[VanimaEdhel]

“I daresay you might,” Giedd said, a note of relief in her voice. On a normal day, Giedd would most likely have enjoyed the predicament of such a lady from afar. She probably would have laughed at the poor young woman, but been the one to offer the clothing, as this new girl – Saeryn, she said her name was – did. She looked down at her clothing again as she followed Saeryn back to her accommodations. Giedd had noticed the brief exchange between Saeryn and Falco, but decided not to press anything – it seemed as though all of these people had their secrets, and Giedd was not about to be the one to try to force them to relive their histories, as they did not seem to contain entirely pleasant recollections.

Giedd followed the girl into her room. The rooms in the White Horse were always pleasant, Giedd thought. Bêthberry certainly did a good job seeing that even those who had the least to contribute to secure a room had a comfortable experience. Giedd smiled again as she looked around. Saeryn soon handed Giedd some clean attire, then excusing herself to allow Giedd some privacy to change.

After she donned the dry clothing, Giedd paused, mildly wondering whether she dared request that Bêthberry take charge of cleaning the old frock. Giedd was perfectly capable of doing such things on her own, but it had been such an…odd day thus far. Nothing was normal – the least of which involved meeting this man Eodwine, and becoming so immersed in the conversations and arguments of complete strangers. Giedd had never found herself to be an interesting person – her most recent occupation before she took up that of a seamstress had been the care of her parents.

Giedd paused before surrendering Saeryn’s room back to the rightful occupant. She looked around once again at the room. Never had she stayed in a hotel, for she had never traveled outside of the walls of her own city. To be quite honest with herself, Giedd had never seen a reason to do so. Her brother Rynan came to visit her if he wished, and his company, along with that of his wife, was plenty.

Meanwhile, it seems that the people she had now taken up conversation with traveled regularly. Giedd wondered idly if now was not the time to venture out into the world? She was not young and had no knowledge of what lay outside Rohan, but these people seemed to have more adventure in their lives than she did. Certainly, adventure was not everything: look at how so many of them responded to personal questions with silence and sorrow! They all seemed to have dark pasts – darker than Giedd’s certainly. Did she really want to introduce such things into her life right now?

Giedd forced herself out of her reverie without answering the last question she posed for herself. After gathering her soiled clothing in her arms, she turned and left the room, where she found Saeryn awaiting her.

“Everything fits sufficiently?” Saeryn verified, smiling at Giedd.

“Yes. And thank you ever so much,” Giedd said, smiling back warmly. “I think I am also fully prepared to venture back out into the rowdiness, if it has not subsided.”

“I doubt it has,” Saeryn said, shrugging slightly, although she led the way back. “Unless Bêthberry has put her foot down.”

Giedd followed Saeryn back out to the waiting group. Though there seemed to now be a semblance of order, Giedd was not prepared to bet any of her earnings that it would last for long. She had a feeling that trouble followed many of the men involved in the soiling of her clothing – an innocent sort of trouble, more along the lines of mischief, but nonetheless, a trouble she would have to ready herself for if she planned on spending too much more time with them.

Bêthberry intercepted Giedd almost immediately, a rather grim look on her face, though she still demonstrated the greatest civility.

“I do apologize, Giedd,” she said. “I hope that, as the intrusion occurred here, you will allow me to see to it that these,” she indicated to Giedd’s folded clothes, “are sufficiently cleaned for you?”

“Thank you!” Giedd exclaimed, surprised despite her inner hope that this would be Bêthberry’s offer. “I mean, yes, that – that would be lovely, in fact.” She handed over the clothing to Bêthberry, who in turn handed them to a girl and gave her brief instructions.

Second to greet her was Eodwine. Initially, he greeted her with the deepest concern, but, upon finding her once again in good spirits, he smiled.

Giedd looked at this smile as she rejoined the table, where all of the ruffians simultaneously apologized and accused one another of causing the disturbance. Looking at Eodwine, Giedd decided that it would be worth the danger of reliving such a disaster to converse with such a smile. She found herself, in fact, smiling back at Eodwine while she contemplated this notion.