Luthelian stood, considering the items upon her bed: rope, extra clothes, a leather satchel containing a needle and some thread, and a water skin. These, she had pulled out from the corners of her room or bought at the market. She had never been on a longer journey before; her only experience was scouting, a couple days at most, with her father upon the Moors.
Luckily, her family seemed to know how to better prepare her. On the bed was a carefully wrapped packet of rations. Her mother insisted that they had been purchased from a healer who made them especially tasty and full of nutrients that would keep her satisfied. Beside that was her flint box from Lothelian. She smiled, admiring the wooden box and its contents within: a piece of steel looped into an oval and decorated with carvings and scrolling patterns as well as the flint stone faceted into a four-point star. Her sister's craft would come in handy and keep her warm, especially if they ended up going further north. And next to that, were her fur-lined cloak and gloves; gifts from her father.
* * *
"Ada, I want to leave the valley." Luthelian interrupted the silence that pervaded the atmosphere. Her father and she were sitting together on the grassy patch of an overlooking cliff.
Lendir turned a mild gaze upon his daughter, not looking particularly surprised. "You have found a purpose to leave at last, then?"
The chestnut-haired elleth leaned back with her arms set behind her ."As much as I ever will. Lord Dolthafaer is leaving to seek his mother." Gauging her father's impassive expression, she added, "In the East," without the hint of a smile.
Lendir sat up, then. "Luthelian...I must say, I have reservations..."
The grey eyes of the elleth glinted in a flash and the laughter she had been holding broke forth. Her head tilted back slightly and the ends of her tresses touched the grass behind her as she enjoyed the moment.
Meanwhile, her father's shoulders lessened in tension as he released a sigh and shook his head. "A parent always thinks they have their child figured out until they realize what a foolish notion that is. Very well, are you in jest about traveling East or leaving the valley?"
The victorious grin on his daughter's face was enough to assure Lendir that she was finished tricking him for the time being. Luthelian raised a hand and passed a long section of her hair behind her shoulder. "I do intend to leave, but Lord Dolthafaer is heading West."
"What of the rest of the Order?"
Luthelian paused hesitantly as if her father had singled out the one matter she had not resolved with herself. She took a deep breath. "They are my friends and I can write to them. And they will always be in the valley, whereas this opportunity will not."
"Then, what of your House?"
The elleth shrugged as if this answer came easily to her. "I only have a few friends in the Order of the Hammer and Arrow, but they will understand and still be here when I return. My allegiance is to Lord Dolthafaer, and he is the only lord who even knows of me." One bitter yet regretful laugh interrupted her response. "Well, except perhaps the Lord Ambassador."
With a father's instinct, Lendir recognized that all was not well with his daughter and this Ambassador, but he carefully held his tongue, knowing it did little good to fan the sparks of her quick temper. Instead, he turned his gaze to the picturesque valley spread below them. "Very well. I am glad, for I know you have been seeking a chance such as this. You returned a much grown elleth from the Hithaeglir and I hope this journey, though longer, will bring you the same."
Lendir's smile grew and his features softened as Luthelian turned to embrace him tightly. His daughter did not always know the right words to say, but she always made up for it with the passion of her feelings. He knew that this was her way of expressing her thanks and the fact that she would miss him. A dampness quickly gathered in his eyes, for though he knew her to be capable on her own, it would still be the first time he let his daughter depart so far from the reaches of his protection - and such was not an easy request to ask of a father.
