@alistirs. * [ 18 ] a valley packed with tents, knights , and weapons all readying themselves for a major battle
IT IS A FAR CRY FROM THE HUMBLE CAMP SHE HAD GROWN ACCUSTOMED TO. in its place was a sea of grand pavilion tents stretching across the valley as far as the eye could see, teeming with activity & abuzz with anticipation. braziers & torches were lit in the waning light of the setting sun, cooks in makeshift kitchens prepared food enough for hundreds of soldiers - who were presently hurrying about in final preparations for the next day's battle. at this time tomorrow, everything will be over - in one way or another. she did not want to think of that; of the uncertainty of the final battle's outcome, or how - despite all the preparations made & the strength of the army gathered - she did not feel confident in their victory. the hopeful anticipation and bustle of excitement around her reminded her all too much of highever before the troops marched out, or of ostagar the night before the battle. she did not want to think much at all.
she weaves her way through the camp like a cat, clinging to shadows and avoiding attention. cloaked - not to preserve her identity - but to protect her modesty: dressed in nothing but her shift & boots, a sack of mead clutched tightly in hand. of course they had been given separate tents, they were unmarried after all. either eamon remained unaware of their sharing a bedchamber in both of his estates or had deliberately looked the other way, but a camp with so many eyes was another matter entirely. it would be scandalously unbecoming of a highborn lady to be seen sharing her tent with a man outside of wedlock - regardless of the fact that they had been sharing a bed for months, now. so she was forced to prowl about like a thief in the night or some cloaked assassin.
silently, swiftly, she slips inside the warmth of his tent once she is sure she is unseen. not that gossip surrounding them would even matter, regardless of the battle's outcome. either one or both of them would die, or they would both live & be married not long after. either way, any scandal that could reach them would be fleeting at best. that did not mean elethea was about to abandon propriety entirely. at least - she was in no haste to abandon the appearance of propriety. were she truly proper & well behaved, she would not presently be standing in his tent in only her cloak and nightgown with a sack of mead. " well, " she says, abruptly, hoping to startle him a little with her sudden appearance. " i shall never have to do that again after tonight, hm? "
