Tur Elisbeth surveyed the campsite for a moment, looking down a Thendryt’s prone form.
“I trust Norngaladh was of help to you?” Lilleduil asked, for she had left the bog-guardian to guard the Tur when they’d entered the camp. Elisbeth had apparently had business of her own to accomplish.
Elisbeth nodded abstractedly, still looking at Thendryt, who opened his mouth to start to say something, then closed it.
“What has happened to the rest of the party?” the Tur asked.
“I think they went off to rest.”
Khalis entered then, having apparently heard news of Elisbeth’s return. He looked down at Thendryt and the Man groaned in displeasure.
“Well met, Khalis,” Elisbeth said. “I am pleased to see you made it back here.”
“Of course I had to carry him,” the Captain said, pointing to Thendryt, who mumbled something under his breath, obviously annoyed at the reminder. Khalis then inclined his head to Lilleduil. “Vendui, Lilleduil. What news on Thendryt?”
Elisbeth was still watching the Man, her brow furrowed. Lilleduil mentally composed her report. She’d found when dealing with Elisbeth that brief and to the point was best. “Arrow wound to the left shoulder. He pulled that one out. Arrow wound to the abdomen. I cut that one out-it didn’t hit anything vital. Slash to the left arm. Stitched that and poulticed everything. No sign of fever so far, but you are a better healer than I, hiril. You might want to look at him yourself. Postoneth was most helpful with the teas. I just fed him one for blood loss and he’s had some regular tea as well.”
“That is good work, Lilleduil. You have my thanks.” That was actually gushing praise for the Tur. Lilleduil inclined her head.
“How are you feeling?” Elisbeth asked Thendryt.
“Still alive.”
“His mouth still works,” Lilleduil put in before she could stop herself. Thendryt glared at her, but to her surprise, Elisbeth smiled a little.
“I am pleased to hear that Thendryt,” the Tur declared. “It would sit ill with me if you were not.” The Man did not respond to that.
“Saves me carrying you to Imladris, Thendryt,” Khalis remarked cheerfully. Elisbeth turned to look at him and Lilleduil, who thought she detected the slightest bit of frost in the air.
Her inner warning bell clanging loudly, she said, “If you do not mind, I think I shall take a little walk. I need to stretch my legs.” Which was the truth, as she’d been sitting by Thendryt’s side for hours. And was very much more politic than saying I feel that things are about to get very tense and I want out of here!
She has actually started for the doorway when she heard the Tur command, “I would prefer you stay at the moment, Lilleduil.”
So much for that idea! Sighing inwardly and nodding in polite resignation, she turned back and seated herself by the campfire, taking up her abandoned teacup once more.
“I would like to know what happened with the attack and how it was that Thendryt came to be so wounded,” Elisbeth told Khalis.
The Captain shrugged. “His skills were not up to the task, Elisbeth.” The Tur’s eyebrow arched imperiously.
With his usual disregard for Lilleduil’s handiwork, Thendryt actually tried to lunge up and grab Khalis, but the captain was beyond the Man’s reach.
“And what task would that be, exactly?” the Tur inquired, resting her hand upon Thendryt’s chest to restrain him from hurting himself further.
“My skills…are fine, Captain.” Unable to rise because of Elisbeth’s gentle restraint, the Man hurled his mug in Khalis’s general direction. It missed. Lilleduil sighed, got up and went to retrieve the cup.
Khalis ignored the missile fire, explaining, “the encampment was much better prepared than we expected. There were solid crafting areas and many supplies. So it was not a case of them bringing weapons and armor in, they were in fact making them there! They had three well built forges with bellows-and that means steel.”
“The smoke blocked my view…” Thendryt said quietly. Elisbeth gave him a solemn nod.
Seating herself at the fire once more, Lilleduil put in, “There were well-made weapons there already, and supplies of good quality ore.”
“At least by his temper he is well on the road to recovery,” Khalis said, looking down at Thendryt once more.
“Please stick to the report on what happened, Khalis,” the Tur said, with one of those gentle smiles that said she was serious.
