Why had she thought the journey would go more smoothly? Had she jinxed them by thinking such thoughts before? Dru had truly believed their little group was getting along much better. Yet somehow, one time she was not in Ost Guruth for a little while, it all fell farther than it had been before it looked better.
Balnirar had cut Davamir's hair and roughed him up a bit after some typical Dav insult. Did that boy never learn when to keep his mouth shut? Would he ever know when to just let something slide? Dru wondered if it was possible anymore. She had seen such hope in him, but now, as she watched him say such terrible things of the dwarf's kin, she wondered if she had been a fool.
Why was she here in the first place? Maybe Stitches was right after all. She shook her head. She had given her word and would never go back on that. And there was still hope for Davamir. She couldn't let that go, no matter how it hurt seeing these things happen, and how tempting it was to just shut everyone out. Just to be Dru. Hooded, hidden, all alone Dru.
It wasn't that she didn't understand his anger. When she saw what Balnirar had done to him she was burning with anger, though she kept herself controlled as ever and simply tended Dav's injuries. She hadn't expected the dwarf to follow after. And when she heard his side it made a little more sense. Especially as he admitted he shouldn't have gone that far. Davamir didn't admit guilt. Not really.
They were headed toward the Misty Mountains. Dru was truly tempted to turn back. She hated this. She never wanted to go back to Gondor, and now her only reason for going was seemingly changing for the worse. If she was the type to allow herself to cry in front of others, she would have been crying. She hated this and she hated how weak she felt for letting it affect her this much.
"Ha. Your wrists grow in strength again, as your will weakens," she thought to herself. Their ride was going fairly quietly at this point and she had to look back periodically to make sure they were all there. It disturbed her the way Dav kept his bow, whistling cheerfully every so often as he looked at Balnirar. She wanted to trust him but it did not sit well with her. She desperately hoped he wouldn't become more like his brother. Some of his behaviours were inching closer to that line. Perhaps she'd need to remind him soon of who he was.
She knew he was better than that. As she told Balnirar, he was so much more than those faults. And he was worth her time and care.
But after all this, and Bellindah pulling down Dav's hood and laughing at his bald head, Dru began to question if she ever wanted children. She felt like she was babysitting...
