Sare'en watched as Em'brel nervously paced around the tent, muttering to herself. Of course, it was impossible to understand what exactly was being said, but given the occasional legible word and recent events, it was easy enough to guess.

It was becoming exhausting watching the other female pace, so finally, Sare'en patted the sitting pillow next to the table. "Come sit and eat before the food gets cold! Not long ago in the valley, you would have given anything for a fresh meal like this!"

Em'brel had the decency to shake her tendrils in embarrassment before taking a seat and beginning to tentatively pick at her meal while speaking, this time more audibly. "Maybe, but for all the problems in the valley, at least things seemed more tentatively neutral. Right now, I feel like we're a churlish running from one hunter right into a trap set by another. If things don't go exactly right..."

Sare'en pointedly put more meat on a plate before shoving it in front of her friend. "Then we'll deal with that when it happens, but if you worry yourself out of food and sleep, you won't be of any help at that time!"

Em'brel blinked rapidly for a moment as if waking up from a dream. "When did you go and develop all that self-confidence? Not that I'm complaining, mind you. It's just surprising to hear you speak like that."

Sare'en tilted her head to the side and thought about it. Em'brel was right. Not long ago, the idea of talking to anyone like that, let alone a noble like Em'brel, would have been unthinkable. Finally, she shrugged. "Honestly? I don't know. Maybe raising three rowdy wolgen has had as much an effect on me as them. Or perhaps it's just watching you all working so hard day in and day out. Or maybe I'm just comfortable enough around you to speak my mind a little more. All I know is I'm not about to sit back and let you worry yourself into an early grave! There are far too many people trying to do that to us for you to go and make their job any easier for them!"

Finally, Em'brel smiled. "Well, whatever caused it, I like it. You should speak your mind more often!"

In the face of Em'brel's approval, Sare'en suddenly felt uncertain of herself again. "Well, I mean... I guess..."

That was when a loud clapping outside the tent announced someone's presence before Lon'thul stuck his nose through the door. "Do I smell Sare'en's cooking? Got any to spare?"

A slab of meat rocketed toward his face fast enough that it bounced off his nose before the hunter began fumbling the hot meat from one hand to another in an attempt to keep it from falling to the floor. Em'brel spoke sternly while glaring daggers. "You want meat? Take it! You know, the whole purpose of clapping outside a tent flap is to wait for permission to enter before sticking your snout in other people's business!"

Finally getting a good, if somewhat greasy, grip on the meat before taking a bite, Lon'thul grinned mischievously while replying with half a mouthful. "Oh, and what kind of 'business' were you two getting up to before I stuck my snout in? Hmmm?"

Em'brel's eyes narrowed while Sare'en "meeped" and tuned away. Then, finally, the former answered the cocky hunter without blinking. "Not that it's any of your business, but Sare'en was just making sure I ate and rested. I've been a bit stressed with everything going on. That's all."

Lon'thul's grin wilted, but only a little. "Oh, well, that's no fun. I was hoping for something more worthy of gossip."

Em'brel looked like she might lunge for the spear she kept within reach at all times these days. "And what were you... No, you know what? Never mind. Why are you here?"

The hunter winked before answering. "Oh, nothing much. Just checking in on my two favorite females. Life's been busy, and I haven't gotten to speak with you two very much recently. Figured it was about time for me to make an appearance, is all!"

Em'brel looked like she was mostly mollified but considering protesting further on principle, but Sare'en spoke up first, this time as she began setting a third place at the table. "Well, I don't have a third cushion, so you'll have to sit on the ground, but there's food to spare if you'd like a bite."

Lon'thul visibly drooled a little as he sat down despite having already sunk his teeth into a morsel. "If it's your cooking Sare'en, I'll need more than a bite! In return, I'll make sure you get twice the meat from my next kill to replace it."

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Finally, everyone was grinning again as the three friends settled in for a meal and good company, the worries of moments ago forgotten for a brief time.

-

S'haar was tired. More tired than she was letting on. She was reasonably confident Jack saw through her act, but he seemed willing to play along for the most part, at least when they were out in public. However, when they were alone like this, he seemed far more inclined to lay down and hold her close than usual, especially given how much she knew sleeping on the ground was bothering his leg.

