"Well, this is my room," Rie said, a twinge of apology in her voice. She had picked up the room some for Nuru, but not entirely, and it still resembled her own room. "It's a little mess--"
"It's fine," Don interrupted, still looking anxious.
"Good," Rie said. "I'm glad you think so." She jumped on the bed, but Don went to stand by the window. The girl looked so forlorn...Rie went to stand by her. "You know," she said, "on my first night here, a man came in with an awful arm injury. Blood all over the place! I helped Pio fix him up, but it rather shook me." Don gave her a knowing look. "Okay, fine, it terrified me, happy? Anyway, I came up here, retreated to my little room, to brood, to wonder what in all of Middle-earth had I gotten myself into, and to be by myself." She laughed. "As usual at this Inn, that didn't happen! Pio came in to see how I was doing. Not that I mind--it was like having my family here." Rie stared up into the sky. "She brought me a warm drink like my mother always did, and she told me a story--the story of Eärendil, the Mariner." Half-closing her eyes, she recited the story that Pio told her.
For a long while they stood in silence. Then, suddenly, Nuru burst in.
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"Donnamira just left and Bilbo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee are coming today and if you help you get to go to the feast!"
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Rie gave a little cry of delight, and didn't hear what Don said after that. They both raced down the stairs, only Rie's slight hesitation preventing a head-on collision.
She had, of course, heard of Frodo, Bilbo, and Samwise--who hadn't? She was born before the War, but had been but a child when it ended. Her father, being a Ranger, had a small part in it, but rarely spoke of it. To meet those who had moved the world with their actions...oh, what a glad wind had brought her to the Inn at such a time! She would clean the cobwebs out of every corner of every room in the entire Inn to meet them--and, she thought laughingly, she just might!
[ January 14, 2003: Message edited by: Orual ]