09-17-2022, 02:59 AM
Episode 56
“Gethyd!” Valeri cried, and her voice quavered with anguish. She took a few steps into the trees to follow after.
“Valerie, remember your young ones! They need you,” Eilwen said.
“But--”
“Stay with them! And free those prisoners. Arm them with the weapons. Hide them in these woods. I’ll bring back your son!”
“Don’t hurt him!” Valerie pleaded as Eilwen followed after the young man. “He’s not himself!”
Eilwen didn’t respond as she crashed into the forest after Gethyd.
She’ll try to chase him down before he gets too far away or runs into guards
Face Danger + Edge
5 = 3[d6]+2
9 = 8[d10]+1[d10]
Leaping over fallen logs and ducking under slashing tree limbs, she finally caught up to young man.
Action/Theme for general area description
Release/Strategy
“Stay back, witch!”
He spun, and put his back against a large block of stone. Behind him a tower, half stood, half crumbled in a clearing with thigh-high grasses. The blackened stones that lay about them bespoke a fiery fate many years ago. Vines and creepers now half-covered the blocks in verdant growth.
This could be the ruins in Episode 32
Gethyd’s ribs jutted visibly through his tunic as he sucked in air. Eilwen also felt somewhat winded, and she bore scratches on her arms and face from the branches from her pell-mell run into the forest.
(Loss of Health now 3/5)
Endure Harm
8 = 5[d6]+3
9 = 1[d10]+8[d10]
Weak Hit. You press on.
“Calm down,” she said. “I’m not here to hurt you, boy!”
Boy...she studied him. He was actually about her age, perhaps a year younger. He had stubble on his chin, but other than that seemed younger because the gaunt cast to his cheeks and his obvious lack of nourishment.
“You speak lies!” he hissed. “The shades of the dead twist about you like a cloak of darkness!”
“The shadows will not harm you,” she said. “I summoned them to free your mother and siblings from Willam and his men. Would you have him harm your family?”
“She’s just another shadow! Some illusion you conjured up to trick me!”
“She is quite real, I assure you. I’ve come back to help her free you and your father and deal with Yormid. Come back and speak with your mother. You will see. Together we can stop Yormid.”
Compel with Heart
6 = 5[d6]+1
9 = 3[d10]+6[d10]
A weak hit. He agrees but asks something in return.
“How can I trust you?”
“Oh I don’t know,” she said. “I could’ve just turned you into a toad and boiled you in a pot for my dinner, but since I haven’t done that yet, maybe you can start there.”
Her sarcasm actually made him relax a little, and he gave a small grin and relaxed some. “You really are a witch though?”
“My mother taught me a few tricks with the shadows,” she said. “That’s all.”
“You promise you will save my father and deal with Yormid?”
“I have already sworn I would do so...on Iron.”
“You are Ironsworn?” his eyes raised and she shook head and gave a disbelieving laugh. “But you’re just a girl.”
“What does that have to do with anything? Cannot a woman be Ironsworn?” she gave him a regal look.
“You, a woman? You’re too young.”
“I’m older than you.”
“Not by much,” he huffed. “You’re what? Seventeen?”
“Eighteen,” she raised her chin.
“It’s hard to tell with those...shadowy things about you.”
She ignored that. “What about you?”
“I’m seventeen,” he said as if he’d bitten into a sour berry.
She smiled.
He grunted, “Who are you anyway?”
“I’m Eilwen,” she inclined her head to him.
“You already know my name,” Gethyd said as he put away his knife and came near her, watching the shadows twist around her. “If you’re really a witch, can you conjure me some food. You do that and we have a deal!”
“Help yourself,” she smiled and tossed him some dried berries and meat from her pack.
(-1 supply now 1/5 -- This is what he requested for his condition to be compelled)
This fulfills two boxes on the progress
(2/10 for her vow to rescue Valeri’s family and deal with Yormid.)
She looked about them as he tore open the package and began shoving food into his mouth.
“Hungry?”
He just looked at her then back at his food and continued chewing.
“What is this place?” she pointed to the crumbling guard tower.
Does he know anything about it?
(50/50 | 10[d10]) Yes, and...
Has it been completely looted?
(Somewhat Likely | 1[d10]) No, and...
“Father took me here a few times,” he said between mouthfuls. “Hunting for venison. I’ve been inside. There’s strange markings all over on some ironwork inside. One time, we found a hidden room.”
