Hellrien watched her face reflecting dimly from the water surface in the small washtub. It looked nasty. She looked at her fingers. They were calm and steady. The caravan would arrive in Stock this evening. Hopefully. And in the meantime? She could only do her job.
Her brain was working feverishly. Was there anything more she could do, something she hadn’t thought of before? No… she was pretty sure she had done everything she could to be prepared for a job like this. She glanced at the sun. It was morning. She lit her pipe for the first time this morning. Some of Cole’s guards were watching her. They had dark circles under their eyes.
Taraborn crawled out of his tarp, rolling his shoulders. ”Sleep well, lass?” he asked.
”I did”, Hellrien smiled. ”How ’bout you?”
”I prefer t' sleep on a comfortable bed with a beautiful woman but I guess I can live withou' tha' fer now”, Tara said, shrugging.
”Instead of a tarp next to an ugly woman, is that what you're saying?” Hellrien suggested, sticking out her tongue.
”I have t' disagree with ya on that”, Tara said, chuckling a little. ”Though if'n ye wantin' me to prove it ye'll 'ave t' wait till tonight.”
”Yer gonna pick yerself a beautiful hobbit lass from Stock, are ya now?”
”I were talking about ye callin' yerself ugly”, said Tara, shaking his head.
”I’m not fishing out for compliments, seriously”, Hellrien chuckled. ”Okay, let’s go! The caravan is moving.”
”Don’ mean I didn’t mean it.”
