Author's note: Finally, chapter 3 has been up! This carries the essence of in-game Chapter 1 and, an apology to sagewolf that I haven't been able to make it deviate too much from the game story. It is also ridiculously long and, to help readers digest it, I have decided to use Uther the Lightbringer as a source of comic relief.
Uther the Lightbringer: WHAT? Using me as a source of comic relief? The Light curses you!
Author: Uh oh, there the old man goes again.
Uther the Lightbringer readies war hammer and Holy Bolt : Betrayer of the Light!
Author: Well, oughta go now, see ya! Runs away
Uther the Lightbringer: Be gone, spawns of darkness! Mauls author on the head
Owww… That hurts… This old man needs to take more tranquilizer the next time I invite him on stage…Well, anyway, the chapter is here for you to enjoy! Bon appetite!
Chapter 3
Not Your Everyday Mounted Knights
The journey took the duo quite some time, as the sparsely population of the plains of Sacae meant that the mean distance between a nomad camp to a large town would often measure from tens to hundreds miles long, and travel and transportation was not very promising. Fortunately, Lyn's lone camp was rather near the outer rim of the plains, and that made it a bit easer for the two travelers to get to their supposed destination. Nevertheless, the trip was still extremely time-consuming, if Uther was to consider the average traveling time between any specific locations in Azeroth to be nearly zero, because of the infamous town portal system. Untalkative as the Silver Hand Grandmaster was, Uther couldn't help but talk the journey over with his new companion, partly because of boredom and partly because he needed to find out as much about his traveling companion and this heaven-know-what non-Azeroth land he was in now.
"So… did you say that everyone born in the plains has to be educated in one sort of martial art or another?" Uther asked
"Yeah" the plainswoman answered, enjoying the wind playing with her hair "our tribe, for instance, had mastered the sword long before I was born. But that is an exception, for the majority of our people are skilled hunters and archers trained in the art by the lifestyle itself"
"I see… it must have been quite an achievement for your tribe to master the sword"
"Uther, where were you born then?" Lyn asked with interest "Looking at your naturally blonde hair and your vast knowledge, I can think only of the ruling noble houses of Etruria. Am I right?"
"Well, I should rather say that I hailed from Lordaeron" Uther blurted "A place of lovely springs, beautiful summers and a remarkable assortment of races"
"L…Lordae what?" Lyn stopped yanking on the harness out of surprise "Where is that? I have never heard of that place before…"
"Oh…" Uther nearly lost his balance realizing his mistake, but was abler to mend things up quickly "It's a small village in Southern Etruria… population there is quite multiracial. Yeah, but I've left home for long enough now to not recognize it if I ever come back, if God blesses me to"
"Your style is so… unique." the teal-haired rider sniggered with a substantial degree of fascination and some particular hints of mischief, tugging the harness playfully "Would you mind if I, say, ask you some… more personal questions?"
"Go ahead" Uther replied, not wanting to be rude "What would you ask of me?"
"Yeah, like… how old are you?" Lyn blinked "You seem to be not much older than me, but your knowledge would show people otherwise"
"I am now nearing seventy five years of age" The old paladin remarked without thinking "and…"
"Father Sky and Mother Earth!" Lyn's eyes opened widely in astonishment, cutting Uther's speech short, her slim figure swiped on horseback in such a way that the old warrior at a particular moment thought that the young girl was about to fall off. After a short while, she finally regained balance and looked at Uther with a rather disparagingly playful look "Can you repeat the number, please?"
"What? I said I was sevent- wait, what did I just say?" Uther rolled his eyes at himself mentally
"You said you are an old man of seventy five" the plainswoman covered her mouth to hide yet another snigger
"What? Oh… great…" Uther stuttered, but regained self confidence once more and resumed resorting to lying "A good joke I've pulled off, haven't I?"
