Melost narrowed his eyes as he watched the man with the long, lank hair closely. It seemed that he had been greatly affected by Melost's sharp, piercing gaze. In times past he had been compared to Maiglin in anger. And angry he was. He knew he didn't belong here and he also knew that he should be far from here, bur doing what? With whom? Melost ground his teeth in frustration and struggled to his feet.
The woman strode over and stood aggressively in front of him, then shoved him to the ground. Unable to catch himself, he fell heavily but anger lent him strength. Melost climbed to his feet and glared straight through her, defying her to lay a hand on him. She sneered in return and placed both hands on his shoulders. A hand came down on her left shoulder and yanked her away from the Elf. "Leave him alone, woman. Can't you see he hates you?" She tore her arm from Vlad's grip and stalked away to sit near Snyd, who ignored her, too concerned with his own thoughts.
Vlad roughly turned Melost around and removed his bonds, then stood back, alert for sudden movement. Melost turned to him slowly as he rubbed his wrists, one of which was bleeding. "Why do you hide the fact that you were once a soldier?" he asked quietly. "You move like one, you even think like one. Look at you now, ready to try to thwart any move I might make. What have you done that makes you hide in this of all places?" Vlad's hand moved to his sword-hilt and hovered there. Who was this Elf to challenge him? What right had he to question him about anything?
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