Having escaped Lovi’s grasp the prince instantly let them know they were no longer welcome to ride.

He chucked them off and went around the glade they arrived at, loudly moaning about the injured leg and walking like he had just stubbed a toe. He was looking quite human.

Sprinting like that, injured and with the extra weight, it must have been hell. Sten knew all about fighting through on sheer adrenaline, but it usually did not work with broken bones if you had to put your weight on them. And that was not to mention the additional weight of two amateur riders bouncing on your back.

It clearly had one hell of a fighting spirit. Sten could appreciate that.

“Wow, alright that was harder than I thought, that was your sister, right? Is she crazy?” Despite gushing words Roldy was clearly exhausted, the healing was taking a toll on him faster since the affinity they shared meant his reserves drained all the sooner with the speed of the healing.

Sten did not bother replying, he was still catching his breath.

Harold's questions had to be put to the side once the prince had finally dealt with the worst of the pain and walked over to nudge him for more healing.

A few minutes later Sten finally recovered enough to speak. “Can we still make it? I doubt we will be riding further even with your healing.”

Harold looked around a bit to gather his bearings. “True, but he will still be able to port us through the forest if we reach the right glades.”

Which meant there was nothing else to it. They started walking.

Due to their much slower pace, by the time they finally made it back to Brunner’s lands, [Regenerating Form] had restored the prince to a painless condition.

Arriving at the farm Sten finally saw the late additions that Harold had been telling him- but refusing to share any details of, and he grew even more excited, which he had not expected to be possible.

Where one cart of wares should have been there were now five, and he did not know if the reports of scarcity they had been providing him were made up or if they had made a last-minute bet of some sort, for the Cloven Honeybee Mead or something, to multiply their assets like this.

Roldy had assured him the two were not just fellow travelers at least, or that would have been Sten’s first guess. Box my head, that's old Redd, one of Birgir's teachers.

Livia had come running at the first sign and was now shifting swiftly between relief and elation at them having finally arrived, to scolding and stressing over everybody to get prepared to head out.

“What happened, how did it go?” The two looked fine enough despite some scrapes and bruises, while the stag was moving a bit stiff but would also be fine as long as he gave the bone time to mend and put no extra strain on it.

“We made it just fine, no issues at all," Livia glared at the bold claim, but got nothing in response other than Harold's most innocent look. "And now for phase two, get the ropes!” He followed the words with a whistle.

This was the big surprise that had made Harold so confident they would make good time that day even if they all got laid out by their hangovers until noon. The only preparation he had made was teaching Kalle and Oscar how to tie a few knots.

The prince made a long braying sound to signal the sika into position and then all the lads in the [Guild] went to get those ropes. They had short ones, medium ones, long ones and ones that were double-ended.

It was time to ride.

Within a few short minutes they had demonstrated how to tie themselves to the sika and even the carts got a few extra animals each to help lighten the load and keep them going for longer. The huge horses looked at their forest cousins, making dubious eyes, but in the end they would be going over some rough parts so the smaller beast was still at an advantage as long as the horses remained tied to the clumsier carts.

The sight of them leaving the farm like that, in a wave of animals of every kind and Humans who ranged from jeering and cheering to calmly smiling, to holding on for dear life in a panic. Contrasted with how the trio of lads had left him this past autumn, it was a memory that Brunner would cherish forever. And that made for two in just the past twelve hours.

Now, if that was not a sign of spring then Brunner did not know what was.

So now it is time to prepare for the arrival of Birgir.

The lumberjack went to sharpen and oil his hatchets. A daily routine.