Elendor
Backsliding for Profit
Keldean pawns off a sapphire to Ada, Cordelia oversees the sale out of interest.
Sort Date: no date set
Location: Bree
Description:
[Ada(#23113)]
Smoke curls in lazy spirals into the red streaked sky of sunset. The door to Fiddlehead's Pawnshop has been propped open by a wooden chair, both for air and for Ada to take in the last passerbyers of the day. She stands for a moment in the open doorway leading into the shop filled with the memories and hopes of the people of Bree, rings, insturments, cloth and china lining the shelves. Some of it is old and valuable other items may have been bought out of charity though that is hardly Ada's reputation. Her sharp little face does not promise kindness but a hard bargain. She smoothes her apron and takes her seat again leaving the bowl of beans she was snapping at her feet.
Keldean heads to the pawnshop, the skinny teen looking dirty from a day's work and smelling a bit too poignantly like a stable. His auburn hair drapes stiffly around his face, the grime and dirt keeping them clumped together in thick curls. He has his hands stuffed into the pocket of ratty pants that could use a good washing. Still, despite his appearance, the youth is smiling and greets Ada pleasantly. "Hello!"
[Ada(#23113)] Under raised eyebrows, Ada's brown eyes scrutinize the potential customer. They present quite a contrast, the comfortable merchant in her good solid cotton dress, it's low neck filled in by a demure shift of white linen, her widow's cap of good linen with a spot of lace and his stained clothes. She sniffs and does not quite frown but smoothes her face like she does her apron into a semblance of bland welcome.
"Can I help you?"
Keldean approaches Ada, still smiling. He pulls from his pocket a small blue gem.. perhaps the size of a thumbnail. It's faceted and polished, but isn't set into any metal or makings of jewelry. "What could I get for something like this?" He asks, displaying it in his dirty palm for her to look at.
[Cordelia(#24827)] Wandering the market, Cordelia has her arms full: a loaf of bread, paper-wrapped goods of some sort, some fabric, also wrapped in paper. She appears to be turning away to leave when she spots Keldean, and she gradually makes her way closer, perhaps to try to overhear.
[Ada(#23113)]
Ada's eyebrows arch higher in question and she shoots the young man a quick hard glance. The clothes and the gem do not match.
"Come inside," she says glancing over her shoulder and catching sight of Cordelia, "quickly, this is not the place to be showing little things like that - out in the street where they might hop out of your fingers and into the wheels of a passing cart." She tries to usher him into her shop before Cordelia is too close.
[Cordelia(#24827)] "Ignoring the advice of Rangers now that Giliath isn't here to keep you on the straight path, Keldean?" Cordelia calls as Ada tries to hurry him inside--apparently she _did_ catch a glimpse of whatever Keldean has in his hands. She shifts the bundles in her arms--she is too far away to hurry into the shop, so she just stays where she is for now.
Keldean closes his hand over the gem as Ada stands, starting to move to follow her into the shop when Cordelia catches his attention. He turns to look at the young woman, making a sour face. "You don't know a thing about what Giliath told me. And besides, I'm doing what Lee told me to do. Not that I believe any of those stories anyway." He begins to move again, then hesitates to ask. "Are you carrying all of that back to Combe? I can help you when I'm done here."
[Ada(#23113)] The pawnbroker just manages to suppress a sigh, her eyes narrow as she looks from Cordelia to Keldean and back again. "Interesting names you both bandy. You seem to know all of the best people Healer. I wish you a good evening." Her voice borders on sarcastic as she nods to Cordelia.
"As you do, young man." Interest and suspicion purse her lips as she puts a hand to his shoulder nearly pushing him into the shop to escape Cordelia.
