[Kath]

Suddenly feeling as though trapped, Astilwen stood up and moved around the table. Seeing the startled and confused look this gained her from Ariane she smiled and tried to explain.

"I'm sorry. It's just that talking about never having left, and hearing tales of the world outside makes me feel that I should enjoy as much of what I have as I can. Would you mind if we continued our conversation outside?"

Ariane shook her head, picked up both their glasses and followed her through the Inn door and into the gardens. Astilwen led her to the bench she had found the night before. It was far enough away from the festivities that they would be able to hear what the other was saying, but not so far that they couldn't see what was going on.

Their conversation carried on, with Ariane telling happier tales of her time in Bree, and Astilwen telling tall tales to make the other woman laugh. Eventually they lapsed into silence, both thinking over what the other had said, and grinning every now and then as they remembered something they had found amusing.

Jumping up for a moment to stretch her legs, Astilwen turned and saw a shadowy figure a way off behind the bench. It was looking up at the moon, but she couldn't make out if it was male or female as it had it's back to her.

She gently turned Ariane so she too could see this person and after a quick whispered conversation, the two decided it would be best to go and offer help to this creature, who stood so dejectedly. As the got closer, they could see that it was in fact a woman, and she looked as though she had been crying.

"Hello." She spoke quietly, not wanting to frighten the woman who had obviously not heard their approach. "Is there anything we can do for you?"