Watching this with concern, Brogan said quietly, "I didn't want to say so before, Anest, but taking this creature with us is hardly fair, both for her and for ourselves. We can take care of ourselves, but I tell you now, this journey is going to be very hard on her. She is a sprite, after all; and don't try telling me otherwise. I have journeyed as far as the Marshes of Morag and seen her like before."
"He knows the difficulties and the dangers," Belloc answered for him, "but there is no choice in the matter for either of them."
Brogan accepted this with an impatient shrug, and they resumed their trek.
When Lily awoke, she was tired but alert. Brushing a strand of hair from her face, Anest said, "How are you feeling?" She could tell that he was worried, so she put a brave face on when she replied, "I didn't mean to fall asleep. Have we come very far?"
"You weren't asleep for very long," he replied. "We've come about another league or two."
"How far is a league?"
"You remember that pond with willow trees around it, beyond the ruins?" she nodded."Well," he continued, "The distance from Belloc's house to the pond is about one league, or three miles, or a little under twenty-four furlongs."