[Cordelia(#24827)] Cordelia makes no move to go into the shop, only laughs at Ada's words to her. "Why then, Miss Ada, I'll say no word about that little trinket that Keldean wants to sell you. ANd yes, Keldean," she smiles at the teen, "you are right and I'm sorry. You -are- doing what Leland advised and I fully support it." She smiles again at Ada, looking a bit cat-like. "I will wait out here for you, Keldean--thank you for offering to help. I'd appreciate it."
Keldean lifts a brow at Cordelia, perhaps surprised, but then Ada is pushing against him and moves into the shop. "Yeah, well.. you should come wait inside then, Cordy! Out of the sun.." He has no qualms with inviting her along to the pawning, but perhaps it's because of the way the two women are talking to each other.
[Ada(#23113)]
Cordelia's words stop Ada and she rounds on her, hands on her tiny hips, looming for all that she small. She might remind someone of a terrier in a barn for all her ferocity. "And just what would you know about what this young man has, this trinket?" Her eyes slide from the man to the woman and she shakes her head in something approaching resignation. "Come on in. I want to hear the story of this before it goes further."
[Cordelia(#24827)] Another laugh, and Cordelia shakes out her dark hair. "On second thought, I think I will join you, yes." She winks at Keldean and nods toward the shop, indicating he should enter.
Keldean moves deeper into the pawn shop, the smile faintly returning to his face as he looks around. The gem is twisted idly between his fingers, "What story? There isn't one. I just want to know what it's worth. Or what I could trade it for."
[Ada(#23113)]
Ada removes the chair blocking the door and moves into the shop, jostling the young man though she nods at him with a smile that does not quite reach her eyes. She moves toward her counter like a queen toward her throne and places herself behind it. "Put it here and let's take a look at it. It could be a piece of glass for all I know right now."
[Cordelia(#24827)] Cordelia follows the other two into the shop and carefully places her bundles down on the counter as she leans forward to look at the gem. "It is quite lovely. I think that the women of Bree would be very attracted to it," she offers.
"It's not a piece of glass. I know the difference between a gem and glass." Keldean says in a defensive tone as he crosses to the counter and sets it down. The faint, lingering odor of straw and manure clings to him, evidence of his employment in a stable.
[Ada(#23113)] Ada sniffs despite herself, sends Cordelia a twisted frown and eyes the gem. The last light of day strikes the window of her shop but it darkens too fast to examine the would-be gem. The pawnbroker brings a lantern she had lit earlier to the counter, brings out a tray of jeweler's tools and picks up the blue stone in a clasp made for examining gems. She holds it up her face non-committal and then removes a strange thick piece of glass that distorts the light. She puts her eye behind it and it grows huge and distorted.
"Well, it is real enough. Now, where did you come by the likes of this?"
Keldean watches all of this intently, his eyes never leaving the item he's trying to sell. Maybe the teen is paranoid, maybe he's smart enough to know that slight of hand could be employed. Probably the paranoia. When she pulls out the glass that magnifies his brown eyes grow almost as large as the amplified image. "Of course it's real. I just said it is. What does it matter where I got it?"
[Cordelia(#24827)] Cordelia watches with interest as the shopkeeper examines the gem, but only shrugs when the woman frowns at her. "Now where would someone like Keldean find a fake gem?" she says. "Of course it's real."
[Ada(#23113)]
"And how would you know," Ada asks her with a hint of challenge flashing in her eyes.
"How would you know you weren't taken by some crook if they sold it to you. I would hate to see the poor boy crooked by some passing dwarf."
She fixes Keldean with her eyes wide and innoncent, "Just found it did you? Or did you relieve someone of it? And I like to know my customer's names. Mine is Ada Fiddlehead, you can call me Mistress Ada."
Keldean leans against the counter, his interest in the magnifying glass quickly waning. The youth reaches up to push some of his dirty curls from his face. "If I got taken by a crook, there isn't much to be done about it, because they'd be long gone. Right? I didn't steal it. Are you interested or not? I can talk to other people." The teen is beginning to sound annoyed as he's put to the question. Almost as an afterthought he shares his name, "I'm Keldean."
