When Hellrien rode out to Trestlebridge a few days later she was feeling a lot better. She was still weak and pale, but the sickness had left her body and she felt more or less like a human again. She had had her hauberk – that had received damaging blows in Naerost and the Forsaken Inn – mended. In spite of Taala’s doubts it still fit her, though it now felt tight at places. She had lost her crossbow in Ost Guruth – she had no recollection if she had sold it or if somebody had stolen it – but she had replaced it with a perfectly fine bow. On the long ride she remembered the discussion she had had with Taala in Ost Guruth.
”How would you feel about heading out to Trestlebridge?” had Taala asked. ”I could use another woman out there. We've only one amongst the ranks and she has a lot of crap to put up with... besides that, Blunoss and Fenrush can help you get back in shape. The drink out there is worse than swill... you'd not be so tempted.”
”Yes, sure”, Hellrien said. ”I can think of a plenty worse places to be. I've been there once, and I sort of liked it there. Beats this craphole anyway.”
”You liked Trestlebridge!” Taala wondered. ”Ha... now I know your mind’s addled. Nese, seriously, the Dawn are making a difference out there. Relations with the townsfolk are a little strained though, doesn't help some of the new recruits we've had, which is why we could use a good woman like you there.”
”Hah! I'm not surprised! Plenty of folk didn't like me there either when I was there... before I joined the Dawn.”
”Folk here spoke well of you Hellrien. You've a caring way about you, you are liked. I think you'd be a good ambassador for the Dawn out in Trestlebridge. The folk here seem to like you, least the folk Tann and I spoke to.”
”Oh?” Hellrien was intrigued. ”An ambassador? Tell me more.”
”Well, as well as serve the Dawn, be a role model of sorts, spend time amongst the folk, show them we are not monsters. The men stationed out there spend their free time drinking and whoring in the Soot & Stain, you I think you'd enjoy talking with the people. Of course you are entitled to kick back and enjoy a drink as well, but I think you present yourself well.”
Hellrien stretched up behind the campfire.
”I think I would be down to that... to get my mind out of bad places. What's the deal there?”
”Dawn secured a good contract, partly paid for by the Mayor of Bree to help guard the town from the Orc threats and keep the roads going in and out safe. So far we've only lost two of our number and that was on account of stupidity on their part.”
”And what would my task as an ambassador be?”
”Well, your main duties would be protecting the town, but unofficially just building up good relations between the mercenaries and the town’s folk. Ebold would appreciate that, the hostility between some of the locals towards us is a headache for him. I'm not saying you've got to kiss their arses, just get amongst them, show them we are not bloody cutthroats and assassins. You've a pleasant manner about you, let them see that.”
”I’ll do my best”, Hellrien nodded. To sit still in Trestlebridge guarding the bridge and mingling with the townspeople… it could have been worse.
”There is one of them you'd do well to avoid”, Taala continued. ”Goes by the name of Judd Trotter. He's a brute. He's the brother of Captain Trotter. Some say he's addled after losing his wife, others say he beat her... but he's a damn trouble maker, steer clear of that one. The only reason they've not found the bastard floating face down in the river under the span is because he's Trotter’s brother.”
”Trotter, all right, I'll remember. So he's a no go? Do not hurt, no matter what?”
”Judd Trotter... first time I met him he set about me because I spurned his advances... big bugger, took me and Ero to bring him down.” Taala shook her head. ”He's not to be touched... otherwise, as I say he'd be dead already.” She waved her hand. ”Man takes himself off over that Span on his own and goes orc hunting, or so he claims. Came back with an orc head or two. Some hail him a hero, some fear and hate him.”
”Interesting. I try to contain myself.”
”Well he'd not cause a stirring in your loins, lass... so you'll not be drawn to him by his charms... he'll raise your ire though, on account of his opinion of women and their worth. We've had some odd new bloods in the Dawn turning up for work in Trestlebridge. Had one odd fella, forgot his name, Grimbarm or something, what a bastard he was! He persuaded Will... not sure if you ever met him, drunken pirate, good sort though... well this fool took Will out over the Span when he was full of drunk and got him killed... next day stupid fecker took Fialed out too! Then we had that fool who came out there and bloody slaughtered one of the local’s sheep right on the street because it chewed on his damn cloak... he cleared off and good bloody riddance. Then there was the old Gondorian...”
”Hold on”, Hellrien said, rubbing her eyes. It was way too much information for her to digest in her current condition.
”Claims he was in some secret Ranger society out there tasked to do untold shit to the poor folks at the Lordling’s bidding... the Dark Rangers of Ithilien, he said... horseshit! The man was a braggart. I threw him out of Trestlebridge and hopefully Ebold threw him out of the Dawn.”
