The sun was hot and high, no clouds marring a vast expanse of blue that was echoed in the distant ocean. Despite the heat, the fields that spanned the province of Macendia were green and verdant, stretching onwards until they butted up against the slopes of the mountain range that bordered the barony. Achilleas had been there as a child, he thought, but there was nothing that felt familiar to him as he travelled the dusty road that led to the small town.

“It is one of the estates before we come to the town proper”he said, turning to look at the man who rode beside him. Krysto was a Captain in Euticca’s army and had long been a friend of the Commander. They had risen through the ranks together, and Achilleas would trust the man with his life, had done, time and time again. Indeed, they had both not long returned from a long reaching campaign that had taken them to the south, both still trying to adjust to the strangeness of being home again after so long in camp.

It had been Krysto who had gone with Achilleas when he visited the homes of those who had not returned with them, who had stood silent and grave as the Lord Mikaelidas had told Mothers how bravely their sons had fought, told Fathers what courage they had bred, and wives what a noble death had claimed their young husbands. And it had been Krysto who had known not to speak to Achilleas as they had made their way back home, when his face was bleak and set and he wore his grief like a war wound.

It seemed fitting then, that it was Krysto too, who turned to the Baron with a somewhat doubtful expression now. “ Are you certain Achilleas?” The Baron frowned, turning blue eyes upon his companion and staring. ”Of course I am certain”

Only, well ,Achilleas could not entirely say he recognised the place now they were here. And it seemed every field was filled with horses, so how was he supposed to tell which belonged to the Macendia Baron. He shot Krysto a look.

“Fine. I am not certain. I have no idea where we are going.” They laughed, and it was a welcome and carefree sound, another sign that perhaps they would leave the grimness of battle behind them and find some peace once again in the everyday, the ordinary. For Achilleas, that meant resuming the tasks of barony that he had left to his steward whilst away at war, and that was what had sent them to Macendia in the first place. It was not only men they had lost, but horseflesh too, and in Taengea there was only one family to go to if you wanted to buy horses. So the Lord Mikaelidas sought out the Lord Leventi, hoping they might come to some agreement to trade. Which would be more likely if they could find the man and his manor.

Achilleas was distracted from their plight though, for as the pair of men crested a hill, his gaze fell upon a figure in the field bordering the road. Not a horse. “Hold a moment” he said to Kyrsto, reining his own horse to a halt. He dismounted and left the Captain to hold onto the creature as he vaulted the fence that seperated the road from the pasture, and strode up the slope toward the figure he had seen.

It was a girl, that much was clear, long dark hair tumbling down her back. And as the young Lord drew nearer, he judged her to be perhaps fifteen or sixteen, though what she was doing he had no earthly idea. Standing with her arms outstretched, she appeared to have her eyes closed, and so he stopped a way off and watched her curiously a moment before calling out.

“Hey, girl?”

And if the girl should turn her eyes toward the sound they would fall upon a young man, tall and tanned and looking at her from very blue eyes, some slight amusement visible within. Achilleas shielded his face with his hand so he might see her better, silhouetted against the sun as she was. There was something of the familiar that skittered around his memory and he tried to grasp hold of it. “ Forgive me the interruption.Can you tell me the way to the Lord Leventi’s manor?” He swept an arm toward the road where Krysto sat watching them. “ My companion and I find ourselves a little lost amongst all your fields”

His demeanour seemed friendly enough, but the girl would no doubt notice that both men were built like warriors, and armed too.