|
"Actually," she responded, liking the young man already, "I was born not a day's ride from here. It is my brother that can claim time spent south; he spent several years in Minas Anor and recently travelled to Dol Amroth.
"But you are right in how you gave yourself away... t'was the charm." She shrugged helplessly, her cheeks pink with amusement, and her eyes squinted up in flirtatious laughter that she tried and failed to repress into a look of seriousness. "Gondorian charisma cannot be rivalled, it is true, and it would appear that yours is on par with the highest of lords."
He looked at her wide-eyed for a moment before laughing outright. She handed him a buttered roll filled with meat and cheese as well as an apple and bit into her own fruit before continuing.
"Now, you may, of course, refrain from telling me your business in Edoras, but I cannot guarantee that it will not be asked again later, perhaps by my lord. We have no desire to appear nosy or ungenerous, or unwelcoming, but we've recently had quite the time of it, so all suspicions are at high.
"Pressing onward, and you'll forgive me, I hope, for the rush; my dear friend is leaving this morning and I've yet to say farewell... What would you have my lord or me do for you?"
|