Chapter 9: The Story by the Fire （炉火旁的故事）

　　The direct question hung in the warm, stew-scented air. Maeva’s eyes, though kind, were sharp and missed little. She was no fool; the scent of the river on them was one thing, but the lingering, acrid taint of the blighted lands was another.

　　这个直接的问题悬在温暖、弥漫着炖肉香气的空气中。梅娃的眼睛虽然慈祥，却十分锐利，洞察秋毫。她不是傻瓜；他们身上的河水味是一回事，但萦绕不去的、来自被污染之地的刺鼻污浊气味则是另一回事。

　　Leon opened his mouth, a half-formed lie about getting lost while playing on his lips, but Iris spoke first. Her voice was quiet, but clear and steady. She did not tell the whole truth—she made no mention of the orc pauldron or the troll raft—but she did not lie. She spoke of being separated from her family, of meeting Leon in the woods, of the gnoll that chased them, and of their desperate flight down the river to escape a "bad place" that smelled of smoke and death. She kept her eyes on Maeva as she spoke, gauging her reaction.

　　里昂张开了嘴，一个关于玩耍时迷路的、半成型的谎言已经到了嘴边，但艾莉丝先开口了。她的声音很轻，但清晰而平稳。她没有说出全部真相——她没有提及兽人肩甲或巨魔木筏——但她也没有说谎。她说到与家人失散，在森林里遇到里昂，说到追赶他们的豺狼人，以及他们为了逃离一个充满烟雾和死亡气味的“坏地方”而拼命顺流而下。她说话时一直看着梅娃，揣测着她的反应。

　　Maeva listened intently, her face growing graver with each word. When Iris finished, the woman sighed deeply, a sound of weary resignation. "The 'bad place' would be the Sepulcher's new outpost," she said, the name laced with distaste. "The Forsaken. They've been pushing east, claiming land, poisoning it. And the gnolls have been bolder since the Orcish clans started stirring again." She looked at them with a mixture of pity and admiration. "You two have the Light's own luck. Wandering from the Whispering Woods all the way to the edge of Silverpine... it's a miracle you're alive."

　　梅娃专注地听着，脸色随着每一句话变得越来越严肃。艾莉丝讲完后，女人深深地叹了口气，那是一种疲惫而又无奈的声音。“那个‘坏地方’应该是瑟伯切尔新设的前哨站，”她说，语气中带着厌恶。“被遗忘者。他们一直在向东推进，占领土地，污染它。而且自从兽人氏族又开始蠢蠢欲动，那些豺狼人也更大胆了。”她看着他们，眼神中混合着怜悯和钦佩。“你们两个真是有圣光庇佑。从低语森林一路走到银松森林边缘……你们能活着真是个奇迹。”

　　Silverpine. The name sent a jolt through Leon. He'd heard of it—a dark, wolf-infested forest north of the kingdom, a place of grim tales. They had traveled much farther than he'd realized.

　　银松森林。 这个名字让里昂心头一震。他听说过——一个黑暗、狼群出没的森林，位于王国北部，一个充满恐怖传说的地方。他们走得比他意识到的要远得多。

　　"Your family," Maeva said, turning to Iris with gentle concern. "Where were you to meet them? And you, lad," she looked at Leon, "your people will be sick with worry in Goldshire."

　　“你的家人，”梅娃转向艾莉丝，带着温柔的关切问道，“你们原本约在哪里见面？还有你，孩子，”她看着里昂，“你在闪金镇的家人肯定急坏了。”

　　Iris's gaze dropped to the floor. "They are... far away. I do not know if they will look for me here." The lie was delicate, a veil of sadness that was not entirely false. Leon understood. She couldn't very well say she was a night elf who had stowed away on a ship.

　　艾莉丝的目光垂向地面。“他们……在很远的地方。我不知道他们会不会来这里找我。”这个谎言很巧妙，带着一层并不完全虚假的悲伤面纱。里昂明白。她总不能直说自己是个偷渡上船的暗夜精灵。

　　Leon, emboldened by the warmth and food, found a piece of the truth. "I... I ran off. To explore. I didn't mean to come this far." The guilt he had been suppressing now felt heavy in his chest. "They... they might not even know I'm gone yet." It was likely true; his father often thought he was playing in the fields all day.

