Author's note:
At the request of my friends who read this before my posting, here is a short preface so the family names and relationships are less of a puzzle. The story is set before Silvermoon leaves the Alliance, but I was not concerned about specifics, I just enjoyed writing it. Please let me know what you think would improve it, including a title. I hope you enjoy reading it.
Bachanan (bak HAN an): Father of the the family, head of the Onior household. Not "House" in the noble sense, this is just a family.
Salina (sa LEE na): Mother of the family
Dahanan (da HAN an): eldest son
Justyn (JUS tin): second son
Tyrin (TEE rin): third son
Kalyn (KAY lin): fourth son
Cai (KI): youngest son
Caoimhe (KEE va): only daughter, youngest child
Chapter 1: Dahanan's Challenge
The house was in an uproar. Not an unpleasant one, but it practically vibrated with energy. Salina calmly navigated the running children, the loud laughter of young soldiers, the constant back and forth of the squire and the stomping of her husband. She set a plate of roast and bread in front if her eldest son who sat at the table, the only one in the house not moving, and lay a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her, starting an apology. Salina held up her hand and smiled.
"Trust me," she smiled, "you will want to eat now, there will not be time later."
"Mother," Dahanan started, fully feeling in control of his own experience, "there will be food after the ceremony."
"Trust me, Dahanan," she pat him gently before she walked away, "you will not get much opportunity to eat otherwise."
"Yes, Dahanan," his brother Justyn added, mimicking their mother's tone, "eat now, the Order won't feed you past induction."
"Oh yes, Dahanan," piped the other from the opposite side of the table, "Paladin's don't need food, didn't they tell you?"
"Tyrin, let your brother be," Bachanan's voice boomed through the kitchen before he entered.
Tyrin sat back down in mock indignation, "Justyn started it."
As the elder Onior entered the kitchen, his eldest don stood. Bachanan smiled, a good natured grin.
"That is not necessary, son," he said. "at least not at home." Then he added, "at least not yet."
Dahanan took a moment to register that his Father was teasing him and he sat slowly before Justyn and Tyrin erupted into howls of laughter at their brother's expense. Hearing the commotion, and determined not to miss anything, the two youngest ran into the room. Cai slammed into the table next to Dahanan and Caoihme threw her tiny frame across his lap in a frantic leap to beat Cai in their race.
"See here," their father boomed above the noise, and all quieted to hushed giggles and muffled laughs. "Where is Kalyn?"
"Setting out Daan's trousers, I'd imagine," Justyn said sarcastically as he lifted his sister upside down from Dahanan's lap and deposited her right side up on the bench next to him.
Bachanan frowned. "Kalyn is doing his duty as a squire," he said, very serious, "as did you, and you will show him due respect."
Tyrin laughed out loud. "No one showed us any respect!" but his father's glare told him that the jest was done and Tyrin immediately filled his mouth with bread so as to avoid inserting his foot.
Salina brought two heaping plates of seared fish to the table, followed by Kalyn with a bowl of fruit. Justyn and Tyrin sat rod strait and nodded stiffly to him as he set the bowl down, their chins held ridiculously high in the air and their lower lips pressed into frowns.
"Ahem," Bachanan made a quiet correction as Kalyn took a seat next to Dahanan and Selina sat down with a sigh opposite her husband. With his family thus assembled, Bachanan sat at the head of the table.
A brief blessing was said over the meal before food began vanishing into young mouths. Bachanan smiled at his wife across the table, only the two of them taking any time with the meal.
"Are you nervous?" Justyn asked his brother, all jest gone, replaced by earnest curiosity.
Dahanan smiled, but did not look up from the bread he was buttering for Caoimhe.
"Your brother is well prepared," Bachanan said, obvious pride in his voice. "and this is mostly a formality. This is the recognition of years of training, not the start of it."
The two elder boys nodded, only a few years into their formal training themselves, they remembered how grueling were the physical trials to pass from squire to initiate in the order. Bachanan looked to Kalyn, who had been quieter than usual all the previous evening and had shown no signs of improvement before breakfast.
"And Kalyn will soon follow," he said enthusiastically.
"And me!" Cai said, echoing his father's tone.
"And me!" yelled Caoimhe through the buttered bread.
"And you!" Bachanan laughed. "are you intending to squire for Kalyn?" he grinned at his youngest, still a child.
Caoimhe shook her head "no", "I will squire for Cai."
Cai nodded and smiled, "She's been carrying my sword."