What is Gethyd good at?
Running
Detect/disarm traps
Animal lore
He took another bite and licked his fingers and continued. “It had some old musty books. They fell apart when we touched them. But inside a sealed iron box, we found a map case.”
“A map?”
He nodded.
“To where?”
Did he ever find out?
(50/50 | 3[d10]) No
“I don’t know. Father tucked it away, and I don’t know what happened to it.”
Eilwen grunted and stared at the dark hole that led into the tower then she watched the clouds scudding overhead, painted silver from the moon. She had memorized the markings on that very map.
“Does Yormid know about it?”
(Likely | 9[d10]) Yes
“Yes, but...”
“What?”
“Nothing,” he said.
“You can tell me.”
He shrugged.
“You look hungry still,” she dug in her small pack and handled another pouch of rations.
His eyes fixed on it and he licked his lips.
She held up the rations. “Tell me more.”
“Well, Yormid didn’t know--” he licked his lips his eyes on her hands about the package of food. “He didn’t know about the hidden room of course or the passageway under that.”
“Passageway?” she asked and tossed him the ration.
He nodded as he tore into the second package, practically inhaling its contents. “There’s a passageway under a trap door in that hidden room. Iron gate and a large iron lock.”
“Locked you say? Rusted?”
(Likely | 3[d10]) No
“No, and that’s what’s strange. All the other iron in that place has fallen to time, but not that lock.”
“That is strange,” Eilwen said and wondered at the secrets held under the tower.
“How far away are we from Yormid’s dwelling?”
“About an hour by foot,” he said. “We’ve been working these foothills every day looking for the black iron.”
“What has him convinced it’s here?”
Does he know?
(50/50 | 1[d10]) No, and...
“No idea,” he said. “People don’t ask anymore. Old man Tuong called Yormid mad six months ago to search for it, and Yormid had him beheaded and his corpse hung on a pole for the worms to eat. People don’t ask. But Yormid is driven. He works all the slaves to the bone.”
Eilwen stood. “We better get back to the others.”
----
Eilwen and Gethyd talked as they took a more sedate pace back to Valeri and the prisoners.
“How is your father?” She asked.
Does he know?
(Likely | 8[d10]) Yes
Lovingly / Magnificent
He shrugged as he bit off a tough piece of jerky and chewed with gusto. “He misses Mom in a big way, but other than that, he’s hanging on all right. I can’t believe she’s back!”
“Valeri said that Yormid has you and him working in the hills looking for iron?”
(Likely | 8[d10]) Yes
He nodded. “Yormid is convinced he’ll strike it rich with black iron.”
“How big is Redhall?”
“We’re a circle of three different settlements. Yormid is clan chief, of course. He’s cruel but honest.”
She frowned at that strange combination of traits.
“Why is it named Redhall?”
“A large hall, now a throne room, I guess, for Yormid. It’s from some reddish stone imported from some mountains south of the Havens.”
“He built it?”
“No, it was a gathering hall built by the first founders of Redhall long ago. But he had it converted into his palace, I guess you might call it. But it holds new meaning now,” he frowned.
“What?”
“Redhall...red from all the beheadings, you know. From the blood painted on the walls and beams.”
Eilwen clenched her jaw at the vivid picture. “He will be dealt with.”
“I hope you brought a warband with you,” he said. “You’re going to need one. He is never without his guard.”
---
“Valeri?” Eilwen called quietly.
“We’re here,” Valeri said.
Eilwen followed the sound of Valeri’s voice and saw that the oder whoman had the dozen erstwhile slaves of Redhall hidden behind a dense thicket. Some of them gripped the few remaining weapons from their guards who had fled. They jumped when they saw her and she heard whispers of “witchspawn”.
“Gethyd?” Valeri cried when she saw Gethyd.
“Mother!” he said and they gripped in a fierce and emotional hug.
“Getty!” her siblings cried and rushed to hug him.
Eilwen smiled but receded to the side to give them some time alone. The family spoke in hushed but loving tones and held each other, smiles mixing with glistening eyes. She watched Valeri stroke Gethyd’s arm and lean against him. She ached, thinking about her own family: Arwed, her mysterious mother; Aron, her lost brother; and Cadfael, her proud father. What of them?
She sighed and studied the ragged group of freed prisoners. Then she walked over to them. Their eyes darted nervously to the shadows flitting around Eilwen, and as a group they shuffled away from her, some even held out weapons in her direction.
