[Mithalwen]

He is definitely feeling better , thought Elfride drily, that means he will be dangerous as soon as I get this out. She may have not have been tutored in interrogation techniques but she knew that as long as the arrow remained in situ Samuel's henchman was at her mercy. She didn't like the way the conversation was going and she needed calm assistants.

Overcoming her scruples as a healer she was less gentle than she might be in probing the wound site. The pain silenced the injured man momentarily. She had decided that given the arrow's trajectory and the fact she suspected it might be of a hunting type, designed to leave the head in the wound, she had decided the best course of action would be to push the dart straight through the skin rather than try to pull it out. It would be painful but better than leaving the arrowhead behind. The wound would drain better too she thought and be less likely to get infected.

She would need two strong assistants to hold him and at the moment she would prefer them not to be Thomas and Mayonette. She looked around. The fire seemed to have been put out but a thick haze of smoke remained. She saw Cordelia and Garnae together...no not them... .not the villagers who were busy checking all sparks were extinguished or talking with Hama who seemed to have drawn the village leaders to the river side of the fire - no doubt to delay expalnation of the wounded man. Then she saw Edhener and Leoflic. Perfect..
She called them over and suggested to Mayonette and Thomas that maybe the General would need their help in explaining the situation to the village elders since they knew most about it and that it would be better if those less involved helped her with the extraction of the arrow. Before she did so she made sure the man was bound hand and foot and that her assistants were ready.

"This is going to hurt a lot" she warned as she grasped the arrow firmly and with as much force as she could combine with precision she pushed the arrow through his flesh so it pierced the skin a few inches away from the entry wound. It wqas then an easy matter to remove the arrowhead and withdraw the shaft leaving a relatively clean wound. "All done - I think you'll live", she commented but the man showed little sign of gratitude to herself and her assistants who continued to stand guard as she dressed the wound. She smiled her thanks at them and then glanced across to where the others were and wondered how Hama had explained the situation to them. Hopefully they were not in Samuel's pay and the wounded man could be left in their care and custody until Sandrina was recovered - and then if necessary they could answer for their actions before the King at Edoras in the meantime, though he were off duty, Hama's status and would surely be surety enough to leave them free to proceed. Samuel clearly had locals in his pay but the Reeve of Underharrow would surely be true to the king. The village was too close to Edoras for such corruption.