"What's the matter, lass?" Bessie said as we went up the stairs to my room. "Do you need something for the pain?"
I shook my head without answering, aware of Ravencrom following us like a lost lamb. Once inside my room I went to the bed as Bessie shut the door behind us. I sat on the edge of the mattress and when the other woman started to speak, I held up my hand for silence. I waited a few moments, listening until Ravencrom's footsteps faded before turning to Bessie.
"You once told me I should have a little patience with a certain officer. Out with it, Miss Bess. When did you know?"
"Know?" Bessie repeated, staring back at me, plainly at a loss. Then she put both hands to her stomach and leaned back to let loose a deep rolling laugh. "Ah, you finally saw the light, didya lass?"
I wanted to throttle her. I hissed at the other woman and waved my hands to shush her. Bessie took a step to the bed and fell forward on to it, smothering her laughter in the bed linens. She looked up at me, merry tears in her brown eyes. "Surely you see the humor in it, don't you?"
"No! I do not want this," I said. "I do not want to be pulled into another relationship with a human. Last time was lesson enough!"
"Then out with it and tell him straight." Bessie stood and straightened her dress. "Although I do warn ya, he will put up a fight."
"Why do you say that?"
Bessie sat on the bed and put her arm around my waist. She leaned against me, her head barely coming half way up my arm. "I was there when he brought you in, bleeding and half dead. I think he would have fought The Maker for your soul if you had died."
I looked down at my own crossed arms without answering, knowing I must look the pouting child and I hated myself for it.
Dafydd ap Cathmhaoil had swept me off my feet with his dark exotic looks and easy smile. In the end he had slipped away in the night and left me to face alone all the people he owed money. I had followed his trail as far as a seedy tavern in Ironforge where the bartender had distracted me with stories about human deities called angels once he had discovered I was a healer. The scrap of paper with the crude drawing he'd made with its name spelled out in dwarven and human letters was still in the bottom of my pack.
"I dunno, lass," Bessie said. "You come to the one end of Northrend that's packed with humans and you don't expect them to think somethin' so rare as a night elf lady to be the very thing they must investigate." She gently smoothed the ends of my hair. "Ignorin' the lieutenant will not make him go away."
"There would be nothing to it if they weren't all so crazy," I sighed.
"Which part? Being human or being male?" Bessie chuckled. "As if the two don't compound each other!" She patted my arm. "Well, I'll be seein' to the supplies for your trip," she said getting to her feet. "And I probably have to go calm the horse master down because our dear lieutenant has ruffled his feathers again."
"They're fighting over the charger again?" I said. "How is it, by the way?" Ravencrom's horse had fought as bravely as any soldier against the worgen, striking down our attackers and crushing them under his hooves.
"As well as can be expected for a one-eyed horse," Bessie said. "The master's not keen on feedin' a worthless animal and thinks he should be put down. The lieutenant has offered to buy him but you know how well the army pays."
I remembered how Thom's bay charger had died in that same attack. With a sudden idea in mind, I went to the clothes cupboard and pulled out a small box. "There's money enough here to buy the horse. You have the master put your name on the receipt." I frowned at Bessie's knowing grin. "It's for the horse's sake. You know how much I love animals – horses especially."
"Oh, of course, dear, of course," Bessie said, nodding as she took the box.
"You have an evil sense of humor," I said. "Now off with you, I have packing to do."
I shut the door behind her then rested my head against its solid frame, thinking again of Ravencrom and his questions. When I had first gone to Brother Paxton for training, he too had questioned my reasons for leaving the Sisters of Elune to follow the Light's teachings. It was strange I found it no less a painful question now as I did then. For all the Brother's gentle teachings did I not learn anything? I traced the grain in the wood, thinking how the darker rings looked like scars. Suddenly I felt very tired and decided my packing could wait. If the good lieutenant was going to attack me again on both fronts tomorrow I would need my rest.
