Audric pressed a brotherly kiss to her forehead. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, Attie. I'll never forgive myself for that." Releasing her, he took a step back from her and leaned down to pick up one of his fallen axes.
"And Leif may never forgive me -- nor should he, and nor should you -- but he'll understand." He dragged the thumb lightly over the flat of the blade, then lifted his eyes to meet hers. It was the least he could do, to look her in the eye... "Besides, he knows... Even over my family... I chose justice."
For his advancing age, Audric still had the reflexes of a younger man. His arm shot out, lightning-quick, bringing the flat of his blade down into her head. His eyes never left hers as hers rolled back and she fell into his arms.
Audric emerged from the pool of water thoroughly soaked. Water dripped off him, cascading back into the swirling floodwaters. As he stepped onto dry(ish) land, it formed puddles in his wake. He was unarmed, and he had, along the way, lost his shirt. It was draped over the human-shaped bundle he held in his arms, miraculously, somehow, more dry than he was himself.
"I told you to wait at the stable," he growled as he stepped past Leif. Looking down at the bundle in his arms, he adjusted the shirt somewhat, then looked at his younger cohort. "Well? Get on the horse, man! What are you waiting for?"