Quendalon/Session09ZeraInterlude
The sun was beginning to sink behind the tree-lined horizon, and in the distance inky-black smoke still billowed and drifted on errant breezes. Most of the indigenous animal and insect life had fled from the unforgiving flames, and the resulting quiet was just fine with the man called Zera Thisse. He and his companion Thorwald of Stonehold sat in a clearing, next to a small stream that fed into a nearby pond. The evening's exertions had not occurred so long ago, and the raging adrenaline made sleep difficult for either man. The silence around them was understandable, but the silence between them was another matter. Thorwald did not consider himself a man of many words - he knew that men like his brother Aekino used them to better effect. However, brothers sitting by a campfire should not feel strangely or struggle to make conversation. Zera was in a black mood indeed, and Thorwald could think of nothing to break the awkward moment. He sighed heavily, and idly began whittling a twig as he stared into the campfire.
Zera glanced up at the sound, and eyed the man coldly for disturbing his train of thought. His display for the guard, and thus for the Queen had been a calculated gamble. He had not really known what to expect, or even how to go about getting what he wanted. He was no diplomat, and the niceties of the court made him ill indeed. If he had to govern a region, he wouldn't ... then it hit him. The Shadowlands were an issue that needed to be dealt with. He would not see another Thorns, at the price of his own blood or anyone else's that needed spilling, for that matter. It seemed that his hope in Idris was unfounded, as she allowed one of those hideous entities into her court. Maybe unifying the region under the erstwhile Queen was a bad idea. Maybe ... just maybe this Circle could do what Ledaal Vir, Cessair, and Idris could not. It was so simple! Aekino had the necessary mind for the politics and diplomacy, Li had the mettle to guide any followers they could muster in war, Thorwald had the kinship to the indigenous Northman folk, and he himself could cultivate the eyes and ears for security and defense. He broke out in his first smile since the sun had risen the night before.
Thorwald glanced over and saw Zera smiling, and almost made a jest about their victory over the demons, but something in the other man's eyes stayed his tongue. He shook his head, and tossed the savaged bit of twig into the fire. An almost irrepressible urge to feel the cold North winds on his face washed over him, and the silence lasted well into the eerily silent night.
