Hard Winters RPG

[Folwren]

Saeryn nodded, understanding. She reached out and touched the girl's shoulder companionably. "I will speak to Eodwine of your matter, if you wish, and we will see if we can help you. Until then, and at least until the rains have passed, you will stay here with us. Would you like that?"

--

Eoghan and Ruari

The children were not required to stay during the court proceedings. They wandered in and out of the hall, checking to see how things were going, and wondering how soon all the grownups would be done with their dull goings-on, and when they would turn their attention to more important things, like preparing the next meal. Normally, it was not as extremely dull as today. It was common for the children to spend the hours outside, but today, the rain poured incessantly, and it was too cold to withstand the wet. So the children were forced to remain inside.

They amused themselves for a while by walking through all the rooms of the house. They found Wilhearrd lying quiet and still on his bed. Eoghan and Ruari stood for a moment contemplating him. Then Ruari said to Eoghan he must be feeling very ill, if he was not moving at all, and Eoghan agreed. They turned and walked out.

The hall was brighter and cheerier than the dark room and for a while, they sat by the fire and drew shapes and pictures in the ashes that lay on the hearth. The court went on unheeded behind them. Ruari began drawing the shapes of letters she knew and pointed them to Eoghan. Eoghan wrote his name and whispered it to Ruari. Ruari wrote her name, and whispered it to him. A few moments of silence followed while they both busily wrote in the dust. Then Eoghan said he had spelled a word, and Ruari said he hadn’t, for he didn’t know how to write. They bickered back and forth, and then Ruari smudged his word out with her hand. There was almost a fight, but Ledwyn came over and told them to hush.

They stood up, brushed the ashes from their hands and knees, and searched for a new form of pastime. They went to their parents’ room and found their father’s sword. With some difficulty, they picked it up and laid it on the bed. They did not try to draw it out of the sheath, but they admired the carved hilt. Ruari stroked the leather of the sheath.

They heard some hubbub in the hall. They glanced at each other quickly and then hastily put the sword back where they had found it. When they returned to the hall, they found it had been a false alarm and that the court was still proceeding. They sighed, and looked for something else to do.

At long last, everyone had had their say before the eorl. The meeting was breaking up. The children ran to the kitchen, shouting with excitement now that no one would chide them for being too loud. They knew the women were often easy to wheedle something out of. They climbed up the bench and knelt with their hands on the table and their eyes bright and expectant as they glanced around. Already there was preparation going on for the evening meal, and at first, no one paid them any mind.

[Firefoot]

Cerwyn smiled. “I would appreciate that very much. Thank you,” she said.

Just then, Léof showed up in the doorway with Cerwyn’s pack. He hesitated a moment. It felt strange to him to come into the women’s bedroom, but he saw no rational reason why he should not bring it in to where Cerwyn and Saeryn were standing.

“Here you are,” he said. “I’ll let you get settled. If you’d like to come find me after, I’ll be in the stables until supper.”

[Firefoot]

Scyld had been careful not to meet anyone's eye after giving his account. Thankfully, no one had objected out loud, but Scyld suspected this had more to do with the people's trust in Eodwine than with any kind of goodwill toward him.

He would have to face them eventually, of course. He wasn't even sure what he was so afraid of: it was not as if he had ever been much liked before. What did the opinions of others mean to him?

But they did matter, however much he wished to deny it. Eventually, whether he felt the stare and needed to meet it, or just wanted to see if there was any chance that he still had something like an ally or friend here, he looked up.

Rowenna was watching him. He studied her face carefully but briefly and saw no trace of anything false in her smile. Confused, he looked away, but he did not forget.

[Folwren]

“I will leave you to unpack and freshen yourself,” Saeryn said. “I will have fresh water brought to you so you can wash. If you have not eaten, come to the kitchen when you are ready and have something.”

She followed Léof out of the room, picking up the wash bucket as she left. She took it to the kitchen, where she found several of the other ladies already hard at work, and her two children sitting expectantly at the table.

“Mama!” Ruari called when she saw her. “We’re hungry!”

“You can wait till supper,” Saeryn said. She opened the kitchen door and flung the old water from the bucket out into the muddy yard. She closed the door again and poured some water from one of the full buckets that had been brought in that morning. “In the mean time, you two take this to the women’s chamber. Cerwyn is waiting for it.”

“Who’s Cerwyn?” Eoghan asked as he slid off the bench.

“Léof’s sister!” Saeryn said cheerfully. “You shall meet her. Come, Ruari, and help your brother.”

Ruari climbed down reluctantly and took the other side of the handle and helped Eoghan lift the water. Saeryn held the door open for them and they carried the bucket out into the hall. She watched them until they knocked at the women’s quarter’s door, then she turned to the ladies in the kitchen. “How are things coming along?” she asked. “Has anyone checked on Wilheard since court ended?”

[Firefoot]

Left alone, Cerwyn took a moment to more closely inspect the small space that had been given to her. She sat on the bed and thought it seemed comfortable enough. The quilt was soft and made from earthy-colored patches: rich browns, reds like clay, and golds that put her in mind of wheat fields at harvest time.

She stood and went to the chest at the foot of the bed. No adornments marked its lid or front, but it opened quietly and smoothly, giving testament to excellent workmanship and good maintenance. She had hardly opened her pack to begin moving her possessions to the chest when there was a knock at the door.

