Tamsin had actually been slightly worried about making it out of the city. She had this nagging feeling that a bunch of guards, or possibly her parents, or possibly even her brother back from the dead would rush up to her and yell at her: You can't do this! You're not allowed! Did you really think you could just leave? Get back to your room where you belong!

But traveling with the captain of the guard had its benefits. When they passed through the gates of the estate, the guard on duty just saluted and watched them go by.

It probably helped that Tamsin didn't look like herself at the moment. If Captain Frieg had attempted to leave the estate with the Earl's daughter it might have provoked more questions. But just some random man? No one cared, apparently.

It was kind of exhilarating.

Tamsin had never seen the Gwedric city streets like this, either. She was used to peering through a carriage window at bustling streets full of bright colors and overwhelming noise as people went about their business. Right now, the only sound was their horses hooves on the cobblestones in the pre-dawn dark. The wooden houses sat low and wide like sleeping cats, silent and comfortable.

Tamsin had never really felt like she belonged in the city. Whenever she'd gone out before she'd quickly gotten overwhelmed and wanted to go back to the manor. But somehow, seeing it like this was making her feel unexpectedly homesick already.

Goodbye, gentle town, though Tamsin. I'll try not to let you burn again.

The guard at the city gate also saluted as they approached, but this guard looked a bit older, and was clearly less scared of his captain. Or maybe he was just bored standing guard all night. Either way, he seemed determined to make small talk.

"Captain Frieg!" said the guard, cheerfully. "Don't see you out and about this early very often. Where are you off to?"

"...fishing," said Captain Frieg. He clearly looked uncomfortable trying to come up with an excuse.

"Ah, of course!" said the guard. "Gotta get out there early when you're going fishing. You know what they say, the early bird gets the worm. Or is it the early worm that catches the fish?" The guard chuckled a little at his own joke.

"Right," said Frieg. "Now, if you'll excuse us."

"But who's this young fella with ya?" asked the guard, squinting up at Tamsin. Tamsin turned her face away to avoid making eye contact. "He doesn't look like a recruit... Hey, doesn't your face look familiar? Are you—"

"He's my secret love child!" shouted Frieg.

Tamsin and the guard both turned to stare at Frieg in dismay.

"I had a tryst with a tavern maid decades ago but I was just a soldier passing through and I never knew I had a son! His mother never tried to find me! He only just tracked me down and told me I was his father! I wasn't sure what to do at first but he's a good young man and I want to try to play the role of father if I can! I thought I would teach him how to fish like my father did for me! I know it can't make up for all the years I missed but I just want to do my best to do right by him now that I have the chance!"

Captain Frieg was visibly sweating.

"Oh my," said the guard, clearly moved by this heart-rending story. "Did you reunite with the mother as well, after all these years?"

"She's dead!" shouted Frieg.

"Oh, that's tough luck," said the guard. He looked up at Tamsin with a look of deep sympathy and patted her twice on the leg. "Hang in there, kid."

The guard waved goodbye at them as they rode past.

When they were finally far enough down the lane that Tamsin was fairly certain that the guard couldn't see them anymore, she burst into uncontrollable laughter.

Captain Frieg groaned. "Please don't laugh at me, my lady..."

"You secret love child!?" Tamsin barely managed to choke out the words between guffaws. "Where did you even— How did you— Why?"

"It was the only thing I could think of," said Frieg, refusing to meet Tamsin's eye.

"No, don't get me wrong, that was incredible," said Tamsin, finally calming down a little. "I just... where did that come from?"

Frieg fully covered his face with his hands and mumbled, "Sometimes the maids lend me their novels..."

"What was that?" asked Tamsin, putting a hand to her ear.

"Sometimes the maids lend me their novels, alright!" said Frieg. "It gets boring just standing around guarding things all day, and it's not like I've got any other hobbies... Please stop laughing!"

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry," said Tamsin, with a few final chuckles.

They rode for a few moments in silence. This close to the city, the road was still paved with cobblestones, but densely packed trees already lined either side of the lane, leaning threateningly over the heads of any travelers as if desperate to retake even that small sliver of land that had been taken from them.

From what Tamsin understood, the main difficulty trying to get much farming done in Gwedric was just trying to keep trees from growing in place of your crops.

"How are you feeling, my lady?" asked Frieg. "Are you nervous about the journey?"

"I was before," said Tamsin. "But I think I just laughed all the nerves right out of me, so thank you for that."

"...well, in that case, I'm glad I could be of assistance, my lady," said Frieg in a resigned tone.

Tamsin sighed. "I've spent my whole life sitting in my room being nervous about everything, and it didn't stop disasters from happening to me anyway," said Tamsin. "I've never done anything like this before, but... maybe I should try being excited about the unknown instead of scared of it for once! It will be a few days before we reach Jordaine anyway. I might as well try to enjoy the journey."

"That's an admirable attitude, my lady," said Frieg. "Very optimistic."