[Lhunardawen]

Eodwine's news might have temporarily stunned his household silent, but it had not dampened their appetites. For yet another time that morning Ginna had to shuttle away from the kitchen table for reinforcements before she faced again the hungry horde seated on it. This time they needed something to drink, and giving them that, since Ginna arrived in the Mead Hall, had been automatically her job. She made her way out the kitchen to the yard, bringing an empty water jar and a tray of cups.

As she lifted the familiar weight of the filled jar off the ground, she remembered her first day in the Mead Hall. The memories flowed through her mind like the water into the cups: Frodides's first task for her, meeting Falco and Rilef, the wound on her palm, her first encounter with Harreld--

Splash! The cup she had been filling tipped over, spilling water as it fell. Cursing silently, Ginna let down the jar and wiped the spillage on the tray, and the bench on which she set it, using the apron around her waist.

Harreld. It had been in this very place. I had sat just over here . . . and she wistfully marked the place, leaving a wet streak on the previously dry surface.

Just after Ginna had sent Kara to the yard from the kitchen, that day a month ago, she had regretted it. She was thirsty, she could not deny it, but she felt she could bear it for a few more minutes, at least until Frodides returned. Only after she and Harreld had been forced to recount to her the tale concerning the outlaw did Ginna realise how stupid, how rash she had been. And now the very man she last wanted to be with was alone with her.

She looked at Harreld. He was fidgeting, wringing his hands, obviously feeling just as awkward as she was, if not more. Ginna could not blame him; it seemed to her that she was hardly the kind of man one could force to sit in a kitchen to guard a wayward little brat. She did not notice how long she had been looking at him until he glanced her way and she found herself staring into his eyes.

"Um, how are you feeling?" she said without thinking, just to keep his attention away from her.

He coughed. "I am well. You have stopped shaking. Do you feel better?"

"I guess I do," she replied tentatively, surprised that the smith had been observant enough to notice. "But just a little. I don't know how I'll be able to feel better with the memory of my stupidity going around my head." Ginna almost kicked herself. Why could she not keep her mouth shut?

"No, I didn't mean that. I'm feeling better, really," she added lamely, giving Harreld a forced smile.

Harreld wished they were in his smithy where he could keep his fretful hands busy with his hammer and anvil. There he was at peace with his thoughts while Garreth talked all day about nothing and everything. And she could see how good he was at his work. In the meantime his thick, calloused fingers kept chafing against each other. With Ginna sitting before him, staring into his eyes, he could not think at all. Except that she should not be so hard on herself.

"You were not stupid." His words came out more forcefully than he had intended. "I mean-" he coughed into his hand, "-you sought vengeance. It is runderable - I mean understandable. Reasonable." He blushed over his mangled words.

Ginna looked down at her hands, shaking her head. "You're just saying that. I let my emotions rule over my actions. What if I did kill the outlaw, against the Eorl's command? What then would he have done with me?"

Harreld had well formed opinions about this, and probably to Ginna's surprise, his words flowed. "Done with you? Punished you before others and thanked you with none hearing. You almost saved him the need of a trial. And don't forget that I almost killed him before you did, the no-good piece of filth, for daring to cut your pret-" Harreld's eyes fell to her pretty neck, which he had been about to invoke, and he was embarrassed by his sudden awareness of her beauty. And femaleness. He went red all over again. "I mean, for daring to lettin your thrife. I mean threaten your life."

Ginna laughed gently at Harreld's blunder, but quickly stifled it lest she offend him. "I'm sorry, I forgot that," she said, hoping he would think that was the reason for her laughter. "To be honest, though, I doubt I would have been able to kill the man even if he had not stopped me. Even if you had not stopped me. But still," she reached forward, and took his large, restless hands in her own slender ones, "thank you for keeping me from taking a life. And for saving mine. I'll never forget it."

Harreld's eyes widened. Where her hands touched his, it felt like sparks from his smithy furnace. But her words were a delight. He felt all kinds of boastful promises welling up inside him, wanting speech, but when he tried to open his mouth he found that his tongue was quite tied in his head. He stared at her smiling face. He mouthed the words, "She likes me!"

And Ginna had caught them. She had felt, just like in her days of freedom, the thrill of being desired, perhaps later of being pursued, and began to see how she could use it for her own emotional benefit. In the days following their conversation she had little by little managed to lower Harreld's defences, until he was significantly more comfortable around her. This initially, however, brought about a problem in the form of Garreth, Harreld's twin, who got jealous of his brother's seeming success with a woman . . . and so he turned to Rowenna.

Ginna knew Rowenna could not be a lot older than her - for all she knew the girl was probably younger - but she could not help, for all that she held against her, admiring her confidence. It was no secret how Rowenna kept Garreth's advances in check, and soon brought them to a stop altogether. Ginna was aware that she should be doing the same thing concerning Harreld; she could not forget the reason her father entrusted her to the Eodwine in the first place. Besides, despite being of the proper age, she knew Randvér would never consent to a marriage between them. And most importantly . . . it's not as though that is unquestionably what she wants to achieve.

Without quite seeing how, Ginna realised she had already filled all cups. Putting the jar down and picking up the tray, she thought about Eodwine's recent announcement. He would undoubtedly take her with him, in keeping with her father's request. But what about Harreld? She was surprised to find herself wondering. Should it really matter?

Tired and confused, she laid aside her thoughts before walking back to the kitchen.