Scarburg Meadhall

[Folwren]

The water coursed down her thirsty throat in one, long cool stream. She did not lower it from her mouth until it had been completely drained. Then she handed it back to Léof. She turned again to walk forward, leaning on Rowenna’s arm, but she did not need to. Eodwine had come near.

“I am here, Lady Saeryn. I greet you. What may I do for you?”

“My lord.” Saeryn tried to bow again. Only Rowenna kept her from falling. Saeryn struggled to look up at him. She wanted to reach out and touch him, to talk to him without these people acting as witnesses. Or at least find something to say other than what she really needed to say. But her mind did not allow her to think. She struggled with pain and weariness. “I seek your protection again, at least for a time.”

[littlemanpoet]

Protection again. This meant her brother, most likely, had found her and sought - no - hunted her. A reasonable guess. Could the king and queen not give her safeguard from her brother? Or had she not been in Edoras? Had she gone back to the Folde, which would have been the height of folly? These questions and many more flitted through his mind in an instant.

Just then Modtryth jostled her way through the half circle. "Enough of you gawkers!" She cried. "Go find breakfast and leave the Lady Saeryn in peace!" Modtryth joined Rowenna, holding onto Saeryn's other arm. "Come, dear, we shall find you a place to sit."

"Thank you, Modtryth," Eodwine said. "I will clear the closest table. Bring her there."

Eodwine turned and walked quickly in the direction of the baker and found that the semi-circle of gawkers had grown. "You heard the goodwife! Go eat breakfast! I will give you what news is useful for all ears when I have learned it myself."

The crowd dispersed in the general direction of the baker. Eodwine strode to the makeshift kitchen fires and found Kara, Frodides, and Ginna busy in preparation for breakfast. He told them Saeryn had returned and needed food and drink, and to see to her needs first; then he found the table he wanted, sat down, and waited for the three women.

At last Saeryn was situated across from him, leaning on the table with both elbows. Modtryth sat beside her and Rowenna stood behind her apparently ready to be useful; that was good. Eodwine looked up at her and smiled by way of acknowledgement. She returned his smile quickly and looked down at Saeryn again.

After Saeryn had been given food and drink by Ginna, and had a chance to refresh herself, Eodwine broke the silence.

"Does your brother hunt you again?"

[Thinlómien]

"Can I help you with those?" someone had asked. To her surprise, Modtryth had seen Javan. She had felt a bit bad about speaking badly of the lad who now seemed to do his best to help the people of the Hall. She had been about to refuse and maybe give the lad a nicer duty, when her thought had been interrupted by Lèođern's cry.

"Modtryth! Modtryth! Saeryn is back!"
"Lady Saeryn? Here now?"
"Yes, Eodwine wants you to help her!"

She had thought of asking the girl if the Lady was alright, but had decided that it would have only worried the girl. Nothing was terribly unwell, clearly, as the girl seemed so cheery. Modtryth had turned back to Javan.

"Yes, you actually can help me, lad. Take these buckets to kitchen. They're quite heavy, it might be better to take just one at a time and come back for the other later."

She had smiled, but the lad's expression had been serious, if not even defiant. He had picked both the buckets, nodded politely and turned to make his way to the kitchen.

She had not said anything, merely shaken her head. She had then turned to Lèođern and smiled. "Go after him," she had told the girl in a low voice, "and help him if he needs help." The girl had nodded gravely and sprung after the boy. Modtryth knew the small girl would be of no assistance to Javan and he would be too proud to accept the help in any case, but at least there was one thing less to worry about when she knew where Lèođern was.

Modtryth had hurried away to see Lady Saeryn. Only then had she remembered that the lads were still with the weird woodman, but she hoped they were sensible enough not to make an enemy of him, and knew there would be other people of the Hall around so the wildman could not harm them.

Then she had caught a glimpse of Saeryn and forgotten about the boys. She seemed so tired, so weak. People had gathered around her, merely gawking at her. Didn't they see that what she needed was definitely not a crowd standing idly and staring at her, not helping her or anything?

"Enough of you gawkers!" Modtryth cried. "Go find breakfast and leave the Lady Saeryn in peace!"

