The road unfolding in front of them from The Gate's gate dwindled into a narrow path surrounded by muddy stretches of ground encompassed by the omnipresent pine forest, releasing into the air the scent which in her past life meant Christmas, before Fiona could claim her place at Peregrine's side without making it look too obvious just how much she desired his closeness.

While she was wasting time pretending indifference, Freddie took the place, bringing his horse at the dragon shifter's left as his right side was occupied by Gollum, who followed Peregrine's magnificent steed like a shadow. Wasting no time, the boy started to pester his new friend with curious questions, making both Fiona and Annwyn, who rode next to each other behind them, smile.

"Will I be like her? Like Annwyn?" Freddie asked, voice laced with excitement and impatience. 

"You'll be much bigger, Freddie," Peregrine replied, reaching out and mussing his hair gently, the simple action hinting at the bond that had formed between them. Fiona's heart stumbled at the sight; the two seemed to have found mutual respect and appreciation from the very first moment. "And..." he added somewhat mysteriously, lowering his voice but not enough to prevent Fiona from hearing his words, "golden green, I guess." He looked quickly at her over his shoulder and finding her watching them with narrowed eyes, wondering whether this really was just a wild guess, he shook his head to disperse her suspicion and turned away again quickly, pulling at Shadow's reins as if the good, wise horse who seemed to know this path as the bottom of his hooves needed his guidance, even as Fiona recalled that she had told him that Lagon used to wear mostly green...

The colour of their dragon seemed to affect the colour choices as humans of some of them, Fiona concluded, looking at Annwyn's cerulean pants coupled with a turquoise jacket, partially hidden by her midnight blue cloak. Not of all, she smiled to herself, recalling Peregrine's wonderfully grey dragon, while her eyes caressed his entirely black-clad form.

Did Peregrine know Lagon personally? The thought flared in her mind, there and then gone as fast as it appeared. She didn't want to know; she never wished to speak about Lagon with him again. Freddie's father was in the past, irrelevant to what was happening in her life now, to the happiness she could feel growing stronger as the days passed within her soul, telling her that for once she had taken the right decision. Riding Snowmane through the swampy Draconia with more than half of her company being almost perfect strangers, towards her still unknown father in Freddie and Peregrine's wake, was the happiest moment in her life in a very long time. So many things that had troubled her in the past felt suddenly right that it was almost scary. It was as if the world righted itself around her with the arrival of Peregrine and his two companions. 

She doused the feeling of all this being almost too good to last that started to creep upon her before it would escalate and wipe the elated smile off her face. Of course she didn't expect that everything would always be perfect, but she would do the best with what life threw her way, she resolved, pulling herself from her reverie to focus again on the voices of the man and the boy riding in front of her, now discussing the details of shifting forms. It was... incredible. The notion that her son was a Highlander, a dragon shifter, was still so new and impossible to wrap her mind around...

Leodhais, patiently accepting Alexandra's arms holding onto him from behind for dear life as they rode at Gilderoy's side, the three of them bringing up the rear, kept his eyes on Annwyn, knowing well, thanks to the slight shiver of... pleasure that ran through her form, perfectly visible to his observant eyes, that she could feel his look, and that she, like himself, found it hard to keep her mind off the last night, their first night spent together. By the old gods, she was the most gorgeous woman he had ever encountered, he mused, shifting in the uncomfortable saddle in search of a better position, an impossible thing with Alexandra behind him. 

And not just that, she was perfect in any way he could think of; he had never felt so spellbound by a woman before. 

Gilderoy, having apparently noticed his lingering looks caressing Annwyn's form, suddenly spoke, startling him. 

"I can't wait to reach the werewolf territory. Do you remember Aryana, Auriel's little sister, have you met her?" his best friend demanded with urgency and seriousness Leodhais had never felt around him before. 

He shook his head, sighing. He hadn't spoken to Aryana, but he remembered her sister all too well. He had tried not to think about her until now because Annwyn's decision to follow him on this journey was surprising and wonderful, but... it really seemed that he was just leading her to meet Auriel. And didn't the woman, the first woman he had ever fallen in love with, deserve to be spared meeting his latest, his final fling? 