[Cordelia(#24827)] Cordelia leans against the counter, idly poking one finger at the loaf of bread she put there. Every once in a while she glances toward Ada and Keldean, but otherwise, that bread just seems fascinating.
[Ada(#23113)]
Ada shrugs as if him going to another has absolutely no importance to her. Involuntarily her eyes narrow when she looks at Cordelia's absorbtion in the bread.
"No hurry when goods are honest, right Keldean? So what do you know of this Cordelia? Am I going to have a visit from the constables if I buy this? It's called a sapphire, by the way, not from these parts but from way east," she nods at Cordelia as if to say from where /she/ comes from, "or way south."
[Cordelia(#24827)] "Is that so, Ada?" Cordelia looks up now, interested again. "Have you been south? I haven't. Jut from the east. Near Dale." She smiles.
"A sapphire?" Keldean asks, more curious now as Ada starts giving him information. "It's not stolen. I got it on a trip, last summer." He casts a glance over towards Cordelia, "We were both on the trip, that's how she knows." His brown eyes travel back to Ada, "I'm not in a hurry, but if you're going to call me a thief over and over again, I'll just sell it somewhere else. Maybe to the elves when they come through. They'll have more money, anyway." He drums his fingers on the counter and watches Ada expectantly for an answer.
[Ada(#23113)]
"Well, Mr. Keldean-elf friend, if the shoe fits wear it. I have not been accusing but I'm not doing my job if I don't ask what origin something has. What do you want for it?"
"And no, Cordelia, I've not been south but that doesn't mean I haven't learned where stones come from. My no-good husband knew some things. He apprenticed to his granddad who passed a year after we married. Now, /that/ man knew something about stones and such and taught me what he could for he took to his bed."
[Cordelia(#24827)] "Ah...that is good, Ada," Cordelia nods at the woman. "I can't blame you for needing to know as much as you canabout thigns, including the merchandise you purchase. But yes, Keldean got it on a trip last summer, and cam to the stone honestly."
Keldean continues to watch Ada handle his small commodity, brown eyes following her as she moves around. "Well, if you want a price from me?" He considers quietly, showing some uncertainty now, "I figure it's worth.. at least.. three silver."
[Ada(#23113)] The pawnbroker sets up scales as she speaks, tiny fussy little pans suspended from fine chains that move at a breath. She takes the gem and lays it in the balance which tilts until she balances it with flat pieces of metal. Eyeing the scale she nods at his price.
"Three silver. I would dicker with you but I am going to do something I think I have never done. You sound like you know what you are doing, Keldean. And I will even give you a silver more though the stone is unset. I want four silver and the story of how you gainfully came by this stone." She looks at the two of them calm expectancy.
[Cordelia(#24827)] Again Cordelia remains silent, her attention flicking from the scales to Keldean.
Keldean watches Ada with an almost wary expression that doesn't quite mask his surprise. He reaches his hand up to scratch his chin, the very beginnings of fuzz starting to grow there. Finally he nods in agreement. "Okay. Four silver and I'll explain how I got it, but no questions. I'm not supposed to talk about the trip at all." He casts a glance at Cordelia again.
[Cordelia(#24827)] Cordelia leans back against the counter and folds her arms across her chest now, styaing silent.
[Ada(#23113)]
Ada gives him a short satisfied smile leaving the stone to sway gently in the balance. "What is a good story without questions?" she asks shrugging.
"Some questions can be dangerous." Keldean says carefully. "Do we have a deal or not?" As if to explain his impatience, his stomach growls rather loudly following the demand for an answer.
[Ada(#23113)]
"Deal," she replies with a frown.
"Okay." Keldean relaxes, but holds his hand out. "Pay me first, then I'll tell you the story." With the way he's acting, it's as if he's expecting her to cheat him out of his wealth at any moment. His eyes stray to Cordelia again, but don't linger for very long.