Bachanan raised an eyebrow, amused. He looked at his older sons, "Really? And where did young Cai come by a sword?"
The older brothers exchanged glances. Salina looked at all of them as if she was completely washing her hands of the lot.
"We borrowed Daan's old one," Caoimhe said cheerfully.
Dahanan looked up from his plate, suddenly aware that he had no idea his younger siblings had access to his practice weapons. "How did you get that?" he asked.
"Kalyn," she said. All eyes turned to the squire.
Kalyn, who was barely an adolescent, turned a dark shade of red and, taking a tact from his older brother, shoved a piece of fruit in his mouth to ensure he would have at least a moment before having to explain himself.
Bachanan frowned at his son's obvious stall and turned instead to his two youngest. "So Kalyn gave you a sword?" he asked.
Sensing some sort of threat to the group's solidarity, both Caiomhe and Cai looked to Kalyn for guidance, but his eyes were glued to his plate in hopes that if he didn't look up, he might disappear.
The would-be knight and squire hedged.
"Well," Cai reasoned, "I couldn't be a proper paladin without a sword."
A smile spread across Bachanan's stern features. he picked up his fork and began to eat. Kalyn raised his eyes to see if it was safe.
"Remember, Cai," Bachanan said, looking not at his youngest son, but at his older ones, "It takes more than a sword."
Breakfast passed with a slightly more somber mood than it had started, but everyone was still quite positive as the family dispersed to clear the table and prepare for the events of the day. Dahanan and Kalyn left immediately, excused for less domestic matters. Salina straiten her son's tunics and stepped back, pride evident in her gaze. Bachanan extended his hand and Dahanan grasped his father's forearm with both hands. They exchanged no words, but none were needed.
Bachanan looked at Kalyn, "Your brother is counting on you." was all he said. And with that, potential knight and squire headed off toward the proving grounds on foot in the breaking light of dawn.
Salina stepped up and took her husbands arm, watching the two walk off. Danahan had put his arm over his younger brother's shoulders and was leaning his head in to impart some, likely, words of encouragement.
"That was most diplomatic of you," she said to Bachanan as she watched her sons walk away.
Bachanan put his hand over hers. "Today is Dahanan's day," he said, also watching the pair disappear over the hill. "Reprimanding Kalyn would add nothing to it." He frowned slightly. "Although I will have to have a word with him about taking his duties more seriously."
Salina kissed his arm before pulling away toward the house. "He is very young to be a squire," she said, omitting the 'I told you so'.
Bachanan's frown deepened slightly. "We don't have the luxuries of time we used to," he said, still staring over the hill. "They will have to learn fast."
The morning was spent in preparation for the induction. they would all go to watch Dahanan in his final trials, and only Bachanan, as a paladin himself would be present for the actual moment when his son was sworn to the service of the Light, but then the young knights would be presented to the appreciative populous at large and there would be picnics all around, speeches made by officers in the tent where the new knights would congregate and a general celebration. They needed celebration. The location of the proving grounds had been moved, almost every year since the central cities of Quel' thalas had been destroyed by war. While the High elves themselves had withdrawn somewhat, the Paladins had continued to support Alliances efforts and fewer and fewer of them returned.
Salina corralled her two youngest children into appropriate clothing, prepared the picnic and closed up their small home. Justyn and Tyrin saddled three hawk striders and their father's charger and had them ready for the ride. The young initiates wore their finery, white livery, but without the emblems of the Paladins. They stood sharply at attention while their father mounted, assisted their mother, though she didn't need it, onto her fine hawk strider and hefted their siblings up in front of their own saddles. As a family, they rode to the proving grounds.
The gathering was smaller than in years past, the gathering seemed to get smaller every year, but the enthusiasm was still high. In a field below Windrunner Village, massive elaborate tents had been erected. Cai and Caoimhe clapped and yelled when they caught sigh of the banners blowing impossibly high over the trees. Cai tried kicking his brother's mount to go even faster.
"See here!" Tyrin said, in spite of himself, sounding very much like their father for a moment, which made Salina laugh and turn in her saddle. Realizing this made Tyrin blush suddenly and deciding he couldn't be that stuffy this early in life, handed his little brother the inside of the reins and spurred his mount forward. The hawk strider leaped with surprise and then sprinted forward, Cai whooping with delight as they took off. Not to be outdone, Justyn wrapped one arm around Caoimhe and leaned forward.
"Hold on tight, Caoi," he warned and started to sprint after them. .
