[Phervasaion]

Paladir sat down at the long table with the other Rangers and admired the beautiful patterns upon the table cloth and plates. He then glanced at all the food and his eyes widened. The quantity and quality of the Elven food seemed to be the most excellent that he had seen, or tasted for that matter, in a long time. All the Rangers ate and drank until their hearts were content, and Paladir was thoroughly enjoying himself.

After a while, Paladir looked up to see that a lot of the Rangers were beginning to dance. They’ve had too much ale, he thought to himself. Paladir looked across the table and saw Hanindur climbing out of his seat, only then to fall back into it again. Paladir let out a loud laugh and Hanindur turned and looked.

“I’d like to see if you could stand with no trouble from the ale, Paladir my friend,” he said with a slight smile on his face.

Paladir rose from his seat with a confident expression on his face, and as soon as he stood he tripped over the leg of the chair and fell flat on his face. He landed with a thud and half the people in the room turned and looked. Arathorn and the others laughed as he climbed to his feet again, and he gave Hanindur a look as if to say to say, okay you were right.

Paladir could now see everyone in the room, and he noticed a fair Elven maiden in the corner sniggering at him. He walked towards to her, this time without tripping over and being the laughing stock of the party.

“Care for a dance, milady,” he said to her in a low, not so confident tone.

The Elven maiden sniggered again. “Only if you don’t trip over my feet,” she replied. Paladir stuttered slightly. “Well…err… I did that on purpose, so… err… Hanindur over there wouldn’t feel left out,” he said as he led her to the dance floor.