[HerenIstarion]

The warmth spread from the hearth, and jumping shadows of the flickering fire made the familiar and beloved nooks of the Common Room even more cozy than usual. It was late, and those who haven’t yet left for home, were drowsy. Odds and ends of lazy conversation may have been heard, if anyone were in the mood of eavesdropping, but curiosity itself was lazed by the late hour and warmth of the room. It’s been a hard day, with wedding preparations full steam ahead, and hosts and helpers alike felt they deserved a little bit of rest

It was a cold night outside. Freezing drizzle, as if suspended in the air, was making efforts of becoming rain proper, but failed, succeeding though in wetting the earth, and turning the cart-way into the line of icy mud.

‘I hope it gets better than that tomorrow’ muttered someone lazily.

‘It will, Old Toby said we’ll have fine weather as sure as sunshine, and that old stub keeps his nose down the wind with more skikk than anyone I know of’

As the guest spoke, muted clatter of hooves and squeaking of wheels may have been heard coming from the South, were customers in the Common Room attentive enough to pay heed. Three heavily loaded wagons, pulled by extremely wretched nags of a horses and covered with tarpaulin, seemingly roughly knocked together out of some allegedly ligneous flotsam and jetsam, rolled up the pathway to the front door.

Tree coachmen jumped off almost concurrently. All three were broad of shoulder, but stocky, almost squat. They were even dressed alike, in some grey and dirty rags, topped with equally grey torn cloaks. One, apparently the leader, slapped the board of the middle wagon with the handle of his whip.

‘Hey, you riff-raff’, come out!’ he shouted in harsh voice. ‘You can go on slugging inside that hovel of an inn for a change!’ For some time, no sound came in return, than a whole chorus of muffled grumbling and bustling could have been heard, and some more ragged figures hoisted themselves down from the body of the wagon. Judging by their lesser stature and higher tone to their snarling, these were the women, but equally stocky and broad of shoulder as the coachmen were

‘What is this place?’ sulkily asked the youngest. ‘Why could not we stop somewhere, father, instead of roaming all the time?’

‘Because they always drive us off, if you please, you dunce’ snarled the chief coachman, ‘they don’t like us, you know. And this is the very place they killed our Sharkey, so keep your mouth shut, everybody, I’ll do the talking!’ Hey, what do you think you are up to?’ he turned abruptly to the second coachman, who just started to unharness his pull-horse.

‘What?’ startled coachman stared at the leader with apparent fear.


‘I’m a leader of the band of idiots!’ growled the chief coachman under his breath, then yelled at the delinquent, ‘Do you have gold on you, Snaggy?

‘No, uncle’ answered the latter with unconcealed terror.

‘So, you probably would guess that we don’t have the means to pay for our food and lodgings here, would you?”

‘Yes, uncle’ cam an answer in hardly audible whisper.

‘Than, I dare utter a guess, you’d prefer to have wagons ready at the door for our escape, would you not?

‘Yes uncle...’

‘So leave the heck that harness alone, you dim-wit!’

‘But, uncle, the horses, they need...”

‘What, what damn horses need? Drop it, I say, or I’ll have your head for my supper tonight!’

‘Yes, uncle’

Grumbling and sulking, party followed the leader up to the front door, which he threw open with an angry jerk of his shoulder.

The quiet whisper of the Common Room dropped abruptly as the newcomers filed into the room, bringing in sharp smell of frost and horses. The Chief coachman, followed by his train, approached the bar, where Aman was wiping glasses, but now stopped and turned attentive eye on the company.

‘Good evening, M’am’ started the chief coachman in an unctuous voice, mastering his anger at the face of his need. ‘My name is Dublong, there are my wife and daughter, and those youngsters over there are my nephews. We travel from the South – they say there are good places to live in now that the King returned’

To her surprise, Aman noticed that Dublong pronounced ‘King’ with the twitch, unlike usual affection the word radiated when spoken by everybody she knew. Meanwhile, Dublong went on.

‘We will be going on tomorrow, M’am, but we’d like room to roll the night over, and something to chew before.’

There was something strange about the man. He seemed friendly, but Aman could not help feeling uneasy about him. There was something wrong, something Mayor Samwise would call ‘fishy’ if he were about to put a name to it.

Yet she smiled and answered courteously

‘I’m Aman. This is the right place you came to, Sir’. I have a free room for five, and the supper is fresh from the fire. It’s mushrooms today, with a melted cheese on top. Besides, I may offer you white bread, and butter; and milk for the lass, and beer for you and your nephews, of course. Would you like it served here or in your room?’

‘In the room, we are tired from the road’ came a quick reply.

‘Too quick’ thought Aman ‘as if he were afraid of something.’ ‘But of course, as you wish it, Sir’ was what she said aloud. ‘Are those your carts outside?’

‘Um... yes?’ Now the man looked wary.

’Merry will take care of the horses. They are no less tired and hungry than you are, I believe?’

‘Um... I would not wish to trouble you that much, M’am, no need to, no need to, they are sturdy beasts, they can spend the night were they are...’

‘Well, it is not a trouble for a stablemaster to lead the horses to the stable, Sir’ smiled Aman. ‘Don’t you worry, they will be taken a good care of, Merry is a good groom, the best to be found for twenty miles round the place.

‘Well, if you say so. Thank you, M’am’ Dublong felt that insisting in the matter may give rise to suspicions. “We’ll have to slip to the stables first thing in the morning, than’ was what he thought. ‘Now, we would like to go to our room, M’am

“But of course, follow me’’

Aman came out from behind the bar, took one of the sconces standing on its side and lead the party through one of the doorways leading to guest rooms behind the Common Room.

‘Funny customers, those’, muttered Tolly to no one in particular
‘Sure’ answered Kaleth, ‘but you get all sorts of these days, what with all comings and goings up the greenway and all’

‘Yeh, mighty load of folks coming North, you’re right’ yawned back Tolly.

The room fell back to quiet buzzing of muffled whispering. The party of newcomers, obviously, haven’t aroused much interest in the tired old hands of the Inn.