“Very well,” Khalis said at the same time Thendryt declared, “I’ve been worse.”
Lilleduil refreshed her cup.
“I would like to know all that passed and how much damage we did to the orc,” the Tur commanded.
“Thendryt agreed to burn the tents to create a diversion whilst the others went about the heavy task of destroying the forging ability and rendering what forged metal work there was back to the molten state,” the Captain reported. “Then we withdrew by way of the river. We could have been here sooner, but we allowed time for Thendryt to recover his breath. Then he walked towards the river as we were speaking and fell unconscious.” Thendryt’s expression darkened at Khalis‘s version of events.
Though she knew it was probably best to keep her head down, Lilleduil did want Elisbeth to know one thing. “I asked him if he were injured. He told me he was fine.”
“Luckily Lilleduil heard his fall and his life was spared,” Khalis added. “That is twice he has dodged a watery death now. The man is lucky.”
“Or fated…” Elisbeth said softly, regarding Thendryt with curiosity.
Lilleduil kept her head down and sipped her tea with extreme concentration, peering into the dark depths. Elisbeth not only held the surly Man in high regard, her manner approached doting.
“Or perhaps the hand of the lady has another task for him in mind,.” Khalis mused. “Either way he is apparently still with us and still grumpy.”
Thendryt’s face went frighteningly blank as he actually got to his feet. Lilleduil could see fresh blood staining the bandages and swallowed the protest she wanted to make. Even if he were to actually spill his guts, the rock head would probably just tread on them! He managed to walk over to Khalis, who simply watched him come.
“I am many things, Captain. Lucky is not one of them. If you’ll excuse me.” And he stalked out into the night. As usual.
“Time will tell, Thendryt. Time will tell,” the Captain was saying to his back.
Lilleduil seethed inwardly. They are just going to let him wander around outside? With holes in him? Why did I even bother working on him? He’s probably going to faint and roll down the hill this time! She heard a familiar chitter outside from another direction and set her cup down carefully, as she was sorely tempted to do a bit of cup-flinging herself. Rising, she went to the doorway closest to the river and there she found Norngaladh.
He could feel I was upset. I need to watch that. But she always felt better, more grounded, when one of her friends was around. Norn followed her back to the fire, standing behind her as if he were her appointed bodyguard.
“So if I am to understand your report correctly, three of you attacked the forges and Thendryt alone attacked the tents?” Elisbeth was asking when she returned.
“Yes, Elisbeth, as the forge areas were in different locations and our initial move against the first one was done loudly and with prejudice to ensure it got the attention of those nearby, thus providing a distraction for Thendryt,” Khalis responded. “Perhaps the task we gave him was too much to be expected from one of menkind, I do not know. But their strengths and stamina are not as our own kind.”
Lilleduil turned to Norngaladh, patting him on the head to hide her shock at Khalis‘s statement. It took a moment for her to notice that Elisbeth was beckoning to her.
Wonderful. My turn now. Because talking to the Tur always goes so well for me… She had learned the myriad tongues of beasts and how to communicate with them. With long struggle and practice, she’d learned how to talk to Men and recently, she felt she was finally making progress with her own people. But learning to speak Elisbeth was another matter entirely.
“This is something we have tempered since the company formed, as sometimes they have enlightened thoughts and ideas,” Khalis was continuing as she walked over. Faint praise you give, Captain. Lilleduil decided in that instant that she was going to encourage her young Warden friend, who was full of enlightened thoughts and ideas and sharp as a whip besides, to return home to her own people; always providing Eirallyn had not reached that conclusion already herself. You deserve a captain who has full faith in you, Eirallyn. I will not have you waste your few years where you are not appreciated. I erred in encouraging you down this path.
“Is there anything else you would like to add concerning the attack on the camp, to further my understanding?” Elisbeth asked her.
“I probably could have fired the tents more easily than Thendryt. But I needed to disrupt the earth beneath the forges to break them, so it was perhaps best I was assigned as I was,” Lilleduil said. “My concerns deal with the aftermath.”