[Ada(#23113)]
A long slow breath leaves the pawnbroker and she, too, looks at Cordelia and the young man smelling of the stables. "I'll pay you. Start your story while I get my cashbox and if you don't trust me to pay you then I suggest you just leave."
"Fine.." The teen murmurs, then begins talking. "Cordelia and I ended up on a trip together last summer when some friends of her family came to make trouble. They weren't -her- friends, but nasty people that her father sent. Anyway, one man, Asht.. was the one that got us all involved. He had Cordelia's sister and was threatening to hurt her if Cordelia didn't go with him. I went along because Cordelia asked -me- for help."
The teen takes a breath, then continues before the black-haired woman can interupt him. "Don't ask what he was up to, I can't tell you. Eventually though, while we were on the road some people showed up to help us.. Rangers? I guess.. They killed Asht, and we split up what he had. This was a gem that he had in his coin purse. I took the gem instead of coins because it was smaller to carry."
[Cordelia(#24827)] At the teen's pause, Corelia nods. "I think they were Rangers, who came to help us."
[Ada(#23113)]
Ada opens her mouth twice to say something and stops herself though she does murmur, "Rangers, eh? Killed them, did they?" When Keldean pauses for a breath she asks, "The stone was your reward for helping Cordelia then?"
"Yeah, one of the people that helped us stabbed him through the chest with his sword.." Keldean confirms, "Reward? I guess. We all split up the wealth that Asht had. Then we traveled back here to Bree." Keldean doesn't elaborate much beyond that and waits for his coin.
[Cordelia(#24827)] "They had my little sister, Liuni, and they were threatening harm to her," Cordelia says softly, the memory of it creasing her brow. "Keldean helped me. If it hadn't been for him, we probably all would have died."
[Ada(#23113)] Her hands have been busy while they talk, casually Ada says, "I move my cashbox almost everyday." She slips the heavy coffer from a drawer, pulls a chain hanging behind the pristine white of her linen blouse and leans to unlock the coffer. She counts out four silver and slides them in a stack over to Keldean.
"Then you are a hero, Keldean. And I am glad to know she lived, Cordelia. That must have been a scary time for you all." Something in her expression warms toward the Easterner. "Did she return home or come on to Bree?"
Keldean reaches to take up the coins and immediately slips them into a pocket protectively. More paranoia from the teen. "Thanks." He says after a delay, remembering manners belatedly. The mention of him being a hero brings a small smile to his face. Then Keldean moves over to where Cordelia has all the supplies stacked on the counter. "What do you need help carrying? My hands are all dirty.."
[Ada(#23113)] His evident distrust of her brings an amused smile to her thin lips. Ada shrugs yet again, "Honor among thieves, Keldean or if you prefer, when a person gives their word then you must trust it. You should know that. Or did those elves teach you to distrust folks?"
[Cordelia(#24827)] Cordelia eyes Keldean's hands dubiously, then smiles nad shakes her head. "Just walk with me as far as you would like," she says. "I can manage to carry it all. As for my sister, she still lives with me, Ada. I was advised not to send her home to my father, though I have tried to send word to my mother, who must be worried sick by now."
Keldean gives Ada a long, wary look at her sentiment. "There is no honor in theivery, and trusting people can get you hurt." He mutters. "The elves are better people than we are." He adds, then reaches to take up some of the paper-wrapped goods anyway, despite Cordelia's assurance. "What's the point of me helping you if I'm not carrying anything?" He asks in a grumble and starts for the door.
[Ada(#23113)]
"Glad to hear that your sister is safe. Had a sister once but she died of fever, many years ago," Ada says softly, "I still miss her."
She shakes her head at the boy, "If you have no trust in your life, you'll have no love and see where that gets you. A good evening to you both."
[Cordelia(#24827)] "I am truly sorry to hear that," Cordelia answers, some genuine sympathy showing on her face. Then she scoops up her packages quickly and hurries after the teen. "Keldean, wait for me!"
