Elin had promised Glocara that he would spend a week with her and Elaine after Winter Veil. However, he didn't fulfill his promise entirely— the holiday only lasted for five and a half days. Despite feeling somewhat disappointed, Glocara forgave him at the time, expressing her hope that he wouldn't return home with stories of narrowly avoiding an axe to the head. Now, Glocara realizes that her forgiveness might have been a mistake. Since Elin had committed to a full week, she shouldn't have settled for just five and a half days, as future promises of a week could dwindle to four or three, ultimately losing credibility. It might be happening now: he initially said he would spend at most two or three days at Stromgarde, but it had already been six days.
This is a battlefield, where Elin is on a dangerous mission, so anything could happen—these thoughts never left her mind. But precisely because of this, she would rather imagine that Elin simply didn't keep his promise rather than being unable to return due to uncontrollable circumstances.
The days spent alone in Refuge Valley were dull and boring. Even if she wanted to interact with others, she didn't know where she belonged. Being with the members of the Seventh Dawn was enough to make many people wary of her.
Sometimes she stood outside her tent, watching almost everyone busying themselves around, and she regretted not staying in Stormwind. Elin's explanation of their purpose for coming here was vague, but that was probably all she needed to know. "There's trouble in Refuge Valley, said to involve a troll. I need you to come with me; your insight into Tusha may be helpful." "Help with what?" "We suspect this person may be Tusha, whose behavior is unpredictable, so your understanding of him could be useful." "Just say it's Jorgan who suspects, and he sent you to tell me," Glocara said. Glocara didn't really hold a grudge against Elin, but the same couldn't be said for Jorgan.
When she heard about the continuous killings of guards in Refuge Valley, her strange anger somewhat diminished. She remembered what she and Tusha had seen when they came here years ago: he killed a guard first and then used the severed head to scare another guard. She understood why Jorgan and Elin's suspicions were reasonable, so the place where anger once resided in her heart began to be replaced by concern. Yes, Tusha sometimes did frightening things, but Jorgan and Elin didn't know that he had also defeated an ogre—he could have escaped alone at the time, without having to fight. Glocara wanted to tell Jorgan and Elin that they didn't understand him; he had a good side— but she also knew that such a defense was quite powerless.
On the morning before heading to Stromgarde, Elin had asked her, "Has Tusha ever revealed his future plans to you?" "What do you mean?" "I think he wouldn't be willing to be imprisoned by Galin forever, or be Lawrence's assistant." "I don't know. And I don't know how this concerns you." "True, it doesn't concern me personally, but it does concern whether I can find him or not. You know I'm going to Stromgarde this afternoon, whether Tusha is there or not, I hope to get some hints about him now. It would help with my job." "I can't remember." "Don't be so evasive, Glocara. I'm not saying Tusha would talk to you about his life goals; I just want you to remember how he viewed his situation at the time. There must have been something, think about it, we still have time." Glocara couldn't give Elin an answer. She remembered that every time they talked about related topics, Tusha would immediately bring up some irrelevant trivia. It was pointless to judge his thoughts based on his actions, as he had been chained for three years without a single complaint. Someone who acted like this was either mentally abnormal or unwilling for anyone to know his true thoughts.
Thinking about these things made Glocara feel somewhat uneasy, as the more she thought, the closer she came to the conclusion that she might not understand Tusha any better than Jorgan or Elin did. She decided to leave her tent and take a walk around.
Not far away was a small cabin always guarded by a soldier. Glocara knew what the house was for. Over the past few days, she had wandered around here several times. Even though the house had no windows, she couldn't help but stare at its walls, as if she could peek inside through them. Today, after twenty minutes of hesitation, she walked towards the door.
"Miss, what do you want to do?" the guard said.
"I want to go in and see the person inside."
"Do you have Lady Niaes's permission?"
"I don't need it."
"Although I don't know why you say that, it's none of my business. I'll just do my duty, which is not to let you in."
Glocara recalled the expression on Jorgan's face when he wanted her to shut up. To approach the other to a threatening yet not misconstrued as intimate degree; stare into the other's eyes without showing any signs of retreat, preferably without blinking; slow down and lower the tone of the voice, as if mocking the other's lack of basic understanding. She hoped she could imitate it well.
