The Green Dragon Inn - Part 3

[Elora]

As he had stood in the sunlight, she seen something not so sunny in his eyes again. But Vanwe bit her questions. She had no right to question Derufin, when he had been so careful with her own doubtful past. She studied him. He was tall and she well knew the farmers and warriors of her village. He was stronger in more ways than his powerful build, she sensed. They did not seem as he did, although she had never rightly met a fisherman before. Scant work for such a profession in the Haradian Waste.

Vanwe let her natural questions bubble silently within her and merely nodded as he pulled her to her feet.

"A whole afternoon," she murmured. That meant she would be able to give her badly used dress a much needed wash, provided she found a stream. Up here in the north, she suspected she would not have to look far. She could patch some of the holes with the lining of her cloak too. And there was Silvanis too.

Vanwe collected the pegs and hammers and followed Derufin. "I can help with the horses and ponies too," she called after him. She did not wish to leave Derufin the lion's share of the work. Vanwe smiled at Léspheria as she passed her in the common-room. The Elven woman favoured her with a smile in return that was shortened when she noticed another table in need of wiping down and Vanwe noticed Derufin had already made it to the kitchen. She juggled the pegs and hammer back into position and hurried after him.

The kitchen was a hive of activity, and Cook seemed none to pleased in general. However, the lesser evil of having her pantry back in proper working condition seemed to outweigh the imposition of two more people underfoot. She waved them on impatiently, and they proceeded to install the shelving.

The pantry was filled with the murmurings of them both as they maneouvred the shelving into place one by one and then tapped home the pegs to afix them. Vanwe heard Cook mutter something about infernal noise as she checked on their progress. Derufin only smiled in response to her review of their work and the noise. Vanwe found herself wondering how the sound the leather encased hammers on pegs could possibly compete with the sounds of the larger kitchen. Judging from the look on Cook's face and Derufin's diplomatic smile, Vanwe decided not to venture that question either and carried on.

It was short work, made easier by the fact that two sets of hands were working together in the same companionable bond that had started in the morning. When they did step back after checking each shelf was level and properly supported, Cook swooped in and evicted them so as to get her pantry back into propper working order.

"I can help with the horses, if you wish Derufin," Vanwe repeated as they returned to where they had been working through the morning. Soon enough, Vanwe had managed to gather the offcuts and put them back undercover with the rest of the lumber. The trestles were also packed away and the tools and pegs stored. She dusted the thin pattina of wood dust from her hands as she watched Derufin move to the stalls in readiness to lead their occupants out into the afternoon warmth and breeze.

He worked as easily with them as he did with the timber, and her, she reflected. She studied how he went about leading the horses and ponies out, and replicated that herself. She had limited experience with such creatures, but they responded well enough. Silvanis' horse, though, she left to Derufin. Blackveil eyed her almost as closely as Silvanis had and she had the uncanny feeling she knew as much as much about Vanwe's background as her owner.

Well all was completed, and feed and water provided within the dappled shade of the pen, Vanwe leant against the fence and watched the horses and ponies move about, scenting the air and each other. Derufin latched the gate after Blackveil had been seen to.

"Thankyou, Derufin," she said as he set the latch in place. "You've been very kind. Although I do not know why, I am very grateful."

She smiled shyly at him and dropped a curtsy that although possessed the fluid grace of her race, was made incongruous by the beggared state of her gown. She spread her skirts nonetheless. When she had straightened, she added something else.

"I'll not keep you longer from the peace of your afternoon and I'll be on time tonight, I swear it... "

With that, her smile widened a little to light her face and she returned to where she had left her small pack in the stable to collect it. That in hand, with a wave to Derufin, she headed off to where she thought it likely a stream was. She had a lot to do in one afternoon and as she had thanked Derufin again she had added something else to her tally.

Soon enough, she was sitting in the afternoon light on a stream bank, wrapped in her cloak whilst her one dress, freshly cleaned and mended now dried. Vanwe bent over a small block of wood. Her belt knife moved with purpose and she hummed as what was within the wood started to emerge. She paused, blowing on the wood to clear some shavings away and smiled at what she saw, before she continued on again. Her song picked up as the sun moved overhead, lost in her work and her musings of all the conundrums she seemed to have found for herself.