[Ada(#23113)]
Smoke curls in lazy spirals into the red streaked sky of sunset. The door to Fiddlehead's Pawnshop has been propped open by a wooden chair, both for air and for Ada to take in the last passerbyers of the day. She stands for a moment in the open doorway leading into the shop filled with the memories and hopes of the people of Bree, rings, insturments, cloth and china lining the shelves. Some of it is old and valuable other items may have been bought out of charity though that is hardly Ada's reputation. Her sharp little face does not promise kindness but a hard bargain. She smoothes her apron and takes her seat again leaving the bowl of beans she was snapping at her feet.
Keldean heads to the pawnshop, the skinny teen looking dirty from a day's work and smelling a bit too poignantly like a stable. His auburn hair drapes stiffly around his face, the grime and dirt keeping them clumped together in thick curls. He has his hands stuffed into the pocket of ratty pants that could use a good washing. Still, despite his appearance, the youth is smiling and greets Ada pleasantly. "Hello!"
[Ada(#23113)] Under raised eyebrows, Ada's brown eyes scrutinize the potential customer. They present quite a contrast, the comfortable merchant in her good solid cotton dress, it's low neck filled in by a demure shift of white linen, her widow's cap of good linen with a spot of lace and his stained clothes. She sniffs and does not quite frown but smoothes her face like she does her apron into a semblance of bland welcome.
"Can I help you?"
Keldean approaches Ada, still smiling. He pulls from his pocket a small blue gem.. perhaps the size of a thumbnail. It's faceted and polished, but isn't set into any metal or makings of jewelry. "What could I get for something like this?" He asks, displaying it in his dirty palm for her to look at.
[Cordelia(#24827)] Wandering the market, Cordelia has her arms full: a loaf of bread, paper-wrapped goods of some sort, some fabric, also wrapped in paper. She appears to be turning away to leave when she spots Keldean, and she gradually makes her way closer, perhaps to try to overhear.
[Ada(#23113)]
Ada's eyebrows arch higher in question and she shoots the young man a quick hard glance. The clothes and the gem do not match.
"Come inside," she says glancing over her shoulder and catching sight of Cordelia, "quickly, this is not the place to be showing little things like that - out in the street where they might hop out of your fingers and into the wheels of a passing cart." She tries to usher him into her shop before Cordelia is too close.
[Cordelia(#24827)] "Ignoring the advice of Rangers now that Giliath isn't here to keep you on the straight path, Keldean?" Cordelia calls as Ada tries to hurry him inside--apparently she _did_ catch a glimpse of whatever Keldean has in his hands. She shifts the bundles in her arms--she is too far away to hurry into the shop, so she just stays where she is for now.
Keldean closes his hand over the gem as Ada stands, starting to move to follow her into the shop when Cordelia catches his attention. He turns to look at the young woman, making a sour face. "You don't know a thing about what Giliath told me. And besides, I'm doing what Lee told me to do. Not that I believe any of those stories anyway." He begins to move again, then hesitates to ask. "Are you carrying all of that back to Combe? I can help you when I'm done here."
[Ada(#23113)] The pawnbroker just manages to suppress a sigh, her eyes narrow as she looks from Cordelia to Keldean and back again. "Interesting names you both bandy. You seem to know all of the best people Healer. I wish you a good evening." Her voice borders on sarcastic as she nods to Cordelia.
"As you do, young man." Interest and suspicion purse her lips as she puts a hand to his shoulder nearly pushing him into the shop to escape Cordelia.
[Cordelia(#24827)] Cordelia makes no move to go into the shop, only laughs at Ada's words to her. "Why then, Miss Ada, I'll say no word about that little trinket that Keldean wants to sell you. ANd yes, Keldean," she smiles at the teen, "you are right and I'm sorry. You -are- doing what Leland advised and I fully support it." She smiles again at Ada, looking a bit cat-like. "I will wait out here for you, Keldean--thank you for offering to help. I'd appreciate it."
