All the while, sitting nearby on his mount, the Thane watched, while one of his captains, he wasn’t sure which, from behind him muttered sickly, ‘What have we become? What have we become?’ over and over again.
The smell was sickening.
Shortly thereafter, this madness seemed to pass, and the soldier responsible for initiating it approached the Thane, though his demeanour bore an unrepentant, disturbingly sated aspect.
‘Forgive me, my Thane,’ he said, ‘but this was necessary. My brother’s transgressions have been expunged, his soul cleansed, as when it was new. Fire does that.’
Were I not privy to the truth of this man’s actions, I could easily allow myself to accept his pretense of madness, the Thane thought. Gazing long into the soldier’s eyes, a sudden chill twisted in his vitals. Yet despite that which I know, there remains the deluded wish to blame this occurrence on something other than the truth. Not taking his eyes off the soldier, the Thane nodded to one of his captains who had several soldiers standing ready. The captain and his soldiers disarmed and arrested all those that had ignored the Thane’s orders and participated in the burning. Though these mutineers went off quietly and without protest, those who had to deal with them were deeply disturbed by these Elves who appeared at once distant and insensate, as though they no longer cared about their fate; yet by their behaviour had they given the lie to their present demeanour, hiding as it did something unpredictable, dangerous, and sinisterly evasive.