"Oh yes you have, you nearly made me fall off!" Lyn replied mockingly "I was thinking what good old Uther would be doing here at a time like this…"
"Well, to say the truth" Uther said, obviously the opposite of the truth "I am nineteen and a half, okay? A bright and perfect age to go globetrotting, so stop laughing, please, if you can"
Lyn hadn't much controlled her fit of girly laughter yet, especially at the sight of poor old Uther nearly cornered in like that. And the sight of the once great hero Lightbringer at that time was hardly heroic- the utter embarrassment had triggered Uther's panic button, during which his body would be quickly filled up with perspiration and his face laden with oversized sweatdrops (This is literal, not manga-styled sweatdrops). And the strange green overcoat that the Seraph Tyrael had dressed him up in only added to the discomfort- it was getting too hot for Uther in that thick leathery jacket when his sweating had grown largely out of control. "Oh damn! If that girl laughs for a bit more, I think I'll die of dehydration!" Uther thought frantically "Please, in the name of the Light, stop this!" Uther, fortunately, did not have to stand that kind of torture for too long, as Lyn soon stopped laughing, straightened up her posture, and gave a good smile to top it with.
"Okay, Uther" Lyn said, blinking meaningfully "I have to thank you a good deal. I haven't been able to enjoy such a thorough joke for as long as I can remember"
"A joke? In the name of Lord Anduin Lothar and the honor of the Silver Hand and the Kingdom of Lordaeron, no!" Uther racked up his brain as he wiped off the sweat overflowing his face "This is so wrong! Do I have to keep lying like this?" The old paladin sighed. He must get out of this… or could he? "No…looks like I must keep on making up stories…can't afford to have that girl suspect me, if anything, or otherwise…" Uther thought, trying to contain his own sense of righteous honor with a tad bit of prayer "O Holy Spirit of the Light, please forgive this sinned believer"
"Oh well… yeah, I thought it would do well to put back the smile on your face" Uther finally said, confusion still not having left his voice "By the way, how old are you?"
"I am eighteen as a matter of fact" Lyn smiled gently "And don't even bother to verify that, I am just unable to make up a joke as… fascinating as yours"
"Ha" Uther said, feigning a smile "I'll take that as a compliment. And by the way, are we in Bulgar yet?"
"A good distance to go, Uther. We had better hurry up so we may get there around midday as planned" Lyn replied, her voice suddenly softened a great deal "And… Uther?"
"What is it that ails you this time?" Uther asked, telling himself mentally not to reveal any more vital information that may blow his cover
"Thank you" the swordswoman smiled, blinking, her voice became both solemn and gentle, albeit somewhat perplexed "for having cared about me"
The plainswoman then yanked the horse's harness forcefully and started accelerating, leaving Uther to trail behind. The old man quickly did the same, and before they knew it, both riders were off into the horizon at top speed. The old paladin could never know the real reason behind the plainswoman's sudden acceleration as well as the perplexity in her voice a couple of seconds before that, but he could swear in the name of the Light that for that one brief moment, the female rider's cheek was starting to glow red in the same way Jaina did when the then-innocent Arthas presented her with a bright and freshly picked rose bulb in the Capital City palace garden five years ago…
The acceleration the duo had carried out had one positive effect at least- they arrived at their destinations about half an hour ahead of schedule. Uther's first look at the city from a hill outside showed nothing so special of this town- no sky-high observation towers like Dalaran, no elegant buildings and shop-windows like the Capital City, not even the famous ice-covered eversmoking blacksmiths were present like those he would have seen in the Dwarven Forges. On the contrary, comprised mainly of a large assortment of tents and pavilions of all sort, with the most remarkable structures being built of clay bricks and mud, a Lordaeron city-dweller like Uther could hardly believe that the settlement could qualify for even a town, let alone a city. There was only one thing that set the place from the lush green color of the plains- the large amount of people present in town.
"Is this…Bulgar?" Uther asked, looking around with a bit of disappointment
"Yes, here we are, Uther" Lyn replied cheerfully "Looks like we've got a good journey, and now we are ready to do what shopping we need before setting off. Well, it is the monthly market sale going on today, fortunately, and we may just get what we need in no time."
Then, she handed Uther a small pouch of money, smiled and said
"Okay, now you should stay here and get us a couple of spare weapons, while I'll go over there to get some food and other supplies. We'll meet at the town square in another hour, alright?"