“Hold! I’m not your enemy,” she said. “I’m here to help you. How many of you have weapons?”
No one answered.
She picked the closest one.
“You, answer me!” she said, the note of firm command in her voice. “How many?”
“Five of us,” one of them said after a moment.
Is he a warrior?
(50/50 | 4[d10]) No
“Your name?”
“Halig,” he said. He had his hair pulled back in a ball and tied with a leather band, his shoes were little more than tatters on bleeding feet. He held a spear in one hand.
“I am Eilwen. The rest of you, get some stout staves,” she ordered. “Halig, use this axe to cut them down,” she held out Willan’s axe.
He slowly took the weapon, but held it in a limp grip to his side. “What is that to us? And what do you hope to accomplish by arming us?” he asked, cynicism thick in his voice. “I’m no warrior. Yormind commands an entire circle and his own warband! His guards will be back soon and in greater numbers. I don’t intend to be around when they do.
“Do as you will, Halig,” Eilwen replied. “But know this. I will deal with Yormid.” She pulled out the pendent from under her tunic and let it glitter with its otherworldly sapphire hue, the shadows twisted about her causing the faint light to flicker. “If you stick with me, you stand a better chance of success. What say you?”
Her speech had attracted Valeri and Gethyd who drew near.
Compel + heart
4 = 3[d6]+1
15 = 9[d10]+6[d10]
A miss. New miss count 2/24.
They reject or make a demand that costs you greatly. Pay the price. (I’ll do that later)
The Redhall citizens hissed and muttered, some in fear at her light show and some in open greed at the wealth openly displayed upon her breast.
“Yormind is too powerful” Halig said, tearing his eyes from the gemstone glittering on her breast, and his tone hardened further, becoming insolent and scornful. He tossed the axe back at her feet. “Cut your own staves, Witch! I’ll have none of it. Come on!” he said to the others.
The other in his band grumbled as well and shuffled their feet. None would meet her regal gaze as they followed after Halig, leaving her alone in the clearing.
“They’ll be trouble,” Gethyd muttered as he watched them go.
“You may be right,” Eilwen said. “But there’s nothing to do about it now.”
She placed the amulet once more under her tunic. Gethyd watched her with open curiosity.
“What is that strange necklace?”
“A family heirloom,” she said.
“A wealthy family.”
“After a fashion,” she responded.
Eilwen faced Valeri. “Take the children and head back to Thorgunna and the guards. Take both horses, you’ll move more quickly,” she handed Valeri the reins to her mount. “I mean no rudeness, but Gethyd and I will be able to move more easily and will stand less chance of being noticed without you and the other children.”
Does Valeri see the wisdom in that?
(Likely | 3[d10]) No
“No, I’m coming with you!” Valeri insisted, striding nearer. “My husband is there. I want to help!”
“The best way you can help is by not putting your other children in danger.”
“Yet you’re taking my Gethyd and placing him in danger?”
“That’s different. He’s older.”
Does Gethyd agree with Eilwen?
(Likely | 9[d10]) Yes
Does Gethyd want to go with Eilwen?
(Likely | 5[d10]) Yes, but...
...but he’s concerned about his mother and siblings
“He’s weak and hurt and--”
“I want to help her, Mother,” Gethyd said. “And Eilwen’s right. The little ones will only get in the way. We need to be able to move quietly and quickly. I can do this.”
Does Gethyd manage to convince Valeri?
(50/50 | 8[d10]) Yes
Valeri frowned but then finally nodded and took the reins to Eilwen’s horse in one hand. “I don’t like it, but we’ll do as you say. Be careful, both of you.”
“You too,” Eilwen said. She quickly embraced Valeri and their foreheads touched. “Remember, I have vowed on iron. I will do all I can.”
“I know you will,” Valeri whispered. “But the fates are never certain.”
Valeri then hugged her son for a long time and whispered something Eilwen couldn’t hear.
“Time to go,” Eilwen said finally.
Gethyd nodded and turned to her. “Will they be safe?” he asked as he watched his mother and siblings disappear into the night.
“I believe so, if they move quickly and don’t wait for Yormid’s men to reappear. Your mother’s a strong woman.”
“I know she is.”
Eilwen is armed with an axe, a spear, and one dagger.
Gethyd has her other dagger.
Go forth oh mighty warband of two!
