Lynn Abbey - Cinnabar Shadows

"No," Mahtra said, cocking her head. "I told you. You heard me, Lord Javed, didn't you? I told him first thing, as you were pulling him out of the water." She turned back to Pavek. "You didn't pay any attention!"

"I didn't hear." Pavek hid his face behind his hands, unsure if he would laugh or cry, and did neither as the emotions shattered against each other. He uncovered his face. "How is he? Where is he?"

Javed put a hand on Pavek's shoulder, holding him down with very little effort.

"Where he is, is over there—" A black arm reached toward the other side of the halfling village where another improvised bed held another tall man, a copper-haired man whose copper hair was the only unbandaged part of him. "How he is, is surviving, mending bit by bit. They damn near killed him, those BlackTree halflings. If it had been up to me, I'd've slain the lot of them—even for a half-breed bastard. But, I've taken your measure, my lord, and I didn't think you'd approve. If I was wrong, Lord Pavek—?"

Another smile, which Pavek gamely returned. "No, you've measured me right, Commandant, and you have my leave to take the maniples back to Urik. I choose to stay here, with my friends."

The commandant nodded. An elf could always appreciate the notion of friendship, even if he didn't appreciate the friends. "Your permission, my lord, I'll take the head with me, as proof of what we've accomplished. Somehow, I think it might be a while before you and your friends wander back to Urik. If you listen to that dwarf, you'll waste the rest of your life looking for halfling treasure!"

Not treasure, Pavek thought, but a lion and a knife...

He said good-bye to them later that afternoon. Then, with Zvain on one side and a talkative dwarf named Orekel bending his ear on the other, Pavek took up vigil at Ruari's side.