[Child of the 7th Age]

Ráma

Ráma stared at Mithadan and Airefalas and warily shrugged her shoulders, a look of displeasure reflected in her face. Despite their honeyed words, these Men did not trust her. That much was abundantly clear. Had Bird taught them nothing, or were they merely dense? Or perhaps, in the North, her people's customs had altered?

Mithadan had unknowingly opened a tiny door on a culture and people utterly different from his own. He had based his assessment of Ráma and his ideas about the maenwaith on Bird's relatively free and easy ways, essentially not too different from those of Gondor. But the desert folk, and especially the maenwaith of Harad, were wed to older customs and forms. And these older ways of doing things were not always synonymous with those of Minas Tirith, even for citizens like Mithadan whose heart and intentions were good. For the maenwaith there was little middle ground between complete distrust and suspicion, and an open hand given without question. Perhaps a closer equivalent to the maenwaith would have been the Rohirrim from some hundreds of years before when personal ties, oaths, and honorable conduct largely determined what was seen as right and wrong.

When a stranger spoke the words of petition and a maenwaith accepted the truth of those words, a bond was established as sacred and unbreakable as any other oath. Each promised to stand beside the other and not to leave until the task was done. Ráma had expected to raise her sword in defense of the Star till the ship was freed or irretrievably lost. Instead, Mithadan had implicitly questioned her loyalty and the accuracy of her information, as if she was some minion of Wyrma whose only concern was palace intrigue. And now Airefalas and Mithadan were sending her away while they went off to their ship on some secret errand. This wary questioning and concealment of plans was unthinkable among those bound in oath.

By acting like this, Mithadan had forfeited all right to make further claims on her or her clan. She had no other obligations to fulfill, since he had not considered her trustworthy enough to confide their plans. Unlike these outsiders, Ráma knew every step of the city, its streets and buildings, the rich gifts it had to offer, and the pitfalls it posed to the uninitiated. But these Men seemed so sure of themselves that they could utterly disregard that. The young woman scowled: Bird must have had unending kindness and compassion to put up with such people.

Now, having sent her away, he was asking for another favor. By rights, she should turn her back on him. Rama bent down to retrieve her sheets and cart, scowling at the Men and responding coldly, "I have things to occupy me today. I will leave tomorrow before dawn. If you are there, we will see. But I will not wait for you." With that, she turned and left the room.