Morvran hated free time. Well, to be exact, he did not hate free time but wasted time. Sitting on the back of a horse for three hours while being accompanied by two of the least interesting people in all of Nilfgaard counted as wasted time in his opinion.

The emperor had more or less thrown him out, his things had already been send of. Not that the general had a choice, if the emperor ordered someone to do something then it was law. But he could have at least warned him a little earlier instead of throwing him out of the palace to get some free time.

Hell, what was he even supposed to do?

He had not been at his private mansion in a long time. A few years at least. It probably wouldn't have been a great thing to return now. And a relaxing time even less. After all, there must have been some kind of damages to the property. If it was for a roof that had to be fixed or the lawn that had grown wild ever since he had left.

It must have looked like a jungle. Ergo, he had work to do.

"Working in my free time.", he mumbled to himself. "Couldn't think of a better thing to do."

Slightly annoyed, he growled, while ordering his stallion to run a little faster. At least he had been able to take his favourite horse with him. The black stallion had been a good companion to the general, always loyal and never tried to carry him on its back.

He liked his horse, since most horses were more honest than men.

Thinking about horses, he remembered a particular horse he had bought a while back. It had been a mere, beautiful and of good breeding. He had planned to ride it, maybe for tournaments and races. However, the mare had turned out to be a pain in the ass. It hated the feeling of people on its back, began to run whenever it pleased and never listened to the orders of the rider. But despite everything, he couldn't part from the animal.

To be honest, he had even taken a liking to it. He loved challenges, especially when it came to horse training. But it seemed that this case was more of a failure than a possible win in the end.

Still, he wasn't planning on getting rid of the mere.

Lost in thoughts, Morvran wondered how the mere would look like now. It had refused to take food from anyone but him and even then it had tried to make a fuss about it. He had ordered the servants to let the horse run outside freely so it wouldn't starve to death. Maybe it had ran away.

But the chances of it becoming obedient while he had been not present seemed slim.

So that was another thing he had to take care of. However, this seemed a lot more appealing to the general. In fact, he was a little thrilled to see the mere again.

He had really liked that horse.

Driven by his upcoming excitement, he ordered his horse to gallop faster. Now, he was able to feel the wind on his face and the movements of his horse beneath him. This was what he loved so much. The feeling of freedom in the back of a horse.

"General, wait for us!", a female voice suddenly called out.

Bothered, he rolled his eyes and let the horse run even faster.

The two people the emperor had ordered to accompany him were a female mage and a soldier. To be fair, Morvran did see the point of taking them with him, after all it was war. But he really did not want to be around the two at the moment.

Right now, he wanted to be alone. His two companions would find the way without him anyways.

With a broad smile on his face, he chased with his horse through the woods, letting the long grass dance would the hooves, while the shadows of the tree trunks gave some nice coldness. Behind him, the calls of the mage became quieter and quieter until the voices finally died down and he was left with pure silence.

Relieved, the general let the reins of the horse a little loose in his grip, allowing the stallion to run freely. Happy about the new freedom, it ran even faster and almost threw him of its back.

"Ho, careful my friend!", Morvran laughed. "Never bite the hand that feeds you."

The horse seemed to understand and settled down a little, while the woods turned into white fields of colourful flowers golden corn. It wasn't time to harvest yet, allowing the general to take in the perfect beauty of nature in its full blossom.

With a deep breath, he ordered the stallion to walk slower, reached down and picked a flower, that he was able to grab while passing. It was a tulip, not a very impressive flower but pretty enough. It smelled heavenly, so much better than the smell that was stuck in the air in the capital. The smell reminded him of simpler days, when he had been a little boy and his mother had taken him and his sister out to make flower crowns.

Struck by nostalgia, he sighed and pressed the flower to his muscular chest.

"Those times... Sometimes I want to go back.", he laughed, leaning over to the side to look his stallion in one eye. "You wouldn't understand as a horse. But if you were human you would wish to go back too. I had a nice childhood and my mother loved me a lot. I even had a good relationship with my sister."

He laughed, only to sigh again.

"And now I need to care about marriages and future empresses. And war. Gods, I hate war. It's so exhausting. Everybody hates me for winning."

Suddenly, his horse stopped, tearing the general from his thought. It was so abruptly, he almost feel out of the saddle.

Confused, Morvran raised his chin and looked around, only to look into an unfamiliar face.

Halfway puzzled and halfway disturbed, you looked up to Morvran, while holding a basket full of flowers under one arm. The expression that was shown on your face surely wasn't a nice one. It was that kind of expression people used to look at a madman.

"Do you always talk to your horse, sir?", you asked in a tone, only farmers talked.

Ashamed, his face began to turn red.

"How long have you been listening?", he asked, too embarrassed to think straight.

"Gods. Way too long, I'd say."