“But otherwise, I leave it all up to you,” said Dathor. “You are prepared to take command of the brigade once I have left?”
“Yes, sir,” said Lashrud.
Dathor glanced at Aerhril. “And you, pack your things. Ask for help if you need it. You’ll need nice dresses. Pack a trunk.”
A trunk? “Where are we going?” she said. Belatedly, “Sir?”
He smirked a little when she tacked that on. “We are going to Bilkwood, my lady. The High Chieftain has held it for weeks now. He and his army took it around the same time as we attacked here.”
Before the Valaedor conquered the Cirdan elves, they had their own high king, and he resided at Bilkwood. It was the old capital of the Silvarenna. The rank of the elf who presided over it now was only envivtain, of course. And he would be dead, she supposed, if the orcs had taken it. Killed, his wife raped publicly, just like here.
Despite the fact that she had fallen to Dathor’s side, she still could not help the rage that surged in her at the thought of it. She supposed her loyalty to her people could not be entirely extinguished.
He took her by the chin. “Yes, yes, I know. I see that look in your eyes.”
She tried to move her face away, but he held her fast, forcing her to look at him.
“Before we leave, we must call upon Elrion,” he said.
“What?” She was thoroughly confused at this point.
“And,” he said, “we have little time to waste, as the High Chieftain expects my presence as soon as possible. So, get someone to pack your trunk and put on something appropriate, and we will call upon Elrion mid-morning. We will be on the road in a carriage by noon.”
Noon? She gaped at him. It was impossible what he was asking. “There is no possible way to do so much in such little time,” she said to him, tossing her hair a little in irritation.
“Sir,” he said, grinning at her, enjoying himself.
“Sir,” she echoed.
“You’ll be in the carriage at noon, my lady,” he said. “If your trunk isn’t, if you must spend the entire time with me without clothing, well, I suppose I won’t complain.”
Her eyes widened.
“Make it happen,” he said. “Off with you.”
She huffed. “I knew you were going to be awful.” A pause. “Sir.”
He shrugged. “Have I ever been anything other than awful, my lady?”
She stalked off, muttering curses under her breath.
Thatman.
29
DATHOR WAS LEFTwith Lashrud, who gazed into Aerhril’s wake, a puzzled expression on his face. “She is easy with you. Even after everything you have visited upon her.”
“She’s formidable in her way,” said Dathor.
“They say she’s your childhood sweetheart or something of that nature,” said Lashrud, turning back to him.
“No,” he said curtly.
“But it’s something, sir. And bringing her with you, in finery, to the High Chieftain? What are you planning?”
Well, this was what he got for having them both here at the same time when he delivered the news. He should have simply gone back into her room, and they could have schemed together. As it was, he had to do all of it alone, and he didn’t have much time to get it straight.
All because he cared what the orcs thought of him?
