[Folwren]

Wulfham

Having finished her short cry, Athwen roused herself sufficiently to set about completing her task of running her hands and eyes over her horse to make certain that nothing was out of place and that he was completely well. Her next thought was to attempt to hide all signs of having cried, and she quickly made her way down to the river.

There, she had hardly finished rinsing her face when she heard hoofbeats of a galloping horse. Athwen turned, hastily drying her eyes on her sleeve, and looked towards camp. She watched as Dorran grasped Incana's bridle rein and the woman swing easily from her horse. Where Athwen stood, she could not see clearly their faces, nor hear the words spoken, but a strange aggitation seemed to push its way into the small group. A few moments later, Vaenosa cantered up in haste. She dismounted quickly.

'Strange,' Athwen muttered to herself. 'I though they'd gone to hunt, or something. But they didn't bring anything back.' She shrugged slightly. 'Had better go and see what's up. . .' She bent and used the hem of her skirt to finish drying her face. She snorted at disgust with herself as she dropped it. 'Completely unlady like. If Mum saw you. . .well, yes. Go and see what's going on.'

She quickly trotted up the slight embankment and walked towards the others. As she drew nearer, she could finally begin to hear what they were saying, though it didn't make sense to her. Brand was speaking of some sort of ambush, she thought. She wondered what good an ambush would do with hunting. She had never taken much interest in that sort of work, but she hadn't thought that it had to do with ambushing. But then he asked where she was and she hurried forward the last several yards.

'Here I am. What do you need a decoy for?'