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Tane had breathed a sigh of relief when Borgand had the settlers tell their stories and not get their bloody revenge on the only too vulnerable hillmen. After a time Alearindu came up to him. Several moments passed as they listened to the stories before she touched his arm, making him acknowledge her.
She spoke very quietly, "I....I shouldn't have gone.... How will they ever join when I've killed a child?" Borgand had just offered to let the hillmen live with them.
Tane glanced around at all those that were gathered. "Those who will join, will join. Those who won't....nothing would have changed their minds regardless. Many have died on both sides and one that happened during battle won't change the outcome at this point. You saved me, please do not punish yourself."
Alearindu was staring intently at Tane because he had touched on the subject she had really come over to talk about, but he had turned and was watching the proceedings once again. A woman with two children had just stepped forward to state she would stay with the settlers and Tane smiled. At least one small family would be spared.
There was running coming from behind Tane and he turned to see a Ranger hurtling toward him. "Tane!" he gasped as he came to a sudden stop. "A disturbance, on the perimeter-"
Tane grabbed his arm and turned him about. No one had specifically noticed the running man as they had all erupted in shouts again, but Tane didn't want them to notice anything going on besides the decision at hand. "Show me," he spoke as they started out; he set a brisk pace just below a small jog. Alearindu had fallen into step behind them, but Tane didn't turn to speak to her; she could do as she pleased. A disturbance could be anything, but with things so emotional at the gathering he didn't want whatever it was to tip any decisions that would be made.
As he neared the edge he saw another Ranger and two settlers looking down at a body. Away from the prying eyes of the gathering Tane set into a run to get through the last little spot of distance.
"What happened!" Tane's voice was harsher than he meant it to be, but the dead man was a hillmen and if anyone else found out what happened, hell could brake loose.
The Ranger that had been standing with the two settlers started talking. He had been one of those too injured to go to the hillmen's camp with one arm bound up tightly to his side. "He was charging. Saw he was a hillmen straight off and tried to call to him to surrender. It was as if he couldn't even hear us. He didn't even look to see where our voices came from. He was almost on top of us when we finally fired. Tane, he wouldn't have stopped for anything. He would have attacked anyone he came across."
The Ranger, while keeping a professional manner about him, seemed desperate to be understood. He knew what was going on in the settlement right now and the dangers in killing a hillmen after the rest of his clan were captured.
Tane sighed. "You did what was neccessary. Him running into the meeting would have caused other hillmen warriors to come to his aid and the mass bloodshed that would have come about would have been endlessly worse."
There was a pause as Tane tried to decide what action to take. If he delivered the dead man to his people, they might get a surge of bloodlust over his body, but leaving him here wasn't a very good option either.
"The bodies we brought from the settlement are still gathered near the edge of town, by the road," Alearindu spoke up, seemingly her mind was going on the same trail as Tane's. "If we brought him around the back and you spoke to those still there, though I don't think many will actually be at the stretchers..."
Tane nodded and smiled at Alearindu for her solution. The hillman's body would be discovered with the other dead and if anyone noticed that he had not been there before (even though the captured hillmen had not been near the stretchers), they would be told his dead body was found. Which was close enough to the truth to be kept easily. He just didn't want this to upset things further.
Grunting he picked up the torso of the man while the two settlers got the legs and they started their ungainly walk with the Rangers as guiders and lookouts for the tiny procession.
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