Keldean lifts a brow at Cordelia, perhaps surprised, but then Ada is pushing against him and moves into the shop. "Yeah, well.. you should come wait inside then, Cordy! Out of the sun.." He has no qualms with inviting her along to the pawning, but perhaps it's because of the way the two women are talking to each other.
[Ada(#23113)]
Cordelia's words stop Ada and she rounds on her, hands on her tiny hips, looming for all that she small. She might remind someone of a terrier in a barn for all her ferocity. "And just what would you know about what this young man has, this trinket?" Her eyes slide from the man to the woman and she shakes her head in something approaching resignation. "Come on in. I want to hear the story of this before it goes further."
[Cordelia(#24827)] Another laugh, and Cordelia shakes out her dark hair. "On second thought, I think I will join you, yes." She winks at Keldean and nods toward the shop, indicating he should enter.
Keldean moves deeper into the pawn shop, the smile faintly returning to his face as he looks around. The gem is twisted idly between his fingers, "What story? There isn't one. I just want to know what it's worth. Or what I could trade it for."
[Ada(#23113)]
Ada removes the chair blocking the door and moves into the shop, jostling the young man though she nods at him with a smile that does not quite reach her eyes. She moves toward her counter like a queen toward her throne and places herself behind it. "Put it here and let's take a look at it. It could be a piece of glass for all I know right now."
[Cordelia(#24827)] Cordelia follows the other two into the shop and carefully places her bundles down on the counter as she leans forward to look at the gem. "It is quite lovely. I think that the women of Bree would be very attracted to it," she offers.
"It's not a piece of glass. I know the difference between a gem and glass." Keldean says in a defensive tone as he crosses to the counter and sets it down. The faint, lingering odor of straw and manure clings to him, evidence of his employment in a stable.
[Ada(#23113)] Ada sniffs despite herself, sends Cordelia a twisted frown and eyes the gem. The last light of day strikes the window of her shop but it darkens too fast to examine the would-be gem. The pawnbroker brings a lantern she had lit earlier to the counter, brings out a tray of jeweler's tools and picks up the blue stone in a clasp made for examining gems. She holds it up her face non-committal and then removes a strange thick piece of glass that distorts the light. She puts her eye behind it and it grows huge and distorted.
"Well, it is real enough. Now, where did you come by the likes of this?"
Keldean watches all of this intently, his eyes never leaving the item he's trying to sell. Maybe the teen is paranoid, maybe he's smart enough to know that slight of hand could be employed. Probably the paranoia. When she pulls out the glass that magnifies his brown eyes grow almost as large as the amplified image. "Of course it's real. I just said it is. What does it matter where I got it?"
[Cordelia(#24827)] Cordelia watches with interest as the shopkeeper examines the gem, but only shrugs when the woman frowns at her. "Now where would someone like Keldean find a fake gem?" she says. "Of course it's real."
[Ada(#23113)]
"And how would you know," Ada asks her with a hint of challenge flashing in her eyes.
"How would you know you weren't taken by some crook if they sold it to you. I would hate to see the poor boy crooked by some passing dwarf."
She fixes Keldean with her eyes wide and innoncent, "Just found it did you? Or did you relieve someone of it? And I like to know my customer's names. Mine is Ada Fiddlehead, you can call me Mistress Ada."
Keldean leans against the counter, his interest in the magnifying glass quickly waning. The youth reaches up to push some of his dirty curls from his face. "If I got taken by a crook, there isn't much to be done about it, because they'd be long gone. Right? I didn't steal it. Are you interested or not? I can talk to other people." The teen is beginning to sound annoyed as he's put to the question. Almost as an afterthought he shares his name, "I'm Keldean."
