'Twas a night-time. The rugged earl left the Mead hall with long strides only to bring his pace to halt upon the entrance. He took a moment to suck in a deep breath, eyes peering into the vague, smoky distance. Though without sparing a greet to the guards, he would keep walking as soon as he felt his hands were trembling.
Régnwald needed some time alone and stalked off into the night and into the one place he could find solitude. There in the stable, he lifted the saddle but he paused in the barest of moments, soon to be continued by a harsh move to hurl it to the ground. Now reeling, his knees also gave way and found the mud. It looked as if the man's nostrils were on fire.
''That bastard... took part in the orchestration of our downfall!'' -- a terrible, angry voice came out.
''O merciful Hunter, I have such need of your mercy now...'' the words spoken with such sincerity, depth and timbre. ''Long since have I been lingering in silence, taken apart from my comrades, my sword-grip and my cause, which I believed was to follow our chief till death-sleep. -- This shouldn't be the way... Nay, 'tis not the law or justice I was taught. Shame.''
His eyes were hard and cold but they softened slightly as his words sank in.
''Béma, this is what I ask of you for mercy. Lend me the patience and strength to stand firm before them. Deliver me from the judgments and trials ahead. Prove they are wrong so that I will pay you a thousand-fold with any sacrifice you ask of me.
...And there's one more thing. Watch over my comrades wherever they may be and grant them peace in a lifetime of war. I ask no more than that.''
