If only he could be as carefree as she was, Roland thought, finding amusement in the smallest of things. The infrastructures of a million ideas and memories still persisted in his mind, cluttering his thoughts with these oft used fictions and forgeries. They hung like a cloud over his head, at times like these. Deception required a great number of things; too many interlocking fables, spun threads and conjured stories, but to be honest and truthful required you to memorize nothing. One mistake, one misstep and he would give himself up entirely. Roland was not born Roland, and he had switched monikers and personas as he moved from place to place, careful to never leave a trail, covering his tracks. It was a difficult lifestyle, and yet there had been some comfort in the dissociation of the act, that every new existence he led was impermanent and without contract. Now in the Basin, everyone knew him as Roland, and they were all well aware of what he did best.

Tangere’s airy voice washed over him as she slid into the water, laughter following in her wake. The Thief watched with something akin to envy as the ripples trailed along the stormy gray of her sides, steam billowing across the surface. The hot springs had been Roland’s sanctuary ever since he’d joined the herd in their northern kingdom. How else was he to keep away the biting cold and brittle frost that froze the land over in the bitterest months of Frostfall? But now the sun beat down against his back, and even if he might have longed for the waters to swallow him up, he was content to remain ashore and bask beneath the golden rays.

The Medic did not linger in the springs, and so Roland did not have long to wait before she withdrew and returned to his side at the bank. He couldn’t help but smile as she shook herself, flinching as he was met with a shower of water droplets. “I would be happy to join you,” he responded, bowing out of the way and turning to glance over the sunlit crest of mountains, the barren trees that grew at their roots twisting in the breeze. A walk would be a welcome thing, on such a pleasant day. The Thief would like to stretch his legs, cease deliberation and distract from his apprehension. There was no need to worry about impending responsibilities and heightened expectations- he would take them all in stride as they came. One foot in front of the other. As with now, he thought, as he turned an expectant gaze upon the mare and gestured with a nod towards the burgeoning valley. “Lead the way,” he invited with a sweep of his tail.