Salina watched them gallop off and winced slightly. "I wish they would be more careful," she said.
Bachanan waved off her concern. "Nonsense," he said, "they are experienced riders, Cai and Caoimhe could not be in better hands."
The two striders were soon lost to view, but the peels of laughter rung back toward their parents. "They will mess their clothes," Salina finally said defensively. Bachanan smiled but did not argue. The pair rode on at a slower pace, enjoying the momentary quiet.
The noise of the crowd reached them well before they came into the clearing. Music was playing and many if the younger initiates were engaging in side contests before the main exhibitions began. Justyn and Tyrin had pulled up their mounts and were waiting to enter the main grounds. All of them had terribly mussed hair, and their faces were flush, but they waited with quiet dignity to enter the grounds as a family. Their parents led them through.
Bachanan and his wife were greeted with much congratulations on their son's behalf. Well wishers from their own community, friends who had known the family for ages, veterans who had served with Bachanan's father, all stopped them to bow or shake hands, expressing how wonderful it was to have their eldest join the ranks. They reached the point at which Bachanan had to leave to take his place among the Paladins, and he bent down to kiss her on the cheek.
"I will see you after," he said.
"Do not judge them too harshly," she said. He winked at her and faced his sons with a grim countenance.
"I expect exemplary behavior," he said to the two eldest. "See to your mother's comfort."
They nodded and saluted, heeling their mounts behind their mother's.
"And you two," he said to the youngest, sharply. They stopped squirming and sat up strait in their places in the saddles. "I expect only the most enthusiastic cheering for your brother. Let them know the Onior have lungs as well as swords."
Given such permission, the two didn't wait and let out such a loud affirmation that it actually startled the striders. "And mind your mother!" Bachanan yelled over them, then turned his mount and headed to the largest tent at the top of the far rise.
The tent was filling with holly warriors of the Light, mostly from the area, although a few had traveled from some distance to show their support. Most were High Borne, but not all, a few Night Elves and fewer still humans mingled in the tent. He saw no dwarves, but then, one usually heard them before one saw them. Bachanan stood looking over the room.
"Your son looks good in gold," he heard. He turned to the voice, a small smile on his face. "Looking good has little to do with anything," Bachanan said quietly as he shook his commander's hand.
"Indeed," the other affirmed. "I am sure he will do you proud today."
"He has only to do himself proud," Bachanan returned, not entirely honestly, but he would be forgiven fatherly pride today.
"Allow me to introduce you to our guests," the commander said, steering him toward a group of men standing a bit apart. The human paladins, there were two of them, turned as he approached, smiled politely and extended their hands.
The commander made introductions, first in Common, then in Thalassian. Bachanan nodded and made pleasantries, his common had never been terribly solid.
"Onior," the most senior human was saying, or attempting to. Apparently his Thalassian was not any better than Bachanan's common. "Not an elf name?" He looked to the commander for some assistance with the translation.
"He remarks that he your name is not particularly elvish," the commander explained. "He is wondering if there are humans in your family tree."
Bachanan knew it was not intended to be an insult, but he often found that, much like his youngest children, humans often spoke before they thought.
"Kindly explain that our family adopted the name many many generations ago. There was some great friendship between an ancestor of mine and," he smiled, "perhaps an ancestor of his, on the battlefield in the first war. They took the name together to cement their brotherhood in arms. It means 'of Honor'. At least, that is how the story has come down to me." There was actually a great deal more to it than that, but he didn't feel the need to share it. The others nodded, duely impressed and the somewhat broken but friendly conversation continued until trumpeters announced that the trials would soon begin. Bachanan took a deep breath.
"He'll do fine," the commander clapped him on the shoulder as he passed. And they all moved to take seats of honor in the stands above the temporary ring.
The pageantry was fantastic. The eight candidates walked in, with their squires and with banners flying. Bachanan searched the lower stands for Salina. She watched her son enter with her hands clasped to her chest. Cai and Caoimhe jumped and hollered at her hip, but Justyn and Tyrin had unfurled house banners on long poles that they pounded repeatedly onto the bleacher, but otherwise held their voices. Bachanan watched them for a moment, wondering where they had managed to conceal them. The trumpets blared, a call to compete was made and the prospective knights bowed to the main stands and the dispersed to their chosen areas to prepare. Bachanan was right, the competition was mostly ceremonial. A prospective knight would truly have to put forth a miserable showing to be declined. Even so, he could not help but furrow his brow as he watched his son prepare and compete in the numerous trials. The knights fought each other, then groups of younger initiates. There was armed combat and mounted combat and for those who were inclined, archery contests. Dahanan had declined the later, which Bachanan applauded. He was a fair archer, but not more than a sport archer and he elected to save his strength for a challenge he was better suited to. Through the day, Kalyn served him well. He chose the weapons, he represented his knight in the circle, he fetched food and water and seemed to do so quickly and without fatigue. Bachanan wad most impressed.