“Gethyd!” Valeri cried, and her voice quavered with anguish. She took a few steps into the trees to follow after.
“Valerie, remember your young ones! They need you,” Eilwen said.
“But--”
“Stay with them! And free those prisoners. Arm them with the weapons. Hide them in these woods. I’ll bring back your son!”
“Don’t hurt him!” Valerie pleaded as Eilwen followed after the young man. “He’s not himself!”
Eilwen didn’t respond as she crashed into the forest after Gethyd.
She’ll try to chase him down before he gets too far away or runs into guards
Face Danger + Edge
5 = 3[d6]+2
9 = 8[d10]+1[d10]
Leaping over fallen logs and ducking under slashing tree limbs, she finally caught up to young man.
Action/Theme for general area description
Release/Strategy
“Stay back, witch!”
He spun, and put his back against a large block of stone. Behind him a tower, half stood, half crumbled in a clearing with thigh-high grasses. The blackened stones that lay about them bespoke a fiery fate many years ago. Vines and creepers now half-covered the blocks in verdant growth.
This could be the ruins in Episode 32
Gethyd’s ribs jutted visibly through his tunic as he sucked in air. Eilwen also felt somewhat winded, and she bore scratches on her arms and face from the branches from her pell-mell run into the forest.
(Loss of Health now 3/5)
Endure Harm
8 = 5[d6]+3
9 = 1[d10]+8[d10]
Weak Hit. You press on.
“Calm down,” she said. “I’m not here to hurt you, boy!”
Boy...she studied him. He was actually about her age, perhaps a year younger. He had stubble on his chin, but other than that seemed younger because the gaunt cast to his cheeks and his obvious lack of nourishment.
“You speak lies!” he hissed. “The shades of the dead twist about you like a cloak of darkness!”
“The shadows will not harm you,” she said. “I summoned them to free your mother and siblings from Willam and his men. Would you have him harm your family?”
“She’s just another shadow! Some illusion you conjured up to trick me!”
“She is quite real, I assure you. I’ve come back to help her free you and your father and deal with Yormid. Come back and speak with your mother. You will see. Together we can stop Yormid.”
Compel with Heart
6 = 5[d6]+1
9 = 3[d10]+6[d10]
A weak hit. He agrees but asks something in return.
“How can I trust you?”
“Oh I don’t know,” she said. “I could’ve just turned you into a toad and boiled you in a pot for my dinner, but since I haven’t done that yet, maybe you can start there.”
Her sarcasm actually made him relax a little, and he gave a small grin and relaxed some. “You really are a witch though?”
“My mother taught me a few tricks with the shadows,” she said. “That’s all.”
“You promise you will save my father and deal with Yormid?”
“I have already sworn I would do so...on Iron.”
“You are Ironsworn?” his eyes raised and she shook head and gave a disbelieving laugh. “But you’re just a girl.”
“What does that have to do with anything? Cannot a woman be Ironsworn?” she gave him a regal look.
“You, a woman? You’re too young.”
“I’m older than you.”
“Not by much,” he huffed. “You’re what? Seventeen?”
“Eighteen,” she raised her chin.
“It’s hard to tell with those...shadowy things about you.”
She ignored that. “What about you?”
“I’m seventeen,” he said as if he’d bitten into a sour berry.
She smiled.
He grunted, “Who are you anyway?”
“I’m Eilwen,” she inclined her head to him.
“You already know my name,” Gethyd said as he put away his knife and came near her, watching the shadows twist around her. “If you’re really a witch, can you conjure me some food. You do that and we have a deal!”
“Help yourself,” she smiled and tossed him some dried berries and meat from her pack.
(-1 supply now 1/5 -- This is what he requested for his condition to be compelled)
This fulfills two boxes on the progress
(2/10 for her vow to rescue Valeri’s family and deal with Yormid.)
She looked about them as he tore open the package and began shoving food into his mouth.
“Hungry?”
He just looked at her then back at his food and continued chewing.
“What is this place?” she pointed to the crumbling guard tower.
Does he know anything about it?
(50/50 | 10[d10]) Yes, and...
Has it been completely looted?
(Somewhat Likely | 1[d10]) No, and...
“Father took me here a few times,” he said between mouthfuls. “Hunting for venison. I’ve been inside. There’s strange markings all over on some ironwork inside. One time, we found a hidden room.”
What is Gethyd good at?
