[Tevildo]

Staring doggedly at the branches and logs that they had piled up on the far side of camp, the young man squirmed uncomfortably as he tried to pretend he hadn't seen Vaenosa give him a look at the mention of cooking the meat. Frankly, he was sick of the references to his cooking. As someone acquainted with a considerable amount of loss and hurting, he'd already guessed that Vaenosa was angry about something that had happened in her past. Dorran could understand feeling like that. He had no wish to quarrel with her. He only wanted to get along.

The boy shuddered involuntarily and bit his lip as a sharp, unwelcome image of an Orc beating a woman with a heavy wooden cudgel studded with iron nails abruptly crept into his mind. Before his Aunt Raven had passed, she had once confided to the boy that his first few years in Wulfham had not been easy for either her or the other Rohanites. Although barely six at the time, Dorran had been angry and sullen, unwilling to speak about what had happened to his parents or the series of ugly events that had compelled them to flee to Rohan. But over the years, that anger had been crammed back into a tiny space in the depths of his mind, and he liked to keep it that way. It was only when he thought about Orcs that these feelings threatened to burst forth.

Maybe Vaenosa thought about men the same way that he regarded Orcs? Dorran shuddered slightly. He could not imagine being anywhere near an Orc. But he still could not figure out why Vaenosa felt this way about every single human male. And even more importantly, if she did hate all men, why had she wanted to go on this mission? Surely, she recognized how important this venture was for the safety of everyone in the village, including her own family and friends. Squabbling did nothing but get in the way. An unexpected, disturbing question raised its head. What if someday he was in a situation where he'd have to learn to cooperate with Orcs, or imperil the safety of someone he loved? But that would be ridiculous! Such a thing would never happen within his lifetime.

In an attempt to shake off his moodiness, Dorran rose to his feet, limped over to the edge of the encampment, and dragged back several logs and smaller branches, banking up the fire. All the while, he kept thinking how much he missed his sister Criede and her straightforward ways.