Through the day, the crowd ebbed and flowed. Justyn and Tyrin became predictably less reserved and gave over to just as much yelling and cheering as their younger siblings and finally, as the end of the competition approached and it seemed all of the candidates would indeed be inducted, the Onoir children made their pride and presence known and fully took over a corner of the grounds for their celebration, panting the flags and fetching blankets and cushions from an undisclosed hiding spot.
The family feasting started well before the newly minted knights emerged from the main tent. Bachanan and his son had no trouble finding the rest of his clan, what with the banners erected and the well wishers pointing the way.
Salina met her champions coming up to their gathering. She hugged her son and wrapped her arms into her husband's.
"And so?" she asked.
Bachanan clapped his eldest squarely on the back, a little more than he was prepared for, given the rigors of the day.
"He is a knight!" he announced proudly, and a cheer erupted from the family. Salina threw her arms around Dahanan's neck in a show of unbridled joy.
Dahanan could only nod and smile. He hadn't realized how exhausted he was until that moment. He squeezed Salina tightly and managed, "thank you for insisting I eat."
Salina laughed through her joyful tears. "Well," she said, "you can eat now." She turned to Bachanan, "will they be presented?"
He nodded, "in a few hours. Give them time to eat and clean up."
Salina looked around, "and Kalyn?"
"The squires are tending to the rings. Don't worry," he said when she frowned, "they will be well fed too."
And so the celebrations began, and Dahanan repeated each trial in narrative over and over to countless cousins and friends. It wasn't too long, however, before he noticed there was something missing. He looked at Justyn.
"Where is Cai?" he asked.
Justyn looked up from the haunch of roast he was about to tear into. He looked first immediately behind Dahanan. "I don't know," he said, genuinely surprised, "usually he's right there." He laughed and continued his meal.
Dahanan looked around the gathering of family and friends, through the running children from several families. He did not see Cai. He did not see Caoimhe for that matter, either. He sighed, took a huge piece of Justyn's roast as he stood, and started to circle the picnic to look for them.
"Hey!" Justyn protested.
"Come on," his brother insisted. Soon the two of them had made a large loop, casually at first, then with greater concern. They enlisted Tyrin. After the three of them circling the grounds twice, they came to the unpleasant conclusion that the children were missing. Dahanan sighed, "I will go tell Father."
Bachanan excused himself from the group he was with as soon as he saw his son's face. He kept his own demeanor calm as he approached him and steered away from the others.
"Not the relieved face I would have expected," he said.
Dahanan looked at his father and said in a low voice, "We cannot find Cai or Caoimhe. We've been all over the grounds."
"We?"
"Tyrin, Justyn and myself," he said. "I haven't said anything to Mother."
Bachanan nodded. "Likely they are off playing in the woods." He looked up at the darkening sky. "Still, we should find them, and shortly. You're mother would never forgive me if they missed your introduction." He pat his son on the back and started them back toward the gathering. "Get your brothers, I'll talk to your mother, meet me at the main tent." He smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, they can't be far."
A few minutes after, the brothers, Bachanan, Salina and several other adults were gathered in the growing dusk. Salina rubbed her arms against the slight chill and frowned.
"Each a direction," Bachanan said, "We will find them in short order and be back in time for the continued celebrations." They all looked to Dahanan, who had insisted he would miss the introduction if necessary to find his siblings.
"Lets go then," he said, kissed his mother on the cheek and they all started walking.
The woods were not dense, fortunately, but they were dark and finding any trail was almost impossible in the dim light. Fireflies flickered throughout the brush and fluttered in the treetops. Had his task not been so urgent, Dahanan would have stopped to enjoy them. He watched a few fly by, followed by a trio of dragon flies.
He stopped walking and watched them. They flitted above the stream and away...west. Dahanan took off at a run, following the stream and calling to Cai. Caoimhe loved dragon flies. She and Cai would spend whole afternoons trying to get them to alight on reeds and cat tails. There were so many more here near the coast than at the stream near their home. It would be just like the two of them to follow a swarm of insects down the stream. Dahanan picked up his pace, the stream led to the marsh and then to the sea. And closer to the sea were...
