Nightfall came and the caravan finally stopped, and Amber couldn't have been more relieved. The traveling itself didn't bother her in the slightest, but the thousand questions that Jinwoo asked throughout the day that drained her energy. She didn't even know the answers to many of the things he asked, and she wondered breifly if he had gotten all his curiosity from reading, as he claimed, or if he was working for one of the cities. They were always at war and always sent spies to find one another's weaknesses, but she couldn't imagine a spy being so obvious... or pale. 

His questions didn't even taper off as the day drew onward: it was as if he didn't tire but grew more energetic as they went. Amber saw the looks the other guards gave her, full of amusement as they passed the pair to scout and give reports. What she woulldn't do to trade to be one of them! Then she caught Dongwan looking at her and gritted her teeth: no, she would not go to his bed just to get away from the nattering boy.

They finally stopped and she dismounted from Stoutheart's saddle, then moved as if to help Jinwoo down. Someone as fragile seeming and scholarly as he wasn't likely to have a lot of experience with riding, no matter his ease, and was sure to be sore. And yet he shocked her by lightly stepping down from his own saddle, giving his grey a scratch right behind the ear and a treat from somewhere in his fine clothing. The ease with which he acted toward his horse surprised her, but she covered it well by simply motioning toward Jinyoung's wagon. "You can get a ropal from him now, it going to get sandy tomorrow," she advised. 

Jinwoo nodded to her, giving a slight smile even as he kept most of his attention on his horse. He whispered something to it as it finished off the goodie, and then brushed his hands on his clothing and turned toward her. "Thank you, lady," he said with a slight bow, once again shocking Amber by his admission that he knew she was female. She had tried through the day to not let on! "I will care for my horse first but I will certainly do as you've suggested."

His suddenly formal speech left her a little off balance, unsure of how to respond, but finally she just nodded her head at him and led her horse away. The red mare and she had been together for years, amber having trained her from a young age, and she took comfort in the familiarity. The leather straps, the brushing, the feeding, it all led Amber's mind to a place of relaxation, and by the time Stoutheart was tucked in for the night, Amber felt much better. 

Everyone but those assigned to guard duty for the night gathered around the newly built cookfire, where two cooks prepared a stew out of their stores. Amber noticed Jinwoo looking with fascination at the cold pots, where the cooks would store ingredients to keep them fresh. He held a book in his hands and wrote in it with quick lines, and when Amber moved up behind him to peek over his shoulder (he was taller than she thought, standing a few inches over her) she realized it was notes on how the cold pots worked.

"You've never seen one before?" she asked, suddenly curious herself. Everyone knew what a cold pot was! One large clay pot with water inside of it, and then a smaller clay pot fitted in with the water between them. The water and they clay kept the cold things insulated from the heat of the day.

Jinwoo gave a slight jump at her words, but he flipped his book closed and turned to her with a smile. "No, I haven't," he admitted freely. "'We don't use things like that where I am from."

Her brow crinkled in confusion and she looked up at him, only to find his eyes were still on his book in hand. "Then how do you keep your food fresh?" she asked, surprising herself with how many questions she was finding even after spending the day only wanting to be away from his questions.

His large eyes darted up to meet her's and then they creased as he smiled. "Magic," he said simply. "Magicians from Noria enspell the boxes that we store food in, to keep it cold and fresh."

Amber felt a chill run through her at the mention of magic, and she couldn't stop the shiver that overtook her. "Oh," was all she said, and turned away to go find someone else to talk to. 

Magic was banned in Obarsan, and had been for a very long time. Tradition said that it was due to the fact that the founder of the continent itself had been murdered by the man who had founded Noria, but whatever the reason was, any magicians found in Obarsan were jailed immediatel