Uther nodded, and was returned with Lyn's trademark optimistic smile, as she dashed off and mingled among the crowd doing shopping. The problem was, Uther did not like the idea too much.
Shopping? Uther frowned slightly. As fond as the old cleric knight was of neat armors and flashy weaponries, the notion of going shopping was always on his list of I-Hate-You-The-Mosts. And so while it did came to him that he was there to purchase things in the first place, thinking back to it, the Lightbringer couldn't help feeling rather discomfort. "Shake it off, Uther" the paladin disciplined himself "You hate shopping because usually the Lordaeron Supply Convoy staff would follow your army and cater for your army's every need! It's high time you learnt to do things without those people!"
Thinking so, the paladin started moving towards the nearest weapon stall, and started looking at the weapons on sale. There were swords, bows, axes, lances of all sizes and even a neat war hammer on sale. "A War Hammer????" Uther's foundation shook at the sight of the weapon, and had good reasons for that. For a Lordaeron Paladin of the Order of the Silver Hand, the two most valuable possessions that they could ever have were arguably his oversized sledge hammer and his equally oversized tome of Light magic that happened to be chained to his armor at all times. And to all of those devout warriors, just the sight of one of those things or their look-alikes would bring back memories of the Order. To Uther, the sledge hammer had an even more profound impact, for his being the first cleric of Lordaeron to have ever taken up physical arms and became a Paladin, and to this moment, the cleric-knight had been regarding it as part of his own life.
And now, in front of him lay a large, fully functional mallet-o-war on sale, and all what he needed was to throw a bunch of gold coins in the little pouch that Lyn had given him a moment before to get it back. The temptation to pick the darling up, pay up for it and swing it a few rounds like in the old days troubled the Lightbringer's mind to no end. But he could never have allowed himself to do so, in the name of his belief. He was NOT allowed to use a war hammer. That was, if he didn't want to give up his deathly secret. Still, there was something tingling in his two palms, exactly where his calluses were… used to be, for they were now no longer there on his new palms, like they were calling for their old flame…
"Here, if you'd allow me…" Uther finally spoke, after taking a deep breath, swallowing that missing part of his life down his gullets "I'd like to look at those two iron swords you'd have there…"
"Uther" the paladin suddenly heard a familiar voice in the horizons. Turning back, he could see the plainswoman walking briskly towards him, but this time, her expression, though as red as a beetroot her face was, showed utter disgust "We are moving out now"
"What? I haven't finished getting the weapons" Uther asked back "what was wrong?"
"We-must-go-now!" Lyn said angrily, her cheeks virtually glowing like a crimson neon bulb "Or, oh well, just make it plain and simple, we must leave"
Uther looked behind the plainswoman's shoulder and immediately realized what the commotion was all about, for there a few meters behind the absolutely embarrassed to death woman trying to pull out of it, stuck among the crowd, a lancer in green armor with a solid headband to top it with was moving at a remarkable speed through the crowded street, scrambling his way towards the teal-haired beauty in spite of all odds- in this case, 'all odds' meant a crowded street and a great number of shops in the way filled with fragile and not so inexpensive goods. His facial expression, if anything, showed a blank devotion often found in the womanizer figure that Uther sometimes had to pay valuable time disciplining while he was still a general of the Lordaeron Army. However, Uther the Lightbringer, to an extent, really respected his skill with the lance, as the armored dude manage to make his way skillfully across that kind of a crowd, while still managed to keep his lance in check without accidentally hitting or stabbing anything, or worse, anyone by accident, despite the clumsy stance by which he maneuver the crowd and the fact that his eyes were glued on Lyn's figure. "This is fascinating. That kind of skill would far outmatch a standard knight of Lordaeron" Uther thought with purely professional interest "Can't believe this lands has given rise to so many extraordinary talents"
"Wait!" the green lancer virtually screamed, pushing through a full rank of nomad housewives examining fine potteries on sale over one corner of the street "Wait for me, O Beauteous One!"
