[Legate of Amon Lanc]

After the rest of the things have been unloaded, the soldiers followed the tall guy - Thornden was his name, if Hilderinc remembered correctly. The barracks were but one room, not too big for all people to fit in – Hilderinc could tell that many of the soldiers disliked it on first sight. Well, this is where we are going to live, he thought, we need to cope with that. Given the overall state of the Mead Hall, it was nothing that could not have been expected. Of course, Hilderinc was used to all kinds of places from his long life as a soldier – some better, much larger spaces, furnished almost luxuriously for everyone. But he had seen also many barracks far worse than this one. It was not that bad for a soldier's taste – it would probably score among the average ones. Maybe in the top of the lower half. At least it was clean. And Hilderinc also noticed that it was easily accessible, and all parts of the Hall were easily accessible from here, it was easy to get to the courtyard, to the stables, to the kitchen...

Kitchen... that reminded him of how hungry he was. He really hoped that the meal will be ready soon. And he was probably not the only one, he thought, looking at the rest of the soldiers moving around the place and unpacking their valuable possessions. Even Áforglæd said...

Now the idea struck Hilderinc. Áforglæd spoke about food. Was it possible that he would go to the kitchens, and that was why they could not find him? Inspired by the idea, Hilderinc immediately turned around and went to confirm his theory. He walked outside into the great hall, where he stopped. Another sudden stroke of inspiration flashed through his mind. The kitchen outbuilding was set next to the Hall itself. Wouldn't it make sense that there was another entrance from inside the Hall? He looked around curiously. Small door in the corridor on one side seemed to confirm his thoughts. Encouraged to test his theory, he marched to it and dauntlessly opened it.

He was right! It was the kitchen, warm and full of steam and smoke. Air was filled with pleasant smell of food being prepared. To Hilderinc's slight disappointment, though, there was no sign of Áforglæd, only four women busy around the fireplace.

"Good day to you!" one of them welcomed him with a smile. She was about as old as him, he noticed, or maybe a bit younger. She did not look like most of the Eorling women, her hair was even darker than Hilderinc's, but her eyes again slightly lighter than his. Despite being far from the image of a perfect Eorling woman as most of the soldiers would see it, she had some dark beauty about her. "How can I help you?" she asked.

"Good day to you too," Hilderinc replied politely, looking down at the woman; she was slightly shorter than him. "I am sorry to disturb you, I was hoping to find here one of our soldiers who has gone missing, he... oof!" At that moment, something heavy bumped into him from behind and he lost his balance, but quickly regained it again and turned around. The man standing in the door seemed vaguely familar. Hilderinc did not manage this far to get into much contact with the locals, but the man's dark hair and eyes were once again something not completely usual here. Was he perhaps one of those who were in the courtyard with that Lithor fellow?

"Pardon," the newcomer said. "Apparently I'm not the only one looking for something to eat."

"Well, I was not strictly looking for something to eat, as I was just saying to the lady here before I was interrupted," Hilderinc said in a calm tone. "Although I am also looking forward to some meal, that's for certain." He turned to the kitchen-woman and then back to the newcomer.

"But I was looking for one of our men, about as tall as you, long blond hair, actually you might have seen him in the courtyard, didn't you?" he finished his question with an implication. If the man was indeed one of those who were with Lithor, he would remember Áforglæd.