Shafir felt a bit dumbfounded by the information that Eliqinor put forward. He had never been upfront about things like this before, and he really didn't want him to be. Who knew what information he'd be spewing out and Shafir really didn't want to know about Eliqinor's love life? To have this man be so honest about things made his skin crawl. 

The ride went on without a hitch after their conversation. Riding on in relative silence for a few hours before the sun began beating down on them. They often stopped and gave the horses water. Shafir more than wanted this ride to be over and as they got into a shaded spot in the road, a voice rang out. 

"How is your mother?" Eliqinor must have decided conversation would make the ride go faster, while Shafir would rather have silence. This way, neither of them would argue on the ride and start a fight. Shafir could only imagine if Eliqinor said something that pissed him off and Shafir launched himself from the saddle of his horse to fight Eliqinor. That would be the most inconvenient. Especially if either of them got hurt, and it didn’t relate to the mission. The Empress would never let Shafir forget it. 

"As good as one can be. Your father and uncle have appointed her Head Lady of servant affairs." Shafir rocked back and forth on his saddle as Nabu trotted down the dirt road. Shafir's mother was a hardworking woman, and he was happy she had gotten the position she deserved. He never understood why she didn't take the position sooner. Though he guessed that was just the way she was. To say Eliqinor was a workaholic was nowhere as bad as his mother. 

"That's good." Eliqinor kept his eyes forward as they rode, a sign that he was surveying their surroundings in case anything happened. Shafir's eyes were elsewhere, of course, watching the way Eliqinor rode his horse with such confidence. It has been a long time since they had gone on a mission together and even though the other sat all day doing paperwork, he rode like he was in the saddle daily. What to expect from the leader's proud son of the House of Honors? "Have you spoken to her?"

"I write to her." Shafir noticed how quickly Eliqinor looked at him from the corner of his eye. This next part was definitely going to piss off Eliqinor, as he was a family man, after all. Shafir braced himself for a lecture from his captain as he spoke once more, "Sometimes…" 

"You don't go to see her?" Eliqinor's expression was one of concern, as if Shafir not seeing his mother was unusual. While the youngest of the two loved his mother, sometimes it was easier not to see her. He didn't want to see how the curse would warp his mother into someone who saw him as a problem. 

"There is no need. She is a busy woman, and she is well." Shafir wanted to shut down the conversation as soon as possible. He was not one for idle chatter about family matters, let alone with Eliqinor, who could probably talk about it at length with how large his family was. Shafir just had him and his mother. Yet it was hard to bring himself to see her. "I pay one squire to check up on her." 

"Is that not your duty as her son?" Eliqinor kept probing about Shafir's mother and he could feel his body getting hot with anger. It was none of his business and to pry like this was… was inappropriate! Of course, it was his duty, and that didn't stop the immense guilt he felt for not seeing her. 

"It is, but… We had a disagreement and things are tense right now. I would rather not upset her more…" Shafir wasn't exactly lying. They had a disagreement, and he didn't want to rehash the issue. Though the dispute was 3 years ago, he found it better to be safer than sorry. Nabu could feel Shafir's anger and threw her head around in frustration. That caused Eliqinor's horse to spook slightly, and he eyed Shafir's horse warily. Eliqinor rubbed between the horse's ears and he slowly calmed down.