Elisbeth looked from Khalis to Lilleduil. “So you are both saying implicitly that the wounds Thendryt has sustained are a fault of his weakness and inability to complete the task he was set properly?”
“No that is not what I am saying.“ Lilleduil groaned inwardly at yet another failure on her part to properly communicate. I meant to express that someone who can throw fire can fire tents more easily than someone who has to run about with a torch. “I don't think he was weak. He was facing many foes.”
Khalis concurred. “No. I am saying his wounds are what come with serving in the Warband.”
“But you both implied that he was not up to the task set from what I am hearing.”
“He is perfectly competent as a warrior,” Lilleduil protested. Hardly a boon companion to drink with, but the Man can fight.
“Yet you stated yourself Lilleduil that you could have done the task better.“
Lilleduil shrugged, giving up on trying to communicate her point. I said more easily, not better.
“If he was Osilivren he would have faired better,” Khalis said. “But he is not Osilivren. He is Thendryt, one of menkind.”
“It is also possible that I might have been overwhelmed,” Lilleduil admitted. “But I have allies I may draw upon. And breaking the forges was the harder task.”
“Was it expected that he would be overwhelmed when he was set the task?” Elisbeth asked.
Lilleduil started at that idea. Despite the by-play between Thendryt and Khalis before the attack, she honestly didn’t think the Captain had tried to send the Man to his death.
“Lilleduil has not the armour to withstand multiple attacks, Elisbeth.”
Elisbeth looked between the two of them in turn.
Khalis declared with a wonderful lack of humility, “I could have done it. After all my skills are superior.”
“I have no quarrel with the task I was set to do,” Lilleduil stated.
Ignoring her, Elisbeth spoke to Khalis. “Yet she feels she might have undertaken the task with more ease.”
“But Thendryt could not have shattered the forges as I did,” Lilleduil insisted. “Again, I have no quarrel with how he handled the task given him.”
Khalis was obviously beginning to be annoyed that his judgment was being questioned.
“Perhaps if you were there Elisbeth you might have done differently, but you were not.” His tone was as cool as Lilleduil had ever heard it.
Elisbeth’s was more chill yet. “Which is why I am trying to ascertain clearly what happened and also to learn the fitness of our one warrior of the race of men who serves with us. If you are saying menkind are not up to certain tasks then do we continue our alliance with them?”
They’re quarreling again. I wish they wouldn’t do that. Lilleduil did not know if this was the usual state of affairs, but certainly Khalis and Elisbeth had been at odds since she had joined the Warband, what with them batting ultimate command back and forth between them like a shuttlecock. It did not give her confidence in the Warband’s future.
Norngaladh, sensing her unease, nudged her with a worried chitter. She moved closer to him and began scratching his twiggy hump in the places he liked best. The contact calmed her.
“You should speak with him perhaps on his fitness not I,” Khalis was telling Elisbeth stiffly. “As for the sons of menkind riding with us that is a decision for Lord Elrond to make.”
Lilleduil peeked around Norngaladh to stare at Khalis in disbelief. Did his lack of faith in Men truly run so deep?
“You are the captain of our warband and more than capable of judging who is worthy and able to fight within our ranks and who is capable of the tasks that need doing,” Elisbeth said, batting that ball directly back to him.
Khalis rested the palm of his left hand upon the pommel of his sword.
Lilleduil wasn’t sure what the gesture meant, but against her better judgment, she decided to join the conversation. “He doesn’t trust us.”
Neither of her superiors seemed to hear her. Khalis said, “I am wondering why for the first time you require an extensive report in the field, Elisbeth?”
“If we are endangering lives by leading menkind into situations beyond their capabilities then we are unwise leaders,” came Elisbeth’s response.
“The facts are simple. The task set upon us is done and we have one wounded. I would say we faired well.”
Lilleduil rubbed her temple, feeling the beginning of a headache.
“I am asking this now because we have got to the point where few men serve with us. Yes, the task was very well done; but every wound that is taken weighs heavily upon my heart,” the Tur declared. “Be it a wounded elf or man. I will not willingly endanger those who are not up to the tasks set them.”
