[JennyHallu]

Marinel

Marinel entered the kitchen to find it rather quiet, but both Kara and Frodides were there, working steadily to prepare the day's meal. Young Kara was hauling a sack of potatoes to a table, and with a wink at Frodides (who was chatting away, as only women can, with another older woman) as he stole a bit of the pastry dough she was rolling out, he pulled out his belt knife and sat in a chair beside the girl.

"Good morning, lass," he said with a smile, moving a pile of potatoes close and setting to peeling them before Kara could protest his assistance. "And what lovely things do you be making this morning? I've enjoyed the meals you've brought in for me, very much. A great cook you're working out to be, none could ask for better."

Frodides sauntered over and placed a slice of warm, dark bread on the table beside Marinel, with a bit of cheese, and went back to her pastry, her conversation with the other woman never stopping. Marinel gave the retreating woman an appreciative smile, but didn't go straight to the meal. He finished the potato he was working on, wolfed down his breakfast with a speed to match a young boy, and went cheerfully back to another potato.


Linduial

"Actually, I didn't know they were there," she said, as, with a mischievous grin, Lin reached over, grabbed a chocolate and popped it in her mouth, eyes closed in mock rapture as she chewed slowly, letting it melt a little in her mouth before she swallowed the smooth, creamy treat. She wrapped herself in the quilt and cozied herself on the floor right by the fire, a rare openness in her face.

"I love chocolate," she confessed, as though it were a state secret. "And my brothers know it. They bribe me into doing whatever they please by keeping a private stash I'm only allowed into for rewards. They're the ones who get it for me. This is the first long journey I've ever made on my own, and not surrounded by maids and servants and carried in a litter and constantly made much of. I like the difference--but I would go North, instead of South to where the chocolate is!"

She smiled happily. "And I bet even less of this treasure gets up here than it does home. Dol Amroth is home to a lot of sailors, and we do quite a bit of trade with the South, especially now that there's peace. My brothers are always in the thick of it, and they go further than anyone else. They call themselves adventurers, and they are so full of wonderful stories when they get home. My father only encourages them."

She paused, thinking of her family. Her brothers were so dear to her, handsome strong men that they were. Her mother had died years ago, but Lin had never felt the lack. She supposed she ought to be adding all her myriad of cousins into the equation, but ever since she had had to learn a long list of rules concerning which she could and could not marry, she tended to ignore them altogether.

"So, Saeryn," she asked curiously. "What's your family like?"

"Do you have brothers?"