"You don't know who I am?" she said.
"I know you've just arrived. You came with the members of the Seventh Dawn."
"Your eyes are still useful, but your brain is not. No wonder you can only stay here and guard the door all day."
"What do you want?"
"I shouldn't tell you, but your lack of cooperation leaves me no choice. Inspector Elin Tiyas went to Stromgarde to negotiate with Prince Galin for your sake. Although he was optimistic, he did mention that if he didn't return within five days, I would have to prepare for other plans. This includes getting something from the person you're guarding. Now it's time for me to act."
"Captain Niaes didn't allow anyone to enter. She told me herself."
"Listen, kid. It doesn't matter what Niaes told you. What matters is that I only need to go in for five minutes now. I know you're dedicated to your duty and all, but if you insist on holding out for these five minutes, I guarantee you'll regret it far more than five minutes. Understand?"
"At what cost, you said..."
"It's not time for you to ask questions yet. Answer the previous one; I won't repeat it."
"Five minutes?"
"No one else will know. Provided you can make a decisive decision."
The guard looked around and took out a key to unlock the door. "Hurry up and go in," he said. "You promised me you'd come out in five minutes. Don't forget."
Glocara entered the room. The moment her right foot stepped through the door, she knew she had lost her momentum, hoping the guard hadn't noticed. If he didn't look less than eighteen and shorter than her, she wouldn't have had the determination to do it. As for the consequences, she didn't think about it for the time being. At least Elin had indeed said that Captain Niaes still didn't know why she had come here.
Her first move was to raise her hand and cover her nose. The smell she detected was different from the stench of corpses. A man sat with his back to Glocara in a chair, his forehead almost touching the wall, his hands tied behind the chair, and his ankles bound to the chair legs. Although there were no windows, plenty of light seeped in through the gaps between the wooden boards, illuminating him with gleaming streaks.
"Who?" He tilted his head back to look at the ceiling and then turned weakly to his right. "Someone's here. I won't eat those things anymore. Your food... it's all garbage. I'm a soldier defending the country. Soldiers can't eat garbage."
Glocara struggled to match this voice, which sounded like it had been drunk for three days, with her memory.
"You're not talking. Yeah, no need to talk... you rebels. The scum of the world. You won't have a chance to talk soon. Because I hear, I hear, I hear the king's army coming. My real king. Those cavalry... cavalry... will easily flatten this place. The unbeatable cavalry of Arathor. First here, then with a whoosh, the army will... conquer Hammerfall. Then the entire Arathi Highlands. Then other places. Galin Trollbane, my king, he can do it."
Glocara took two steps forward. She couldn't decide what to do next. She hadn't figured out why she had come in the first place.
"Come on, tell me your thoughts... as a rebel about to face destruction, what are your thoughts? Speak up." He shifted the chair slightly and turned his head. Glocara could see the right half of his face. His complexion was worse than his voice. "...Who are you? First time seeing you. A woman, a woman I've never seen before. What are you doing here? I'm waiting for someone with real courage to untie me. We can go outside and kill some rebels. There are many we can kill." After a brief pause, he continued, "No, you're not one of Niaes's people. I... I seem to have seen you. I've seen you. You're... you're with that troll..."
"I never expected you to remember me in such a situation, Varokar," Glocara said.
"It's Lieutenant. Lieutenant Varokar." He spat something on the ground. "Yeah, I remember you... you, why are you here? I don't want to see you. Get out. Get out. Get out."
Glocara shook her head at herself. She still couldn't say why she had walked into this room. Several years ago, this man had brought her and Tusha to Stromgarde in a way that disgusted her, and that wasn't his only attempt at her. Before Galin truly imprisoned Glocara, Varokar had tried several times to make her submit. Although he ultimately didn't get anything, those were still the days Glocara least wanted to remember— Varokar had made her regret leaving Booty Bay with Tusha. She hadn't told anyone about these things. She told herself, looking at him in such a pitiful state, how satisfying it was to see him in such a situation. But no matter how much she emphasized these thoughts, there was still no sense of release in her heart. She regretted walking into this room but didn't want to leave immediately either.