"Well, who can we tell something is off?" asked Vieana. "Perhaps the guards know about lies that have spread. Untrue, of course. I've known her all my life! And my father has always known the prince, as greedy as my father is, he still keeps up appearances." Vieana frowned.
Averyll nodded. "Of course, it's a lie!" she agreed. "We know that, but I think we need to make sure that such lies don't harm Finduilas, or get in the way of the wedding. After all --" she gave Eleniel and Vieana each a solemn look "-- that is part of the reason we are here."
"It's clear we have to do something," she added. A short period of silence passed as the three ladies made their way through the halls toward the dining room, each of them thinking hard.
"I still don't think we should upset Tessa or Finduilas just yet," Elen broke the silence.
"No," Averyll agreed. "You are right. We should probably just keep it to ourselves for the moment. In the meantime, I think it would be wise if we could do a little sleuthing about to see if we can find out where such nonsense is coming from."
"See if we can get to the bottom of it!" rejoined Vieana. "I agree. Imagine! The nerve of these people to say such things..."
"Right."
"How shall we do it, then?"
Averyll paused just outside of the dining room doors, stopping her companions with a gesture. "We must be careful. We must be subtle. We must listen to what the others are saying and ask questions, lead them to tell us more... perhaps even pretend to believe them..."
"Believe them?" Elen objected. "Oh, Averyll, don't be ridiculous. They are probably saying the same sort of thing about us! How can we pretend to believe them when we arrived with Finduilas, and we, at least Vieana and I, have known Finduilas for years!"
"Okay," Averyll smiled. "Maybe that wouldn't be so clever, but you see what I am getting at, don't you? Listen to the gossipers. Talk to them. Lead them to say more and more. It's the only way we can discover where the rumors came from."
Vieana frowned. "That's all fine and good, but we mustn't ever lead anyone to think the rumors are true." She crossed her arms. "As Finduilas' ladies, it's our job to argue the truth, to let everyone know how false those rumors are, and as soon as possible, before they can cause any real damage."
"Too true," rejoined Elen. "So, what do we do? Try to find out who started the rumors, as Averyll suggests? Or just quash them as we encounter them."
The three ladies looked at each other from face to face. Finally, Vieana sighed. "Do we have to decide right this second? There's a lovely luncheon waiting just inside those doors. I can think much more clearly on a full stomach. What do you say we eat first, then make up our plan?"
Averyll laughed. "I'm for eating. Elen?"
"Me, too!" With that, the three of them entered the dining room, where a splendid array of food had already been laid out for the ladies of Dol Amroth.
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