[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Hilderinc could see the turn of events immediately as it came. Before he could find the man he was sent for, it became clear that lord Faramund was preparing something, men swarming all over the place and taking arms. Hilderinc would not have believed that somebody like Faramund would dare to push things as far as threatening his eorl, on the other hand, the old disillusioned side of him accepted this turn of events even with a kind of grim pleasure, as if that was something he had been expecting all the time. Nonetheless, the spirit of a soldier rose accordingly with the deep sense of duty at the same time, and he ran to report to Athanar, and then again followed his orders to bring the horses from Léof.

The young "stablemaster" seemed somewhat expectant, Hilderinc thought to himself that he clearly must have been agitated by the apparent unrest in the hall and courtyard. Only a blind man won't see that something is going on. But I am not sure about how much the boy is going to like it when something actually starts happening. Then he chased away the grim part of his mind which suddenly seemed to have surfaced with the dramatic turn of events, and quickly came to the two young ones guarding the horses.

"Lord Athanar wishes the horses be brought up to the main hall," he said curtly, not wishing to delay at the present moment.

"But there is no place to tie all of them over there," Léof replied, glancing over to where the soldiers were gathering. "Half of your men will have their hands full holding onto horses – unless you mean for everyone to mount up now. But then it would probably be easier for the soldiers to come get their own horses over here, rather than us walking all the horses over there."

Hilderinc followed the boy's gaze and realised that he was right. Good thinking, he thought, but possibly with bad timing. Hilderinc did not know Léof very well, but he assumed that the boy was rather bright young lad, and a bold one, too, as it seemed. The ability of good perception, to respond to certain situations and give the ideas of how to make things better was a virtue, but in Hilderinc's experience, not all masters were happy with this kind of behavior, especially in tense situations. Some just preferred to be obeyed, even if their stupidity led them to their end. During the years after the war, without even realising it, Hilderinc became comfortable with letting this kind of masters to do their own instead of risking to anger them with gainsaying. It was not out of fear that he was doing this, it was more like once again his hidden, suppressed, resignated side taking grounds at such times. Anyway, his thoughts were that if Léof's life was to be that of a servant, it won't be always for his best to act like he just did. A wise and experienced man should recognise when it is good to suggest something to your superior and when to shut up, but for the young one, it was better to stay safe and just obey until he learns to judge his masters better. Especially since the young ones were the most prone to ride against the wind, whatever the circumstances. Hilderinc was convinced that Léof was not mature enough yet to read his superiors' reactions. However, Hilderinc's intention was not to give lectures to him about that just now.

He looked into Léof's eyes. "There is no time for the soldiers nor for us running there and back again fetching them. Take a few of those," he turned to the men who were with him, pointing at the horses, "and let the men mount over there. Then, we will call the rest of the soldiers and mount here. But quick! Quin, help them, and then get your own horse."

The men hurried to fulfil his order, and Hilderinc briefly addressed Léof before following them too. "You stay here until the rest come for their horses, then you will join us. I will take care of lord Athanar's steed, you watch over master Thornden's horse before he comes back. And," he added, glancing back as he parted, "stay out of the harm's way."