[Nurumaiel]

Frodides searches for Leofan

Frodides stood just outside the main crowd, clutching Mærcwen's hand tightly. The people were still rushing about, putting out the last of the flames and calming the frightened horses. Frodides stood on tiptoe and tried to find Leofan in the great mass of people that swarmed about, but she could not see him no matter how she tried. Mærcwen was crouching down and playing with some blades of grass and gazing up at Mihtig, who had pulled himself away from whoever had been watching him and found his way to the two. The little girl seemed completely lost as to what had just happened. "Mærcwen, please don't play with the dirt," Frodides murmured.

"I've not playing with the dirt, Mamma," the girl protested, turning her head upwards. "I'm playing with the grass." Frodides gave her a faint smile and gently picked her up, placing her on Mihtig's back. After instructing both horse and girl to be good and not to wander off, Frodides slipped into the crowd, doing her best to avoid the people who still ran back and forth with buckets of water, not quite sure if the fire had been put out or not. Despite her best efforts, however, she was shoved against a man who was watching the going-ons with great curiosity. She would have surely fallen if she had not had the crowds about her to support her.

"Oh, I do apologize!" the man said, turning to her, his eyes tragic. "Up 'till now I have been quite successful in dodging through this crowd, but I see I have made my first mistake." He gave a little bow and was turning to go when he saw her face. More sorrow welled up in his eyes. "You appear to be greatly troubled," he said.

"If I am to tell the truth, I am greatly troubled," Frodides replied. "My husband, the stablemaster... well, I cannot find him. And I am simply afraid. He was in the midst of everything, going into the stable to rescue the horses and other such things... I have some fears that he might have been killed."

The man folded his arms, dropped his head, and took a step back, trodding on someone's foot. An annoyed cry behind him made him jump, and turning, he gave another little bow and apologized. Turning back to Frodides he winked and said, "Impossible to think around here." His face become serious again. "Now, about your husband... I once had a brother who was lost in a fire, and I was the one who found him. Maybe I could do it again. But first-" he bent down and peered in between people, frustration building in his face "-we must find a way to get through this crowd without any of us getting hurt."

Frodides attempted to keep silent, but despite her best efforts she could not help correcting the stranger. "Either of us, sir," she said.

The man glanced quickly at her, his eyebrows raised in surprise. He put one hand behind his back and studied her carefully. "Why, I'm afraid I don't quite know what you mean. There aren't just two of us. We mustn't forget my faithful companion." He smiled at her confusion and unslung a fiddle from his back very gently. "Many a lonely hour I've passed with this friend here." Replacing it, he took her hand. "I've fought my way through tougher crowds," he said. "Follow me and we should be through to the stable soon enough."

"I cannot thank you enough for your kindness, sir," Frodides said, stooping over as he did. He smiled at her and said, "No need to thank me. For me, rescuing young ladies in distress has become as much of a trade as my fiddle playing. I shall be thanked enough when I see her smiling happily at the sight of her husband."

He began to move lightly forward and Frodides followed. She was amazed at his agility and his great talent for slipping through the tightest spaces, and she found that he had been correct in what he said. As long as she kept after him exactly, she found no trouble in dodging in between the people, and scarcely a minute had past before they were through the thick of the crowd and standing in front of what was left of the stable.

"There," the stranger said, brushing his clothes off. "Dear me, but some of those people were dirty. I shouldn't wonder, though, if they've been running back and forth and rescuing horses and whatever else they do in fires. I must admit, my dear, that crowd was much tougher than they looked. Now that we are through I think you will able to take in this news without terror striking your heart... I wasn't sure if we'd make it through."

Frodides bit her lip to keep from laughing, for the stranger's wide eyes showed he was quite serious. He frowned back at the crowd, then began scanning the stable before them, concern flickering in his eyes. "Now, my dear, I hope you find your husband, for I'm quite afraid to go back through that crowd."

"If he's here I'll find him," Frodides replied.

The stranger turned to go, but as the first time he turned back, sorrow greater than previously flooding his eyes. "Ah, I do hope you find your husband," he said. "I was mortally afraid for my brother. I sympathize so very much with you." He hesitated. "Er... would you like me to assist you in finding him? I told you before I would, but I don't recall your having answered."

"It would comfort me much if you were searching as well, sir."

"Yes, very good." He stepped forward and began peering under the charred boards the of the stable. "You mustn't thinking I'm looking for him down here, me dear," he said. "I have no doubts that he's alive. I'm just thinking of making a song about it. You and your husband will be in it, too." He dropped the board and began to walk in circles around the stable, looking right and left.

Frodides also began to search. "Sir, I would very much like to know your name."

"Name? Why does it matter? I shall disappear as soon as your husband is found." He glanced over at her. "However, my dear, if you insist, you may call me Liornung. I shall be truthful and tell you that isn't my real name, but it is what I call myself. Don't bother to ask why, for I intend to tell you without prompting. As you most likely know, it means 'learning' and I, my dear, am ever learning the songs, stories, and tunes I don't know."

"Are you a bard?"

"Oh dear, no." The man shook his head wildly. "I'm a rambling fiddler. Bards are so very learned and wise, and I am so very simple. Most bards are sons or daughters of bards, as well, or so I've heard. I'm the son of a stablemaster." He looked rather downcast. "I wish I was a bard... or, on the other hand, I don't. I am content to be a rambling fiddler." He nodded firmly. "Yes, that's what I am." He looked under another board, then crouched down and remained that way for awhile. "Thinking of verses," he murmured. At last with a great sigh he stood and straightened himself up. "No good, I'm afraid. It wouldn't work. Now, where could your-" His voice stopped abruptly as his eyes fastened on something. His face lit up and he scrambled around the stable, laughing heartily. "Ah, what good fortune comes my way," he said as he ran past Frodides. She turned to watch what he did.

Approaching one of the men who were holding the horses, he enfolded him in a great hug. The man started and stared for a few moments, then with a broad smile returned the hug. "My dear Sarig, is it really yourself?" Frodides jumped up from where she had been kneeling and followed the same path that Liornung had taken as she recognized the voice.

"Ah, my dear brother, this is not Sarig. Such a woeful name that is. I've called myself Liornung."

"Leofan?" Frodides said, her voice low and hesitant. When she saw it was indeed her husband, she smiled and embraced him warmly. Liornung stood in a bit of bewilderment, then laughed. "Oh, so this is your husband, eh? Ho, ho! That means you're my sister. Ha, ha, no wonder I felt so compelled to help you. How could I refuse to help my own brother's wife?"

"Besides that you have a naturally sympathetic nature," Leofan said. "You've always been helping people since you could shout sternly at the bullies and talk sweetly to those who had need of rescue." He turned to Frodides. "Where is Mærcwen?" he asked.

"No need to fear. She's with Mihtig."

Liornung beamed. "My brother has a daughter," he cried. "Shall she be as enchanted by the stories I tell as the other children I have met, I wonder? Ah yes, I must meet my little niece."

"You shall meet her, and many others, brother, as soon as this mess is cleaned up. How sorrowful I was feeling! My dear brother, how you have cheered my heart. What joy to see you again. Come now, let's clear this slight confusion and get some strong men to help us, and women too, if we can find any who are willing to encounter the dead bodies of horses." A shadow passed over his face. "Thank goodness nobody was hurt, even if we did lose many horses."

Seeing his brother's face, Liornung quickly attempted to cheer him. "And you shall tell me what you have been doing these years, and I shall tell you what I have been doing, though there is not much to tell. But first we must clean this up."