They had made it to Gaeded’s home town of Stoke under the worst of conditions. It became apparent that the Eorling was finding that her home was changed since she last returned. The building stress was making Lieta nervous about staying, but the Eorling wanted to continue their journey from Bree. It also wasn’t helping that Athlenah was getting homesick after she and three others of the company were captured and beaten in Dunland.
The past events of the last five months were beginning to take their toll on the heir of the Black Steel. When they fled from Edoras, most of the company had split. Lieta had her closest friends with her. Her husband, Orsonn, was nowhere to be found. She figured Fiontann was going what he preferred to do.
So she made the decision of keeping the training up. They all needed to learn how to fight from horseback. Gaeded was excited, in her own way. It was to keep everybody’s minds focused on their path ahead and not get lost in the nightmares of Dunland.
Their world was turned over though, when Fiontann appeared in Stoke. He mentioned something about looking for his old friend, Anriett. He also left everyone confused and stunned when he made the choice to hand the Black Steel over to Lieta. The company was hers, and naturally, her friends were going to help her continue Fiontann’s work of helping those in need.
But first, they needed to help Gaeded with her family's farm and find the rest of the company.
