[Maikadilwen]

Vlad stood for a moment longer, his mind working hard to find reason within the madness that now appeared to surround him wherever he went. Everything had been just fine until that Elf had turned up and he himself had been so stupid that he had let him live. All because of his own curiosity. He should have killed him immediately when they had found him, it would have saved them so much trouble. Vlad could feel anger and frustration well up inside him and he took a deep breath, fighting himself to keep calm. All he had done for these people... All he had suffered for them. And this was how they decided to thank him? Fidrohir...he was nothing but a coward, always had been. But Khalad...for so long he had suffered through the boy's endless tales of honour and the splendour of Numenor. How long before the stupid boy finally realised that honour was nothing but a tale? He of all should know, with his own background but no, instead he chose to close his eyes to that and tried to right some wrong which did not even exist. Oh, Vlad could tell him a tale or two about the real "honour" of soldiers in war. They had none! He had once tried to protect the socalled innocent but all he earned from that was to be stripped of his title and honour and having to leave Gondor in disgrace.

A movement next to him ripped him out of his thoughts with a start and in one swift movement he had drawn his dagger and placed it at the throat of the person, who turned out to be Jaheira, ready to end her life with a single turn of his wrist. He could see the disbelief in her eyes but his patience was wearing thin now. "Planning to follow the Elf as well, Jaheira?" he hissed at her, locking her gaze, reading every flicker of her eyes. He would kill her on the spot, should she turn out to be leaving as well, but to his relief she boldly grabbed his hand and pushed the knife away, then shook her head. "If you think I would follow that Elf, you're more mad than I thought, Vlad!" she retorted dryly and in that instant Vlad knew why he had always enjoyed her company. Because she was Jaheira, simple as that. He slowly ran his hand over her cheek, still able to see the bruises from when he had hit her. How he regretted that now. She had been right. How much he hated to admit it to himself, she had been right about Melost and Khalad all along.

In that instant, Vlad made up his mind. They would go after Melost and the others and when they found them, he would let Jaheira kill that damned Elf as she saw fit. "Jaheira, go help Snyd. Take as much as you can carry but think mainly about food. Valuables can be sold at a later time but they won't fill an empty stomach now." She nodded, then turned to find Snyd when she suddenly heard Vlad call her name. She turned and looked at him questioningly but he just shook his head. "Nothing, go."
Vlad stood for a moment, looking after her. He had no idea why he had called for her or even why he felt so strangely relieved that she stood by him. He shook his head, then sheathed the dagger and drew his sword instead. Turning towards the farmers, he raised his voice, not knowing how far away Melost and the others were by now or if they would even be able to hear him, but frankly, he did not care. If they did, it might give them something to think about and if they didn't...well, at least it would keep these people from doing anything stupid. "Thanks to the Elf and the obvious loyalty of some of my people, there has been a change of plans! The first person who moves, I will kill on the spot, be it man, woman or child!" He silently prayed that no one would move, since it had never been his plan to kill any of them in the first place. Had that been the case, he would have let the Orcs take care of them. Now, if only Jaheira and Snyd would hurry up so they could get away from this place.