Not that Jack complained about it verbally, but S'haar could see him taking longer to stretch his leg out in the morning and leaning on his cane a little heavier throughout the day. She wanted nothing more than to give him a nice warm bed to sleep in, raised off the ground enough that getting in and out wasn't the same ordeal as now. But if Jack was willing to respect S'haar enough to follow her lead regarding her own weariness, the least she could do was return the favor for his leg. Besides, he never let it slow him down when it mattered. So she'd just have to follow his example and push through until another option presented itself.

As Jack approached their bedroll, he handed S'haar a waterskin. Usually, it was considered a bad idea for an argu'n to drink cold water before going to sleep, but knowing she'd have her own personal heater under the covers next to her, S'haar took a long drink after helping Jack lower himself onto the pad. Then, handing the skin back to her human, S'haar grinned before addressing him. "So, how do you think things are going?"

Jack looked thoughtful before shrugging. "Well, they haven't asked us to leave, so that's a good sign, but I'm concerned with how long they're taking to decide. If every tribe takes as long to make their decisions, we'll run out of time before we've recruited half the tribes in the hills."

S'haar wearily nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah, that about matches up with my assessment as well."

After a moment, S'haar spoke up again. "Do you think half will be enough?"

Jack shook his head this time. "It's impossible to say. There are just too many unknown variables. How many argu'n will A'ngles be able to bring to bear against us before the end of summer? What kind of supply lines will they have in place? How long can the hill tribes afford to lend us their aid before they have to leave and prepare for winter? How many argu'n will half the hill tribes account for? Will A'ngles be prepared, or will we catch him off guard? There are just too many questions and not enough answers."

S'haar leaned back and pulled Jack in closer, who seemed perfectly content to lean against her shoulder. S'haar took comfort in his presence, knowing from experience his physical warmth and emotional support would more than make up for any inconvenience having a large portion of his body weight pining one of her arms in place might cause. So instead, she pulled him closer, hoping to forget about their plight for a few hours at least.

Just as S'haar began debating between sleep or other distractions, a loud clapping outside their tent drew her attention. Jack rolled over with an audible groan, born as much from the annoyance of having the illusion of seclusion breached as the pain in his leg before S'haar addressed their visitor. "Is the enemy approaching or the camp on fire? If not, can this wait until morning?"

There was a pause as if the person on the other side of the tent didn't know how to answer before he finally found the courage to speak up. "Well, no, neither of those is happening, but you left strict orders to notify you when the messenger from the hill people arrived. Well, he's here. Should I...um... et Lady Em'brel or Fea'en to speak with him?"

S'haar closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She held it a moment before releasing the air as a sigh, answering as she reopened her eyes, the illusion of comfort and rest fading from her mind. "No, tell him I'll be there momentarily. No more than five minutes."

The voice answered back, the relief of knowing he wouldn't have to wake up Lady Fea'en at this hour audible in his voice. "As you command, Lady S'haar."

The footsteps of the messenger could be heard walking away as S'haar felt Jack's hand rest on her shoulder. She turned her attention to the human whose grin held as much exhaustion as encouragement. "My people have a saying for this, 'No rest for the wicked.' Sadly the time for our rest seems not to have come."

S'haar smiled back, putting at least half her heart into it. "Well, I don't feel particularly wicked, but I suppose no one does, do they?"

Jack laughed a little as he slowly eased himself upright. "No, they don't. Well, most don't, anyway. Everyone is the hero of their own story, and we're all villains in someone else's story. But now we're getting into philosophy we don't have the time for."

This time S'haar barked out a short laugh before responding. "Or the energy for! Then again, I'm not certain I ever have the energy for your human philosophies. Your people overthink everything!"

Jack smiled back as he slipped on his shoes, which S'haar helped him fasten as he answered. "Now, now, you don't have to flatter me like that. You've already won me over and have me warming your bedroll at night!"

This time S'haar just laughed, not bothering to respond again. At least for the moment, the weariness seemed to have been chased off to the peripheral. If she was very fortunate, it might stay there long enough to get her through this meeting before the warrior woman collapsed in exhaustion.