Running
Detect/disarm traps
Animal lore
He took another bite and licked his fingers and continued. “It had some old musty books. They fell apart when we touched them. But inside a sealed iron box, we found a map case.”
“A map?”
He nodded.
“To where?”
Did he ever find out?
(50/50 | 3[d10]) No
“I don’t know. Father tucked it away, and I don’t know what happened to it.”
Eilwen grunted and stared at the dark hole that led into the tower then she watched the clouds scudding overhead, painted silver from the moon. She had memorized the markings on that very map.
“Does Yormid know about it?”
(Likely | 9[d10]) Yes
“Yes, but...”
“What?”
“Nothing,” he said.
“You can tell me.”
He shrugged.
“You look hungry still,” she dug in her small pack and handled another pouch of rations.
His eyes fixed on it and he licked his lips.
She held up the rations. “Tell me more.”
“Well, Yormid didn’t know--” he licked his lips his eyes on her hands about the package of food. “He didn’t know about the hidden room of course or the passageway under that.”
“Passageway?” she asked and tossed him the ration.
He nodded as he tore into the second package, practically inhaling its contents. “There’s a passageway under a trap door in that hidden room. Iron gate and a large iron lock.”
“Locked you say? Rusted?”
(Likely | 3[d10]) No
“No, and that’s what’s strange. All the other iron in that place has fallen to time, but not that lock.”
“That is strange,” Eilwen said and wondered at the secrets held under the tower.
“How far away are we from Yormid’s dwelling?”
“About an hour by foot,” he said. “We’ve been working these foothills every day looking for the black iron.”
“What has him convinced it’s here?”
Does he know?
(50/50 | 1[d10]) No, and...
“No idea,” he said. “People don’t ask anymore. Old man Tuong called Yormid mad six months ago to search for it, and Yormid had him beheaded and his corpse hung on a pole for the worms to eat. People don’t ask. But Yormid is driven. He works all the slaves to the bone.”
Eilwen stood. “We better get back to the others.”
----
Eilwen and Gethyd talked as they took a more sedate pace back to Valeri and the prisoners.
“How is your father?” She asked.
Does he know?
(Likely | 8[d10]) Yes
Lovingly / Magnificent
He shrugged as he bit off a tough piece of jerky and chewed with gusto. “He misses Mom in a big way, but other than that, he’s hanging on all right. I can’t believe she’s back!”
“Valeri said that Yormid has you and him working in the hills looking for iron?”
(Likely | 8[d10]) Yes
He nodded. “Yormid is convinced he’ll strike it rich with black iron.”
“How big is Redhall?”
“We’re a circle of three different settlements. Yormid is clan chief, of course. He’s cruel but honest.”
She frowned at that strange combination of traits.
“Why is it named Redhall?”
“A large hall, now a throne room, I guess, for Yormid. It’s from some reddish stone imported from some mountains south of the Havens.”
“He built it?”
“No, it was a gathering hall built by the first founders of Redhall long ago. But he had it converted into his palace, I guess you might call it. But it holds new meaning now,” he frowned.
“What?”
“Redhall...red from all the beheadings, you know. From the blood painted on the walls and beams.”
Eilwen clenched her jaw at the vivid picture. “He will be dealt with.”
“I hope you brought a warband with you,” he said. “You’re going to need one. He is never without his guard.”
---
“Valeri?” Eilwen called quietly.
“We’re here,” Valeri said.
Eilwen followed the sound of Valeri’s voice and saw that the oder whoman had the dozen erstwhile slaves of Redhall hidden behind a dense thicket. Some of them gripped the few remaining weapons from their guards who had fled. They jumped when they saw her and she heard whispers of “witchspawn”.
“Gethyd?” Valeri cried when she saw Gethyd.
“Mother!” he said and they gripped in a fierce and emotional hug.
“Getty!” her siblings cried and rushed to hug him.
Eilwen smiled but receded to the side to give them some time alone. The family spoke in hushed but loving tones and held each other, smiles mixing with glistening eyes. She watched Valeri stroke Gethyd’s arm and lean against him. She ached, thinking about her own family: Arwed, her mysterious mother; Aron, her lost brother; and Cadfael, her proud father. What of them?
She sighed and studied the ragged group of freed prisoners. Then she walked over to them. Their eyes darted nervously to the shadows flitting around Eilwen, and as a group they shuffled away from her, some even held out weapons in her direction.
