[littlemanpoet]

The party were breaking their fast. Ædegard looked for Leafa; she was still abed. He wondered if something was wrong, but shrugged and supposed that she needed more sleep.

Nethador sat across from Ædegard, and as he munched, his eyes flicked from Bella to himself, which began to irritate him, like a fly unable to decide which perch it liked better. When they had finished, Nethador came up to him, his face nervous, his hands fidgeting.

"Good morn," Ædegard greeted warily.

Nethador nodded. Then he fell to his knees and assumed a pleading position, not facing Ædegard with it, much to his relief. Nethador pointed to him then to Leafa, who had just sat up, rubbing her pretty eyes. Ædegard frowned, confused. Was the Easterling boy trying to tell him something? The boy put his hand to his mouth and said nonsense, making as if to throw the nonsense into the air with his hand as he spoke. Ædegard shook his head and frowned more deeply. Had the boy gone daft in the night? He only started motioning more wildly, pointing intently at himself, then Leafa, then himself and Bella. He could make no sense of it.

"What are you trying to say, boy? Have you lost your wit in the night?"

Nethador moved his hands more wildly than ever, using the same motions over and over again. Ædegard backed up a few steps, fearing that the boy had come down with some fever in the night, one he was sure he did not want to catch. Finally, the boy threw up his hands in seeming irkedness, and walked away, giving Ædegard an unfriendly look.

Liornung came up to him, strumming on his fiddle, a concerned look on his face. "Why refuse the boy?"

"Refuse him of what?"

Surprise replaced sadness. "You did not know what he asked?"

"I could make no sense of his mumming."

"Ah me," said Liornung. "He was asking you to teach him to speak our speech so that he could propose marriage to Bella. You did not understand that?"

The Easterling boy wanted to learn Common Tongue so that he could propose marriage to the Gondorian lady? It was an offensive thought. Surely the blood of Gondorians and Rohirrim were on the boy's hands, for bloodguilt passed from generation to generation, and no doubt his ancestors had been among those who warred against the West in service to the Dark Lord.

"I will do no such thing!"

"Whyever not, my friend?"

"He is an Easterling! And you should not either."

Liornung looked astounded. "But he is a friend of Amroth, and has proven harmless."

Ædegard shook his head. Some people were forgetting the old true ways. Harmless the boy might seem, but bloodguilt was no easy stain to overcome.

"I have put up with the boy's presence for the sake of Amroth, but I will not befriend him nor aid him in wooing Bella. It is an affront!"

"Amroth accepts him."

"I cannot account for the ways of Elves. They are a mystery. But how is it that you do not know this, Liornung? You are Rohirrim, a man of the west. This boy's ancestors have the blood of Rohan and Gondor on their hands! Such a union of Easterling to Gondorian should not be."

Ædegard walked away from Liornung, who stood as still as a stone, his face a picture of shock and horror. If the minstrel had truly forgotten his roots so much that he could not see what was plain, it was a shame, but not something that Ædegard could do much to change. He went to Leafa, who was standing, watching him approach.

"Good morn, Leafa! How do you fare?"

She did not speak right away. Her brow was low and her mouth worked before she spoke. When she did, his bearings fell away. "How could you be so cruel to the boy?"

For a moment Ædegard could think of nothing to say that he would not regret. Had Leafa too forgotten her roots? Maybe she should not be his wife! Maybe, though, he could fill her need to understand the true, deep ways of the Rohirrim. But how was he to answer her words regarding his supposed cruelty.

"My cruelty to him was nothing compared to the slaughtering ways of his ancestors. He bears bloodguilt for the deaths of many Rohirrim and Gondorians. It would be unjust to help him in his cause."