Modtryth then joined Rowenna, who was already there, holding onto Saeryn's other arm. Modtryth wondered how the woman always managed to be where things happened. Then she turned to the young noblewoman she had always respected, and saw the exhausted and lost expression on her face.

"Come, dear, we shall find you a place to sit," she said softly but firmly. Saeryn nodded and smiled faintly, but didn't say a word.

"Thank you, Modtryth," Lord Eodwine said. "I will clear the closest table. Bring her there."

He drove the gawkers away and Modtryth and Rowenna helped Saeryn walk. Lord Eodwine sat down and the serving women helped the young lady to sit opposite to him. Modtryth sat beside her, to support her if needed - both physically and mentally. Everything was not alright.

Soon Ginna came with food and drink for Saeryn. A silence fell.

After a while, Lord Eodwine spoke. "Does your brother hunt you again?"

Modtryth saw the pained expression on Saeryn's face. She bit her tongue lightly. She admired Lord Eowdine's honest manner and she herself was sometimes so straightforward that she could be called brusque, but still the Lord's question didn't seem appropriate. It felt unfair to pose such a question to a young woman in Saeryn's current state.

She rebuked herself for such a thought. Lord Eodwine just did what he had to do, like he always did.

[Folwren]

Javan

Lèođern bounced up to Javan’s side. “Saeryn’s back, did you know?”

Javan nodded, setting his face and trying not to let anyone see how he strained to carry the buckets of water. They were heavy, but he would do it – or bust.

“She’s a real lady, you know?”

Javan didn’t know, so he didn’t nod this time. He had reached the kitchen and he set down the buckets, exhaling a sigh as his muscles relaxed. He rubbed his palms together and looked outward to see Saeryn, between Rowenna and Modtryth. “She looks awfully spent, don’t you think?” he commented to Lèođern.

The girl hadn’t noticed before. She turned around to look, too. “I guess so,” she said slowly.

“Well. Let’s see about breakfast, and then I’m going to see if Stigend needs any help today.”

Saeryn

Saeryn cursed her weakness. She should not be so near collapsing. She was stronger than this. But there could be no denying that her body was thankful for the support on both sides of her as Modtryth and Rowenna escorted her to a table.

The food was wonderful and warm. Saeryn would have been perfectly happy to eat and drink and then lie down and sleep for a week, but…

“Does your brother hunt you again?”

Saeryn looked up from her plate. The way she jumped when he spoke might say many things to those watching her.

“No. My brother does not hunt me. He will never hunt anything again. Fenrir was killed and I barely escaped.” And not without scathing, she almost added, but she held her tongue. She was about to speak again when she realized she had not bitten her tongue soon enough, actually. She cast a wary glance in Eodwine’s direction. He had not known that she had gone back to the Folde, so that would have been news to him.

[Firefoot]

Saeryn back? Now here was some news. And in such a state? There must be a story. As Léof had run to fetch her some water he had been trying to piece together the pieces of her story that he knew that might account for her present state. Something about her brother, he knew, had earlier driven her to the Mead Hall, but he could remember few details – and the situation concerning her later departure seemed even more secretive.

No sooner had he offered her a drink of water than Modtryth came up crying, “Enough of you gawkers! Go find breakfast and leave the Lady Saeryn in peace!" Now, he had hardly been gawking. Not at first. But now as he stood there rather uselessly without further instructions, well, maybe he had been gawking. Sort of.

He didn’t argue the point, though; Modtryth was probably right. One of those motherly sensibilities. Breakfast did sound like a good idea, besides; and then he had work to do. He wanted to at least walk the perimeter of the horse pasture and discover what repairs needed to be made, whether with new wood or if the old would suffice. If new horses kept arriving at this rate, between Erbrand’s last night and now Saeryn’s too, his temporary set up would not hold up for long. And perhaps at breakfast he might find some willing hands to help.

[Lhunardawen]

Breakfast came a bit later than usual, and Ginna was partly at fault: she moved more slowly than she normally did for lack of sleep. Her adventure the night before with Dan had left her restless, tossing and turning in bed for hours, and it seemed only a second after she had finally surrendered consciousness when Kara came over where she lay and roused her. It was a good thing that none of the women had noticed her departure during the night, but her eyes drooped so that she was forced to abandon any task which involved the use of a knife, for fear of losing control of her hand and wounding herself.

