[Garen LiLorian]

Derek paused in the doorway as Rhiannon finished her attack on the world in general and his feet and bird in particular. He ran his hands through his hair, and, as always, grimaced as he noted how little of it was left.

"Honestly, Rhiannon! I do not have warty feet, first of all, and secondly--how many times do I have to tell you?--the bird does no good to me at all if you have clouded his mind with your complaining! Now please, back to those notations, I need them by the 'morrow!" She looked up, startled but uncowed. "by the morrow!" cawed the raven shrilly, and she fixed the bird with a glare that would have killed any lesser being. Unsettled, it ducked its head. "honestly Rhiannon" it said, in a much more conciliatory tone, and flew over to perch on its master's shoulder.

"There now, see what you've done." Derek stroked the bird with nervous fingers, and spoke quickly. "You've gone and scared him. I need him in top condition for when the Elves arrive. You know that."

Rhiannon looked singularly unimpressed, and Derek smiled at her. The movement didn't come easily to him, and it looked like the deeply entrenched lines in his face would put up a fight for a moment before giving in, but he made the effort anyway. Rhiannon was a good secretary, she just had this awful notion that everyone was out to get her. That could be useful, and Derek had used it on more than one occasion to bully an opponent into giving away more than he wanted to, but it surely didn't help him in his day to day existence. He sighed. "Rhiannon, I've got to go into Esgaroth. Market day, you know. I need someone to come along and help me with my accounts. Is Joneth around?"

Rhiannon, who had looked up sharply at that, mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like profanity. "What?" Derek asked sharply. If there was one thing he couldn't stand in his employees, it was swearing. It didn't pay, and therefore, Derek had no use for it. "I said he's already there. Along with everyone else, master." Rhiannon had almost as good a scowl as he did himself, he noted approvingly. He thought for a moment. "Alright, then. I guess I can deal with it myself. Come along, Malbeth." He walked out the door, the raven on his shoulder. His voice floated back to where Rhiannon sat. "Don't forget the notation!"