"Eugh, don't remind me," he groaned dramatically. Yeah, very far to go.

He packed the remainder of his things, nimbly dodging Nox's half-assed attempts to bite moodily, returning the favor with a bop on the nose.

He mounted quickly, Nox throwing his head in protest at being told to hold still. Help, help, I'm being repressed! is what Tom imagined his horse would be shouting.

At Lu's question, he paused, let out a sigh, and answered, "Honestly? No, I'm not sure. But I'd feel like a damn useless coward to go back now. Might as well carry on." With any luck, they'd arrive at Peklonstan under the cover of darkness, be able to stick to the more impoverished outskirts of the kingdom in hopes of not being recognized, and be gone in under a week, tops. Ideally, four days. But things rarely go as planned, do they?