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Athwen looked over at Leod as he spoke and then reverted her gaze back to the others. 'Come, Leod, be reasonable,' she said quietly. 'They might be minding the words of their elders. I don't mean to be rude or disrepsectful to you, but times are drastically different now than they were, and they-' she nodded towards them 'and these folks-' indicated Brand and Dorran 'had to go.' She paused again and her eyes looked over every person there swiftly. There were twelve in all, including herself.
'These are all of them, yes,' she said, in reply to Leod's first question. She turned to face Brand and Dorran squarely. 'They're on the same mission you are, I think,' she said. 'They're going to Edoras to the seek the King and his protection for their home and people. Meghan told me as we were riding back to here. She's the one there, almost as short as I am. I brought them so that they could see that we didn't hurt their companions too badly. I hope you don't mind. I stopped and talked to Meghan and told her that I had seen the two men and tried to say what had happened, but they weren't very happy with what I said, so I had to bring them. And she told me where they were going on the way.'
Brand and Dorran both turned their eyes towards the strangers, a new interest coming to their faces. Athwen stepped away to stand and wait to see what happened. She knew no more and had nothing further to offer.
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