[Tevildo]

As soon as Brand gave orders to set up camp and prepare the evening meal, Dorran went to work on the fire pit. He lay down a handful of dry pine needles to act as tinder, then an armful of thin twigs, and finished off with two good sized logs that he'd cut down with his hatchet. That should keep the fire burning well into the night, he reasoned. A fire was important not only for keeping them warm and cooking their food, but the flames could help scare away animals who might be lurking in the bushes. It was unlikely that they would have problems like these, since they were still so close to home. But, just to be sure, Dorran set two long branches on the ground beside the firepit that could be used as makeshift torches.

Dorran then turned his attention to clearing a space for their bedrolls. He gathered armfuls of pine needless to create a more comfortable place to sleep and cleared away a few rocks littering the ground. He made sure to put the womens' sleeping quarters protectively close to the fire on the northern side of the pit, while he and Brand would settle down on the opposite ourtskirts of the enclosure, some distance away. He simply did not feel comfortable sleeping right next to two attractive young women, and he knew from experience that his sister preferred her privacy at night.

He wasn't sure if the prickly Vaenosa would object to this sleeping arrangement, since it assumed that the men would be guarding the outside perimeter of the camp. If Vaenosa wanted to prove how tough she was, she was welcome to move her bedroll further away from the fire, as long as it wasn't anywhere close to where he was sleeping. He was doing everything he could to concentrate on his work and not think about what had happened earlier in the day. The men and women in Aldwulf's household were always extraordinarily well behaved. He had never had to contend with this kind of rudeness before. It had taken all his self control and Brand's supportive words for him not to lash back at the girl. He had simply let her run away and kept his thoughts to himself. Dorran would also have like to get to know Incana better, but with Vaenosa hanging about, he was extremely reluctant to take that chance.

In any case, he wished that Brand had not asked him to make the evening meal. After enduring the woman's taunting remark, he didn't want to put himself in that situation again where he was likely to get more teasing. But an order is an order, especially when they were off in the woods like this. Dorran began to get out the food and do what he could to prepare the evening meal.