â The word was said with a tone of aha, and she snapped her fingers. âLeon said weâre planning on building watchtowers and stuff, to reinforce the Inquisitionâs control of the area. How about we go set markers down, make sure they put a couple up near your place?â
"Sounds agreeable enough to me," the horsemaster said, nodding. He crossed his arms. "Tell you what, I'll loan the three of you horses to speed you on your way, and see this done faster. You deserve something better than whatever knock-kneed nags you've got, or Maker forbid, going it on foot. Go find my daughter, Seanna, she's probably out near the stables. She'll pick out the horses for you and see them properly prepared."
Seanna wasnât hard to find, and once theyâd relayed everything, she gave them a warm smile and nodded, returning with three large horses, a bay, a grey roan, and a sorrel. Khari bounced a little on the balls of her feet, clearly excited if the huge smile plastered onto her face was anything to go by. They really were nice-looking horses, and she was tempted to do all the usual things Ser Durand had taught her: feet and teeth, mostly, but that would be rude, and she was sure someone called a horsemaster would know what he was doing anyway.
Since they were both redheads, she went ahead and approached the sorrel, reaching a hand out and letting him sniff her, rubbing his white-striped face with her palm. She glanced back at the other two, and a question struck her. âEr⊠you guys know how to ride, right?â
Romulus mounted the bay, a little uncomfortably, but by the way he moved, he wasn't riding for the first time. The third or fourth time, perhaps. He shrugged.
Asala had approached the roan and gently caressed the side of its muzzle with one hand, the other running through her mane. She whispered something to the horse, but what could be made out did not sound like Common. She then looked Khari, and then Romulus as if to see how they sat upon their horses. "Uh..." she began, before turning back to the roan. Surprisingly, she found the saddle without much difficulty. As if surprised herself, she beamed back at the other two...
Until the horse began to move forward. "Wh-what? Wait," she said to the horse, but it did not, continuing a lazy pace out of the stable. "Please stop?" she pleaded, but the horse continued to ignore her.
Khari was glad she hadnât mounted yet. Leaving the sorrel where he was, she stepped to the side and took hold of the roanâs reins. âOkay. So these are how you steer.â She placed the reins in Asalaâs hands. âBe sure to give her enough slack that she can move her head, okay? Then when you want her to slow down, pull back gently and gradually. Sheâll be able to feel it. Move the reins in whichever direction you want her to turn, further for a sharper angle.â
She grinned up at Asala, remembering when someone had to teach her all of this stuff. âIf you want her to move forward, just give her a squeeze with your legs, and a tap with your feet will speed her up. But maybe donât do that until weâre outside and I can ride next to you. Keep your spine straight, but try to relax into her motions. She knows what sheâs doing, even if you donât.â She patted the horseâs neck. âReady? Iâll be right next to you, so you donât need to worry.â Asala nodded, but the worry remained in her face. It wasn't clear if she didn't believe Khari, or in herself.
Making good on her word, Khari padded back over to the sorrel and vaulted up into the saddle with the ease of long practice, steering the horse to sidle up next to Asalaâs. âMind leading us out, Rom?â
He looked to be concentrating quite heavily as he did so, slowly walking his horse out in front of them, and heading towards the nearby hill, where he could already spot a clearing that would excellently serve with a watchtower on it.
It took longer than it probably should have because of Asala. They did make progress however, despite the sudden starts and stops. Fortunately, the horse never broke off into a sprint, never going faster than a gentle trot. Eventually however, they made it to the clearing. "So, h-here?" Asala asked, clutching the reins with rigid arms, and a ninety degree bend in her elbows.
âMm.â Theyâd crested a ridge, and the spot theyâd found offered a pretty good view of the surrounding landscape, which meant it should work pretty well as the location of a watchtower. Plant an archer up here, even just one, and bandits would have a serious problem.
âWorks for me.â Now they needed something to mark the spot with. There was a dead tree nearby, so Khari steered her horse towards it and leaned over sideways, holding on with her legs and cracking off a likely looking branch. It was pointy at one end and the ground was soft, so after a few blows with the side of her fist, it was staked in there decently enough, an obvious irregularity in the landscape. Itâd do well enough for a marker, probably.
They turned their horses and headed back down the incline, looking for the next likely spot. There were a few minutes where no one said anything, and then Khari broke the silence. âSo, Asala⊠I was joking when I said I was a thug. You know that, right?â Well, she was kind of like one, in the sense that she wasnât much good for anything but hitting stuff, but she wasnât actually a criminal or a thief or whatever.
"I sus-suspected," Asala said, staring at the back of her horse's head. "You are... Not so bad as you s-said," she added. There was a certain tilt to her head, as if something came to mind, but she straightened and kept it to herself.
Romulus laughed softly to himself, before veering slightly to the right, gesturing towards a clear spot along the side of the road, with clear sight lines in both directions.
Khari laughed considerably more obviously. ââNot so bad,â she says. I can live with that.â She followed Rom off the road again, and repeated the process of marking the spot clearly, this time dismounting, gathering some loose stones, and arranging them in a large âxâ shape on the ground. As long as she told the others what they were looking for, it shouldnât be too hard to find.
Swinging back up, she put them back on the road. They should probably form the watchtowers into a rough triangle that included Dennetâs property, but more than three seemed excessive, so they only really needed one more. âHow do you reckon the others are doing in Val Royeaux? Never been there, but I hear itâs really fancy.â She also did hope to go someday, obviously, but it might be a little while yet before she did.
Probably not well," Romulus answered. "I've never known Chantry people to be reasonable. A few here and there, but those are drowned out by the rest that have never been outdoors."
Khari snorted. That seemed about right. They found a third likely spot and marked it as well, meaning that it looked like their work here was done. âGuess we should get back to Dennet,â she said, probably unnecessarily. âAnd then let the others know they have a pickup to do.â Getting that many horses to Haven probably wasnât going to be fun, but it would be a big help. Cavalry never hurt anyone⊠er, well, now that she thought about it that was a terrible way to put it. But theyâd done something important, anyway, and she was feeling pretty good about it.