"We're now entering Brendire." Qwarten announced in a matter-of-fact tone many hours later. They had travelled uneventfully all day, and now the sun was setting, just as they crossed the border. 

Kahiri pulled her jacket tighter around her body as a chilly breeze nipped her. Then she looked up into the overcast sky as it lost the last rays of the sun. The rustle of leaves in the breeze reminded her of the greater abundance of trees in this country. She turned to Qwarten. "Is Brendire still in the borders of the Kaborian Republic?" 

Qwarten's lips twitched into an amused smirk. "You're joking, right?" 

Kahiri frowned. "No, I'm not. I'm actually curious." 

"Well, this entire continent is Kaborian territory." 

"Oh, okay." Kahiri gave a small nod. 

"Anyway, see that grove of trees over there?" Qwarten pointed into the horizon. "We should stop there for tonight." 

Kahiri and the others nodded and fell silent. 

******************** 

Ten minutes later, the Tereslars had set up a camp and lit a fire. Now Qwarten, Erok, and Bernard relaxed on logs and smoked their pipes. Meg had mysteriously disappeared into the ladies' tent, Chris was busy feeding the horses and Swedo aimlessly paced. Kahiri, on other hand, focused on preparing for the coming battle. 

After planting the target in the ground, Kahiri backed a few yards away, closed her left eye, carefully aimed, and released the arrow with a startled jump as Swedo screamed loudly several yards away. 

Kahiri dashed urgently toward the excited man. "What is it, Doctor?" 

Swedo pointed eagerly into the distance. "See those bushes over there?" 

"Yeah, what about them?" 

"They're loaded with kodaria berries, the healthiest fruit grown in this land!" 

Kahiri furrowed her brow. "Are you kidding me? You were screaming over some berries?" 

Now Swedo gave Kahiri a disbelieving frown. "Yes, why not?" 

The archer shook her head. "Never mind. So did you need some help picking a few?" 

"It certainly would be appreciated." 

As the two passed by Chris, who was now sitting on a boulder nearby the horses, Kahiri motioned for him to join them. With a shy smile, he leapt to his feet and ran over to them. "What're we doing?" 

"Swedo would like to pick some kodaria berries. Apparently they're really healthy." 

Swedo shook his head in vigorous affirmation. "They're packed with energy, perfect for pulling an all-nighter or performing great physical feats." 

Chris smiled enthusiastically. "I'm down with that." 

"Now be very careful," Swedo began, "because those thorns are extremely sharp, and the leaves are poisonous." 

"What happens if we touch the leaves?" asked Kahiri. 

"You'll get an ugly rash and your skin will become inflamed. I have some ointment if you do touch it, but—" 

Kahiri silenced Swedo with a hand gesture. "But it's easier to prevent something than to alleviate it."  

"Yes." Swedo replied as he bent down in front of a bush. "So just reach carefully around thorns and leaves, and you'll be just fine." 

Kahiri sighed, bent on her knees, and began picking the dark purple berries one by one. This was going to take much longer than she'd originally thought. 

********************

After half an hour, twilight had descended on the berry-picking party. In the dusk, Kahiri hoisted her bag of berries over her shoulder. "I can't see anymore. Going to touch one of those blasted leaves again." 

Swedo gazed around the patch, squinting in the growing darkness. "I guess we should go back." 

"Okay," Chris replied a moment later. "I'll be back there in a second. Don't wait for me." 

"All right." Kahiri gave Chris a puzzled frown. "Are you sure?" 

"I'll be fine. Just go." 

With a shrug, Kahiri and Swedo trudged back to the camp without Chris. 

A few minutes later, Kahiri and Swedo stowed their buckets of kodaria berries into a large chest. The young archer cleaned her bowstring with a spotless rag. Her archery teacher had taught her years ago that a clean bowstring fired better. Whether that was true or not, she had no clue, but the habit had stuck, and so she'd kept it up ever since. 

Seeing a shadow appear in of the corner of her eye, Kahiri looked up and saw Chris standing before her with a beautiful lavender rose in his hand and a nervous grin on his face. 

A big smile spread across Kahiri's face. "Oh, thank you, Chris!" She took the gorgeous flower from his hands. After taking a quick sniff of its fresh fragrance, she said, "It's lovely." 

Chris nodded. "Almost as lovely as you, Kahiri." 

