[Horse-Maiden of the Shire]

Meirelle hustled around in the kitchen, preparing the dainties that were to be set aside on tables at the ball. She set a plate stacked with iced cakes upon a serving tray and went back to fetch a blue plate with pastries set in a circular pattern on it. Picking up the tray, Meirelle threaded her way through the dense crowd of cooks and servants in the kitchen to get towards the door that led out so she could take the dainties to the ball.

When Meirelle stepped into the hall, she drew in a sharp breath. It was decorated even more lavishly than it had been at the welcoming dinner. Ladies in breathtakingly beautiful dresses with elaborate masks glided by to chat with each other, leaving the scent of perfume in their wake. Men in rich suits strode about, looking for the lady they desired to dance with. Meirelle searched for the tables designated for dainties and finally spotted them, against the far wall.

Making her way across the hall proved more difficult than Meirelle thought. Men and ladies swept by without a care for the dainties on the tray, and Meirelle nearly dropped them more than once. When she finally reached the tables, she sighed in relief and set the tray down. She emptied it and picked it up. As she turned to go back to the kitchen, Meirelle bumped a lady in a particularly beautiful cream-coloured dress and dropped the tray with a startling clang. She gasped and grabbed the lady's arm, steadying her.

"I am so sorry, m'lady! Are you all right?" she asked, mortified. The woman regained her cool composure and replied, "I am fine, lass. Be more careful the next time you are carrying a tray, though, and you won't make a fool of yourself in dignified public." With that, she walked haughtily off, her dress rustling. Meirelle mumbled, "Yes, m'lady," and knelt down the retrieve the tray, cheeks burning. She stepped back through the crowd briskly, eyes down, until she got out of the hall. As she strode back to the kitchen, Meirelle burned over the upset tray. "Be more careful and you won't make a fool of yourself," she mimicked the woman. "Be more kindly and you won't make a beast of yourself, is what I should have said," she muttered.