Rise of the Warrior of Everfen

Chapter 87: The Battalion Leader

Anyse crawled across the blanket and into Erinne's lap, clapping her hands together before she turned and crawled back to Myre. When she reached her, the young woman scooped her up and cuddled her close and her giggle reminded her of different days, bringing a sad sigh to her lips. Myre gave her a puzzled look so Erinne said, "She laughs the same way Andol did when he was a baby."

She closed her eyes before they could get misty. Memories and dreams wafting through her mind. She could still see every crisp edge of those memories in her mind, Cold Hammer tickling their son until he giggled, Erinne laughing with him from across the room before Cold Hammer joined in the laughter. So few would ever know that side of him. How truly giving he was to those he cared about. She'd had every part of him.

She dreamt of them. Almost every night. She dreamt of their family, whole and together. She saw her son's face again. She felt her husband's hand on her cheek as he caressed her and found her lips with his.

When she opened her eyes again, Anyse was back on the blanket, gnawing on a toy, accumulating a lot of drool. They'd come outside to enjoy the day. There was a small garden of flowers with a fountain nearby in a small niche of the courtyard. This one was set behind the castle, away from prying eyes and the ever-filling city. It was Wren's private garden, one he'd given her free use of so she didn't have to risk a mob in the town.

Each day new refugees arrived and she was there, every day, taking them in, arranging new canvassed tents to shelter them. They could no longer put another person within the walls of the city. Every home was full, spare rooms in the castle were given over to nobles that fled the beast and the orc war. So tents rose in the grassy hills outside of the city's walls.

She was grateful to have this space to use for her and her small family. When she wasn't out in the city, aiding the refugees, she tried to bring Anyse out into the daylight. To ease the burden on Thunderfall, Wren had begun sending healthy survivors onwards to cities deeper within the kingdom. There was bustling and moving everywhere, but here, it was still quiet and peaceful.

Anyse's hand on her leg drew her attention from her wandering thoughts and she smiled down at her, stroking her hand through her hair. It was thicker than when she'd been born, dark brown like hers, not black like Cold Hammer's and Andol's. Only time would tell her how thick Anyse's hair would get, but she thought that her hair was staying a little finer like a human's than the thick, course hair of an orc.

"Myre, I've never asked you, what do you think of Anyse's tusks?"

"I agree with our lord, Wren, they are small, harder to see than Andol's were. But you have told me that is partly due to her age."

Young orclings had soft, almost pliable tusks. They weren't the hard bone they would one day become when they were older. "That's true, but what do you think?"

Myre looked up at her, meeting her gaze, her brow furrowing as she tried to comprehend the meaning in Erinne's words before she said, "They do not frighten me, milady."

Erinne laughed and shook her head, "That much is clear. You have been a great friend to me, Myre. I don't think I could have survived this without you." She placed her hand over her heart. "On the inside. I would still be living, breathing, but I would be a shell."

"You hold great pain inside of you, milady, I think you are the strongest person I have ever met." She pointed in the general direction of the castle with a wave of her hand, "After all you have lost you still go out there and assist the healers. Meanwhile, our warriors crave orc blood and curse their existence. You curse none except those that directly hurt you."

She bowed her head, but Myre wasn't finished. She continued speaking, telling Erinne a tale she'd heard often and from many people. They all thought she was strong. Her actions rarely went unnoticed, though she never did them for the purpose of others seeing. She was hurt, time and time again, yet she still helped those in need.