Three horses, three people.
The mountain road wound north, flanked by impenetrable woods.
According to what they had learned from passersby, they had entered the lands of House Corbray of Heart's Home.
Aegon rode at the front.
He did not look back, but he could hear the hoofbeats of the two horses behind him.
One steady, one light.
The steady one was Brienne's. The light one was Arya's.
He should have parted ways with them after leaving Bread Town.
But Arya kept following him, neither close nor far behind.
Brienne followed her, keeping the same distance.
Like two tails.
Aegon reined in at a fork and looked back at Arya.
She reined in too, looking away and pretending to watch the birds on the branches beside the road.
"Why are you following me?"
"Does this road belong to you?"
"No."
"Then I'm going my way, and you're going yours. How is that following you?"
Aegon did not argue.
He turned back and continued on.
A very soft huff came from behind him.
As the sky darkened, the mountain road still stretched ahead. There were no villages in sight in either direction, only the sound of wind passing through the treetops.
Brienne urged her horse forward to ride beside Aegon. "There's an inn ahead. I saw it when I passed this way."
"How far?"
"About three miles."
Aegon looked up at the sky.
The clouds were thick, the moon had yet to rise, and the mountain road was already hard to make out.
"We'll rest tonight and travel on tomorrow."
Arya did not object.
Her horse had begun to limp.
The three rode farther along the mountain road until a two-story building of stone and timber appeared beside it.
A faded sign hung outside, painted with a drinking cup and a