"Yeah, I heard a commotion and jumped through her window" Bridghet said, non-chalant. A little stunned, he almost didn't hear the door open as his old friend, Ashwyneth, was indeed home and hadn't left for the South yet. Relieved at that, he walked inside.
"Lady Ash! How are you?" he said.
"Erm... hello?" she said, confused. Oh... the hood. Pulling his hood down, she recognised him, and he felt her friendly embrace with joy at seeing his friend again after these long months.
"What can I do for you?"
"Well, I'd hoped that it wasn't just your medicine that was sage, and that your advice would be, too".
After catching up with one another's lives, he and Bridghet regailed their predicament to her. Bridghet left shortly before he finished the tale, but in a way he was a little glad she did, for part of his sordid past involved her in an unkindly way. As the tale went on, he told her of the night in the tavern prior, and how he'd lost his temper in an altercation, and it'd landed him in a problematic predicament.
Ashwyneth raised an eyebrow. "He must have done something interesting, to lead to you losing your temper. Though by "the wrong man"...you mean...?"
Vanden..."
"Furley..." she said, looking at him like a child being scolded.
Furley looked at her, attempting to be proud, but shrank under her gaze. Holding his hands up, he reasoned. "Look, I know, I know. The short of it is that he has some... dirt, on me. To do with the rangers. And stuff Bridghet doesn't realise, too, that could ruin me. It started with a drink with his lady, Ida, who I thought had become more a friend than the adversary from the old days".
"What dirt does he have?"
Admitting it straight away, he continued. "I paid him and Ida to free her from the rangers, and also of the guard... who Bridghet was in charge of, at the time" he said. "By law, Deorla was outlawed for five years. I went against the law, and paid the devil to ensure it was done".
Ashwyneth dipped her head. She was silent for a moment. "So...he said he would end you. He said he would if you did something, or simply said he would?"
Furley sighed. "That's the thing about those types, ain't it? They never make it obvious. I'm not sleeping for fear of a dagger".
Ashwyneth looked at him. "Understandable. Have you thought of what you might do?"
Furley looked at her, nodding. "Aye, but I was hoping for your input" he smiled. "The way I see it, they've been plagueing this town for far too long, and like any plague it needs eradicating. But if I stay, it'll likely come for me. So my options are to stay and take them on. Stay, and hope it blows over and that I continue to wake each morning. Or run. South. Back to Langhold. Either way, it's not looking promising for my ability to breathe".
Ashwyneth smiled lightly, looking at him. "Furley, if I know anything, it is that you are much tougher than you look, and than you see yourself." The smile turned to a thoughtful frown. "However...that is quite the conundrum, indeed." She tapped her chin again. "I am sure there are others who would agree with you that they need to be...eradicated, as you put it. Though by yourself...? Certainly not a wise idea. You need more than one or two people to help you." She chews her lip slightly, speaking through it. "I think I may know some people who could help, aside from me."
Looking at her, a little shocked, he smiled. "My my" he thought to himself. The voice of reason indeed, or that slight touch of madness he needed to get himself through this mess.