"Who on earth is that fellow?" Uther blurted "Does he have anything to do with you?"
"Don't ask me about that good-for-nothing Lycian knight, I know nothing at all!" Lyn was definitely moving out, her cheek still glowing bright red "Now let us move out of here!"
"Hmm… this is odd" Uther said "A knight chases after you?"
Hardly had Uther finish his sentence when the apparently extremely embarrassed swordswoman tugged at his collar and, against his own will, pulled him out of the mess, heading for the city entrance. Uther didn't even have the chance to resist the pull, for before he knew it, the green lancer had been a long way away, a distance not easily covered especially with that lance he was carrying.
"Sain? Sain! What the hell are you doing out there?" a voice suddenly thundered behind the duo, and Uther managed to, out of curiosity, break free from Lyn's grip, take a glance back and, feeling that something was not too normal of all the noises, decided to move back to the scene to see what had happened
What a surprise! Not only did the green lancer escaped from the crowd safely without breaking anything and maiming anyone, but this time it seemed that he was not alone, for another lancer, holding on to two horses, had emerged from nowhere and joined the act. There is only one word to say about this newcomer- red. He had red armor, red hair, red cloak, and was even armed with a crimson-painted pike for some unknown reasons. The first thing he did upon seeing his companion was to turn to all the people on the street who were horrified by the bull-in-a-china-shop blind parkour the green lancer had just carried out, and said a big apology. After that, he virtually pulled his companion away by the collar with one hand and guided the two horses with another, until both of them was not too far from Uther's present location, and started yelling- though not to loudly- at the poor chap. From the way he spoke and the way he twisted his lips in annoyance, Uther was able to tell that the crimson lancer was, at least, a decent comrade of the green fellow's, and obviously was far from pleased with the mess he had put up in the street just now.
"Uther? Uther! Where are you going?" Lyn's yell in annoyance pulled Uther out of his observation, and as he looked back, he was no less surprised than the green lancer when a very mad Lyn appeared out of nowhere right in front of his nose, her face incredibly red with both anger and embarrassment. How Uther was put off! Lyn's voice thundered right before his ears, and Uther, once again, did not have a chance to defend himself. It was as if the whole town could hear the furious plainswoman shout, or maybe it was because Uther had suffered from the impact of a direct hit, but Uther could barely hear anything after the yell.
"Excuse me" the lancer in red suddenly approached the duo, and politely asked. He must have been amongst those who had been unfortunate enough to hear Lyn's shout, and immediately realized what it was about.
"Oh… yes. What is it that troubles you?" Uther said, but the red lancer seemed to have paid him no mind. He immediately walked up to the puzzled Sacaen lady and greeted her in the same polite and educated way that he walked by them
"I apologize for my partner's behavior" he said "He did seem to have disturbed you somehow"
"Thank you for minding" Lyn's tension seemed to have lessened a bit, as the red color in her face began to fade out "You, at least, seem honorable…"
"Hmm?" The red lancer suddenly took one more step towards Lyn, somewhat making their distance unconventional, as Uther could see clearly in Lyn's astonishment and slightly escalated embarrassment "Pardon me, but… have I seen you somewhere before?"
"Hey, no fair, Kent!" the green-armored lancer popped up right behind his red counterpart, and almost knocked his comrade over "I saw her first!"
The next thing that Uther realized that Lyn's face turned as red as blood in an instant "Uh oh, those fellahs have had it!" Uther thought, frowning "When this girl is angry, she is going to be extremely scary, as I have just seen" Fortunately, it seemed that he had misjudged Lyn a bit, as after three or so seconds holding his breath, he saw nothing dramatic happening, such as a sword being drawn and the likes. Instead, the plainswoman just straightened up her garments, turned around and walked away.
"Uther, we must leave now" she said in a very calm manner, still facing away from the two lancers "It seems like there are no decent men among Lycia's knights. My patience has ended"
Then, she pushed through a line of people near the city entrance, walked out of town, and Uther did the same, until they were certain they were out of the lancers' sight for good.