The women had been working silently in the kitchen when Eodwine arrived with the news that the Lady Saeryn had arrived and required food and drink. The name vaguely registered with Ginna. She knew Saeryn had left the day she arrived in the former Mead Hall, but she had never thought much about her. Why did she leave, and what brought her back? It was not the time to seek answers for her queries, however; she had been given the honour, as it were, of serving breakfast to the guest - if guest she could be called.

As she placed food and drink before Saeryn, Ginna tried to take in as much of the lady as she could in the few seconds she had. Her face clearly showed weariness almost beyond her threshold - perhaps it was coupled with sadness? But however weak she had appeared, Ginna was certain it was against her will. Saeryn looked a few years younger than she, but here was one from whom Ginna could learn a lot about proper carriage and bearing.

She returned to Kara and Frodides and then began to serve the rest of the household their morning meal, commencing with the strange figure she found sitting apart from the others.

"Good morning, Dan," she greeted as she handed him food and drink. "I hope you slept well?"

[littlemanpoet]

“Does your brother hunt you again?”

Saeryn looked up from her plate. The way she jumped when he spoke might say many things to those watching her.

“No. My brother does not hunt me. He will never hunt anything again. Fenrir was killed and I barely escaped.”

"So you were back home again." Eodwine had had a hunch that she had gone there. "What happened?"

“Well, yes,” Saeryn began slowly. “Yes, I went back home.” Her brow knit slightly, then, as she concentrated on how to answer his second question. ‘What happened? How should she answer that? Her right hand crept about and pressed against her left side almost without her thinking.

“There was an upheaval,” she said at last. “A…that is, one like what happened here, maybe.” She nodded in the direction of the burned ruins.

Eodwine noticed Saeryn's hand stray to her left side. Did she have an injury? She had not yet said what she had come to say, and Eodwine now scolded himself for steering the talk away from her need and toward his own wish to know . . . what he could hope for and trust from her. Inwardly he scowled at himself for the apparent bitterness he harbored over her rejection. Eodwine, do you care about this Eorling lady or do you not? He was sure that he did, and that he still did care for her as well, although he was unsure he wished it to become more than that.

So with his mien softened, he said, "Forgive me. I have sought after news when I should have asked you to say what you came to say. Please say what you need to."

Searyn sat up a little straighter and seemed to draw herself together for a previously planned speech. But what came out was quite simple.

“I have come to ask you if I could stay here again. I have no place else to go.”

Eodwine's brows lowered briefly in confusion. "Of course you may. I wonder that you believe that you need to ask. However, with the passing of your brother, it seems that you no longer need the protection you once required. I am sorry for your loss." There was still unsettled the matter of what she would be to him, and he to her, on more than one level. "What role do you seek here in Scarburg?" There. It was an open ended question, and she could choose to answer it on as many levels as she chose. He schooled himself not to expect or hope for more than was meet. He glanced up a moment at Rowenna, who had quietly listened to everything; he could see in her eyes that her mind was busy at work, whether with implications or questions he could not guess.

Searyn tried to keep all her senses together. She felt weariness creep in again with all these questions being asked all at once. Still, she tried to answer. “What role do I seek?” Then she stopped, realizing suddenly what he might be asking her – what he could be asking her. Her answer likewise could be any number of things.

She felt confused, disoriented, as though her mind were closing like a door with crooked hinges, always prone to shut without being pushed. She tried to rise, and tried to retain control of the situation. “My lord,” she began, but stopped. She had sat back down again, her legs refused to obey. Her hand again went to her side and it didn’t leave. She leaned her forehead on her left hand, murmuring, “I am sorry, my lord, I am so sorry.”

Eodwine was surprised by how unwell Saeryn apparently was. It was time to end talk and take action. "Ladies, it appears that Saeryn is not as well as we thought. Take her to the women's tent and see to her needs. Modtryth, I place her in your care. When you have done all you can, send Rowenna to tell me what you have learned."

Modtryth, who had followed the discussion in silence, brow furrowed, nodded. "Yes, my lord. I'll take care of her. Come, Saeryn. Can you walk if Rowenna and I help you?"

Saeryn nodded and raised her head and with Modtryth and Rowenna once more walking on both sides of her and giving her support, she was led to the women's tent.