”I'm not following you, but I get the picture... the relations between the locals and the Dawn are a bit strained.”
”More than strained! They didn't want us there in the first place, they think we are going to bleed them dry and eat all their food... this is why we do not need men like Garm, or the sheep slayer or the mad Gondorian let loose on them.”
Hellrien spent a whole day on her way up to Trestlebridge and was half-dead of exhaustion when she finally arrived late in the night. She grabbed her saddlebag – the only one she had – and left the stables to walk along the sleeping town. She had been to Trestlebridge before a couple of years ago. She had liked the town and it’s location in a secluded valley surrounded by woods. It had certain charm to it, and the locals had reacted positively to her. At least the menfolk had – the married women in particular had thrown suspicious, poisonous glares in her direction. But then, she had been a lot thinner back then.
Without hesitation she walked into the new Spick & Span Inn and received a bed in a room with a view to the main street. She was supposed to report to Undersergeant Blunoss as soon as possible, but it was late and she saw no point in waking up the man. Besides, when traveling Hellrien often wanted to pamper herself, and as she suspected she would have to sleep in a tent for the next few months, so she wanted to sleep in a real bed for this one night. She was in luck, as there were no other travelers about and she got the whole room to herself. She threw her cloak and bag on the bad and the window wide open. With a sigh she sank into a chair next to the window and stretched her long legs. By the Valar, how tired she was! She sat for a few minutes and surrendered to her drowsiness. Then she undressed her hauberk and clothes, threw herself on the bed and fell asleep in a blink of an eye.
She woke up to sunrays playing on her pillow. She sat up and noticed that her head felt as heavy as lead. She had slept really soundly. She went downstairs and ordered bath water and a mug of ale.
She drank the ale on an empty stomach while her bath was prepared. It woke her up, and a clean set of underwear felt nice against her body. She had also packed a nice yellow dress to use in her free time, keeping in mind her ’ambassadorial’ duties of mingling and building good relations with the townspeople. Nothing too showy or gaudy, just something pretty and feminine she hoped would make her fit in and not attract too much attention in the crowd. But for Undersergeant Blunoss it was best to dress up in her armor. The hauberk was mended and polished and her boots were clean. The grub in Spick & Span didn’t tempt her, so she went to the stalls in the corner of the shopping district to have a breakfast out in the patio. Then it was time to report to Undersergeant Blunoss.
The headquarters of The Bloody Dawn Garrison in Trestlebridge was set up around an almost completely burned down building near the Span. The troops had made some repairs to the side of the house that was still standing, securing an office of sorts, but a lot more needed to be done before it could serve as a human dwelling again. A young man in chain armor barely bothered to lift his gaze from his papers when Hellrien stepped into the Undersergeant’s office.
Hellrien stood still and looked at the man. The adjutant was picking his teeth and filling up a form.
”Where is the Undersergeant?” Hellrien asked briefly.
”He won’t be here before mid-morning today, lady.”
”Where is he?”
The adjutant lifted his head from the papers. He pushed the form slowly aside and stretched up barely noticeably.
”What’s it about?” he asked more cautiously.
”Private Hellrien, reporting for duty”, Hellrien said wearily. ”I was asked to report to Undersergeant Blunoss as soon as possible. I thought you were expecting me.”
”Hellrien, of course! You can find the Undersergeant in the Woodruff residence. It’s right across the street.”
A young, pleasant-looking brunette was sitting on the stairs as Hellrien approached the house.
”Is there an Undersergeant Blunoss in the house, ma’am?”
The woman rolled her eyes. ”Connor? Yes, he’s in the kitchen, attempting to ’fix’ the table. Trying to impress aunt Eleanor, as usual. You’d best fetch him out of there while the table still stands.”
Hellrien smiled at the woman. ”Thank you, ma’am.”
The young lady showed Hellrien to the kitchen, where a short and stocky man in military outfit was crawling under a table, while a middle-aged woman stood by, arms crossed and a sour look upon her face.
”Private Hellrien reporting for duty”, Hellrien said.
The man on under the table attempted to stand up quickly, hitting his head on the bottom of the table. He crawled out and got up to his feet, rubbing his head and glaring at Hellrien poisonously.
”Hellrien?” he drawled. ”I have been expecting you, what kept you? Never mind… follow me to my office.”
Back in the office Blunoss sat behind his desk, but didn’t make a gesture for her to sit down, so Hellrien remained standing. Blunoss gave a slow look at Hellrien’s chubby form from head to toe and shook his head.
”Why do they insist on sending me the bottom scrapings? What do they think we’re doing up here, having a picnic?”
