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Saeryn and Thornden, accompanied by Raedwald and Matrim, took the three visitng lords and their few closest men in. Modtryth grabbed Cnebba and Garmund by shoulders. "You two, stay out of sight. This is the last time we want any trouble. Understood?" The boys glanced at each other, and nodded. Then they ran to one of the trees in the edge of the hall grounds and Modtryth could hear Cnebba shouting: "Follow me up if you can, orc, but you can't catch a pookeyman!" She smiled and turned to Frodides who was going to the kitchens.
"Do you need help?" she asked.
"Kara will serve the ale to the guests and she could use another pair of strong young arms to do that."
Modtryth pursed her mouth and Frodides looked at her face for a while with her keen stare. Then she shook her head just a little.
"Go find Ginna then," she said briskly. Modtryth nodded and slipped into the hall where she had seen Ginna disappear.
She found Ginna quickly, standing in a corner where she could wait for any orders from Saeryn or Thornden.
"Frodides asks you to go and help Kara with serving the ale," she whispered.
"Why couldn't..." she started, but Modtryth silenced her with a sharp glance.
"Not now. Just go." The girl nodded and hurried away, still looking a bit quizzical.
Modtryth sighed as she took her place in the corner, ready if the lady or the steward would need anything else. It was vital their household would present itself as efficiently working and faultless. Modtryth winced. Half-Dunlending servants didn't quite fit that picture. She also knew Saeryn would've been furious to hear her think so, but she was young and naive - just like Ginna there - Modtryth thought fondly.
She took a few steps so that she was standing in the shadows of the corner of the hall, only hazily visible from the lights surrounding the table. When Ginna would resume her place beside her, she would hardly be seen but the light would just reach the side of Ginna's pretty Eorling face.
Modtryth waited for the guests and the hosts to settle to their places. She frowned. She had a bad feeling about this.
~*~
"Garmund you were a lousy orc," Cnebba complained, tearing a twig off the tree and throwing to the ground.
"I didn't want to be an orc!" Garmund protested angrily.
Cnebba didn't have anything to argue against that fact. He sat up in the tree for a while, but then clibed down a few branches and jumped to the ground. "Let's do something more interesting," he said.
Garmund looked at him suspiciously. "Like what?"
"Have a look at the guests?"
"We were supposed to stay out of sight."
"They have probably already seen us," Cnebba objected, pointing at the majority of the accompanying soldiers standing on the yard with their horses.
"They have cool swords and armours," Garmund observed.
"Let's go and have a look at them!"
"But..."
"If we sneak, we'll be out of sight!"
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