[Cordelia(#24827)] Cordelia leans against the counter, idly poking one finger at the loaf of bread she put there. Every once in a while she glances toward Ada and Keldean, but otherwise, that bread just seems fascinating.
[Ada(#23113)]
Ada shrugs as if him going to another has absolutely no importance to her. Involuntarily her eyes narrow when she looks at Cordelia's absorbtion in the bread.
"No hurry when goods are honest, right Keldean? So what do you know of this Cordelia? Am I going to have a visit from the constables if I buy this? It's called a sapphire, by the way, not from these parts but from way east," she nods at Cordelia as if to say from where /she/ comes from, "or way south."
[Cordelia(#24827)] "Is that so, Ada?" Cordelia looks up now, interested again. "Have you been south? I haven't. Jut from the east. Near Dale." She smiles.
"A sapphire?" Keldean asks, more curious now as Ada starts giving him information. "It's not stolen. I got it on a trip, last summer." He casts a glance over towards Cordelia, "We were both on the trip, that's how she knows." His brown eyes travel back to Ada, "I'm not in a hurry, but if you're going to call me a thief over and over again, I'll just sell it somewhere else. Maybe to the elves when they come through. They'll have more money, anyway." He drums his fingers on the counter and watches Ada expectantly for an answer.
[Ada(#23113)]
"Well, Mr. Keldean-elf friend, if the shoe fits wear it. I have not been accusing but I'm not doing my job if I don't ask what origin something has. What do you want for it?"
"And no, Cordelia, I've not been south but that doesn't mean I haven't learned where stones come from. My no-good husband knew some things. He apprenticed to his granddad who passed a year after we married. Now, /that/ man knew something about stones and such and taught me what he could for he took to his bed."
[Cordelia(#24827)] "Ah...that is good, Ada," Cordelia nods at the woman. "I can't blame you for needing to know as much as you canabout thigns, including the merchandise you purchase. But yes, Keldean got it on a trip last summer, and cam to the stone honestly."
Keldean continues to watch Ada handle his small commodity, brown eyes following her as she moves around. "Well, if you want a price from me?" He considers quietly, showing some uncertainty now, "I figure it's worth.. at least.. three silver."
[Ada(#23113)] The pawnbroker sets up scales as she speaks, tiny fussy little pans suspended from fine chains that move at a breath. She takes the gem and lays it in the balance which tilts until she balances it with flat pieces of metal. Eyeing the scale she nods at his price.
"Three silver. I would dicker with you but I am going to do something I think I have never done. You sound like you know what you are doing, Keldean. And I will even give you a silver more though the stone is unset. I want four silver and the story of how you gainfully came by this stone." She looks at the two of them calm expectancy.
[Cordelia(#24827)] Again Cordelia remains silent, her attention flicking from the scales to Keldean.
Keldean watches Ada with an almost wary expression that doesn't quite mask his surprise. He reaches his hand up to scratch his chin, the very beginnings of fuzz starting to grow there. Finally he nods in agreement. "Okay. Four silver and I'll explain how I got it, but no questions. I'm not supposed to talk about the trip at all." He casts a glance at Cordelia again.
[Cordelia(#24827)] Cordelia leans back against the counter and folds her arms across her chest now, styaing silent.
[Ada(#23113)]
Ada gives him a short satisfied smile leaving the stone to sway gently in the balance. "What is a good story without questions?" she asks shrugging.
"Some questions can be dangerous." Keldean says carefully. "Do we have a deal or not?" As if to explain his impatience, his stomach growls rather loudly following the demand for an answer.
[Ada(#23113)]
"Deal," she replies with a frown.
"Okay." Keldean relaxes, but holds his hand out. "Pay me first, then I'll tell you the story." With the way he's acting, it's as if he's expecting her to cheat him out of his wealth at any moment. His eyes stray to Cordelia again, but don't linger for very long.
