[Susan Delgado]

Anna gave the Elf a scornful look. Why did Celumëomaryu always ask such insultingly obvious questions? She'd been watching from her usual hiding place; Anna had seen her. So why was she asking why Anna was here? She decided to limit the day's strife by answering as if Celumëomaryu had asked a reasonable question, however. No use upsetting everybody more than necessary.

Feeding them.

Celumëomaryu stared at Anna in consternation. Obviously she wanted a different or perhaps simply more complete answer. Anna stared back, a deliberately insulting half-smirk on her face. Finally, Celumëomaryu said, "What were you doing up here that you saw they needed food?"

There she went. I heard sounds, so I came to investigate. Calimiel says I can have one of the women. This was not at all what Calimiel had said, of course, but it was fun to say just to see the expression on the accountant's face, and her vocal reaction almost approached Maladil's level. As she watched Celumëomaryu stalk toward Calimiel to ascertain the truth, Anna noted that Celumëomaryu's screams had not helped the prisoners' peace of mind at all. The living folk actually seemed to be trying to hide under the bodies of their dead companions. Interesting. She remembered having something of an aversion to dead flesh when she'd been alive. Now, of course, she didn't care.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Celumëomaryu--she had raised her voice again. She really seemed quite upset about what Anna had said, and soft-spoken Calimiel was having a hard time keeping the outraged Elf calm. Well, Anna could do something about that.

It's all right, Celumëomaryu.

Celumëomaryu broke off mid-rant and whirled - a particularly impressive move when made by a noncorporeal creature - toward Anna. "What?" she said, voice still raised.

Leave her alone. That wasn't what she said to me.

Celumëomaryu said nothing, but antagonism flowed off her in waves.
Behind her, Calimiel gave Anna a grateful look before vanishing into mist.

She didn't tell me I could have one of the women. She told me you wanted one and now that the other one is dead, there aren't enough for me to have one too.

Though still annoyed at being tricked, the Elf was slightly mollified by the explanation. She looked at Anna for a moment through narrowed eyes, then said, "What do you want to do about it?"

I propose a contest to deteremine who gets our woman.

Celumëomaryu snorted at the phrase "our woman" - as if anything to do with she and Anna had ever been communal - and said, "A contest? What sort of contest?"

A singing contest.

Celumëomaryu was intrigued despite herself. "How would we know who'd won?"

Anna rolled her eyes. This was the woman who'd spent the last three thousand years in a library?
Haven't you read the Histories? As the ancient Elven King did battle by song with the Lord of Darkness, we would know who won when it happened.

Oh. Celumëomaryu had forgotten about that particular volume of History, but now that Anna mentioned it, it did sound familiar. "Very Well."

Anna nodded. This had gone better than she'd hoped. Very Well. Are you ready? You may go first if you'd like.

[ December 25, 2002: Message edited by: Susan Delgado ]