‘We should stay together,’ Durus said, firmly.
‘Our first concern should be for the safety of the children,’ said Mari.
‘I think,’ said Theuli, in a tone that brooked no dissension, ‘that you should leave now, taking the children and my friends with you, and quickly, to seek safety in Narvi. I must leave immediately for Io’s farm.’
To Theuli’s surprise, as she went to leave, she found that Deborah and Malina had already conferred together, packed a few things, and were not only ready to leave immediately as quickly and quietly as possible, but were determined to accompany the Elven woman.
‘You cannot!’ Theuli said, shouldering her light pack and making her way towards the back door.
‘We can and we are!’ Deborah countered, with a stubbornness neither of the other women had ever witnessed in her before. ‘You are not going alone. Malina’s coming because she can sense danger better than any of us, and she thinks that it gets worse the farther east you get. She think’s you’re liable to run straight into it.’
Theuli visibly acquiesced, unable to argue with the sense in this. But then, she said to Deborah, ‘And why are you coming?’