Eorling Mead Hall

[Alcarillo]

Gárwine now sat alone with Gudryn as Eodwine and Thornden welcomed visitors at the entryway. He munched on his bacon in silence. His experience with females was limited, especially during his stay with Uncle Wilfrid. So he ate breakfast and pretended to watch Eodwine and Thornden meet Léofric. He was a carpenter or some other sort of laborer, who had probably came to aid with the construction of the mead hall.

Gárwine's stomach had ached with hunger all during his ride to Edoras. Now as he filled the void in his stomach he only felt hungrier and hungrier as he realized how long it had been since good, hearty food like this had passed his lips. His plate emptied at an alarming rate. Gárwine, not wanting to seem too gluttonous, paused his feasting to stretch his arms. He decided to ask Gudryn about the many women of the inn.

"So, you are Eodwine's daughter?" He asked.

She nodded, chewing a mouthful of bread.

He asked about the other women he had seen. "And Saeryn, what is her relation to Eodwine? She is not your sister, is she?" He took a bite of bread. "And I saw, as I entered, a maiden, arms piled high with laundry, pass by that door. Who was she?"

[Firefoot]

Léof could not help but be impressed – and slightly intimidated - by Eodwine; here was a man who was easily more lordly than any he had ever met. Yet he seemed interested, and Léof wanted to make a good impression.

“I am not choosy, lord; I would work hard at whatever tasks you might have for me.” And he spoke truly. Though such a job as cleaning appealed little to him, he would do it if need be. Eodwine had mentioned stabling, though – Léof’s heart began to race. He had no idea whether he was in a position to be choosy, but he had to try. “But if it pleases you, I am good with the horses. If you have need of an ostler, it is a job I would gladly take.”

He could hardly bear to hope that he might take a job doing what he most loved to do. His father had never cared much for the horses, and always said he spent too much time with them when he ought to be doing other things. Eodwine did not promptly respond, and Léof now feared rejection too much to be able to keep his mouth closed while another decided his fate.

“At any rate, my own horse has need of care, and neither of us has seen the inside of a stable for several days…” He realized he had begun to babble and shut his mouth abruptly. If he had not already made a fool out of himself, he figured that he almost certainly would soon, and then why would anyone want him for a stableboy?

[littlemanpoet]

Eodwine watched the lad try to look and act his best. He remembered many years before, when he had just been sent from home to be counted amongst the Riders of the West Emnet - be for Saruman had begun to do evil and that Ring that caused all the War had as yet been hiding in the Shire - Eodwine recalled how eager he had been to please, to prove himself, even if he had to stumble and fall a few times along the way. He warmed to the lad. Smiling, he placed his right hand on the lad's left shoulder.

"Would you be my ostler then?" Léofric nodded eagerly, eyes wide with hope. "You come with no name that I have heard to tell me who you are; so I will need to test you. You shall have a month to be my ostler. Should all go well, then we shall enfeof you for one year. What say you?" He released the lad's shoulder.

Léofric's face brightened with a big smile. "You will see your stables in good order at the end of the month, lord!"

Eodwine laughed. "So let it be."

Léofric's face grew serious as he eyed the plate of Gudryn at the table nearby where she and Gárwine sat. "Before I begin, might I have a bite to eat? Just a little?"

"Famished, are you?" Eodwine smiled. "Go ask Særyn over yonder to fix you up with a hearty breakfast. I'll not have it said in my hall that my help works overhungry." The lad grinned, shouldered his pack, and went after Særyn. Eodwine turned to Thornden.

"What think you, Thornden?"

[Kath]

"My name is Saeryn. The master of the hall is in the middle of something, however he will be with you in a moment. While you wait, may I be of assistance?"

A little startled at the sudden appearance from the shadows, it took Kara a moment to realise that the girl was speaking to her. She hadn't known there was anyone else in the room but the two men talking. Taking a deep breath in an attempt to steady her nerves she began to speak.

"Oh! Well, miss, I was hoping that I'd be able to find work here. Do you know if there is anything available? I have worked in an Inn before, and have been told that a Mead Hall is similar. I will take anything you can offer, miss, if only I could stay here. You see I . . ."

She cut her words off short as she realised that Saeryn probably didn't want to hear her entire life story. The girl was nodding a little though, which gave Kara hope. Fidgeting a little she waited for an answer.

[Folwren]

Thornden, watching the lad leave, turned back to Eodwine, who addressed him. “What think you, Thornden?”

“I should imagine, sir, that you’ve managed to find a good lad for your ostler. He seemed eager enough, and I doubt he’ll let you down, or let your stables get out of order.”

Quite personally, he had liked the looks of Léofric. A mite small, perhaps, but that was better than a great blundering idiot to work around horses. And then, also, he had seemed excited and hopeful to work with horses.

“Besides,” he added aloud, going half on his thoughts and half on what he had just said, “his cause seemed desperate and it would have been a pity to turn him away.” Thornden had not missed the anxious, worried look in the boys eyes for fear of his service being turned down, nor the hungry, thin shape of his face. "I'm glad you've given him a chance to try, at least."

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

"I cannot offer you a position." Saeryn said to Kara, hoisting her bag from the floor with a barely perceptible wince. "My lord, however, is quite in the position to do so. He has need of hard workers and has a liking for new faces and the new stories that come with them. His kindly manner will put you at ease right away, if my attempts have not."

Saeryn smiled at the girl, inviting her to join with her amusement. The girl looked to relax somewhat. A kind face was always the first thing a stranger looked for and Saeryn hoped that she had provided as close to the sort of welcome she had received from Bethberry as was possible.