“Then you should speak with him and decide yourself if he is up to the task, no?”
“I was not there, you were - both of you. You saw what happened...and you yourself Khalis suggested he might not be.”
“I am simply saying if it was Osilivren and not Thendryt there than we might not now have one of our number wounded. But we have and we will deal with it.”
That was too much for Lilleduil. “You don't know that, Captain. We‘ve all been wounded before,” she protested.
“Those were not your initital words, Khalis, but if that is what you believe, I will accept that as your assessment,” Elisbeth said.
Khalis turned his attention to Lilleduil. “No I do not know, Lilleduil. You are right. I just speak from experience.”
“Permission to speak freely?” Lilleduil asked.
“Of course,” Elisbeth said, looking inquiringly at Lilleduil, who turned her attention to Khalis.
“You are not helping things, expressing these opinions,” she told the Captain. “Thendryt did the task you set him to. And you are missing the point. Which is that he does not trust us. Or all of us, at least.”
“Enlighten me then, Lilleduil,” Khalis said. “What evidence have you?”
Having interposed herself in the conversation, Lilleduil steeled herself to go on. “The two of you seem to have some sort of competition going on. I’ve watched you. And because Thendryt is determined to prove that Men are the equal of Elves, he would not admit any weakness…which was why he lied to me when I asked him directly if he were wounded…and subsequently endangered the whole mission.“
“Men will never be our equal physically,” Khalis declared. “To speak thus is madness.”
“That is not the point!” Lilleduil snapped, then caught herself.
“Perhaps Thendryt did not wish to admit to his wounds as you tried to make good your escape?” Elisbeth inquired.
“Thendryt is stubborn,“ Khalis said, seemingly unaware or uncaring of Lilleduil’s lapse of temper.
“No Tur. It was when we were waiting for him to catch his breath that I asked him,” Lilleduil said more calmly. “He would not let me look at him. If he had simply admitted to his injuries, I could have field dressed them there.”
“And you are hostile to him, as is Khalis at times...but we all are part of the same warband and have to learn to put aside our differences.”
Ah yes. We come back to that again. I thought that we might before all of this was done. Lilleduil met Elisbeth’s eyes.
“Hiril, I have never spoken hostilely to Thendryt. He has threatened me. The only person I spoke to in hostile manner about him was you.” So unless you spoke to him of what I told you in confidence…
“Your tone was openly hostile towards Thendryt when you spoke of him to me.”
“But I have been civil to him personally.”
Khalis, seemingly relieved to be out of the line of fire, bent down and poured himself a cup of tea.
“Such hostility cannot be easily disguised, Lilleduil - yes, you might be civil but your feelings show obviously in your demeanor. I saw it here today when I arrived.”
“We were having a discussion about healers' prerogatives,“ Lilleduil said. “And his determination to undo my work.”
Elisbeth looked as if she were almost as weary of the conversation as Lilleduil was.
“Whatever all of your differences are, I wish you to remember that Thendryt fought by our side when we were attacking those camps and followed Khalis' orders at cost to himself.”
“Again, I have no problem with what he did in the camp, hiril.”
Khalis sipped his tea, sitting by the campfire and watching the exchange between Elisbeth and Lilleduil as if it were an entertainment arranged just for him.
“No, but there seem to be lots of issues close to the surface that no one seems to be willing to inform me of,” the Tur said. “'Whatever the true problems are…”
Lilleduil sighed softly. Her headache was getting worse.
“If we have those amongst us who are not capable of tasks then we should not be further endangering their lives,” Elisbeth declared.
“He could have walked back to Mirobel with the rest of us had he just let me treat him. As well as not swallowing some river water.” Lilleduil looked around, noting that Thendryt had still not returned. “And someone ought to fetch him back. He ought not to be up.”
Elisbeth said, “I will go speak with him-alone.”
Khalis set down his tea, took out his sword and began cleaning the seemingly pristine blade by the campfire.
Lilleduil nodded, feeling absolutely exhausted by the conversation and watched Elisbeth leave with a sense of relief.
