Scarburg Meadhall - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

littlemanpoet · 09-23-2012, 04:53 PM

"The matter seems to have been dropped. There have been more pressing ones, I suppose, but maybe you and I could take it up. I suppoes it is a silly thought."

Nydfara stopped and turned to look at her, regarding her with a strange look that seemed to wonder what she was about.

"Nobody's death should remain a mystery. Maybe you knew the man, if he was one of those with Sorn."

Firefoot · 09-24-2012, 08:25 PM

“Maybe I did,” he acknowledged. He started ticking through Sorn’s people: Sorn, dead. Gurth, dead. Osfrid and Muriel, captured by the king’s men – but what had happened to them then? The cook… surely the dead body could not have been the cook. Selda, that was her name. She had been a decent woman, in her way, though initially he had been bitter when she came to replace the old cook. The old cook had been the only one who was kind to Scyld, when first he came to live with Sorn. She’d also been the only servant Scyld had ever seen Sorn show a lick of respect to. She’d taken ill after a few years though, and died, and then Selda had come. What had happened to her on the day of Linduial’s escape and rescue? It troubled him that he did not know, that he had only now just thought of it.

Not that he felt personally about it, so much as he wished for closure. He also found that he wished to know what had happened that day, from the others’ perspective. Here, perhaps, was a way to reopen those memories.

To find out if his offense was pardonable.

“And perhaps you are right. It is something worth looking into.”

littlemanpoet · 09-29-2012, 05:44 AM

"I can look over the smoke house any time since mine is the chore of getting meat for each meal, though I doubt there is much other than jostled memory that can be found there now.

"And I can ask Eodwine what has been done about it, too. He may not know, but he could learn with a few well placed questions."

They walked now in the meagre protection of the flat of Scarburg, the cold wind picking up suddenly out of the north beyond the Scar. Rowenna wrapped the cloak around her throat and folded her arms and stepped briskly to catch up to Nydfara and walk at his side.

"Is it a bitter wind blowing on us from the Misty Mountains. I have said what I will do. What will you?"

She looked up at the profile of his face, liking what she saw. He was thinking before he spoke, which was his way. But she noted the constant downturn of the corners of his mouth, the straight plain of his cheeks; not hollow, but not lively either. This man held many secrets, of which she now knew a small few. He also seemed to hold much underneath of darkness.

"What angers you most about your ten years in bondage here?" The question had risen out of her unintended, and the words were out of her mouth before she knew it. "Y-you need not answer that. It was not my place to ask."

Firefoot · 10-01-2012, 05:31 PM

“You need not answer that. It was not my place to ask.”

Scyld regarded Rowenna with a lifted eyebrow, amused slightly that she chose now to question the propriety of her questions. It was more personal perhaps, though the answer would lead her no closer to the secrets he most wished to hide.

His flare of suspicion on the cliff top had not wholly died down yet, however, and he was no longer in the mood to share. So after a short while of silence in which they drew near to the hall, he said, “I will ask of the people in the surrounding homesteads what they might know. I do not know if they will tell me much, but they are sure to know something.”

littlemanpoet · 10-02-2012, 10:12 AM

Rowenna nodded and bid Nydfara farewell for the time being. She passed through the door and brought the cloak back to its wardrobe. Halfway there she realized that they had not made plans to meet again to learn what each other discovered.

What has come over me that I would not think of such a thing that is right before us?

She knew the answer. It was him. Being near him sent all thought of all else clear out of her head. This would not do. She banged her hand on the doorway, harder than she meant, and rubbed it absently as she made her way to the kitchens.

09-23-2012, 04:53 PM	#1
littlemanpoet Itinerant Songster Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Edge of Faerie Posts: 7,066	"The matter seems to have been dropped. There have been more pressing ones, I suppose, but maybe you and I could take it up. I suppoes it is a silly thought." Nydfara stopped and turned to look at her, regarding her with a strange look that seemed to wonder what she was about. "Nobody's death should remain a mystery. Maybe you knew the man, if he was one of those with Sorn." Last edited by littlemanpoet; 09-29-2012 at 05:31 AM.

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09-24-2012, 08:25 PM	#2
Firefoot Illusionary Holbytla Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 7,547	“Maybe I did,” he acknowledged. He started ticking through Sorn’s people: Sorn, dead. Gurth, dead. Osfrid and Muriel, captured by the king’s men – but what had happened to them then? The cook… surely the dead body could not have been the cook. Selda, that was her name. She had been a decent woman, in her way, though initially he had been bitter when she came to replace the old cook. The old cook had been the only one who was kind to Scyld, when first he came to live with Sorn. She’d also been the only servant Scyld had ever seen Sorn show a lick of respect to. She’d taken ill after a few years though, and died, and then Selda had come. What had happened to her on the day of Linduial’s escape and rescue? It troubled him that he did not know, that he had only now just thought of it. Not that he felt personally about it, so much as he wished for closure. He also found that he wished to know what had happened that day, from the others’ perspective. Here, perhaps, was a way to reopen those memories. To find out if his offense was pardonable. “And perhaps you are right. It is something worth looking into.”

09-29-2012, 05:44 AM	#3
littlemanpoet Itinerant Songster Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Edge of Faerie Posts: 7,066	"I can look over the smoke house any time since mine is the chore of getting meat for each meal, though I doubt there is much other than jostled memory that can be found there now. "And I can ask Eodwine what has been done about it, too. He may not know, but he could learn with a few well placed questions." They walked now in the meagre protection of the flat of Scarburg, the cold wind picking up suddenly out of the north beyond the Scar. Rowenna wrapped the cloak around her throat and folded her arms and stepped briskly to catch up to Nydfara and walk at his side. "Is it a bitter wind blowing on us from the Misty Mountains. I have said what I will do. What will you?" She looked up at the profile of his face, liking what she saw. He was thinking before he spoke, which was his way. But she noted the constant downturn of the corners of his mouth, the straight plain of his cheeks; not hollow, but not lively either. This man held many secrets, of which she now knew a small few. He also seemed to hold much underneath of darkness. "What angers you most about your ten years in bondage here?" The question had risen out of her unintended, and the words were out of her mouth before she knew it. "Y-you need not answer that. It was not my place to ask."

10-01-2012, 05:31 PM	#4
Firefoot Illusionary Holbytla Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 7,547	“You need not answer that. It was not my place to ask.” Scyld regarded Rowenna with a lifted eyebrow, amused slightly that she chose now to question the propriety of her questions. It was more personal perhaps, though the answer would lead her no closer to the secrets he most wished to hide. His flare of suspicion on the cliff top had not wholly died down yet, however, and he was no longer in the mood to share. So after a short while of silence in which they drew near to the hall, he said, “I will ask of the people in the surrounding homesteads what they might know. I do not know if they will tell me much, but they are sure to know something.”

10-02-2012, 10:12 AM	#5
littlemanpoet Itinerant Songster Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Edge of Faerie Posts: 7,066	Rowenna nodded and bid Nydfara farewell for the time being. She passed through the door and brought the cloak back to its wardrobe. Halfway there she realized that they had not made plans to meet again to learn what each other discovered. What has come over me that I would not think of such a thing that is right before us? She knew the answer. It was him. Being near him sent all thought of all else clear out of her head. This would not do. She banged her hand on the doorway, harder than she meant, and rubbed it absently as she made her way to the kitchens.