He heard them before he saw them. They were loud and slow on land, and barely more aware than animals, but they were vicious pack hunters and lightning fast in the water. He crouched in the reeds by the water's edge and drew the only weapon he had, a short sword. He could see the tops of their scaly heads, and the spikes that protruded from them. One was carrying a torch that glinted eerily off their milky eyes. They all carried spears, and he knew they were not particular about their food. He started moving further down stream, following, hiding in the grasses, his heart in his throat. He hadn't gotten too far when he heard two things, the first gave him a flood of relief, the second a rush of anger and fear. Clearly, he heard Cai yelling, and clearly he was yelling, "Get away!". Then he heard Caoimhe scream.
The murlocs ran. He broke into a run, still keeping his head low and staying as much on the dry land as possible. He could see, against the silhouette of the torch light from the other side of a tree, a murloc thrusting a spear up into the branches. the three he had followed ran past the tree and toward the open sandbar beyond. The one at the tree fumbled with some lower branches, gurgling in whatever language they used. From the branches came a steady stream of sticks and leaves and nuts. Cai and Caoimhe had climbed as high as the branches would allow and were showering their assailant with anything they could to keep it at bay. Dahanan slowed and circled until he was behind the creature. He did one cursory check to make certain there were no others and, leading with his shoulder, he rushed the murloc. The murloc didn't notice, or at least didn't react, except for the wet grunt that it let out as its body crumpled into the trunk of the tree with Dahanan's full weight behind it. The tree shook, and the children were stunned into silence for a moment before they realized who their rescuer was. Suddenly, they both started talking at once.
"There are dozens of them!"
"They chased us up the tree!"
"They were going to eat us! Where they going to eat us?"
"I lost my shoes!"
"What about the trolls?"
"What about the what?" Dahanan stopped.
"The trolls," Cai said.
"We saw them from the tree," Caoimhe rushed, "they were fighting with the murlocs!"
"They have a boat."
"Shhhh sh sh," he said, listening. He heard clashes from the sand bar and he pushed Cai back up the tree. "Stay here," he said. he passed his short sword to Cai. He looked at the boy. "Protect each other," he said. "What ever it takes." The children nodded gravely and with eerie silence climbed back up into the tree top. Dahanan picked up the spear the dead murloc had dropped, and headed toward the melee.
They had been right, there were trolls. he could see them in the torch light. Huge compared to the murlocs. Two were fighting off at least four of the murlocs, near their boat. He wasn't certain why they didn't simply push off, or make a run for it. Surely they could outrun the creatures on land, as long as their legs are. Then he saw what was keeping them in their position. A third troll lay, he presumed dead, at least a boat length or two, it was hard to tell in the dim light, away from the others. The murlocs were paying it no mind. The murlocs were paying him no mind. there was nothing keeping him from going back to the tree, secreting the children down, and taking them safely home. He could warn the others about the murlocs and the trolls and they could all go home. But that didn't sit right in the back of his head. he glanced back at the tree. they were safe at the moment. He looked at the trolls. The murlocs fought with spears, the trolls with...fishing rods? He blinked. yes, they swung fishing rods. these weren't marauders, these were fishers. What they were doing on this part of the coast he wasn't sure, but Dahanan was certain they were in much the same situation he was. He hefted the spear in his hand, getting a feel for it. He took a deep breath.
Dahanan had prayed before. He had used a battle cry to startle his enemies in hand to hand combat before. He had been in minor defensive skirmishes as a younger man. He had never done all three at once, or more earnestly. Dahanan opened his lips and from his chest emanated a sound that the children would later describe as holy terror. It was deep and harmonic and resounding and it bounced off the trees and the water and the little fishing boat. It was holly prayer and fierce battle cry and angry brother all rolled into one word. And it fell on the murlocs with all the vengeance of the three. A streak of light accompanied the spear as he threw it at the largest murloc. It lit the beach for a brief second.
The trolls saw, on the dune across from them, a figure with a lighting bolt in his hand. He cried out, a terrible, but somehow reassuring word that let hope glimmer for a moment in their terrified hearts. Then, it released the bolt of lighting and it streaked, with sure accuracy, into the back of the relentlessly hungry beast that attacked them. They took it as a sign and lent their voices in a redoubled defencive effort.
