Wiping his bleary, watering eyes, he bit his lip and sipped his wine in an attempt to console himself.
He had counted the pennies several times and had frowned a few times. They’d paid the Company their dues and had just scraped enough to pay the debtor back, with enough goods to make the profit up elsewhere. It had not been the best of markets for sales, but it had been a fantastic turnout, and a fantastic start to their Company trading in Rivendell with potential for much more success down the line.
As he cupped his… well, cup, in his hands, staring into the elven Dorwinion Red, savouring that fruity crisp flavour, he saw the moment where his heart sank again in his mind. Deorla had looked so strange, that evening. Something hadn’t been right, and when he saw her back in that familiar black guise, trying to slink away over the bridge by night without anyone seeing her, it felt like the joy had drained from him in an instant.
“Where are you going?” he’d asked.
“I think you know the answer to that” she said, looking at him with those eyes, the mask covering up the rest.
At that, he’d gotten angry. He’d realised that elf had won, and there was no way he could stop her from going. She was going away with her Elven master, and he may never see her again. He walked forward, grabbing her reins as if defying her.
“You can’t leave! Not now. You have a home here, with us. You belong with us. Don’t go with her, she only sees you as a tool to wield. She doesn’t care for you like we do. After everything we’ve built together”.
“I’m going up to the camp outside the town. I want to be alone right now, I’m sure you’ll respect that. I’ll be leaving next week”.
“Please don’t go” he almost pleaded, putting his hand on her arm. “You’re the only thing I’ve ever had that I could call family”.
She had looked at him, but there was no expression there. She only merely repeated what she had said, and turned her horse away as he let go of her arm, before walking her horse away and up the hill. Furley had turned away, not watching her leave. Somehow, he knew, this time would be the most painful.
Looking down again at his wine, he drank the rest and mused at the look on the debtor’s face when he’d pay him back in full, with interest, and how surprised he’d be. He tried to fill himself with that vision to distract himself from what had just happened. That, and as he sat alone in the Hall of Fire, he smiled as he watched Daphne conversing with Ana and Amaken, and the new girl they’d been chatting to, almost with a smile on her face. Grumpy, my backside…
