Year of the Boar, Eleventh Month, Day 10.

 As anticipated, last evening was a delightful affair; the minstrels were superb and I felt a wave of nostalgia at hearing some tunes which are popular in the south of the Kingdom. It dissipated quickly once memories of growing up under Mother's regime surfaced and I grew angry as I thought about her treatment of me and of Father. The wonderful atmosphere in the inn did not allow me to dwell upon those feelings however, and, before long, I found myself tipsy from mead and dancing along with everyone else. If this is what it is like to live without constraints, to behave freely without having to concern oneself with ancient traditions which have no relevance to modern times, without having to worry about Mother's reaction ... I believe I shall like it very much...

I shall not, however, enjoy living with the regret of the evening before... I woke with the most dreadful headache and felt extremely nauseous as did Haru and Keita. The result of too much mead, they tell me. It is not as if I have never drunk an excessive amount of alcohol but this ... mead... it is stronger than anything I have experienced being served at Court... I am told one can develop a tolerance for it over time but it is probably wise to drink significantly less of it than we did last night. 

I could not very well demand that Haru and Keita remained another night and so I was faced with a choice, stay and relax another day to rid myself of this awful feeling and continue alone, or pull myself together and get back on the horse regardless of how dreadful the day was likely to be. I chose the latter; I decided that I preferred to travel with company as far as I could. Keita has now gone east towards Golden Harvest while Haru and I remain together in a vaguely south westerly direction. 

After a perfectly horrid stick or two of trying to stay on the horse and having to stop several times to assuage the nausea that overwhelmed us both, we agreed that we would walk until such time as we felt well enough to ride again. Unfortunately, that time did not come and so we have travelled significantly less distance than I had anticipated. I have told Haru that if she feels well in the morning and I do not, she is to go on without me. As it is now, I do not foresee myself having recovered sufficiently to ride tomorrow but we shall see. 

For now, the light is dying and we are tired and although the night does not promise to be comfortable, I believe sleep will come quickly.