Shafir waited outside at the main gate of the city. Dawn had just broken and his horse nudged at him affectionately. He wasn't good around people, but it seemed animals liked him a fair bit, so that was a win. If animals detested him, then he would assume his curse was one that made everyone and everything hate him. Shafir patted the horse's nose, and she nipped at his ponytail. It was a bad habit she had, trying to eat anything and everything in sight. He had fed her so much when she was still just a pony that he had to have the stable boys put her on a diet. The doors to the city gate opened up once more, and Eliqinor came walking through with his own steed beside him. 

Unlike what most might envision the golden captain to have as a horse, he was much more meek-looking. The dark mane and dark patterns that dappled its side and rump were beautiful, but for as long as Shafir could remember, he never took this horse with him on missions, as it was rather skittish. When they were youths, the stallion was hard to get a reign on, often running off and being nervous. At some point, Eliqinor had eased its nervousness, and it took a liking to him. 

His horse nudged Shafir once more before he let go of her reign. She trotted over to where Eliqinor now stood near the closed doors. He was fixing his bags more tightly to the saddle and was nudged by Shafir's mare. When Eliqinor looked back to pat on the horse's nose, she grabbed a bit of his hair and began checking. Shafir watched as Eliqinor had to wrangle his hair from her mouth without angering her. It was entertaining to watch the two interact. 

"Nabu!" Shafir called to the tanned mare, and she turned around, letting go of Eliqinor's hair. Did Shafir find the mare being attracted to Eliqinor's for its uncanny similarity to hay funny? Yes. He still remembered the first time she did that and Shafir laughed for weeks. Even treating her to her favorite snacks as a reward for annoying his captain. When she trotted up in front of Shafir in all her glory, he pulled an apple from his satchel and handed it to her. Once again, he rewarded her for her service. 

"I apologize for being late. I had some business to attend to," Eliqinor said as he pulled himself up onto his horse. What matters would Eliqinor need to attend to at this time of the day? The sun had barely risen, but Eliqinor was a workaholic, like always. Shafir patted Nabu's muzzle one more time before sticking his foot in the stirrup and pulling himself up. He shifted until he was comfortable and tapped the horse's side with his foot. The ride would be a long one and would take at least a few days to get to the location. He was concerned that the scene would be so close to the city itself. The dwindling supply of game was the only issue that the towns were affected by, the orc cleaning out most large and small animals. The Empress kindly compensated the town's people with fresh meat and plenty of coins until the issue was resolved. 

"What was so important that you had to be late for the mission?" Shafir asked as Eliqinor quickly rode up beside him. The horses walked at a slow gait as it was still early and they never wanted to overwork the beasts. Eliqinor didn't answer right away, probably thinking about how to twist the situation so as not to tell Shafir anything. Of course, Eliqinor didn't trust him, so he was used to this happening. 

"Some things of importance had to be addressed. I put someone in charge of it for the time being while we are gone," Eliqinor stated matter-of-factly, without explaining it further. It was honestly more of an explanation than he was expecting. Shafir thought Eliqinor would just brush it off and not answer him at all. Shafir went to open his mouth to speak when he was interrupted. "Valneiros is the one in charge of the project." 

Shafir felt a bit dumbfounded by the information that Eliqinor put forward. He had never been upfront about things like this before, and he really didn't want him to be. Who knew what information he'd be spewing out and Shafir really didn't want to know about Eliqinor's love life? To have this man be so honest about things made his skin crawl. 

The ride went on without a hitch after their conversation. Riding on in relative silence for a few hours before the sun began beating down on them. They often stopped and gave the horses water. Shafir more than wanted this ride to be over and as they got into a shaded spot in the road, a voice rang out. 

"How is your mother?" Eliqinor must have decided conversation would make the ride go faster, while Shafir would rather have silence. This way, neither of them would argue on the ride and start a fight. Shafir could only imagine if Eliqinor said something that pissed him off and Shafir launched himself from the saddle of his horse to fight Eliqinor. That would be the most inconvenient. Especially if either of them got hurt, and it didn’t relate to the mission. The Empress would never let Shafir forget it. 

"As good as one can be. Your father and uncle have appointed her Head Lady of servant affairs." Shafir rocked back and forth on his saddle as Nabu trotted down the dirt road. Shafir's mother was a hardworking woman, and he was happy she had gotten the position she deserved. He never understood why she didn't take the position sooner. Though he guessed that was just the way she was. To say Eliqinor was a workaholic was nowhere as bad as his mother. 

