[Nurumaiel]

Moments had passed, and Ædegard had made no answer, but his face expressed that he was intending to be stern in this matter, and there was also a high degree of entreaty written in his features, as if he was pleading Argeleafa to see his side and agree with him. The tears rose fast to her eyes now, and as they spilled over her cheeks she opened her mouth to say something, but she could find no voice to speak. She turned and fled to where Liornung sat with Bella, and sitting down gave herself wholly up to her grief.

Liornung turned to her with concerned and touched her hair. 'Little Leafa, why are you weeping?' he asked, though there could be no doubt that he already knew the answer.

'You told me, Liornung, to watch Ædegard to see if I loved him,' said Argeleafa. 'I did watch him, and what I saw was cruelty. I did watch him, and I have found that I do not, cannot love him.'

'Then why do you weep?'

She looked up with mild surprise written over her tear-stained face. 'Because it grieves me that I do not love him when I was so certain that I did,' she said, but her tone was slow and uncertain.

'How can that be?' Liornung said. 'Surely if you did not love him you would be glad of finding it out before you were his wife. You would not be sorry for this.' He looked steadily into her eyes, and spoke gently and carefully. 'Leafa, do you not love him? You love him, little lass, and you weep because you think he is cruel, and you would not marry a cruel man no matter how much you loved him. Is this not why you weep?'

Sobs overcame her, and she could not answer for some time. At last she quieted somewhat, and she looked up firmly, though she trembled, and she said, 'Yes, Liornung, I do love him, and I will not marry him. I will not marry him because he is cruel, and because he hates those who are not like him. If I were to be his wife I would constantly see him turning his back upon those who were in need because they were not like him. If I were his wife I would have the pain of seeing him scorn my family because they had set aside their ways and joined the Easterling wayfarers. The pain of all this and more would outweigh my love, and I would be unhappy.'

'Perhaps, perhaps,' said Liornung, and he gazed thoughtfully into the distance. 'I cannot say anything for you, or aid you in your decision at all. It is not my matter. It is yours and yours entirely, save that Ædegard has some part in it. It is your decision. Yet I beg you do not decide now, when you are so overwrought. Wait a time, until you are calmer and Ædegard has had the chance to speak of his feelings on the matter to you.'

'I will wait, if you say so, but I cannot marry him,' she said, her tones full of sorrow and despair, and she let her head fall into her hands to weep some more.

Despite his pity and sorrow for her, Liornung could not keep back the amused smile that flickered over his good-natured face, and he winked at Bella, though she was not looking at him.