Hard Winters RPG

[Folwren]

Thornden split ways with Léof and the others. Eoghan followed at his side as he walked across the hall to Eodwine.

"Eodwine, have you met the lad, Elfthain, who came with the caravan? He is about Javan's age."

"I do not believe so."

"Oh." Thornden turned and glanced about the hall quickly, but Elfthain and Javan had already gone outside. He realized that to best put his query, he should have brought Elfthain with him. "He came with Wilheard in the caravan. He has expressed interest in staying here with us and being a squire here, instead of returning to his master when the caravan leaves. I told him I would put the question to you. I find him to be humble, and he has a good wit, and I think he would be a good addition to our hall."

"Does he owe anything to his master? Is he sworn to him until any fixed time?"

"That I do not know. His master is Elwin, Captain in the King's Guard, and was his father's friend. Elfthain says he was sent with the convoy to give him experience, and he thought Elwin would not be against his staying here longer, if you were willing to let him stay."

Eodwine nodded. "I will be holding court later today. Have him come. You may speak for him at that time, but he will need to speak for himself. Tell him so. Then tell me how he receives this."

"I will do so," Thornden said, and departed to find Elfthain and his brother.

Eoghan tarried behind and once Thornden had left, he approached his father with a hopeful smile on his face.

"Papa, Leof says I may ride his horse when the weather clears, but that you must first say I can. May I?"

Eodwine smiled at his son's excitement and interest. This was to be expected, and encouraged, but in the right time and way. He sat down. "Come here, Eoghan. Sit on my lap."

Eoghan trotted over to him and clambered up onto his knee. He faced his father, laying one arm across Eodwine's, with his hand resting on his shoulder. His bright eyes shone with eager expectation as he looked up at his father's face, waiting.

Eodwine gave the boy a hug and kept his arm behind his back, smiling. "Did you get to ride a horse today? Tell me all about it!"

"No, Papa!" Eoghan said, somewhat reproachfully as he knit his eyebrows together a little. "I couldn't ride today - it was raining! Leof showed me Cinderfoot and said she is almost ready to have her baby. I asked if I could have the baby, and he said, no, I wasn't big enough yet, but maybe I could ride his horse, when the rain stops. But I must ask you if I may." Eoghan looked solemnly up at his father. He cupped his two little hands around Eodwine's face, beginning to be impatient for an answer. "Can I?"

"Of course you may, as long as Leof or someone he trusts is with you. You are high up on a horse's back, and I want you to be safe just as much as I want you to love riding."

Eoghan's face beamed with excitement. He wriggled free from Eodwine arm and jumped down from his lap. "I'm going to find Leof and tell him straight away!"

Eodwine was tempted to tell his son to wait, that he would go with him; but he judged this a moment to allow him a small amount of being in charge of himself. If anything happened, he was sure that he would hear of it soon enough.

[Firefoot]

“Indeed,” said Scyld, cocking an eyebrow. So now she chose to be civil with him? Well, if she wished to pretend that nothing had happened that morning, he could play along, but he would not forget.

He followed her inside, pushing back the hood of his cloak. As he stepped down on the wet floor, his foot slid out from under him. His arms flailed as he strove to catch his balance. He managed not to fall, but the pouch that had made it clean and dry all the way down the trail dropped and landed in the mud skid with a clatter. Feeling both foolish and irritated but wishing to show neither, he quickly knelt to collect his pouch and began wiping it off with the edge of his cloak. It had fortunately stayed closed, saving him the further embarrassment of scattering his tools across the floor. “It seems my boots were muddier than I thought,” he said.

[Folwren]

Thornden went towards the door in thought. He was drawn out of his reverie when he opened it and found water streaming down just outside. He turned back around, went to the guardroom and fetched his hooded cloak.

The raindrops had become large and fast by the time he exited the hall, and the cloak did only kept him partially dry. He stopped inside the stables to shake the excess water from the folds of cloth and to try to scrape some of the mud off his boots before he went on to find Javan and Elfthain.

They were working out back behind the stables but still under the awning. They had not made much progress by the look of things.

"Elfhain!" Thornden hailed as he drew near. "I spoke with Eodwine, and he said he would like to hear more of you. He plans to hold court today and he wishes to decide on the matter then. He will ask you about your master and how long you are bound to him, and why."

[Folwren]

Eoghan trotted away from his father, brimming with excitement. He passed down the long hall towards the kitchen, and as he did, he went near where Ruari sat, still eating her stew. He could not resist bragging to her about riding. He veered off course and went and leaned with both hands on the stool, bending close to her and saying quietly, but triumphantly,

"Papa has said I might ride, when the weather is clear!"

Ruari's hand was arrested half way up to her mouth. She returned the spoon to the bowl and said, without turning her head, "I can, too."

Eoghan stood up. "No you can't! Not till Papa or Mama says you can!" He scurried away without waiting a response, but several paces away he turned his head to glance at his sister over his shoulder. He was gratified to see a look of sour envy on her face.

He entered the kitchen and found, as he expected, Léof standing there. He went to him and threw his arms about Léof's waist. "Papa says I might ride! You must be with me when I do."

[Mithalwen]

Elfthain nodded but puzzled a little over the "why" - was it not usual for squires to be bound to their knights? It was just a variant on the normal apprenticeship - a commitment to serve in return for training. He had never given the matter much thought, the legal bounds being a formality in comparison to the ones of blood and affection that had held him all the days of his life. He decided that there was nothing to worry about - the worst thing that could happen was that he would be sent home and maybe Javan could visit. He knew he wouldn't lie but was uncertain how much he would volunteer beyond that which was asked.

"Do you know when it will be? I should change my clothes and will it go on long - I mean should I try to exercise Saff first or will there be time later?".

[littlemanpoet]

Rowenna heard a thump and clatter behind her. She turned. Nydfara had slipped and fallen, but had recovered himself quickly, and wiped at a stain on his pouch.

“It seems my boots were muddier than I thought,” he said.

She had not seen him fall, it had happened so fast. "You are all right?"

"Well enough."

"I will bring this side of deer to the kitchen and come back with clean water and rags. Stay here and keep others from falling."

She left him and hurried to the kitchen.

[Firefoot]

Léof set off for the kitchen, knowing that several if not all the supplies he would need for soap could be found there. He may have to go to the storeroom for some, but even then he wanted to check with the women before taking off with the supplies, in case they were low in stock or needed elsewhere. He’d made the soap so many times he had the recipe memorized, and as he walked he mentally reviewed the ingredient list: six parts tallow, one part neatsfoot oil, two parts beeswax, three parts water, and one part lye.

He found Kara in the kitchen and recited this list to her. She told him to help himself to what he needed, and to let her know if he needed help finding anything. He headed for the shelves where the supplies were usually kept and scanned the labels of the items stored there. He quickly spotted the jar of lye flakes and pulled it down, followed by the beeswax and tallow. The neatsfoot oil he did not see, and suspected it would be found in the storeroom instead – they had little use for it in the kitchen.

As he took one last look, Eoghan found him and wrapped his arms around Léof’s waist, saying: “Papa says I might ride! You must be with me when I do."

Léof tousled the boy’s hair affectionately. “I’m glad to hear it. We will go as soon as the rain stops.” As he spoke, Rowenna came into the kitchen with a large slab of meat. She seemed pre-occupied as Léof and Eoghan ducked out of the way, and Léof said, “Come, Eoghan, we are in the women’s way. Will you help me carry a few things out?” He held out the box of tallow cakes, which was both safe and non-breakable.