“Hold! I’m not your enemy,” she said. “I’m here to help you. How many of you have weapons?”
No one answered.
She picked the closest one.
“You, answer me!” she said, the note of firm command in her voice. “How many?”
“Five of us,” one of them said after a moment.
Is he a warrior?
(50/50 | 4[d10]) No
“Your name?”
“Halig,” he said. He had his hair pulled back in a ball and tied with a leather band, his shoes were little more than tatters on bleeding feet. He held a spear in one hand.
“I am Eilwen. The rest of you, get some stout staves,” she ordered. “Halig, use this axe to cut them down,” she held out Willan’s axe.
He slowly took the weapon, but held it in a limp grip to his side. “What is that to us? And what do you hope to accomplish by arming us?” he asked, cynicism thick in his voice. “I’m no warrior. Yormind commands an entire circle and his own warband! His guards will be back soon and in greater numbers. I don’t intend to be around when they do.
“Do as you will, Halig,” Eilwen replied. “But know this. I will deal with Yormid.” She pulled out the pendent from under her tunic and let it glitter with its otherworldly sapphire hue, the shadows twisted about her causing the faint light to flicker. “If you stick with me, you stand a better chance of success. What say you?”
Her speech had attracted Valeri and Gethyd who drew near.
Compel + heart
4 = 3[d6]+1
15 = 9[d10]+6[d10]
A miss. New miss count 2/24.
They reject or make a demand that costs you greatly. Pay the price. (I’ll do that later)
The Redhall citizens hissed and muttered, some in fear at her light show and some in open greed at the wealth openly displayed upon her breast.
“Yormind is too powerful” Halig said, tearing his eyes from the gemstone glittering on her breast, and his tone hardened further, becoming insolent and scornful. He tossed the axe back at her feet. “Cut your own staves, Witch! I’ll have none of it. Come on!” he said to the others.
The other in his band grumbled as well and shuffled their feet. None would meet her regal gaze as they followed after Halig, leaving her alone in the clearing.
“They’ll be trouble,” Gethyd muttered as he watched them go.
“You may be right,” Eilwen said. “But there’s nothing to do about it now.”
She placed the amulet once more under her tunic. Gethyd watched her with open curiosity.
“What is that strange necklace?”
“A family heirloom,” she said.
“A wealthy family.”
“After a fashion,” she responded.
Eilwen faced Valeri. “Take the children and head back to Thorgunna and the guards. Take both horses, you’ll move more quickly,” she handed Valeri the reins to her mount. “I mean no rudeness, but Gethyd and I will be able to move more easily and will stand less chance of being noticed without you and the other children.”
Does Valeri see the wisdom in that?
(Likely | 3[d10]) No
“No, I’m coming with you!” Valeri insisted, striding nearer. “My husband is there. I want to help!”
“The best way you can help is by not putting your other children in danger.”
“Yet you’re taking my Gethyd and placing him in danger?”
“That’s different. He’s older.”
Does Gethyd agree with Eilwen?
(Likely | 9[d10]) Yes
Does Gethyd want to go with Eilwen?
(Likely | 5[d10]) Yes, but...
...but he’s concerned about his mother and siblings
“He’s weak and hurt and--”
“I want to help her, Mother,” Gethyd said. “And Eilwen’s right. The little ones will only get in the way. We need to be able to move quietly and quickly. I can do this.”
Does Gethyd manage to convince Valeri?
(50/50 | 8[d10]) Yes
Valeri frowned but then finally nodded and took the reins to Eilwen’s horse in one hand. “I don’t like it, but we’ll do as you say. Be careful, both of you.”
“You too,” Eilwen said. She quickly embraced Valeri and their foreheads touched. “Remember, I have vowed on iron. I will do all I can.”
“I know you will,” Valeri whispered. “But the fates are never certain.”
Valeri then hugged her son for a long time and whispered something Eilwen couldn’t hear.
“Time to go,” Eilwen said finally.
Gethyd nodded and turned to her. “Will they be safe?” he asked as he watched his mother and siblings disappear into the night.
“I believe so, if they move quickly and don’t wait for Yormid’s men to reappear. Your mother’s a strong woman.”
“I know she is.”
Eilwen is armed with an axe, a spear, and one dagger.
Gethyd has her other dagger.
Go forth oh mighty warband of two!
You have to be careful with how you word these vows.