The sound that left his lips at the thought was almost a growl, and Alexandra's arms tightened around him, even as Gilderoy, translating the sound correctly, said, "Oh, right, about that. I wish enough time had passed for Auriel to have any definite news for you, but you might just not be that lucky; she's bound to tell you that it's too early to know. In that case, the only thing you can do is to prepare yourself for the least welcome outcome, think what you would do if... If I were you," he advised in a half-whisper, leaning closer to prevent his words from carrying to Annwyn, "I would openly tell Annwyn what had transpired between you and Auriel before we reach the werewolf territory, it's in the past after all. Give her some time to get used to the idea before she meets the other woman. And then those at Alaric's court..." he added on a sigh, shaking his head as if to free it of those unpleasant thoughts before he let Buttercup fall behind, apparently wishing to ponder his own problems right now rather than Leodhais'. 

They rode with only a couple of short breaks for the women and the boy, less used to riding than the men, to rest and have a bite to eat until the day's golden light started to morph into twilight and they arrived, after a very long stretch of inhabited land that was just as muddy as that around The Gate but treeless, at an inn. 

"I think we should spend the night here," Peregrine said, his eyes darting across the bleak landscape before he looked at all of his companions in turn, seeking their agreement. "It will be dark soon, and that's Goblinica there." He nodded towards the horizon where the flat moorland morphed into a low mountain range. "If we go any farther tonight, we would have to sleep outside."

"Let us stay here, please," Alexandra begged. 

She let herself slip off Asfaleem and teetered on her stiff legs, smiling thankfully at Gilderoy, who had already dismounted and now rushed to her side to steady her.

He was happy about this decision as much as Alexandra but for a different reason. It just felt like the safer option. Having spent most of the day alone, at the end of their group, he noticed that they were not alone. By now, he was almost certain that they were being followed, but he hadn't talked about to Peregrine yet, despite his curiosity. The dragon shifter knew, he was certain, and it seemed that he didn't consider whomever trailed them a threat. Gilderoy knew that Peregrine would talk to him about it eventually. 

And he did, after they got rooms and ordered dinner, took their luggage off the tired horses and took care of them, with Freddie and Fiona's help while Leodhais and the two women carried their bags inside and divided the rooms they were given. Then, after a simple but wholesome meal served by the landlord and his wife, attending to the only guests they had tonight personally, while they engaged in a cheerful conversation with them, ignorant of who, upon her insistence, Fiona and Freddie were, Peregrine took Gilderoy aside, to the fireplace illuminating the large room.

"I know you noticed. We've been followed ever since we found Fiona. There was one of them keeping an eye on us in her world, I can sense at least two now. Dragon shifters, simple... observers, it would seem."

"Highlanders?" Gilderoy asked, tearing his eyes from the dancing flames to look in Peregrine's silvery orbs. 

He shook his head. "Just ordinary dragons." His eyebrows drew into a pensive frown, letting Gilderoy know that this puzzled him, that there was a theory brewing in Peregrine's head, which he wasn't ready to share yet.

Gilderoy would wait. "How are we to behave until we know what this means?" he asked simply, letting his eyes find Fiona and Freddie, Annwyn and Alexandra, all of them chatting cheerfully to the inn keepers, the dragon shifter couple who now sat in Peregrine's and Gilderoy's seats.

"So far, they seem to mean no harm. They are simply following us. I'm sure they know who Fiona is," he said, frown deepening, "and thus they know where we are taking her."

Gilderoy frowned too, following Peregrine's example and turning back to the flames so no one could read his expression. It was pointless to alarm the women so far. But how could two random dragon shifters know anything about their quest, and in the first place about Fiona, whom they seemed to have found before them, if he understood well what Peregrine had just told him, when Alaric himself only found out about her a couple of weeks ago?

Peregrine, the only one who could read his face, laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I only wanted you to know so you would help me watch our charges, keeping in mind that we are not alone. So far, our shadows mean no harm. Should their intentions change, I'll deal with them easily. But before it comes to that, I'd like to know with whom their loyalties lay."

Peregrine already had a feeling about that, Gilderoy thought, casting an inconspicuous sideways glance at his pensive friend. He simply needed to prove that instinct before he would share more information. 

He reached out and laid his hand on the dragon shifter's shoulder in his turn before he retutned to the table, leaving him alone to think.

Peregrine was an admirable man; Gilderoy would forever be thankful to Alaric for making their paths cross.