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Old 05-26-2015, 05:43 PM   #1379
Galadriel55
Blossom of Dwimordene
 
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Join Date: Oct 2010
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Galadriel55 is lost in the dark paths of Moria.Galadriel55 is lost in the dark paths of Moria.Galadriel55 is lost in the dark paths of Moria.Galadriel55 is lost in the dark paths of Moria.
A summer two years hence

The end of a meal was always marked by a furious final effort on the part of the kitchen workers to clean, collect, wash, dry, and clean. The women were gliding in and out of the kitchen, matching their movements like partners in a well-learned dance. Today there was more work than usual; the arrival of two more groups of travelers meant that some of the men had to take turns eating at the tables, or else find other places to sit. But these visits boded well for the Hall – the wayfarers brought with them wagons of cloth and fine armor and fruit that do not grow in the Mark and other wares besides. Trade must be going well, Ledwyn remarked to herself.

Even she got a treat out of it – one of the companies passing through the Mark on their way north stopped at Scarburg for three days’ time to rest and barter. Among them was a family - a lively couple with two children. She befriended the woman, who was a wonderful weaver. The woman taught Ledwyn how to make simple but beautiful patterns from knotting ropes or strings together. She promised her that if they ever come to Scarburg again, she will teach her how to make more complicated patterns, and maybe to weave on the loom.

“Ledwyn! Will you come with me to get the flowers?” Kara called to her as Ledwyn finished scrubbing the pots and began drifting outside. Kara was asked to gather flowers and other decorations to adorn the Hall for the coming of the guests. Ledwyn paused as the young woman finished drying her last piece of cutlery before joining her. “It’s a beautiful day,” Kara continued with a laugh, “we could both do well with a walk in the meadows.”

Ledwyn hesitated. She promised Theolain she would meet him by the well after the meal; he said he wanted to show her something. But he is probably playing with the other boys by now, and would not miss me for a quarter hour, she thought, and when Kara insisted, she obliged.

They laughed as they ran into the fields. Spotting a sprinkle of bright petals in the grass, they shouted and grabbed fistfuls of colour. When Kara’s flower basket was filled, they both lay down on the grass, breathless and giddy from laughter.

“Remember last time?” asked Kara. Ledwyn giggled. Last time they came here together was in the spring of last year. Ledwyn knew most of the men, but she still felt a stranger in the Mead Hall. Frodides told her to collect trenchers from the far table, where a few men were still sitting, absorbed in an argument. As she took a half-filled trencher from one of the men – she did not know his name yet – he turned around in mid-sentence and looked at her. “Are you blind, wench, or is it the new custom to take food away half-eaten?” Ledwyn stammered an apology and pushed the trencher back towards him. “What am I supposed to do with only half a man’s plate?” the man demanded. Some of the men chuckled. She knew he was mocking her, but she did not know what to say or do to stop him. She made to take the trencher again and return to the kitchen, but the man asked with such indignation why he is being punished so with hunger. In the end, Kara, who came to clean the other table, told the men off, took Ledwyn’s hand, and they came to this very meadow.

That was also the time she came back to find Theolain playing catch-me-in-the-house with the other children. It was the first time she saw him play with them. He had a grin on his face as he ran in and out of the oddly-shaped house drawn on the ground. Before this day, he would wander around Scarburg by himself, sometimes coming into the kitchen to get more food, or visiting Léof in the stables, or – which Ledwyn noticed happened most often – following Harreld around wherever he went, an occupation that often delayed the progress at the smithy while Theolain was coaxed to play elsewhere. Finally, Harreld solved the problem by fashioning the boy a toy bird to play with outside when Harreld worked.

When Ledwyn came back to the Hall this time, carrying a large handful of wildflowers, she did not find Theolain waiting for her at the well, or by the kitchens. She decided that this is well, that he is too busy running around with the boys or tailing Harreld to remember. She was glad for him that he found his place in Scarburg. Though when she saw Cnebba walk by an hour later, he claimed he never saw Theolain after the meal.
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