“Even when things were bleakest, life finds a way.” - Old folk saying.

“Oh, before you ask, because I know you’ll ask about it next, there’s another from Lavinja amongst the survivors I know of,” said Aideen before Andromarche managed to gather her bearings from the unexpected - or perhaps it was to be expected and she was the one who refused to accept it - news. “I think he’s another knight like you. Not many others from there lived, I even saw your so-called Count dying.”

“It’s over…” muttered Andromarche with a pale face as she heard of the news. In her heart she knew it was a likely possibility. The Count of Lavinja had not contributed that many troops to the expedition, just a touch over four thousand men, yet he had hankered and fought hard for benefits, which led to his men often being placed near the front at his own request.

She recalled how Lavinja’s whole contingent had been part of or near the front lines during the battle, due to the Count’s desire to gain merit. That desire had now backfired and cost them everything instead, if what the woman said was true. A gamble made in desperation that only resulted in dissolution rather than a solution.

The northern expedition had been something suggested and mostly sponsored by several other regions in the Empire, and while they had not received direct support from the Emperor, his silence on the matter meant tacit approval of it. Count Lavinja had seen it as a chance to get his deteriorating region out from its slump with an injection of fresh land, riches, and possible slaves to be had and had mustered all the people he could spare for the expedition, an all or nothing gamble at the cast of a dice.

Even so, he likely had not expected to lose his life in the expedition as well.

With everything laid down before her, Andro knew that the County of Lavinja was likely over. The Count had one son, but he was a spoiled kid that most anyone thought as an incompetent at best. Even otherwise loyal knights like Andro herself considered resigning if the son ended up inheriting the County in the future.

As for the possibility of the woman named Aideen lying to her, she had naturally considered it as well, but then she remembered the actual situation of the battle. Given how badly the army had routed and the heavy casualties they took, it would have been stranger for the Lavinja’s troops to not be decimated, given their position at the front.

Andromarche recalled the mounts the orcs used as they chased the routed armies, and had to suppress a reflexive shudder at the thought of those great beasts plowing through and trampling the escapees. She shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts, only to wince in pain as her actions touched on a still-healing bruise. The pain reminded her of another thing she had her doubts on, however.

“Uh… Aideen, was it?” she asked tentatively at the woman who helped change her bandages. When the oddly pale-skinned woman nodded to her question, Andromarche gathered her thoughts, and decided to just ask her bluntly. “What are you yourself doing here? Are you a captive of the greenskins? Or are there other humans like you living here in the region?”

“Oh, me? No such thing, I’m afraid,” replied Aideen with an all too easy chuckle at Andromarche’s question. “I’m just a traveler, and have been living around here for the past few years. If you were to ask about my status with the locals, I guess I’d be a guest? There’s no human tribes around, I think, and the locals here don’t exactly keep captives around… barring rare exceptions like you.”

“Like… me?”

“Yes, like you. Who did you think pulled you out of that field of corpses if not the locals you keep calling greenskins all this while?” asked Aideen with a bit of a smirk on her face, while Andromarche struggled to digest the implication of what she had been told. “Apparently you fought back hard enough to impress them, which is why you’re still living now, rather than dead like most of the others back there.”

“Then… what awaits me after this? Would they make me an example?” asked Andromarche with obvious worry in her voice.

“From what I’ve heard, actually, you’d be free to do whatever. If you want to leave to where you came from, you’d be allowed, though they take no responsibility if you get eaten by some wild beast, or got lost and starved to death along the way,” replied Aideen all too nonchalantly. “The locals here are big believers in letting people walk their own paths, even if that sometimes means they’re feeding themselves to the local critters.”

“Free to go back? Go back… heh…” Andromarche just looked up towards the tiny bit of sky she could see from the opening at the top of the tent and laughed depreciatingly at herself when she heard those words, even when the act caused her side to throb in pain. She then remained silent for a while more, though Aideen seemed content to leave her be and just sat cross-legged beside her with a curious look.

Even without much thought into the matter, Andromarche knew that to return to Lavinja… was not an option for her. She was a knight pledged to fight and defend her liege lord. Now said lord, along with many thousand others in the army, had perished in foreign lands. What would the people back home think of her should she return as the sole survivor of that sort of debacle?

Nothing good.

It was already considered the greatest shame for a knight to have failed in protecting their liege. Add that the vast majority of the expedition army had not returned, and tongues would waggle. She knew from the moment the expedition failed in the disastrous battle that there was pretty much no more option to return home for her.