And there were statues made of stone and bronze; statues of Elven men and women, none of whom she recognised. Most stood in some stilted, stylized pose; others rode on the backs of horses, stood upon pedestals, all of them frozen; profoundly gesticulating, enunciating, depicting, uttering . . . nothing . . . save eternal silence.
Malina’s reverie was suddenly broken. They had reached the center of the city, and came to a halt in front of a large building.
Compared to many of the others, this building was plain and unadorned. Birin once again asked that only Pran, Ralph and Doc accompany him, but Ralph was not about to allow Malina to be removed from his sight; not after what he’d learned.
Ralph was understandably torn in his decision. Malina was very tense and afraid, and neither Deborah nor Theuli were around to offer her comfort. Birin acquiesced when he saw that Ralph was adamant, but advised Ralph, not unkindly, that Malina would only be made more uncomfortable while in the Hall of the Thane.
Ralph looked to Doc, who in turn seemed to reach some sort of decision that didn’t sit well with him, and said to Birin, ‘Malina remains with us until such time as we can be absolutely certain of her safety. No offense, but her treatment at some of your people’s hands doesn’t exactly merit trust.’