[Ada(#23113)]
A long slow breath leaves the pawnbroker and she, too, looks at Cordelia and the young man smelling of the stables. "I'll pay you. Start your story while I get my cashbox and if you don't trust me to pay you then I suggest you just leave."
"Fine.." The teen murmurs, then begins talking. "Cordelia and I ended up on a trip together last summer when some friends of her family came to make trouble. They weren't -her- friends, but nasty people that her father sent. Anyway, one man, Asht.. was the one that got us all involved. He had Cordelia's sister and was threatening to hurt her if Cordelia didn't go with him. I went along because Cordelia asked -me- for help."
The teen takes a breath, then continues before the black-haired woman can interupt him. "Don't ask what he was up to, I can't tell you. Eventually though, while we were on the road some people showed up to help us.. Rangers? I guess.. They killed Asht, and we split up what he had. This was a gem that he had in his coin purse. I took the gem instead of coins because it was smaller to carry."
[Cordelia(#24827)] At the teen's pause, Corelia nods. "I think they were Rangers, who came to help us."
[Ada(#23113)]
Ada opens her mouth twice to say something and stops herself though she does murmur, "Rangers, eh? Killed them, did they?" When Keldean pauses for a breath she asks, "The stone was your reward for helping Cordelia then?"
"Yeah, one of the people that helped us stabbed him through the chest with his sword.." Keldean confirms, "Reward? I guess. We all split up the wealth that Asht had. Then we traveled back here to Bree." Keldean doesn't elaborate much beyond that and waits for his coin.
[Cordelia(#24827)] "They had my little sister, Liuni, and they were threatening harm to her," Cordelia says softly, the memory of it creasing her brow. "Keldean helped me. If it hadn't been for him, we probably all would have died."
[Ada(#23113)] Her hands have been busy while they talk, casually Ada says, "I move my cashbox almost everyday." She slips the heavy coffer from a drawer, pulls a chain hanging behind the pristine white of her linen blouse and leans to unlock the coffer. She counts out four silver and slides them in a stack over to Keldean.
"Then you are a hero, Keldean. And I am glad to know she lived, Cordelia. That must have been a scary time for you all." Something in her expression warms toward the Easterner. "Did she return home or come on to Bree?"
Keldean reaches to take up the coins and immediately slips them into a pocket protectively. More paranoia from the teen. "Thanks." He says after a delay, remembering manners belatedly. The mention of him being a hero brings a small smile to his face. Then Keldean moves over to where Cordelia has all the supplies stacked on the counter. "What do you need help carrying? My hands are all dirty.."
[Ada(#23113)] His evident distrust of her brings an amused smile to her thin lips. Ada shrugs yet again, "Honor among thieves, Keldean or if you prefer, when a person gives their word then you must trust it. You should know that. Or did those elves teach you to distrust folks?"
[Cordelia(#24827)] Cordelia eyes Keldean's hands dubiously, then smiles nad shakes her head. "Just walk with me as far as you would like," she says. "I can manage to carry it all. As for my sister, she still lives with me, Ada. I was advised not to send her home to my father, though I have tried to send word to my mother, who must be worried sick by now."
Keldean gives Ada a long, wary look at her sentiment. "There is no honor in theivery, and trusting people can get you hurt." He mutters. "The elves are better people than we are." He adds, then reaches to take up some of the paper-wrapped goods anyway, despite Cordelia's assurance. "What's the point of me helping you if I'm not carrying anything?" He asks in a grumble and starts for the door.
[Ada(#23113)]
"Glad to hear that your sister is safe. Had a sister once but she died of fever, many years ago," Ada says softly, "I still miss her."
She shakes her head at the boy, "If you have no trust in your life, you'll have no love and see where that gets you. A good evening to you both."
[Cordelia(#24827)] "I am truly sorry to hear that," Cordelia answers, some genuine sympathy showing on her face. Then she scoops up her packages quickly and hurries after the teen. "Keldean, wait for me!"
Players: Keldean, Cordelia, Ada