She looked around, despite knowing that she was the only one there, and called out, “Come in!”

In came a pair of youngsters, lugging a bucket between them.

“Are you Cerwyn?” asked one of them.

“I am,” she said, “and who might you be?”

[Folwren]

“I’m Eoghan,” the lad responded.

“And I’m Ruari. Lord Eodwine’s our father.”

“We brought you some water,” Eoghan said as they placed the bucket down before her.

They stood for a moment surveying her from head to foot, grinning a little. When they spoke again, they both spoke at once.

“Are you older or younger than Léof?” Ruari asked, and Eoghan said, “Léof is going to teach me to ride.”

There was a short pause, and Ruari looked at Eoghan and then back at Cerwyn. “Me, too!” she said. Eoghan turned his head to her.

“Not so! You haven’t asked Papa.”

Ruari tossed her head, deciding that moment that she would ask him as soon as they were through here. She turned back to Cerwyn and smiled conspiratorially.

--

Saeryn

No one had looked in on Wilheard. Saeryn nodded. “Ledwyn, would you mind very much going in and seeing if he needs anything? I would, but I have a matter I would speak about with Eodwine.”

“Certainly,” Ledwyn agreed.

“Take him more tea if nothing else,” Saeryn said as she departed from the kitchen.

Eodwine still stood by the table. Thornden was in discussion with him, but when he saw Saeryn approaching, he drew away.

“Eodwine, I need to talk to you, concerning Léof’s sister.” She sat down in the chair by his and he resumed his seat. She faced him, and leaned in slightly, resting her arm on the table and folding her hands together.

“Cerwyn did not just come here to find Léof. She came because she was frightened to stay at home any longer. She believes that her father has intentions of marrying her to any one of his numerous friends. She has no desire to be married, and from the description of the men whom her father has found for her, I do not blame her. She received permission to go to Edoras, it seemed, and instead of going there, she traveled on and came here instead. She said she did not believe she would find opportunity to leave home again before it was too late.

“I fear for her safety, Eodwine. If she is sent back, I do not think her father will treat her well. Once she is back with him, he will not soon allow her out of his sight again, and he may well seal her marriage to someone old enough to be her own father.”

[Firefoot]

On his way back to the stables from the women’s quarters, Léof turned a corner and nearly collided with someone. “Sorry, not watching where I’m going…” he trailed off when he realized it was Nydfara – Scyld.

“Indeed not,” said Scyld. Léof fought to keep his features even; after all, had not Scyld been equally not watching his way? The man was truly irritating. Léof wished he understood why Eodwine had taken him in. Any other leatherworker in all of Middle-earth and Léof would have been thrilled – it was so much more convenient to have someone in the Hall when tack needed repair or replacement.

“Sorry,” he said again. “Anyhow, when you’ve got a few minutes, would you mind coming to the stables? I’ve a few bridles and a saddle that need some work.”

“I’m free now,” said Scyld, glad for something productive to do. He’d helped restore the tables in the hall to their right position after court ended, but that hadn’t taken long and he’d found himself at a loss for something to do.

“Very well,” said Léof. He had plenty to do, but this wouldn’t take long. He led Scyld to the stables in silence.

“Mostly it should be pretty easy work,” said Léof as they entered the tack room. Léof was glad of this; he was still skeptical of Scyld’s claims about himself and Léof was glad to have the chance to the quality of Scyld’s work on a few simple tasks before entrusting him with anything more complex.

Scyld nodded and took mental notes as Léof began to show him what needed to be done. As Léof had said, it would mostly be easy work: re-sewing a couple seams, replacing one of the straps on a halter, and the like.

“Last one,” said Léof, holding out a bridle. “A mouse got to this one.” Scyld could see where one of the reins had been chewed nearly all the way through close to the bit. “Normally the cats do a good job with the mice, but one seems to have gotten past them,” Léof was saying irritably.

“Have you tried using mint?” asked Scyld absently, still studying the bridle.

Léof frowned. “No, how do you mean?”

Scyld looked up. “Either mix just a little bit into your leather cleaner, or rub the oil from the plant around the tack room. Should keep the mice away.”

“I’ll try that,” said Léof. Certainly couldn’t hurt. Maybe put some in the hay loft as well… no, best to wait and see if it worked. It took a lot of mint to make a fairly small amount of oil.

“The easiest way to fix this might be to just shorten the rein, rather than replacing it entirely,” said Scyld, referring again to the bridle in question.

Léof considered. “Yes, I think that would be fine,” he said.

“Good,” said Scyld. “I have the tools but not the raw material to fix most of these things. With the roads as they are, I’m not sure how long it will take.”

“Of course,” said Léof. “Thank you.”

“At your service,” said Scyld, and Léof couldn’t tell whether or not he was being mocked. He watched as Scyld left, thinking that overall that hadn’t gone so poorly. Well, anyone could behave themselves on the first day. Scyld would have a whole year to prove his mettle – or show his true colors, as the case may be, and Léof wasn’t the sort to take bets.

[Firefoot]

Cerwyn glanced back and forth between the children, unaware of the undercurrents at play but sure that Léof would have his hands full with the pair of them.

“Well,” she said, “Léof is my older brother, by three years, and I’m sure that he’d be happy to teach both of you to ride if your father says he can.”