"Wait! That's not what I…" the red lancer, named Kent, tried to call Lyn back to no avail. Seeing so, he turned back to his partner in great disappointment and resentment "Now you've done it, Sain"
"Huh? Is it just me, or did you just say no?" Sain, the green lancer, lifted his shoulders, puzzled "I thought you were…"
"You are the one sole Caelin knight who has officially sworn the vow to hit on every lady you come across, and not me!" Kent nearly shouted "Come, I fear she might be what we are here for…"
"What? That pretty lady is our mission?" Sain rolled his eyes "you gotta be joking!"
Kent did not wait for an answer, but instead mounted on one of the two hrses and sped off out of town. Sain had no other choice but to follow him, for being left in a Sacaen town alone is not quite a good thing for a Lycian, even if he was a knight.
Moments later, on top of a small grassy hill out of town, Lyn and Uther finally came to a halt, believing that they had been able to cut the persistent lancer off.
"So what really happened?" Uther finally asked when both he and Lyn had been officially out of town and sitting on the ground for a break, their horses tied to a tree nearby "You didn't even let me finish the shopping"
"That" Lyn promptly replied, wiping off the sweat on her forehead as she stretched her legs across the ground "is why none of us like to stay around Lycians, especially those knights. What did he think I am? A useless girl who would fall for one like them with the least bit of cheap flirting?"
"Err… do you think they are not… not really what you think they were?" Uther asked, and Lyn's expression nearly instantly put him off
"Uther, if you have never communicated much, let me tell you" Lyn said, her annoyance still hadn't died down "When a scoundrel says something flashy towards a woman, he would mean nothing good"
"well, but…" Uther tried to speak, but he could never finish his question, for from nowhere, a large hand axe flew into range, went in a full curve over his head and hit the ground, pinning onto it, the notion of which startled both the tactician and the swordswoman, and both of them leaped up from the ground at once. They were being attacked!
Lyn instantly drew her katana and looked around as Uther stayed behind her. Sooner than enough, the owners of the hand axe had come into range so as to be recognized- a band of seemingly bloodthirsty axe-wielding brigands, with a remarkably large man with a proportionately large axe as the leader.
"Those are not the knights from town…" Lyn said, looking around tensely "Those people are out for blood"
Uther took a good look around as well, and the situation didn't look so great. They were being outnumbered ten-to-one, and that was considering Uther to be a combatant. Looking at Lyn, Uther was even more anxious. It was correct that she had some lightning-fast sword techniques as well as a very strong will for someone of her age, but it wouldn't help too much if the attackers were that numerous. "She is too fragile to fight all that much enemies" Uther thought, scanning the field "What you need here is a good squad of fully upgraded knights of the Silver Hand, or a well-trained paladin of sort…a luxury as a matter of present…"
"heheh, aren't you the pretty one?" the large man leading the enemies took a couple of steps forwards until he was able to see Lyn face to face "So you are… Lyndis, are you not?"
"Who are you? What did you just call me?" Lyn asked, rather perplexed
"Lyndis?" Uther thought in astonishment "That…that is one of the three heroes I must find to defeat Arthas! What is happening? Wait…if Lyn is Lyndis, I must protect her at all cost for the sake of the Kingdom of Lordaeron!"
"Tsk. A pretty girl we've got right here, boys" The leader called his fellow thugs, who slowly advanced on the duo backing away "Oh well, what an absolute waste we must get you out of this world. Sorry, girl, but the gold is too much to be missed. Boys, you've got your orders!"
By the order of the leader, a large mob of about ten brigands moved straight forward, axe in hand, ever ready to cut poor Lyn into two pieces. Lyn nervously backed up, knowing somehow that she would stand no chance.
"This doesn't look good, Lyn" Uther said "If you think you can't do it, we can just get out of here. Our horses are still there as a matter of fact"
"I must agree that there are too many for me to handle" Lyn replied firmly "But I shall never give up!"
"If you insist" Uther said "I may lend you an extra…"
Third time in a row, Uther could not finish what he was about to say, for a sound of galloping horses closing in on managed to gather all attention, and to Uther's and Lyn's astonishment, the two lancers from the commotion in town had arrived on horseback, and it seemed that they were not there for ill.
