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Ginna left the smithy in a quicker pace than when she came, fearful that the longer she tarried, the more difficult it would be for her to walk away. The cold night wind did nothing to take away her longing to return to Harreld's warm embrace, and caused her to hurry still. She slowed as she approached the kitchen's back door, wiping tear stains off her face with her shawl and running her fingers through her hair. She stopped at the threshold, took a deep breath, and went in.
The activity in the kitchen had decreased somewhat since she had gone, indicating that most of the household had settled down to eat. Frodides was placing a bowl of stew on the table where they had their meals. Kara and Modtryth were both absent.
Saeryn stood with her back to most of the kitchen, kneading some dough, more forcefully than necessary it seemed to Ginna. She came to her and as she draw near she saw Saeryn's eyebrows drawn low in an expression of keen displeasure, and the corners of her mouth turned down in a scowl.
"Are you all right, Saeryn?"
Saeryn looked up sharply. "Oh, Ginna, it's you," she said, the intensity leaving her face in an instant and a small smile flitting briefly over it instead. She rather ignored Ginna's question and asked one of her own, "How did it go with Harreld?"
Ginna took a moment to respond, quite unsure of how to answer the question. "Not good," she said eventually, with a sigh. Tears began to cloud her vision. She blinked them away. "It was a painful talk, to say the least."
Saeryn glanced over her shoulder at Frodides. The older woman sat eating her stew in a matter that belied her ignorance of their near vicinity. She sat staring off into space, her left profile in view to them.
"Do you want to go talk about it?" Saeryn asked in a quieter voice.
"I don't think I can--"
A choke interrupted Ginna's speech as the implications of her conversation with Harreld struck her. She felt sobs rising within her and breathed deeply to quiet them for a little while. "I don't think I can talk about it at length," she said, her voice quivering with effort, "but I do need to talk about it."
Despite the coating of flour on her hands, Saeryn put one arm around Ginna and pressed her close. "It's alright, now, sweet," she murmured. "Just cry. It's alright."
Ginna shook her head and hugged Saeryn back, but almost immediately pulled away. Saeryn understood and let go and then turned to the bread.
"Let me set this bread to rise again and then we can go somewhere to talk, if you like," Saeryn said.
Ginna nodded her assent. She pulled a stool closer to Saeryn and sat, waiting silently as Saeryn finished her work. She glanced now and again at Frodides's face, trying to discern how much she heard and what she thought of it, but as always the cook's face was inscrutable. As Saeryn set the bread in a warm corner to rise, she told Frodides where they would be if she or Modtryth or Kara needed help with anything. Then she gently took Ginna by the hand and led her wordlessly to the women's quarters.
Saeryn sat on a bed across from Ginna and looked at her patiently, waiting and not forcing her to speak. Ginna tried to put on a brave smile, but it came out sad and weary.
"He does not want to stay betrothed. He wants to obey my father's will," she said, her voice breaking at the mention of her father. "I could not gainsay him, Saeryn."
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