"Do what needs to be done?" The knight growled, tensing up, hiding the hand on his sword again, "And what [i]does[/i] need to be done?..."

He knew it was probably for the best that he ignored everything that was happening here and ushered the rest of the group out the door. The North was a place full of demons. He couldn't confront them all, and he had enough of his own to deal with... But, for two years, this was his [i]job[/i]. This was his path to a righteous death. This was how he would redeem himself for all those brothers and fathers and mothers and sisters that he killed in the Civil War. 

There [i]was[/i] a path to salvation for the violent soul, the priests had always said, A pious man must purge evil, within [i]and[/i] without, and the only way for a warrior to reach paradise was not to fight for himself, but to offer his life for someone or something else... There was also something about making peace with yourself and the world, but Robart never paid attention to that. That was more about achieving happiness and enlightenment in paradise or some shite, but happiness could wait. The important thing was always getting out of Hell before it was too late. Struggling for happiness is what put him on the sinner's path to begin with...

What if he was one of the casualties that would follow a confrontation? Was the woman's life really worth dying for? Would his efforts be rendered null and void anyhow? Could he really call himself a repented man if he repaid a stranger's forgiveness and kindness by leaving her to these ruffians? At the same time, could he call himself a man of the Gods if, by his actions, his travelling companions were killed for a cause that [i]he[/i] chose [i]for[/i] them?... His thumb brushed anxiously back and forth over the handle of the blade. Would a pious man purge evil and die with surrounding innocents, or preserve his life and the lives of the other caravanners in the room and let evil destroy someone who never did him any wrong?

[i]I will... I won't... I will... I won't...[/i]