There's no shampoo nor soap. The water is scented with herbs but it's enough to make soap scums. Nevertheless, the mud stuck to my feet is scraped clean. The dirt stuck between fingernails disappeared with oil making my hair form in clumps. In the mirror, I looked decent. Thin and bare bones but decent. Haafgar was nice enough to get me a cotton tunic and thick hemmed shorts. He even gave me a pair of leather gauntlets and a belt that can hold a dagger (He didn't give me a dagger though)
After dressing up, I found Carim and Haafgar on the fireplace talking. The other young man and the blacksmith are nowhere to be found.
"The war is lost, I tell you."
"Pah! You're just spineless for war."
"Haven't you heard the news? Arslan's siege was broken down by a hail of storm. Half his army is dead in a flood and the other half broke into the forest."
"Mages," Carim said "Curse the damn queen and her cohorts.
"Hush! You don't want anyone to hear you spite Frigga's name. Those who escaped the storm are being hunted by Frigga's men. And remember, you're supposed to meet Arslan's men today. Good thing you've returned."
"Good thing indeed. All thanks to Jon, over there. Come, lad, have a bite of goat's leg. Haafgar made them."
"Didn't we just eat at the tavern?"
"And that's enough for you?"
Amidst the fire and bites of roast, Haafgar talked about war and the results of today's bloodshed. Queen Frigga will take control of Proudspire Hold, for at least a year by Haafgar's estimate. After that, Arslan's heir will take it back with his amassed host of Sun Elves. After that, another king or queen will usurp the hold until there are enough dead bodies to compete with the mountains on the left and right. It was a good thing that Carim met me and prevented his timely demise. He's young, gullible and has this bottomless thirst for glory. Without Haafgar to guide him all through these years, he'd be dead before sunset.
"So what are we going to do now Haafgar?"
"The question is, what are you at the boy going to do? I'll go farther North, to Karthwast, and look for mercenary requests. As for you, I'd suggest you go down south and bring the boy to Almar."
"Of all the places we can go, you say Almar?"
"Why not? Spring will catch up by the time you lot reach Almar. It's warm and the city will be alive with the grand bazaar every night. Our guild is low on coins and it's best to sell our remaining wares here in Proudspire."
"We're a mercenary guild. Not some merchant traders! Send me somewhere else."
"We seem to be in an impasse then. How about we let the boy decide?"