"Thank you." she replied softly, a blush beginning to appear on the edges of her face. 

After staring at Kahiri for an awkward moment, Chris began bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Well, I see you're busy, but I just figured you'd enjoy the little gift." he finally explained, breaking the silence. "Good night." 

"Good night, Chris. Thanks again." 

"No problem." 

With that, Chris walked off, leaving Kahiri to wonder what conclusion to make of the interaction. 

******************** 

About midday the next day, Kahiri and Bernard sat side-by-side on a supply wagon's front seats, having just finished a lunch of some of Dr. Swedo's excessively salted chicken jerky. 

Bernard took a gulp of water from his canteen before he chuckled and pointed at the horses pulling their supply wagon. "Isn't it funny how my horse is rarin' to go, pulling at his harness like there's no tomorrow, while yours is all relaxed and calm like he knows something mine don't?" 

Kahiri nodded absentmindedly. "Yeah." 

Bernard looked at the young woman inquisitively and squinted his one good eye. "There's somethin' on your mind, isn't there?" 

Kahiri snapped to attention. "Oh, no, sir! It's nothing. I guess I just wasn't paying much attention." 

"It's about that rose Chris gave ya last night, isn't it? You've been twisting it through your fingers every free moment." 

Kahiri smiled a bit at the old man's persistence. "Yeah, you've got me. It's just that I'm not sure how to react to him." 

"Well, how do ya feel about it?" 

"I mean, I'm really flattered, but he's gotta be about fifteen or sixteen years old, and I'm twenty. I find a gap like that pretty uncomfortable, but I don't know how to turn him down." 

"Ya seemed to explain it pretty darn well to me just now." 

"Yeah, it's just ... it's just I don't know how he'd take it." 

Bernard put his hand reassuringly on Kahiri's shoulder. "Believe me young lady, a young man's life is filled with such disappointments and sorrows. It's how most men grow. Now if I were you, I'd practice some honesty, and let your words flow as the crow flies. Let the chips fall where they may." 

Kahiri nodded with realization. "Thanks, Bernard. That really helps." 

"It's no problem. I'm glad I could be of some use to you." He gave the young woman a warm smile. 

********************

After the men set up camp that evening, they sat around the fire and smoked their pipes like last evening, this time with Swedo accompanying them. Again, Meg isolated herself in the ladies' tent, and Chris began feeding the horses. From a ways off, Kahiri watched him work with a cheery bounce to his step and a boyish grin on his face. Then her heart sank as she realized that the cause of his happy demeanor was probably thoughts of her running through his head. After closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she stepped up to the young man and cleared her throat. 

"Hey ... hey, Chris. How are you?" Kahiri began awkwardly. 

Chris gave Kahiri a big grin. "I'm doing great, how about yourself?" 

"Good," she replied with a nod. "I just ... I just had something to tell you. Please don't take it the wrong way." 

Chris raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "What's that?" 

"Well, last night, you were very upfront and told me you think I'm lovely. I assume that means you ... are interested in me?" 

Chris blushed now. "I ... guess that's one way of putting it, yes." 

"Well, to be honest, I really wouldn't feel comfortable with the four or five-year age gap between us..." Kahiri trailed off. 

Chris looked at Kahiri expectantly, eagerly waiting to hear the conclusion. 

"I hate to break it to you, but we can't be anything more than friends. Let's keep it professional, okay?" 

Chris was clearly disappointed, but he put a brave face on. "I understand." He reached out for a handshake, "No hard feelings." 

Kahiri smiled slightly. "Thanks for understanding." 

The young man tightened his lips and nodded before getting back to work. Kahiri awkwardly lingered for a second more before turning on her heel and heading off to the ladies' tent to settle in for the evening. 

******************** 

A/N: So there you have chapter 3! I'm sorry if this wasn't quite as exciting as previous chapters, but the action is coming, I promise. I just needed some filler as our heroes traveled. And I do feel I got some good character building done, at least for Kahiri, Chris, and Bernard.

Anyway, if you've enjoyed this chapter, please remember to give it a vote and some comments. That would certainly make my day. :)

Well, I don't have any story-related questions, so here's a picture of Kahiri's horse, Dusty!

Totally random, but if you could only have one pet, what would it be?

Anyway, have a nice day! I hope to see you in the comments and the next update. :D