"There she is!" the lancer in green armor halted his steed, calling to his friend "Whew, finally… made it"
And almost instantly he found out that things were not going on the right way. In front of him stood a good array of axemen, ever ready to draw blood with their brute force, and even the most ignorant of men could know what that platoon of ruffians surrounding a seemingly defenseless maiden could mean.
"Hey, you there! That number against a girl?" he spoke loudly "Cowardly! Despicable! Pick someone of your own size!"
"Isn't that the knight from town?" Uther said, and then turned to the mounted lancer "Hey you! You are that guy in town, are you not?"
"Let's not discuss this now, should we? It seems that we have a battle at hand here" Sain spoke to Lyn "My fair maiden, it seems that those ruffians would do you harm. If a fight is what they want, then a fight is what they shall get! Let me at them!"
"This is my fight" Lyn answered calmly "Please get out of my way"
"Milady" the green fighter's companion quickly got into the conversation "There is no need to quarrel over such maters as who should fight and who should not. Please command us and we will obey your orders. I am Kent, a knight of Caelin, and this is Sain, my partner. We shall follow your lead. Is this acceptable, milady?"
"Don't worry, Lyn" Uther spoke "I can still give you all sound advice in combat. It is not much trouble for me"
There was a pregnant pause
"Alright. I shall lead the way then" Lyn finally answered, pointing to Uther "This tactician, Uther here shall give you direct orders. Let's go!"
In Uther the Lightbringer's eyes, the rumble that followed was the most unconventional of battles he had ever seen throughout his life, and the reasons were plenty. First, the two cavaliers differed a great deal from the brigade of seasoned knights of Lordaeron that Uther used to command- the unit famous for having loud-and-foul-mouthed, fully ironclad warriors always in a zealous battle fury of religious belief and loyalty. Instead, the two knights under his command were more scantily armored, fought more sensibly than their Lordaeron counterpart, and were both handsome and gentle (Kent) or sweet-talking (Sain) enough to woo the majority of women in Lordaeron. Second, this was the first time in his life that Uther realized the existence of the weapon hierarchy- swords best axes and so on, in Elibe. "If swords could maul axes that easily in Lordaeron" he recalled bitterly after all had passed "We humans would have practically and systematically owned those Orcish invaders, for they use nothing but axes and we use nothing but swords" Third, the green lancer, or rather, cavalier, had proved to be the greatest failure to anyone who had trained him up in the way of the war, for he was able to make two deadly mistakes in a row by particularly violating the aforementioned hierarchy that nearly made him pay back with his dear life. Luckily, he only suffered from a good axe blow to the shoulder, which Lyn's vulnerary (and beauty, as he claimed) had been able to cure fully. And finally, the red lancer, for some reasons unknown yet, fought beside Lyn and him with as much loyalty and devotion as he would have around King Terenas Menethil or, earlier, Lord Anduin Lothar, which amazed the Lightbringer to a good extent.
The battlefield was a terrible sight to look on, as it had always been. Blood coved the field as the hilly plains where the skirmish took place was scattered with the dead's remains. The ten bandits coming out to get a piece of Lyn all ended up dead, and as the Lightbringer remarked, they were only a bit better than the common bandits that would come around robbing unaware and unarmed people in that they managed to get themselves a leader to gather round so as they would not run away when engaging with a stronger foe. Nevertheless, the superiority of the two cavaliers' armors, weapons and training meant that it would only be a matter of time before the overwhelmer became the overwhelmed. And the determination of the thugs to draw blood meant that they did not ask for any quarters at all.
"Blast… there was only… supposed to be… a lone… girl…" was the bandit lord's last words, and while normally Uther wouldn't care about what some despicable grunts would say upon death, this time what the boss said seemed to have had much implication.
"Lyn, we must go now. There is no telling how many more shall be coming over" Uther immediately voiced his anxiety after the last enemy had fallen
"I think that is the best idea we can have now" Lyn nodded "We have been too drained up today to fare for ourselves in that case. But before that…"
The plainswoman then turned to the two cavaliers who had participated in the battle on their behalf, and, seemingly having forgotten all the fuss in town just now, asked them politely.