The murlocs saw their chieftain struck down by the hand of an avenging god. Their own spear had felled him and it had come from the sky on the cry of an angry wind and a streak of fire. And then they saw the side of oars, creates, fishing knives, anything and everything the trolls had in the boat to attack with. Dahanan, after hurling the spear had run down the dune, grabbed a piece of flotsam and swung it with all his strength into the head of the first murloc he came across. He grabbed a torch from the ground, dropped by one of the fallen and as quickly it had started, it was over.
Dahanan stood on the beach, with a torch. The trolls hunched by their boat. the murloc bodies separated them. Dahanan suddenly realized the body of their comrade was behind him. Slowly, he moved away. The trolls watched him, carefully. One muttered to the other, who nodded.
"Daan?" he heard Caomhe call out to him.
The trolls tensed, Dahanan put up his hands and continued to back up toward the tree. "It's ok, Caoi," he said. "Just stay there."
Dahanan didn't know much troll. he knew "Stop" and "Stay back", but he didn't know "children" or "we're going to go home and leave you to go home too".
Then the troll did a surprising thing. he held out one hand to about the height of Cai and the other to about the height of Caoimhe, and in very poor Thalassian, he said "babies".
"Yes," Dahanan said, relieved, "Yes, babies." He was close enough to the body to see that the troll was still breathing, and in his best horrible troll he said, "Not dead." The trolls, their turn to be relieved, relaxed and started to lumber forward. Dahanan continued back to the tree, amazed at how large trolls really where in person.
They all watched each other, their mutual truce as much about curiosity as need. The children looked as the trolls as only children can, with no fear and total awe. The trolls were wary and exhausted, but carefully and gently lifted their friend into the boat, their language much more melodic than Dahanan would have expected. Dahanan and the troll looked at each other briefly just before they shoved off. Caoimhe waved. The troll drew himself to its full height, easily three or four heads taller than Dahanan, thumped his fist on his chest and raised his arm in what Dahanan assumed was a salute. Daan straitened and raised his hand across his chest. And then he turned the children back into the woods and started the walk home.
There was no mention of trolls when they got back. Dahanan had convinced the two that it should be their secret, that Mother would be so worried she'd likely never let them out of the house again. the ceremony should have been over by the time they got back, but the other Paladins had insisted they would share the honor or none of them receive it, and there was a full rush of hands to receive them when the friends watching the road trumpeted back. No one who went out searching had returned before them, but the trumpets soon had everyone back, tired, relieved and rejoicing. Salina had run half a league to meet them when she heard the trumpets and Bachanan brought two chargers for them to ride back on. A bonfire was lit and wine was passed and Dahanan and his fellow Paladins were announced to their families and friends. Dirty, scratched, tired, and having doubly earned their honors.
After the fervor had died down Dahanan sat by the fire, a mug of wine in his hand. They had decided to stay, electing to rest after all the excitement. Bachanan sat down next to him.
"We'll send a patrol to make sure the murlocs are gone," he said.
Dahanan nodded.
"The children are asleep," he added.
Again, Dahanan nodded.
"What's troubling you?"
Dahanan looked up, surprised. He sighed and took a longer draw on the mug.
"There were more than murlocs," he finally said. Bachanan looked at him, waiting for the explanation. "They didn't seem to pose any threat to the children."
Bachanan frowned, "What didn't?"
Dahanan looked around and then lowered his voice, "Trolls."
His father stiffened. "No," he shook his head, anticipating his father's reaction, "they were fisher folk, didn't even have weapons," Dahanan explained. "It looked as if they had been ambushed by the murlocs."
Bachanan leaned back and stared at the fire. "Why didn't you mention this immediately?" he asked.
"I didn't want Mother any more upset than she was," he explained, "and they left as soon as the murlocs were dispatched." He sipped the wine. "I believe had I not intervened, they would have been overcome."
Bachanan picked up the wineskin and poured himself a mug.
"May I ask why you did," he finally asked.
Dahanan stared into the fire. He did not answer right away.
"I didn't feel I could, in good conscience," he said carefully, "not."
Bachanan nodded. They sat together for a while in silence. . "I will go with the patrol tomorrow," Bachanan finally said, "just to be sure."
Dahanan nodded.
"Will you do me the courtesy of escorting your mother home?"
Dahanan nodded.
Bachanan stood, his son rose out of respect. . "You are a fine paladin, Daan," he said. "I have many reasons to be proud today."
He nodded to his son, who saluted in return, and then retired to the tent where the family slept.
Dahanan sat back down, alone with his thoughts, and poured another mug of wine.