　　里昂在温暖和食物的鼓舞下，说出了部分实情。“我……我是偷跑出来的。为了探险。我没想走这么远。”他一直压抑着的内疚此刻沉重地压在胸口。“他们……他们可能还不知道我不见了。”这很可能是真的；他父亲常以为他整天在田野里玩耍。

　　Maeva studied them for a long moment, her kind eyes seeing the unspoken stories behind their words. She did not press. Instead, she nodded slowly. "You'll stay here tonight. In the morning, we'll figure out what's to be done. The roads aren't safe for children alone, especially not with... well, with the state of things." She gestured around her simple cabin. "It's not much, but it's dry and safe."

　　梅娃仔细打量了他们好一会儿，她慈祥的眼睛看到了他们话语背后未说出的故事。她没有追问。相反，她缓缓地点了点头。“你们今晚就住这儿。明天早上，我们再商量怎么办。现在这世道，路上可不安全，尤其是对独自上路的孩子们来说。”她指了指自己简陋的小屋，“地方不大，但能遮风挡雨，也安全。”

　　The generosity was so overwhelming that Leon felt tears well up again. "Thank you, ma'am," he choked out.

　　Iris bowed her head slightly, a formal, elven gesture. "Your kindness is a light in the dark. Thank you."

　　这份慷慨让里昂再次热泪盈眶。“谢谢您，夫人，”他哽咽着说。

　　艾莉丝微微低下头，行了一个正式的、精灵式的礼节。“您的善意是黑暗中的光芒。谢谢您。”

　　That night, wrapped in dry blankets on a pile of furs by the hearth, Leon listened to the wind moan outside and the steady crackle of the fire. Maeva slept in a small loft above, her breathing deep and even. Iris was awake beside him, her eyes reflecting the dying embers.

　　那天晚上，裹着干爽的毯子躺在炉边的一堆毛皮上，里昂听着外面呼啸的风声和炉火稳定的噼啪声。梅娃睡在上方的一个小阁楼里，呼吸深沉而均匀。艾莉丝在他身边醒着，眼睛映照着即将熄灭的余烬。

　　"We can't go back," Leon whispered into the darkness. It wasn't a question. The path they had taken was gone, washed away by the river. Going back meant passing the Sepulcher, the gnolls, the orcs.

　　"No," Iris whispered back. "We cannot."

　　"Then where do we go?"

　　Iris was silent for a time. "Forward," she said finally, her voice firm. "Maeva said the roads are not safe. But the deep woods... they are dangerous, but they are ours. We go north. To the mountains. The lands there are wild, but they are not yet touched by the wars of men and orcs and the dead."

　　“我们不能回去，”里昂在黑暗中低语。这不是一个问题。他们来时的路已经消失了，被河水冲走了。回去意味着要再次经过瑟伯切尔、豺狼人、兽人。

　　“是的，”艾莉丝低声回应。“我们不能。”

　　“那我们去哪儿？”

　　艾莉丝沉默了片刻。“向前，”她最终说道，声音坚定。“梅娃说路上不安全。但森林深处……虽然危险，却是属于我们的。我们往北走。去山区。那里的土地荒凉，但尚未被人族、兽人和亡灵的战争触及。”

　　North. To the mountains. The very words sounded like an adventure from a storybook. But this was no story. This was their life. Leon thought of the vast, unknown world ahead of them, a world of ancient forests, snowy peaks, and who knew what else. He thought of the orc pauldron, the troll's raft, the Forsaken crossbow bolts. He was terrified.

　　向北。去山区。这些话本身听起来就像冒险故事书里的情节。但这不是故事。这是他们的生活。里昂想着前方广阔而未知的世界，一个充满古老森林、雪山峰峦以及天知道还有什么的世界。他想起了兽人的肩甲、巨魔的木筏、被遗忘者的弩箭。他感到恐惧。

　　But then he thought of the gnoll's breath, the icy water, the taste of Maeva's stew. He looked at the profile of the elf girl beside him, her determination a solid thing in the shifting darkness. They were alive. They were together.

　　但随后他又想起了豺狼人呼出的臭气、刺骨的河水、梅娃炖肉的滋味。他看了看身边精灵女孩的侧影，她的决心在变幻的黑暗中显得如此坚实。他们还活着。他们在一起。

　　"Okay," he whispered, the word a promise to her and to himself. "North."

　　And as sleep finally claimed him, the dread was still there, but it was now edged with a thin, sharp sliver of something else—something that felt, astonishingly, like anticipation.

　　“好，”他低语道，这个词是对她，也是对自己的一个承诺。“向北。”

　　当睡意终于袭来时，恐惧依然存在，但此刻却夹杂着一丝细微而尖锐的其他东西——一种令人惊讶的、仿佛是期待的感觉。