"As of these Lycian knights" she said, smiling "What would your business here be?"
"Yes, milady" the red armored knight, Kent, spoke up "We have ventured from Caelin, Lycia in search of someone"
"Lycia… beyond the mountains in the southwest from here, I suppose?"
"Yes. We have come here as messengers to the lady Madelyn, who… eloped with a nomad… some 19 years ago…"
The rest of the story was extremely informative, and Uther's premonitions had been right. The girl who had saved him was one of the three supposed heroes of Lordaeron- Lyndis, and what was more, she was no ordinary ladies, but was rather the lost granddaughter of Marquess Hausen of Caelin, and that her mother had sent her grandfather a letter several days before disaster struck. The main business that the two troublemaking nonstandard knights were having was primarily to bring Lady Madelyn- Lyn's mother- or any of her nearest living relative back to Caelin safely and quickly, and that meant the plainswoman herself. The bad news was, the fact that the Marquess suddenly had got a heir apparent had effectively blocked the ascension of the previous heir, Lundgren- the marquess' younger brother, and he obviously was not please with it. The fact that even the bandits attacking them knew about her real name meant that Lundgren's reach had become dangerously close to claiming Lyn's life. And the wicked granduncle would want his young grandniece dead no matter what.
"Uther… I am sorry… this changes everything" Lyn asked, looking at her companion after a moment of silence "What would you want me to do?"
"This is a problem we've got here" Uther the Lightbringer remarked "What is Lundgren? A lord? That means a standing army and enough cash to get mercenaries to harass us for as long as we are alive. And what are we? A young lady and two… let me see… certainly not best knights around. This is getting out of control if you ask me"
"I see… So… you mean that…" Lyn said, a bit nervously "I should not follow those two cavaliers back to Lycia?"
"In common sense, yes, sadly" Uther said, suddenly becoming much more solemn and stressed "Nevertheless, milady, blood is thicker than water. Sometimes we resort to something not because it is the best, but rather because it is duty. If your grandfather, for some reasons, dies before you can see him, I would see that you would resent not coming over to him for the rest of your life"
Then, Uther took a fw steps towards Lyn, looked at her in the eyes for a brief moment to see clearly the reflection of her determination to see her last living relative, before finally bowed down a little and declared.
"I am yours to command, milady Lyndis. My ability is at your disposal"
"Uther…" Lyn said, looking at her faithful tactician "Thank you…"
"There is no need to, milady. It is also part of my mission" Uther replied
"The mission? What you had told me…" Lyn asked out of curiosity
"I am sorry, milady. It is all what you need to know now" Uther remarked "Other than that… let it be revealed at the right time"
"That means from now on we are under your command as well, milady" Kent stood up and declared "Sain and I will follow you for as long as we are alive!"
"Those knights are nonstandard in many ways other than one compared to the Lordaeron Royal Champion" Uther thought silently "but in their heart, they are still knights, and good ones indeed. I shall assume control over them in battle for the future to come…"
After paying a good deal of time burying the dead, as according to Sacaen nomadic ethics it was sinful to Mother Earth to leave the dead unburied, Lyn and the rest of the group went on, mounted on their four healthy steeds, this time there had been a destination not to be missed- The Territory of Caelin, deep within Lycia. The urgency of the matter made Lyn decide to ride through the night that night, and maybe many more ahead if things turned out badly
"And… Uther? Are you still awake?" Lyn asked her faithful tactician as they journeyed across the open plains in the darkness
"I am, milady" Uther replied, trying to hide his yawn "What would you ask of me?"
"Please" the plainswoman asked "Do not address me with the honorifics. I would just like to be called Lyn whenever possible, without the 'milady' added"
"If you say so" Uther replied "it shall be done"
The darkness managed to hide away well the youthful smile and cheery blush on the plainswoman's cheek- something that Uther would not like to see or enjoy so much for obvious reasons- one of those being duty.