"You. Wake up," Nela said, nudging Edeline.

Edeline stirred slightly, but otherwise didn't react. Nela stomped her foot, partly out of frustration, partly hoping the sound would work to awaken the sleeping woman. It did neither, as Edeline continued to lay there.

As hard as the past two days may have been, Edeline did need to eat now. They'd have to set out early tomorrow, and there wouldn't be enough time to prepare the same kind of meal they had now. Plus, her being tired now wasn't likely to improve if she didn't get food in her body.

Reaching down, Nela shook Edeline, this time rougher. "We'll eat all the food if you don't get your arse up."

Edeline groaned, rolling over to give Nela a tired look. "Can it wait?"

"Not if everyone else eats it all first." Nela gestured behind her.

Edeline froze for a long moment, taking it in. "What in the...where did all these people come from?" she finally got out, eyes wide.

Nela couldn't blame her. She'd lost count after three hex showed up. Hamond finding a few of them hiding out in that farmer's house hadn't helped either. At least he'd found way more than enough food stored away for everyone, along with some other useful supplies. They were set for a few days on that front.

It had to be Aether's own luck that so many of Verdan's villagers had made their way to this specific clearing. Who exactly was benefiting from the luck, Nela wasn't sure, but she doubted it was any of the four of them. Or anyone from Verdan either, since the village was now burning.

Ronny had taken charge, helping organize the people and sending a few out to grab blankets for everyone. So many of them seemed so shaken by the attack, that they didn't even question taking orders from someone they had never met. Most were just eating in grim silence, emotionless as they sat around the area.

Nela knew that was part of what made Ronny who he was. It would be admirable...except that they had been trying to keep a low profile as they entered Kelshir. Leading a large group of people was going to have the opposite effect.

And yet, these people needed the help.

Hamond was clearly irritated, although he hid it fairly well. Nela was able to pick up on the brisk anger in his movement as he'd gone about preparing the food, assisted by one of the village women. Hard to blame him, given his own past ties to the Spellking.

What would these people think if they knew the one making their food had been the student of the most hated man this side of Hyarch? What would they think if they knew the sleeping young woman with him was one of the last members of the old royal family? Probably that it was all made up, nothing more than a children's tale told in the evenings.

But it was no tale, and Nela was living through it.

Naturally, she wanted to keep living through it. So while it seemed those knights had not tried all that hard to chase down the survivors, Nela planned on keeping her crossbow close at hand. No taking chances, even if they were safe for the moment.

Ronny, pulling himself away from the group of people he had been talking to, made his way over to her. In each hand he held a bowl of the stew, and he offered one to Nela. She took it, and began to eat. Hamond really was good at making the most out of a little when it came to food. They'd all joked at different points that he should have been a cook instead of a thaumaturge or a healer.

"How is Edeline holding up?" Ronny asked quietly.

"She seems alright," Nela answered, looking in her direction. Edeline had gotten her food and returned to where she'd been sitting before. If anyone had noticed her mismatched ears, they had not drawn any attention to them.

"Aether, this is a mess." Ronny glanced up at the darkening sky.

"More like three messes stacked up, wearing an oversized cloak." Nela smiled.

Ronny let out a low sigh. "That's one way to phrase it."

So much for lightening the mood. "What's wrong?"

"A couple of the villagers told me the knights announced the reason for the attack." Ronny took a deep breath. "It was because someone had murdered Lord Verdan."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"But that was..." Nela paused, thinking it through. "That makes no sense. If those knights came from Kelshir, there's no way they could have gotten word that fast."

"It's probably an excuse," Ronny agreed, "They had to have organized to set up ambushes on the roads too, which would take even longer. They were going to attack the village regardless."

That still didn't make sense though, with no clear reason for the attack. There had to be something going on they weren't aware of, Nela knew. It was just a matter of if it became a problem later, or not.

"So what's next?" Nela swung one arm to indicate the assembled villagers. "We've got to take them somewhere."

"I'm not sure any of the other villages would." Ronny frowned. "And that's assuming they even could afford to spare anything, with harvest season soon."

"Kelshir's not an option," Nela said after another bite of stew.

"I know, but we're running out of places to take them. Although...that man Kalias did have one other suggestion, but I'm not sure it would work."

"Anything's better than abandoning them here to rebuild," Nela stated. How many people had made it out, she did not know. But what she did understand was that you could not rebuild a whole village with less than a hexty people.

