Nabbing a street urchin

"What? What is going on?" I asked, and sensing no danger, I turned to look at Hin.

"You started talking in your sleep. I had to wake you up. You were saying embarrassing things. I wasn't going to just wait for you to say something even more sultry out loud…" Hin looked away from me, then added: "The area is still safe; you don't need to look for danger. Cadmus Brutus and I do make half decent sentries."

"Of course, you do." I reassured him. "I think I am going to take a little walk." I told him, getting up and beginning to walk away.

"Alright." Cadmus Brutus replied with a nod. "We'll be here when you get back."

I didn't bother to invite Hin along I knew he would decline. After all, he was a very private type of guy, and outdoors, in the middle of some bushes, with what I had in mind was too much out of his comfort zone. He preferred our encounters inside, behind closed doors, when he was sure no one could hear us.

A while later, when I rejoined them, I could hear Cadmus Brutus and Hin talking about travelling. Hin was in the process of telling Cadmus Brutus how amazing the town of Herculaneum was. Cadmus Brutus smiled.

"That does sound like an impressive town!" He said, "Any town with a theater or a colosseum is a good one in my books."

I greeted the men and sat down to join the conversation.

"I have never travelled too far," Cadmus Brutus said, "The farthest north I have ever gone before now is just outside Fanum Fortunae."

"Well then, congratulations!" I said to him with a smile. "And you have much farther to go with us. This is just the beginning!" I clapped him on the back heartily, "Hopefully it satisfies your sense of adventure and want to travel."

"Thanks." He said.

"I think we should get back on the road," I said, "We can just as easily continue our conversation on the road."

"I agree." Cadmus Brutus said standing up. He walked away to go untether the horses.

"Well Hin," I said, "Shall we?"

Hin nodded an affirmative and we walked towards the horses.

We rode for the next five hours in a very uneventful, but pleasant manner. We were still headed uphill towards Genua. It was a just over a days' ride from Luna to Genua in ideal conditions.

"Cyrus?" Hin called to me. His horse was directly behind mine.

"Yes?' I answered.

"Can we stop?" He asked.

"I wanted to go a few more hours before we stopped." I informed him.

"Please? I am hungry, and my body hurts. I am not used to horse riding for this long, for this many days in a row."

I decided to take pity on him. I had long ago gotten used to riding, and no longer got saddle sore, but I could still remember what the feeling of it was like. "Alright." I replied, "I see no reason why we shouldn't stop and the two of you eat."

We reined the horses in, dismounted, and then tethered the animals. I then gathered some local plant matter.

After I had changed the plants into loaves of bread, chunks of cheese and olives, I handed them over to Hin and Cadmus Brutus to divide between them.

"Thanks." Hin said.

"Thank you, my Lord." Cadmus Brutus said gratefully.

"Never mind." I replied. "Just eat." I shook my head at the two of them.

When they were both full, Cadmus Brutus collected up what was left of the bread and wrapped it up in a chunk of cloth to save it for later. He was the kind of guy, who would feel like a snack later and would feel completely at home eating it on horseback as we rode.

I smiled. "Alright, you two," I said, "we are going to see how much farther we can get before nightfall."

"What?" asked Hin. "But…"

"Nope." I told him, "I am not going to listen to it." I raised a hand to stop further objections. "You are going to ride with me, Hin."

Hin made a noise of protest.

"You have two choices: you can ride bareback with me, with extra padding between you and the horses' back, or you can travel in here." I reached into the swath of fabric around my waist and brought out the blue glass bottle and held it up for him to clearly see.

"Umm." Hin pondered the choices I gave him.

The first choice would make him less claustrophobic, the second would make him less likely to become more saddle sore.

"If I have no choice, but to choose," Hin said finally, "then I will ride bareback with you."

He had a faraway look on his face, like he was momentarily reliving bad memories. I wondered if his previous master had confined him to the bottle for lengthy periods of time as a punishment. I had heard of instances where such things were done to djinn.

"Cadmus Brutus?" I asked.

"Yes?" He asked me.

"Do you feel capable of riding, while leading three other horses?"

"Of course, my Lord."

"Switch the horse you were riding for another, and I will do the same."

Cadmus Brutus nodded.

Once we had the horses sorted out, I hoisted Hin up on the thick piles of fabric I had on the horses' back. I had used my power to cause the fabric to stay in place without rubbing or bothering the horse in any way. I then easily swung up to sit behind him. I placed one hand around Hin to ensure he didn't fall off and stayed balanced. With the other, I took the reins from his hands.

"Ready?" I asked both Hin and Cadmus Brutus.

"Yes!" They said in unison.

"Good." I said and eased the horse into a walk. Cadmus Brutus followed my horse with his own and the other horses.

In another three hours, the sun began to set, and we began to look for a place to camp for the night.

Just as we had decided on a place near a stand of trees, and dismounted, a young boy ran out of some bushes near the roadside. I had heard the noise he made as he ran, but thought it was the crashing of a fox hunting and killing a small animal.

He stopped suddenly, eyes wide and mouth agape, when he saw us. He was dirty, and his clothes were ragged. His face was lean and hungry looking.

"Stop, thief!" A man's voice yelled out from somewhere behind the boy.