[Amanaduial the archer]

"Take your hand off your weapon," Aman's spoke softly into Esgalhugwen's ear, so Lis would not hear, but made the elf jump in any case, and for a second Aman was worried she would loose her sword out of pure shock that second. She continued, facing the elf now, murmuring, "It will do no good for another elf to be seen threatening her."

"Her?" Esgalhugwen sounded surprised, and Aman supposed she couldn't blame her, but her voice came out louder than was probably intended. Lis heard this time and turned, her hand reaching towards the hilt of the axe which Pio still held out, her eyes flaming. Pio did not resist, but simply kept her grey eyes fixed calmly on the dwarf, in silent askance that things did not get out of hand. But Aman noticed her friend subtly adjust her left sleeve. Anyone who had not known Pio so well would have thought nothing of it, a mere, absent-minded adjustment, but Aman knew of the weapon Pio kept there. Pretending she had noticed nothing, the Innkeeper stepped forward slowly into the circle that had somehow formed. Nosy Shire folk - being surrounded, in the centre of a crowd of folk, many of whom were elves, would hardly improve Lis's state of mind.

She smiled respectfully, inclining her head slightly and in doing so taking her eyes of Lis - a movement that indicated trust and friendship in the fact she couldn't, for a split second, see what the dwarf was doing. A necessary and hopefully strengthening movement, but one that non the less made Aman's heart seem to stop for a split second. Unlike Pio, she didn't have a weapon on her - a few weeks after she came to the Green Dragon she had stopped wearing her usual dagger against her thigh. The closest weapon she had was the sword behind the bar. On the other side of Lis. Funny, she thought wryly, she obviously should have been prepared for a hostile dwarf...

She caught Pio's eye for a split second, and the elf shook her head very slightly. I will not, do not worry, came the reassuring message from the elf. Leastaways, I certainly do not intend to.

Aman's eyes flicked back to Lis's, and she saw the dwarf was slightly off-guard at having yet another representative of a race greeting her, a human this time. But in her outraged, flashing eyes, Aman could see fear as well.

"Good day, friend," She did not use the dwarf's name for fear of making her more uneasy, but used the title 'friend' rather hesitantly and, she feared, rather optimistically. "As my friend - Pio -" She indicated the elf who smiled cordially. "-said, we were minding your axe. Someone found it and brought it in." Leastaways I hope that is the truth. "Please...we didn't mean any harm."

She smiled again, her voice reassuring and soft, trying to ignore the voice in her head telling her exactly what could happen if this furious, scared dwarf loosed her anger, and her axe, in this Inn...

[ October 10, 2003: Message edited by: Amanaduial the archer ]