Chapter 148 - 147: The First Step of a Knight
Campfire - Forest Clearing, Nightfall
The crackle of flames danced in the stillness of the forest. Elves rested under the moonlit canopy, their figures silent in reverence or sleep, while Lumberling’s subordinates nursed light wounds or quietly tended their weapons. It had been a long day, but a victorious one.
Lumberling stepped away from the heart of the camp, his gaze sweeping the nearby shadows until he found her.
Jen was curled up at Vaenyra’s side, her head nestled gently on the elf’s lap. Her breathing was soft and steady, peaceful in sleep, yet there was something fragile in the way she clung to rest. The firelight flickered across her face, illuminating the faint traces of dried tears.
Vaenyra looked up as he approached, her blue eyes narrowing, not in accusation, but in quiet question.
"What happened to her?" she asked, voice low.
Lumberling didn’t answer immediately. He knelt beside them, watching Jen’s chest rise and fall with each breath. The girl who always smiled so brightly... today, that smile had been missing.
"She took her first human life," he said at last, calm on the surface, but heavy beneath.
Vaenyra nodded, her expression solemn. No more questions passed between them. Only silence and the understanding that came with it.
He had known this moment would come. If Jen was to walk the path of the sword, of the Knight, then one day she would cross steel with her own kind. He had simply chosen the time and place, somewhere controlled, where she could be shielded, guided, and protected from the chaos of true war. She had faced it, and survived it. But something inside her had shifted.
"She’ll carry that weight for a while," Vaenyra murmured, fingers brushing gently through Jen’s hair. She shouldn’t care this much. But she did. "But it’s a burden she must learn to bear if she’s to grow."
Lumberling nodded. "Thank you... for staying with her."