[Dimturiel]

At first, Ravennar dirrected all his attention to his plate. This was the first real meal he had in a long time. But it could have been worse, he knew that. He was lucky he did not lose his food, when he lost his horse. And lucky he had not lost something else also, he thought grimly.

He looked up when Heather had spoken and smiled again.

"So your journey is halfway over?"he asked. "Then I wish you good luck on your road, wherever that may be. But are you travelling alone? Why so? True, the roads are safer than they once were, but foreign paths are made to be trodden in company, not on one's own."

"And yet you went all the way from Dale on your own," a reproachful voice inside him said. True, and look what this did to him, he thought. Wherever Heather was going-and he did not feel like asking, he sensed he would bring her into a difficult position by doing so- she did not deserve to feel all the pain and frustration that he was feeling now. He doubted not that he himself deserved them fully, they were his punishment and he had no choice but to accept them. And now, the only thing he felt he had to do was warn others against repeating his mistake.