Vera stared at him hard when he rose from the bed, but remained silent. She let him stand there in his pain with the knowledge that he never should have lifted himself up, much less attempted to press his feet against the floor. It was unwise, but she understood. She'd have tried to do the same. Many nurses and healers tried to get her to stay in a bed over the course of her existence and she doubted she made friends of many. But Vera was no nurse. She never did well with coddling anyone, even someone she'd feared for. Standing was all she'd allow. From the way Eragos' knees trembled, that couldn't last much longer.
"Sit down, Eragos," Vera said, quietly. "Sit down."
She ran her hands through her hair and leaned her arms against her knees. Even if he was right, she wouldn't have been able to force the village to move that quickly. Vera had led many caravans and parties across countries in ill-favored conditions. Some missions were successful, others tragic. Small groups were infinitely easier to keep alive and large groups, like Gali...
"We do have a choice," she said. "It must be the right one. I have to sacrifice a day to do what needs to be done. I will not take a village full of wounded men, women and children onto that road unprepared, not when those murderers will expect me to lead them to the City. My elf friend is too exhausted to be counted as a strength right now. And while I am glad to see you able to stand, you're useless to the village like this. You need another round with the healer and some more sleep."
Useless might have been too strong, but he wasn't thinking. Vera wasn't going to let Eragos out of the cottage right now, no matter what he said to her.