[The X Phial]

Bregand hesistated once again over his bag. No matter how often he packed it not everything fit. He had offered the use of his horse as a pack animal to the travellers and been immediately thanked. The horse could only carry so much, however, and that meant weeding out the unimportant things from his bags. So far he had already cut 4 ink stones (leaving him with only 2), all but one of his quills, all of his clothing save his official messenger's tunic and what he could wear, his art supplies (he still didn't know why his mother had insisted he bring them), and 3 of his least valuable maps. The main problem was that his many maps were too important (at least to him) to be left in Bree, despite the assurances of the landlord that all would be kept for him "as is." How could he explain that the scrolls had been entrusted to him?

He resovled himself to simply bringing all of the truly valuable scrolls, it was his horse afterall, and he was entitled to a bit of room for personal belongings. Besides, he would carry the most precious of them in his own pack. He had already added his food stores to those of the group, so all that remained was his essential equipment, and his father's sword. He had never walked for a very long distance carrying a sword and he was a little worried about the weight, but he had seen that the others all carried weapons and he was not going to be a burden if he could help it.

Despite his lingering, Bregand found that he was one of the first back with his gear. He handed off the items he would return for to a dimpled barmaid, nearly as young as himself, maybe even younger. He was startled when she winked at him and felt himself give a half smile in return. Girls never winked at serious Bregand at home, maybe things were different for adventurers.

[ April 27, 2003: Message edited by: The X Phial ]