[Mithadan]

Mithadan nearly laughed as Bird pirouetted down the stairs in her outlandish Southron outfit. He watched for a moment as she placed what appeared to be a sizeable breakfast order with the barmaid. She looked about the room and glanced at him with a wrinkled nose and disapproving look. He wiped selfconsciously at his dirty and rumpled shirt then rose and walked toward her.

Seeing him approach, she sat at a table, pulled her chair in and pointedly faced away from him. Mithadan stopped behind her chair and waited for a moment. She did not turn around (though she did fan at the air before her face), so he spoke with a rogueish grin. "Well met, fair maiden," he said. "I understand that you are a fellow traveller making for The Shire. I suppose we could travel together, although I suspect that you might wish to employ a quicker, more direct route...as the crow flies?"

She spun around upon hearing his 'crow' comment. Then recognition dawned upon her and she leapt to her feet. "Mithadan!" she cried, carefully keeping the chair between them. "You look...horrible! What happened?"

"I've had a difficult week of travel," he responded with an embarrassed grin. "And unfortunately, my stomach demanded that I eat before seeking a place to change..."

"And shave and bathe appearently," she interrupted with a grin of her own. "But its good to see you nonetheless. Would you like to...errr, join me?"

Mithadan laughed. "Your ravishing clothes are surpassed only by your politeness. But I'd rather you not gag during your meal. I've just eaten. So, I'll find a place to change and clean up a bit, then I'll join you." He walked over to the barmaid and spoke to her briefly. She pointed down the hall and gestured to the right. Mithadan turned back to Bird and said, "I'll be back."

She watched as he walked away. "Under the circumstances, that might be a threat," she muttered.

--------------------

About an hour later, Mithadan returned. He wore a clean, if rumpled, white shirt and a fresh pair of breeches. He had scraped and rubbed at his boots in an unsuccessful attempt to clean them from the road, and had bathed, though he remained unshaved. Bird rose to meet him and this time they embraced before sitting.

After chatting for a bit about the events of the past months, Mithadan became silent. He frowned and looked up at Bird. "I'm a bit concerned about something," he said. "In her last letter, Pio said that Cami was with her."

"What!" responded Bird. "Are you sure she meant the same Cami?"

"It sounded that way," he answered grimly.

"That's impossible," Bird scoffed. "It must be some quirk of her pregnancy or overwork. Or a mistake more than likely."

"You will arrive before I or so I assume," he said. "Please make sure that she is taking care of herself. I'm a bit worried and I will not arrive in Hobbiton before tomorrow evening at the earliest I would guess."

"I will," promised Bird with a smile. "Its good to see you, Mith. We have much to discuss and puzzle over concerning my trip into the south."

"We'll have plenty of time to talk in Hobbiton," he said. "But for now, I'm eager to be on my way." He rummaged in his bag for a moment, then looked about cautiously before passing over a leather pouch. Bird undid the drawstring and her jaw dropped as she looked inside. "There must be twenty gold pieces in here!" she hissed.

"There's more waiting for you in Gondor," Mithadan responded with a smile. "Between the three ships we sold and the last Numenorean knife, our last voyage was a success from the perspective of trading."

Bird looked in the bag once more, then closed it and sealed the drawstring before passing it back to Mithadan. "Carry it for me, please? I'm travelling...light. Oh, and shave that beard. I can't imagine Pio liking it."

Mithadan laughed. "I lost my shaving kit on the road," he said ruefully. "I've enough cuts and scrapes on my face so that I don't wish to chance using a knife. I'll wait until I reach The Green Dragon. See you in a day or two!" Then he turned and walked out to the stables...