"That's good." Eliqinor kept his eyes forward as they rode, a sign that he was surveying their surroundings in case anything happened. Shafir's eyes were elsewhere, of course, watching the way Eliqinor rode his horse with such confidence. It has been a long time since they had gone on a mission together and even though the other sat all day doing paperwork, he rode like he was in the saddle daily. What to expect from the leader's proud son of the House of Honors? "Have you spoken to her?"

"I write to her." Shafir noticed how quickly Eliqinor looked at him from the corner of his eye. This next part was definitely going to piss off Eliqinor, as he was a family man, after all. Shafir braced himself for a lecture from his captain as he spoke once more, "Sometimes…" 

"You don't go to see her?" Eliqinor's expression was one of concern, as if Shafir not seeing his mother was unusual. While the youngest of the two loved his mother, sometimes it was easier not to see her. He didn't want to see how the curse would warp his mother into someone who saw him as a problem. 

"There is no need. She is a busy woman, and she is well." Shafir wanted to shut down the conversation as soon as possible. He was not one for idle chatter about family matters, let alone with Eliqinor, who could probably talk about it at length with how large his family was. Shafir just had him and his mother. Yet it was hard to bring himself to see her. "I pay one squire to check up on her." 

"Is that not your duty as her son?" Eliqinor kept probing about Shafir's mother and he could feel his body getting hot with anger. It was none of his business and to pry like this was… was inappropriate! Of course, it was his duty, and that didn't stop the immense guilt he felt for not seeing her. 

"It is, but… We had a disagreement and things are tense right now. I would rather not upset her more…" Shafir wasn't exactly lying. They had a disagreement, and he didn't want to rehash the issue. Though the dispute was 3 years ago, he found it better to be safer than sorry. Nabu could feel Shafir's anger and threw her head around in frustration. That caused Eliqinor's horse to spook slightly, and he eyed Shafir's horse warily. Eliqinor rubbed between the horse's ears and he slowly calmed down. 

"She cares about you." Leave it to Eliqinor to open his big mouth and make Shafir even more guilty. Just because he had no problems going to see his mother any time he wanted didn't mean Shafir did. Shafir gripped the reins and Nabu threw her head once again, causing Eliqinor to move his steed away a bit to prevent him from getting skittish. 

"I know." Shafir loosened the reins as he tried to calm himself down. There was no need for him to get angry. He had to remind himself that when on a mission, he must always remain professional and not cause any problems. So what Eliqinor was probing into his life? It could be easy to ignore, just like he ignored that bastard in his dreams. This just required more energy. 

"And you care about her," Eliqinor stated, and Shafir nodded in agreement. He cared for his mother. She had always been his rock since his father's passing, and he was determined to make them both proud.

“I do.” Shafir felt the anger leave his body as he let the conversation flow. It was nice being able to take so matter-of-factly without being afraid that the other would make the conversation into a fight. Nabu also noticed the difference in Shafir and brayed with happiness, throwing her head back and forth. 

“I see…” Eliqinor focused back on the dirt path and Shafir followed suit. The path winded, and he could see the light at the end of the trees. Shafir's thoughts raced and danced about. What if he could finally be able to talk to Eliqinor without fighting? At least for this mission, that would be nice. As they prepared to enter through the bright opening, Shafir sat up straighter. 

“How is your mother? The lady of the house,” It took Shafir a while before he said anything, afraid the conversation went stale from his lack of communication. The only thing he could think of was to continue the talk in the best way he knew, which was asking the other party the same thing. Eliqinor didn't seem phased by Shafir's question and just shifted on his saddle a bit. It might have been a touching topic since Shafir knew very little of Eliqinor's mother, the proper leader of the House of Honors. He knew she gave up her position to her brother because she was often ill. 

"She is still weak. Having my youngest sister has taken a toll on her body." Eliqinor didn't mention more about the topic, and Shafir didn't pry too much. He knew that Eliqinor's mother had been with child again, but knew little about the baby. Shafir knew when he had seen the lady of the house. She was always big and round. This was her 10th child? If Shafir could remember well. There was always a large ceremony for the lady when she had a baby. It must have been exciting for Eliqinor to know he was a big brother once again. 

“I hope she gets well soon.” Shafir could only offer his best wishes for Eliqinor's mother's speedy recovery. If she was still anything like she had been when Shafir was young, then she would be fine, especially with all that warm energy she had. 

“Thank you.” Eliqinor nodded as they rode on down the path. Their horses were in perfect sync as they trotted along.