by channe » Tue Sep 18, 2007 5:31 am
She leans back in her chair, and covers her hand with her mouth; she's quiet, for a moment, and shakes her head, almost as if she's choking back some tears. When she speaks, it's clearer.
"We were havin' a party in the barn," she says, quieter -- and far more seriously. "So ser Calomel could meet th' workers, an' all, and Mateusz got a little ornery an' his mom wanted to stay an' dance so Laranna took him home. That's the kind o' thing we do for each other in my family, y'see? We help each other out. An' I'd jus' got home from the barracks, an' Myrken's the kind o' place where you never want t' go wi'out a weapon. So I put on my rapier an' went to the party."
She pauses, and takes a breath.
"An' then the Ashfiend came. I jus' -- I had to, I --" and she looks down, heaves another breath, and looks back up. "I had to. I'm trained t' do that, you know? So I ran out to fight him, because I -- I gotta help. It was my nephew. An' I think I did pretty well, even though it was hard. I ain't never fought wi' supernatural shit before. I got healed up afterward an' both ser Calomel an' Aeryn got out fair nicely wi'out much of a bother. An' we coulda won, we really coulda."
She narrows her eyes.
"This ain't about that, is it? What the Squire said about not killin' the Ashfiend but makin' a treaty wi' 'im? I didn't break no law! There ain't no law against fightin' dirty monsters that hurt the people you love! No law a' all!"