"He wants to ask the elves for help."

There was a slight gasp from somewhere behind Nela. Turning rapidly, almost spilling her soup on herself, Nela saw Jelinia crouched behind a thin tree. The girl had clearly been listening in on them talking, keeping a low profile.

Wait a moment. "Have you been back there the whole time?"

Jelinia paused a moment, then nodded.

"Why didn't you go get yourself food?" Of all the...was she really going to have to mother this girl now?

"Wasn't I supposed to wait for everyone else to eat first?" Jelinia looked sincerely and innocently confused, as if this was normal.

Far too normal for Nela's liking. "No." She exchanged glanced with Ronny, wondering just what this girl had been through.

"I'll go get her some." Ronny moved off towards one of the fires. Hamond, who was the person Nela would have expected to eat last, stood beside it with his own bowl full. While Jelinia, or anyone, would have to wait their turn to get the food, no one had been blocking anyone else from getting their share.

"We're going to the elves?"

Jelinia's question wasn't a surprise. "We're thinking about it," Nela answered, not sure what else to say. They hadn't committed to it yet, although it was likely what they were going to do.

Besides, Nela had to admit to herself she wanted to meet them, just as much as Jelinia did. Outside of a couple of elves she'd briefly run into while in the army, she'd never met an elf from anywhere but Hallowscroft. If she got to talk with their healer - and they had to have one, despite what that man had claimed - it would be even better.

Ronny returned, and handed a bowl of the stew to Jelinia. The girl began to devour it rapidly. Nela knew that wasn't healthy, but now wasn't the best time to try to fix Jelinia's eating habits. Might as well leave that problem to whoever took the girl in.

"Hamond agreed to the plan with the elves," Ronny said in a whisper, leaning over next to Nela.

"Just leaves your sister then." Nela looked over. Just as she'd thought, Edeline had fallen back asleep, bowl sitting on the ground nearby.

"I'll ask her in the morning. I doubt she'll object though."

Edeline would agree if it got them done with this lot of people. From what Nela had gathered, Edeline was the sort of person who disliked large crowds. Nela didn't have a problem herself - you could hardly have joined the army if you did - but she could understand. Not everyone thrived in the bustle of a crowded market street.

To be honest with herself, Nela wanted this group gone too, but for a more selfish reason. She'd been looking forward to some personal time with Ronny. Between the haste with which they had traveled north, and the concerns of being tracked by men, they hadn't had many moments to relax since leaving Hallowscroft. Sharing an actual bed had never seemed so inviting.

"Nela?" Ronny asked.

Great, she'd been caught up in that little dream, and had missed what Ronny had said. "Sorry, was thinking about something. What was that?"

"Do you think we need to have people stand watch?"

Nela's mouth opened. Ronny, the one who had been insistent the entire journey up here that they needed to rotate watches, asking that? "You alright?"

"I'm really tired," Ronny admitted with a yawn. "Edeline's already asleep, and I think Hamond's barely keeping himself awake too. And I don't know that any of these people could get by without a full night's rest."

And that just left her, and Nela really did not want to stay up the full night. But the knights...Nela didn't know what to do here. A surprise night attack, with no one ready to fight or flee, would be a slaughter. Could they really count on being left alone?

"I could stay up and watch," Jelinia offered.

"No," Nela and Ronny both said, almost simultaneously.

"You don't worry about it," Nela quickly added. Foolish of them, briefly forgetting she was right there. They'd gotten too used to it just being the four of them, out on the road or in the wilderness.

Still, what could they do? Maybe she could stay up long enough to make sure it was safe, then join the others in sleeping. No, that would still leave them defenseless. Going back and forth on it, unable to decide...it was all making Nela's head hurt again.

"...coward...like the rest of them..."

Even if the voice only lived in Nela's head now, she knew Kalvarel's mocking words too well. No, she was not a coward, she insisted to herself. She was just being cautious. What was wrong with being cautious?

Forget it. There was nothing they could do about this shit either way. "Let's just get some rest tonight," Nela said wearily, hoping she was making the right decision.

"You certain?" Ronny asked.

Nela nodded, pointedly taking another bite of her stew. It was starting to cool. She really should have eaten quicker. Maybe Jelinia had had the right idea.

"I'll tell Hamond then." Ronny walked off, and Nela lowered herself to the ground with a grunt. Time to eat, time to sleep. Time to hope to Aether they weren't all dead by the morning.