Scarburg Meadhall

[Nogrod]

"No, it is weariness of grief that sends us to the uttermost West." Laerdil ended his answer.

Lord Athanar listened to the elf and shook his head with a faint sorrow in his eyes. He stared at his cup for a while before raising his gaze to look at Laerdil into the eye. "You speak of another world my good elf, another world closed from men. And even if it is easy to see what you say, it is nigh impossible to really feel it, to go under those thoughts of your kin, that world you inhabit..."

He was silent for a moment and saw lady Saeryn feeling uncomfortable - for clearly different reasons he himself felt distressed about. Suddenly she excused herself and took her trencher with her. Athanar nodded and collected himself. "I do hope you feel welcomed at Scarburg and stay for a while Laerdil, it would be interesting to have a deeper discussion on matters we have scarcely touched by now. But I do have a pressing matter I need to attend to right now." He nodded to the elf who courteously nodded him back.

Athanar saw Saeryn collecting trencehers form other tables while clearly heading for the kitchens. He felt sorry for her; no, he hated it when she made that kind of show-off out of her predicament; no, he felt a strong passion for all she was forced to bear; no, he thought the martyr-game she played was for teenagers, not for adults... or to be parents... He had such contradictory feelings for lady Saeryn: he wished her all the good there was and was still so annoyed of the way she acted her part in this Valar-forsaken hot-bed of strong emotions he had been thrown into... whatever... he would have to forbid her doing a maid's work, sooner rather than later. That was just plain ridiculous... but it felt awkward to just go and deny her her freedom of doing what she willed... however she just demonstrated things by what she did.

Forcing himself out from these ramblings he turned suddenly and called aloud for Hilderinc. Then he turned to Eodwine. "I'd like to see you and Thornden with Coen here before supper. I'll send for the two but I do hope you'll be present as well." He made a pause. "And if you think lady Saeryn would wish to join us, please ask her to do so. I'd like to hear from her too..."

[Folwren]

Saeryn's soapy hands paused as she waited for more. That surely could not have been the end of it. Horses kicked on occasion, yes, but they did not usually kill someone, unless he was ignorant of horses. That was unkind and unjust to assume of Ledwyn’s husband. She put it from her mind.

“What happened?” she asked. “Did your neighbors find your husband on the road between the two villages?”

[Galadriel55]

Ledwyn

“What happened?” Lady Saeryn pressed on. “Did your neighbors find your husband on the road between the two villages?”

"Aye," Ledwyn replied, "they did, my Lady. They went searching for him, and sure enough his body was found just off to the side of the road, as if he was thrown there. One side of his head was crushed. That is what the men who found him told me; I did not come with the search. They said that either the horse kicked him hard, or else that his head was flung against a rock in his fall. There were plenty sharp rocks scattered there."

Ledwyn fiddled with the trencher she held before setting it down onto the clean pile.

"That is what the men told me," she repeated absent-mindedly, thinking back to that day of painful waiting a year ago.

Theolain

Why did the man stop? Theolain wondered. Then he heard another man's voice call out. The man answered. More speaking.

The man turned to him again. Theolain looked up at him, his eyes shining. He decided that he liked this man. No, he liked him a lot.

But then he noticed something different in the way the man approached him. Theolain scampered back. The mad took a few more steps. Theolain retreated a few more scampers. The man stood, and Theolain waited, a sly look on his face.

[Folwren]

Saeryn pressed her mouth shut. She should not have asked. Her heart went out to Ledwyn, but she had no words to express her feelings and no desire to pursue the topic now that it had continued so long.

“I am glad you’ve come here,” she said after a long pause. “As I told you earlier, we are short on help. Your son will be a welcome addition, too.” She looked around as she spoke.

“Where is he?” she asked after a pause in which she did not see the boy. “He was in here, wasn’t he?”

[Galadriel55]

Ledwyn snapped to attention, returning to the more recent memories of the Elven herb floating in the bucket of water, at the mention of Theolain. The dread, lulled by the work, conversation, and recollection, came back with full force.

"His hand was not badly burned, and it is healing fine," she asserted, nervously and quickly - almost too quickly - as if she wanted most of all to convince Lady Saeryn (or herself) that it was true, before the meaning of the question sunk in. "Wait," Ledwyn started again, understanding creeping up to her, "you say Theolain is not here?"

Glancing around, she verified what she feared. The lad was nowhere in sight.

"He must have left the kitchen while we were busy," Ledwyn said, beginning to despair. Was there not work enough to do already, without having to go searching for Theolain and constantly keeping an eye on him? And it was not even past noon! Ledwyn needed to face so much more this day, and each new step made her wearier. "He could have gone anywhere," she moaned, passing a hand over her brow.