It was like he feared... There he stood, holding his horse while looking at the burned remains of what once was the Warhorse Inn, meeting place for the Order and other friends. Ignoring the pain of his wounded hip, he stumbles forward a bit, unwilling to believe what terrible thing happened here. "Turgur, is that you?" the soft voice came from his left side. He turned around slowly and saw the head of the Order, lady Alkawen. Nodding slowly, Turgur stumbles towards her. "It is, milady." He kneeled for his lady, bowing his head to see the scorched grass. "I'm glad to see you're still alive, sir Turgur. We were planning to send out searching parties for lady Fairlain and you. But I'm glad to see you here, despite this grim situation..."
Turgur slowly raised himself again, but as he did so, he felt how his left leg refused further service. With but a soft growl of pain, he dropped back on the ground... Alkawen looked worried at him and with her aid, he managed to get up again. Raising himself to his full length again, he smiles thankfully at her. "What happened here, milady?" When she heard these words, he saw how her expression turns grim, sad even. "There was a fire here, Turgur. Yet not an ordinary one. We think it has been lit by someone..." In the middle of her phrase, Turgur interrupted her. "A what? How could this be possible? I thought there were guards around here as well?" She looked away from the rubble and eyed Turgur again, to answer him: "There was a guard, yes. Fully armoured actually. But he was killed, by a stab in his back." - "Oh I see... Were there any other casualties, milady?" Turgur spoke. "Miss Lyfrid didn't make it out of the Inn. And Wulfthred got wounded badly. But apart from that, there's nothing more but some small burning wounds, sir Turgur. And there's even more... If not for Wulfthred's courageous actions, we'd all be dead now. The door and windows were barred, to keep us inside the burning Inn..."
Turgur frowned as the news became worse and worse. "I... I'm sorry milady." She looked up at the blond man, wondering why he'd say such a thing. "Sorry for what, Turgur?" He didn't dare to look his lady in the eyes when answering. So bowing his head down to look at his feet, he started speaking again: "I swore an oath, milady. I swore to protect and fight for you, milady. I swore to protect and fight for the Order. And I swore that I would gladly give my life while doing so. But on this moment, the moment when I should've been here, I broke my oath. Most likely it would not have made any diffirence, but still..." As he raised his head again, Alkawen saw the glimmer of shame and sorrow in his eyes. "Oh Turgur, nobody can blame you anything. You are here now, and there will be more than enough opportunities still to honour your oath. Besides, imagine that if we weren't able to escape the building, than practically every knight and septarian, every member of the leading staff of the Order would have been killed..."
Suddenly Turgur stumbled forward again. Mumbling something silently, his eyes searched the ruin of the Inn for anything that might point in the direction of the one that did this. "I may not have been here at that moment, but by all that is holy and unholy, I will find this person who did this." Seeing how the man suffers from his wounded leg, she stepped forward and supported the knight. "Milady Alkawen, if I may say so, I do not know if this would have been the work of a true professional. If the intention was to kill the members of the Order and our guest, then why did the attacker not stay to watch the Inn burning? Imagine that one of you would break through the door or window, they or he or she could easily shoot you. Yet on the other hand, if the attacker could sneak behind the guard and stab him... They wanted more than just burning down the Inn. If your word would not be enough for others, than this nail may proof it." Lady Alkawen frowned as she heard the word 'nail'. She looked at the place on the wall where Turgur was pointing at, and suddenly she saw the small, bent piece of iron sticking out of it. "Really now... I didn't see it. But this only proves what we thought already. Though what you are saying, seems logical. This is a real mystery to us, sir Turgur. And then there's this problem with lady Fairlain..."
"What's the matter, milady, if I may ask?" He looked at her with a worried expression on his face. "Apart from you, only she answered my message, sir Turgur. I know she has to come from the northeastern parts of Rohan, but still... I expected her here already. If only nothing happened to her..." He saw how his lady truly looked worried and even a bit scared for the fate of Fairlain. Without hesitating, Turgur answered her: "I volunteer to ride out and search for her milady. I couldn't help you here, but I will help you with this!" Lady Alkawen patted him friendly on his shoulder, smiling faintly. "First you should recover from your wounds, Turgur, before you ride out again. But I thank you for this. Come, let me help you to our home. There you'll receive the proper tending and there you will tell me what happened to you..." Slowly, the two stepped down the stairs of the destroyed building and followed the road to the other side of the valley, in a slow pace...
