[Imladris]

Faran beamed with unrestrained pride as Bethberry told him to search for the woman Idona to help him with the stable. He had never before designed a stable before, but that was what Idona was for, he shrugged. Sigrid, too, had been hired, he thought with a pleased smile as he watched Goldwine scamper off somewhere. Bowing to the innkeeper, Bethberry, he said, “Thank you, ma’am. Where would Idona be?” he asked, curiously, his blue eyes searching the room, pausing at every female face that met his eye.

Bethberry said, “I do not know…” and then she went on to describe the girl. With a nod, Faran bowed again and strode quickly through the room. He passed a table and saw a pie that was brimming with berries swimming in red glaze. His eyes popped and he looked furtively around. He had already had a piece of pie, but not this kind and this kind looked tasty. Taking a silver knife, he cut himself a wedge, grinning with satisfaction as he could feel the plump berries yield before the sharpened blade. Snatching a nearby plate, he lifted the piece and hastily transferred it to his tin plate, watching with unconstrained satisfaction as the juice dripped in tantalizing drops and splattered on the wooden planks of the table. Narrowing his eyes and peering nonchalantly about him, he took his finger, wiped the juice, and stuck the finger in his mouth, delighting in the sweet flavour of the sauce.

Somehow finding his plate undisturbed in his old place, he was thankful that the waitresses had not yet come to his table. Sitting down upon the bench, he dug in to the pie, the red sauce oozing from the berries like blood. Faran absently realized that a man sat down beside him, talking about being smarter with his hands than with his head or something like that. The pie was so sweet, so good with the freshness of buries grown in a nearby garden.

“So what I have been thinking, is that I wanna be a carpenter perhaps. With the building of the stables and all, I was wonderin' if perhaps you can help me with learning that,” the mans said nervously.

Faran choked on his crust, and realized with a flush of crimson that this man had been speaking to him and that he had completely been ignoring the stranger. Wiping his mouth upon his blue sleeve, Faran gulped the rest of his crust down (it scratched his throat terribly) and gasped, “Sir! I am so sorry! Terribly sorry for ignoring you. Of course I would be glad to teach you carpentry…” Two students in one day…imagine that!

The man smiled with relief and Faran went on pleasantly, “Bethberry sent me to find a woman named Idona, so, if you want to accompany…” he let his voice trail off and looked longingly at the pie. No…he had already had two pieces and that was plenty.

The man nodded eagerly and Faran said, “Oh. The name’s Faran by the way,” he said, sticking out his hand.

The other man grasped it and said, “Talan. Nice to meet, ye.”

Faran smiled, twirled on his heel, and began to search for the girl that matched the description of Idona that Bethberry had told him. Looking at Talan who strode beside him, Faran said, “We’re looking for a girl with…” and he went on to describe the girl to Talan. Better four eyes than two, he reasoned. Besides, he wanted to make up for ignoring the man. He grimaced at the memory.

After wandering about the Common Room for sometime, Faran remarked to Talan, "Hmmm. Must be blind because I don't see her anywhere. Maybe she's not in the room." Shrugging, he looked around the room again.

[ 8:40 PM December 04, 2003: Message edited by: Imladris ]