She tipped her head toward Eodwine and the girl nodded. Together they walked to the eorl and Saeryn grinned pertly.

"Eodwine, I've found you another worker. If the day continues in this vein, you'll never have need for those to do your bidding. Shall I find her quarters and put her to work? I seem to remember floors in need of scrubbing and fireplaces in need of a good cleaning."

She winked at the girl who looked intimidated.

"Actually," she continued, "I could use her help, if you don't mind me stealing her away before you even have a chance to speak with her. Your hall has acquired new faces that are in want of places to stay and what with renovations, the kitchens are running slower than usual. We have guests to feed and things to do and you have bigger things to worry about than household matters."

Eodwine laughed now and Kara seemed more at ease, as Saeryn had said she would be. He spoke with a smile.

"Now Saeryn, do you mean to imply that I'm thinking myself too grand now to handle women's work?"

"Not at all. I'm just better at it than you are." She stuck out her tongue and Kara laughed to see the sort of reverence with which this girl treated the lord of the hall. "And come now, Eodwine, you know that you'll be too busy to handle all of the business of the hall as well as your duties as eorl and still tend to the needs of every guest in the place.

"There is only so much time in the day and your attentions can only stretch so far. You've already acquired a steward to care for some of those things, but will your steward also be ascertaining that each room has clean linens and that meals are seen to? Will he tend to market matters and see to it that the floors are kept clean? Will your steward or yourself have time to keep spiders webs from decorating the mantle and mediate household disputes that are not of enough consequence to be brought before you? Though you are capable, Eodwine, as I've seen, do you truly now have the time to manage the little matters of the house? I would gladly take the responsibility from you, if you don't mind it."

Eodwine contemplated her point for a bit as Kara stood wondering just what sort of place she had gotten herself into where the helpers told the master what they planned to do in his charge. Saeryn hoped that her offer had not been too audacious as she waited for an answer. Kara waited to see what the lord of the hall would make of her.

[Esgallhugwen]

Gudryn was just finishing her meal when the young man, Gárwine, began to speak with her. He stretched his arms up behind him and then relaxed.

"So, you are Eodwine's daughter?" He asked.

She nodded, chewing a mouthful of bread. She then pushed her empty plate slightly away from herself as Gárwine paused in contemplation.

"And Saeryn, what is her relation to Eodwine? She is not your sister, is she?" He took a bite of bread. "And I saw, as I entered, a maiden, arms piled high with laundry, pass by that door. Who was she?"

Gudryn's eyes widened with surprise, Saeryn her sister?, she shook her head and giggled. "Aside from our auburn locks good sir, Saeryn and I have little else in common besides friendship. She is also a good friend of my Father as well, but I suppose we could all be considered family".

"And the young maiden you saw bustling by goes by the name of Æðelhild. I'm afraid I don't know her all that well, I'm hoping that will change in a few days"

Gudryn smiled again his way thinking that the young man still looked hungry. Of course his journey must have been long indeed like so many others that had recently arrived.

Gudryn was glad that others had the resolve to change their fates as well, very much like she had so many weeks ago. Arriving in Edoras only to meekly thud against the oaken door of the Inn as she collapsed from cold and fatigue.

The thin girl stood taking up her plate and smiling, "would you like another helping sir Gárwine? I'm sure there's plenty more back in the kitchen". Before he could answer however, Gudryn had already taken his plate and was halfway back to the kitchen when she turned and called back "and when I return you may ask me more questions if it pleases you, I will do my best to sate your stomach and mind". She winked and continued on her way.

[Folwren]

“Now let’s not get our hopes up and jump to conclusions,” Thornden said, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise. He looked at the young woman who address Eodwine of the Gap and smiled at her. “My lord Eodwine has said neither yea or nay towards my stewardship.”

“He hasn’t answered you yet!” Saeryn said, looking surprised herself. “What have your heads been together so long about then?”

“Why, to come to some end of that purpose, no doubt, but we haven’t yet arrived to it. He was greeting anther young man who came in after me. That one, waiting for you to pay some attention to him.” He nodded his head in the direction of Léofric, “and beyond that, our heads haven’t been too close together anyway."

Saeryn turned and looked, catching sight of Léofric for the first time. She’d left him something of a lurch, it appeared, and he stood looking after her and at a loss with what to do with himself. Thornden bent closer to Saeryn and said quietly in her ear, “He’s in desperate need of breakfast, and Eodwine sent him to ask you for it. . ."

[Firefoot]

Léof found himself at a slight loss when he had started to head over to the woman called Saeryn, only to have her and another woman walk right past him to the place he had just been. He would certainly seem foolish to simply turn around and go back. When he saw her turn and glance at him, though, he supposed she would be coming to him soon, and he had already waited this long for a really good meal; a little bit longer wouldn’t kill him. He could not deny that the promising scent of good food did not make his mouth water, though. Good food, kind, lordly people, a job - Léof could hardly believe this place was for real.

His mind turned again to Eodwine’s offer. The job was his! Or, at least it would be in a month, and this chance – a very fair one, at that – was all Léof could ask for. After having been turned down so many times.... Well, now that his position seemed stable, he could start thinking about the future.

His thoughts were interrupted when Saeryn approached him and introduced herself. “It’s breakfast you’re wanting, then? Please, sit down and I can get you a plate.” Léof could not help but feel at ease with her cheery manner, and he smiled and nodded. “Thank you very much.”

She went off to the kitchen, and he wandered over to the table now occupied by only one man - he thought he had seen a woman leave before. He smiled tentatively. “Um… Do you mind if I sit here? My name is Léofric, though more people just call me Léof…”