Hellrien didn’t know what to say to that, so she didn’t say anything. Blunoss leafed through some papers until he found the one he was looking for. He read through the paper, deep frown in the middle of his forehead.
”It says here we’re supposed to ’get you in shape’”, Blunoss said, lifting his head and studying Hellrien again. ”This we can do. Two or three months under the gentle care of my adjutant Fenrush here and you will be lean and tough like executioner’s whip. Let me tell you something, Hellrien. I expect my soldiers to take care of their equipment and I expect them to take care of themselves. The lives of your fellow soldiers will depend on it! Is that clear, Hellrien?”
Hellrien thought that Blunoss was at least twice as fat as she was and probably couldn’t walk up the stairs to the Woodruff house without getting short of breath, but she suspected that pointing it out would not make things any easier for her. ”Yes, sir”, she said simply, biting her tongue.
”It says here that you’ve been with us for more than a year, and that you are a capable soldier. Personally I find that hard to believe. I don’t know where you’ve been stationed before, but you’ve obviously gotten used to the easy life. I have a nagging suspicion you only got this job because you are a cousin of Captain Ebold or something like that, but your cat’s days are over now! We train here, and we train hard!” Blunoss sniffed the air and his eyes narrowed as he smelled the ale in Hellrien’s breath. ”This is The Bloody Dawn, not a bloody circus, and so I won’t abide the soldiers under my unit toddling around like overgrown hobbits, reeking of old booze, you hear me, Hellrien?”
”It’s not old, sir”, Hellrien couldn’t contain herself.
”Shut your trap, Hellrien!” Blunoss roared. ”Or I have you flogged for insubordination! Don’t get smart with me, or we will not get along, is that clear, Hellrien?”
”Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.”
Blunoss collected himself and turned his focus on the paper again. ”It says here that you are ’to assist me with the relations between The Bloody Dawn and the residents of Trestlebridge’.” Blunoss shook his head. ”Let me tell you right here and now that I don’t need any assistance with the residents of Trestlebridge. I don’t care what relations you have to the leadership, but if you thought you had a pile of silk pillows here waiting for your lazy butt to park in, you got another thing coming! I have one assistant already, I don’t need a whole army of them. I need soldiers, to guard the Span against orc attacks!”
Blunoss glared at Hellrien. ”There will be no need to help with the relations at all, as there will be none. The soldiers in my unit are under strict orders not to go to the Soot & Stain, and we have a strict curfew here. Everyone must be back in their tents by dark. I’ve had to deal with my share of drunkards and madmen here, so I have been forced to administer strict discipline to avoid any more unfortunate mishaps! Every infraction – violation of curfew, harassing the locals, drunk on duty, and so on – will be dealt with severe disciplinary action! Do you read me, Hellrien?”
”Yes, sir.”
”What we do here, Hellrien, is guard the Span and train. Every soldier in my unit has a rotating 6-hour shift to guard the bridge. In the mornings and afternoons there will be training under Adjutant Fenrush: running, swimming, sword drills, pike drills, archery, wrestling and gymnastics, among other things. Highdays will be free of practice – free to mend your equipment, shop for essentials, write letters home or play a damn lute but going the Soot & Stain is still strictly prohibited! The soldiers are strongly encouraged to spend most of their time in the camp and the curfew must be adhered to at all times. Now that we have you here, each soldier will get every twentieth day free of guard duty as well. Stay out of trouble, Hellrien, that’s all the help I need from you! Fenrush’s morning exercise is just about to begin, and I expect you to attend to it. You will also have the afternoon shift for guarding the Span today, starting after lunch. Dismissed!”
Fenrush’s ’morning exercise’ turned out to be a two miles run down to the river, followed by a hard swim for half an hour along the river, all in full combat gear of course. Immediately after the swim followed a vigorous gymnastics session, after which Fenrush called a small break.
To Hellrien the break came at the last moment. She felt nasty taste of copper in her mouth as she sank onto the damp ground and panted. She took her hat off and wiped her forehead on her cloak. She knew she couldn’t take another step. Her underwear was soaking wet of sweat and dew and her boots squished with water and rubbed against her chafed heels.
To be honest, Fenrush’s training session was nothing when she compared it to Ranesora’s brutal and sadistic methods in Ered Luin a few years back, but Hellrien had been in a lot better shape back then, and fifty pounds lighter. Valar, she was in a bad shape! The ale and breakfast she had had in the morning churned and slushed in her stomach, wanting to get out. Her heart was racing, her vision was blurry, she was nauseous, her every muscle was trembling and aching and protesting against this…
”All right, the break’s over! Get up, you lazy bums! Now let’s run up the hill back to the camp, and make it quick this time! The last one up there gets to do it all over again! Chop chop!”
Hellrien moaned.
