Adventures of Jessa

60

Jessa is exhausted and falling in and out of consciousness by mid day. Dhiren is concerned for her. He hadn't expected her to be so out of it. He calls for a halt when he finds a likely looking spot. Immediately the elves start making camp.

Dhiren finds a good spot to set Jessa down and makes sure that she is comfortable. Before he can even stand upright once more the human is making himself a nuisance once again.

"It's just turned noon, why are we stopping now?" The human demands.

Dhiren just looks at him and slowly raises one eyebrow. "Jessa needs to rest as do the rest of your guards. I warned you that we'll be going slow and taking extra time. You are more than welcome to keep going if you don't like this arrangement. Now either shove off or go away. The choice is yours do not bother me about this again." With that Dhiren turns his back to the annoying human.

In elvish he talks to Sorsha, "Stay with Jessa. Make sure that she is never alone. I'm pretty sure that there aren't any bandits left in the area, but I haven't sent any rangers out to look. I won't put her life in danger."

"Of course, Prince." Sorsha tells him and is thankful that she is allowed this duty. By rights she should have remained in Silva and not been allowed to come. That Dhiren is allowing her to come and be near Jessa, trusts her to guard Jessa is incredible. She never dreamed that she would ever earn the right to be the personal guard to the crown princess. That is a great honor and is very hard to earn that right.

Sorsha is worried that Jessa isn't doing well. She fell asleep as soon as she was placed on the ground and hardly moves. Sorsha keeps her ears open even as she keeps her attention on Jessa. She becomes alert as she hears a noise in the underbrush of the nearby treeline. She keeps her relaxed pose but stealthily takes out a knife.

Suddenly Kristoff crashes into the bushes and takes on the person that was trying to sneak up on them. He manages to disarm the would be thief and trusses him up like a boar ready to be slow roasted over a fire.

"Very good, Kristoff," Dhiren says. He looks over to Sorsha, "Thank you for not going into the brush. You stayed by her, that is exactly what you were supposed to do."

Dhiren then turns his attention to the human that is trussed up and gifted to him. "Now what to do with someone that thinks that they can hurt or harm those under my protection." His look promises a great deal of pain for the unfortunate male before him.

The male sighs out in defeat. "Go ahead, I just ask that you make it quick. I managed to survive the slaughter that took place several days ago, but I can't make it back to Castlerock."

"What do you mean you survived the slaughter?" Dhiren questions intently. 

He doesn't take his eyes off the human, not even for a second.

The human sighs, "My brother was hired on by the master and I was told to stay home, he had heard that it was getting dangerous." The man gives a bitter laugh. "Dangerous, that didn't begin to cover what happened. Death rained down on the caravan. I screamed out as my brother was killed in front of me. I ran and ran. How they didn't catch me I have no idea."

"Nice story,  but the last two caravans through the pass were coming from Kyron and going to Castlerock. Castlerock is just about a day on foot. You could have easily gotten to Castlerock if you had wanted to." Dhiren tells him sneering at the young human.

The man laughs nearly hysterical. Dhiren looks at the man confused. The man finally stops his hysteria. "I ran through the death. Once they stopped the arrows I ran like crazy. I could hear people behind me. Then all of a sudden it was like they stopped. I didn't even look behind to see why. All I knew was that I needed to get the fuck out of there.

"I left my brother, my only family to lie in the sun and rot. I was a coward and left him." Now the man starts crying. He was young not yet sixteen years of age, Dhiren estimates but he's not that good with human ages.

"Dhiren, don't hurt him." Jessa calls out weakly.

"Jessa," Dhiren goes to protest but he sees her trying to get up and that stops him from speaking.

"Take me to him, please." Jessa raises her arms for Dhiren to pick her up.

"You should rest, love." Dhiren gives his only protest to what she is requesting even as he moves over to Jessa.

"Shh, I'll rest some more after this is dealt with." Jessa says with a weak smile.

With that Dhiren sighs and picks her up. 

Jessa looks down at the young human, the one younger than her. "What was the name of the caravan master your brother was working for?" That's when Dhiren understood what Jessa was doing. At least he thinks he understands.

"Master Silvermoon. I thought the name sounded elvish, it's something they would have, but he didn't look anything like an elf. Especially not now that I'm seeing elves up close and personal."

The young man then takes a closer look at the female in the angry males arms. "You aren't elven." The man is beyond confused and closes his eyes as his sight goes blurry. His head starts to spin.

"Jenna, this man needs your help," Jessa yells out.

"No need to bother the healer, Jessa. He'll be dead once he answers your questions any way."

Jessa turns to look at Dhiren, "You would kill someone that just wanted to eat? He had done no wrong. He hadn't threatened me. He was hiding in the bushes not knowing if it was safe or not to come out."

"He admits to being at the pass when the massacre took place."

"Yeah, the one where his brother died. Look at his clothes. They aren't the clothes of the bandits. They are dirty, filthy rather, but it's from running and hiding in fear for his life. This man hasn't done anything to warrant his death, at least not yet. He's absolutely terrified of you and I believe that he's starving as well.

"He doesn't even know how to catch a rabbit or fish. I think that he's a city boy born and bred and is completely out of his element here."

"Then why didn't he go back to Castlerock?"

"Well that's a good question, Dhiren, if he wasn't so terrified of you that he passed out I might have been able to ask him that question. My guess is that he's completely lost since he's not used to being out of the city." There is no way the young man would be able to understand them since Jessa and Dhiren are talking in elven and in low voices.

Dhiren sighs once more. "Very well, I'll wait until he can answer your questions sufficiently for you to be satisfied."

"Thank you, Dhiren." Jessa tells him then kisses him. With that Dhiren's ire leaves. It really won't hurt to get the answers before there is any punishment. And technically Jessa is correct, the kid didn't do anything other than spy on them. Although that isn't really punishable, it could get the kid killed.

Jenna gives the kid a quick examination and then a restorative. "He'll need food. I don't think he's eaten much of anything in the last few days. He's also dehydrated and will need more liquid than what I've given him."

"Anything else wrong with him?" Dhiren demands.

"No, but there is something he's seen that haunts him. I don't think he's slept good for some time. There is great pain in his eyes. He's suffered greatly my prince."

Dhiren huffs, "Thank you." Jenna stands up, bows and then returns to the guards that are still recovering.

Shortly the young man wakes up. "Ahh, good to see you with us once more. My name is Jessa Brightblade and the ornery one holding me is Prince Silverblade. These elves are his guard.

"Now, why don't you tell us your name and how come you can't return to Castlerock?"