In reply to Aislyn (msg # 38):

Difyr led Aislyn into one of the structures. It had a fireplace and even some wood. Difyr set to building a fire to make tea.

In reply to Yehudit Buckley (msg # 63):

Xavier's mouth quirked. He was a born flirt and while he had been serious so far, the mood needed to be lightened in his opinion. "Ares can easily carry two riders, I can assure you I will not permit you to fall and break your neck."

Liadan was not about to let this man flirt with her daughter, or ride double on his horse with her.

"Sileas, mount up and help Yehudit up." Liadan said, thinking she ought to have kicked more than Xavier's face.

Sileas sneaked a glance at Xavier. "Is it all right if I ride Ares? Will he permit me in his saddle with Yehudit?" When her friend nodded, Sileas mounted up and held her hand down to Yehudit.

If she would have been in a better frame of mind, she probably would have laughed when he nonchalantly put his hands around Yehudit's waist and boosted her up on to the horse's back.

Yehudit sat in front of Sileas. She could tell her mother as annoyed and she turned her head to grin at Sileas.

Liadan made a growling noise in her throat. She clutched her twisted forks.

Xavier winked at Lia, put his blade away and set out for the keep, his men bringing up the rear.

Liadan glared at Xavier. She walked beside Ares back to the keep, making sure Yehudit did not fall off the horse despite Sileas holding her.

Xavier hoped they had enough rooms or some people might have to double up. He noticed as he entered the keep that several people and families had already chosen rooms. He would wager that the families would stay close. He grimaced at the condition of the keep, he had hoped it would be in better repair. First things first though. The people needed homes and furnishings.

He stood in the center of the main hall. "Once everyone has settled in a room they chose, please return here so we can begin planning rebuilding and who has skills doing what. We will all need to work together, there is much to be done."

Sileas made certain to keep Ares at a steady gait until they reached the courtyard. She helped Yehudit down and handed her off to Lia. "I'm going to take Ares to the stable and get him settled. I'll be in in a while."

"I'll help you!" Yehudit volunteered, grabbing Sileas's arm.

"Go rest your ankle, I can handle taking care of Ares. It might be dangerous for you in the stables." Sileas shot a look toward Lia, imploring for help.

Liadan frowned, then looked around. "Aron, we'll need a nice warm spot for our family, should have Ais and her kids and Sileas with us too."

In reply to Sileas (msg # 75):

Yehudit reacted more emotionally than was warranted. "I WANT TO BE WITH YOU! I SURVIVED A GENOCIDE, I CAN SURVIVE A STABLE!!!"

Liadan blinked, startled at Yehudit's outburst. "You sound like you need to rest, Yehudit."

"I will see what I can find. Aislyn is probably already inside, I don't see her or Difyr. Questa should stay with us too," he added. "Come little ones." He held out his hands for the children to take and he headed inside.

Sileas had been only half listening prior to Yehudit's outburst. "I can sleep in the great hall or in a little niche. I need a little bit of breathing room right now. Yehudit, go put your foot up and rest. I won't be long in the stable, I promise.  Aside from Ares here, I don't know any of these horses here, and they're all warhorses. They can be unpredictable." Her heart broke as she thought of Lightning who had probably been murdered or burned in the stables. One more loss.

"Questa..." Liadan wanted to argue, but Aron was already leading the children to a new home. She turned to Sileas and Yehudit. "Yehudit, go with your father. You're limping and your ankle is swollen, I want Difyr to take a look at it. And Sileas..." Liadan paused. "I want to talk to you, Sileas."

Liadan gave Yehudit an 'Obey me, I am your mother' stare, then began walking towards the stable.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 06:04, Sun 10 May 2015.

Oh good a lecture and still not being allowed to grieve how I want to. Sileas slowed her pace as she led Ares into the stable. She found a stall for him, the second one, obviously left for Xavier's mount. She unsaddled Ares and reached in the saddle bag for his brush.

Yehudit heaved a deep, sad sigh and began hobbling on her walking stick after her father and little siblings. Before going inside one of the buildings, she turned to give Sileas a look.

Aron glanced over his shoulder and noticed her carrying her shoe and how swollen her ankle was. He had Ertzel take over the little ones and he scooped Yehudit up to carry inside.

In reply to Sileas (msg # 82):

Liadan was not very good with horses so she stayed clear of Ares's stall and out of reach of the other horses as Sileas groomed him.

"Sileas, you know before I had Yehudit, what happened to me, I couldn't face it and I ran away. Everything was just too terrible and painful around others so I thought it would be better if I was alone. I was wrong, and I still regret not staying with those who loved me during the hardest time of my life. They could have helped me instead of missing me those nine terrible months." Liadan looked down and wiped a tear from her nose. "Don't think I haven't noticed the way you've been holding yourself away from the family and looking like you're going to bolt. If it wasn't for Yehudit you would've taken off days ago, am I right? I saw the same look in my eyes whenever I accidentally caught my reflection before I ran away... Brie was like a sister to me, and I still think of you as family as much as I considered Sarah and the triplets to be my nieces."

In reply to Aron Buckley (msg # 84):

Yehudit wrapped an arm around her father's neck as he carried her inside. Normally she would hate being babied but her ankle was really hurting.

In reply to Yehudit Buckley (msg # 86):

Difyr looked up as the Buckley family- minus Liadan- trooped in. She frowned when she saw Yehudit's ankle and how swollen it was. She had gotten so low on herbs she couldn't spare any to treat it, there were those with more serious injuries than Yehudit's ankle. Difyr picked up a bucket of cold water and set it down by a stool. "Soak your ankle, it will help bring down the swelling."

"I would have but not for the reasons you're thinking. I need to grieve, in my own way. I just want some time to be off on my own, hunting and breaking things. And training. I'm all alone now and heaven help me, it's so much worse than when I was on my own when I was little." Sileas dropped the brush and thankfully Ares wasn't skittish because she was not thinking when she bent down to get it from next to his hooves. "I lost everything. My parents, my sisters, Larrigan, Lightning, I'm all alone. So all alone." She leaned her head against Ares's flank. He lightly swatted her with his tail.