|
His friends were all there, and as they made arrangements for what promised to be a good dinner away from home, Osmod drifted back into his silent self. Some of the men were busying themselves with the deer carcass and Meghan was asking Rædwald for some oats while Osmod and Fion rested for another moment. Then, Mother Nature made her call felt and Osmod excused himself from the rest of the group. He found a suitable clump of bushes close to the river, and then he decided to wash himself before dinner time. It was far too cold to take his clothes off and get into the river, but he kneeled on a big flat boulder on the riverbed and washed his hands and his face.
…plock.. sounded once. plick… plock… sounded again.
Osmod looked up to see the cruel woman –he could not force himself to think otherwise- throwing stones onto the river. For a moment, he thought that stone-throwing must be a popular skill wherever these people came from -looking at what they had done to Fion- but he disregarded that thought as silly. Dying himself as best as he could with his cloak, he walked over to the woman. Her horse was nearby and not knowing a better way to start a conversation, he approached the stallion and patted his neck slightly. He was bitten for his effort. ”Brute..” He muttered to himself, before regaining his composure and addressing the startled woman. ”Oh, I’m sorry… I did not mean to scare you. I saw you here and thought we never got a chance to talk, you know, after our… meeting. Sadly, your horse surprised me before I got a chance to say hello. I am Osmod, as you probably know, and I used to lead the Bregoware group. After my last mistake, I don’t know who could possibly follow me into yet another ambush.” He shook his head ”But that is not something you need to concern about, would you walk with me back into the camp? It is getting dark and we should all stay together.” He tried to smile, reassuringly and did his best to hide his feelings from this woman. She had threatened Fion’s life and that was not something he would forgive easily. But in any case, the other people in her group seemed civilized enough, and if she was with them she must have been useful in one way or another.
Osmod just hoped she was not useful as a cold-blooded killer.
|