Elendor
Conversation in the Stables
Acelen and Thulion get some answers out of Keldean.
Sort Date: no date set
Location: Bree, Prancing Pony
Description: It's been a couple days, and Keldean has been rather recluse and moody. This could be because of a bad cold he's come down with, frequently coughing and having reduced appetite and energy. But, the teen has been doing his work and minding his own business. It's early afternoon now, and he's just finishing up with the last of the sweeping from cleaning out the stalls and spreading fresh straw.
[Acelen(#32035)]
Acelen enters the stable with a tuneless whistle on his lips and a leather harness that he is mending in his hands. He glances down the stable corridor and nods to Keldean. "Ye've been doin a fine job, lad. Keep up this way and Nob'll have nothin to complain about."
[Thulion(#28108)]
The man known as Leland Foxbrush enters from the stable yard not far behind Acelen, his steps slow but not uncertain. He pauses briefly just at the entrance, his grey eyes sweeping the area then alighting upon Keldean, with the sense of something sought being found. His gaze doesn't stay there long, broken away to offer a nod to the stablemaster, "Good day," he greets in a cordial tone, then glances back to the teen. "Ah, so here's where you've been." A smile makes the statement friendly enough.
"It's just sweeping and cleaning. Not that hard." Keldean mutters, but there's a small smile on his face from the praise. His brown eyes lift at the voice of the ranger and he lifts a brow. "This is where I work." He lifts one arm up to his mouth, muffling a cough.
[Acelen(#32035)]
Acelen turns and smiles as he hears the familiar voice of Lee behind him. "Lad's been workin' hard, but he's been feelin' poorly of late." He walks over to one of the stalls and is greeted with a gentle nicker. The love he has for the beasts is obvious in his every move. "There now, mistress," he chuckles as he reaches into his pocket for an apple. This is proffered to the horse who cruches it with a juicy squishing sound. "This filly has half blood with Seeker's horse," the stable master says with a smile.
[Thulion(#28108)]
"Work has not kept you from being out and about before," says Leland, studying the teen closely. "But that cough might. Perhaps the healers would have somewhat to help," he suggests. Ambling steps carry the Ranger along the row of stalls, the man pausing slightly outside of each to admire the occupants with a faint smile. At Acelen's words, he looks towards him and the filly, "A fine creature she would be then, from what I have heard of Seeker's horse. How old is she?" he asks, walking now towards the pair. His demeanor is easy even as he approaches the horse, certainly one comfortable in the presence of the handsome beasts.
"I said I was helping the mayor." Keldean mutters, his gaze dropping again and he pushes the broom again. "It's just a cough, I'll be okay. I've had worse." The last statement is heavy with memory of past suffering.
[Acelen(#32035)]
"She's three, and grey like her sire," Acelen responds as he scratches the filly under her chin. "I trained her mesself, and she took to the saddle like no other I've had the pleasure of trainin'."
"It's time you let me give you something for that cough, Keldean," he says seriously. His brown eyes shift to the boy to study him. "No amount of gold er money will do you good if yer dead and can't spend it."
[Thulion(#28108)]
"Ah, one day to be a noble white mare, then," says the Ranger with a smile, admiring the filly for a long moment. "She must have a lovely name, to suit such an affable and elegant one as she." Following the stablemasters gaze, then, he half turns to look back to Keldean. "Working as you must, though, you will not easily get better on your own. Don't be foolish, lad. Let the good stablemaster here give you something to help. Would not want to still be sick if the Mayor comes around looking for help again."
"It's just a cough. I had one that was a lot worse over the winter." Keldean argues, but grudgingly asks a moment later, "What kind of medicine? Before I had tea, and.. some bitter stuff. It didn't taste too good. And it made me really tired, slept all day." He leans on the broom.
[Acelen(#32035)]
"She's me pride and joy," Acelen grins as he croons softly to the horse. "Name...er, actually I haven't named her yet," he says giving an embarrassed laugh. "I guess I haven't found one I like yet."
He stumbles backwards as the horse gives him a friendly shove with her nose. "You see how greedy she is?" he laughs as he takes out another apple from his pocket. "Yer spoiled, you are," he says to the horse affectionately.
His attention becomes once more fixed on Keldean. "You need something to get rid of the comsumption in yer chest, lad. I have just the thing I use on the horses."
"What? The horses? Forget it!" Keldean draws back, holding the broom in front him now defensively. "I'll have some tea later. I'll be fine. I don't need animal medicine." He watches Acelen warily, thin auburn brows narrowed tightly.
[Acelen(#32035)]
Acelen shrugs, wiping his hands on his braes. "Yer a foolish one, Lad and no mistake. I've used me medicine to help many another apart from the beasts. I saved Seeker's life once y'know. Still..if you are that afraid then mayhap ye should be considering the alternative - which might be pushing up daisies."
"I don't want horse medicine." Keldean repeats, "I'm not going to die." He mutters, "And it doesn't make me a fool because I don't want the same medicine that animals get." Rarely does the teen agree with things that aren't a matter of orders directly related to his job. He rests the broom against the wall and stuffs his hand into his pocket, pulling out a small medallion that's ceramic chased with gold metal. He rubs his thumb over it, his expression growing calmer, less defensive as his thoughts drift elsewhere.
[Acelen(#32035)]
"Suit yerself," the stable master says. "You done waterin' all the stock, then? If you have, I think you should take a rest. Maybe have a little nap. I'll handle Nob if he comes lookin fer ye."
His eyes drop to the young man's hand. "What's that ye've got?" he asks.
[Thulion(#28108)]
"Hmm, no name yet, little one?" Idly, the Ranger reaches a gentle hand up towards the filly's cheek, gazing at her thoughtfully. "Niphre--" he begins in a faint murmur, then gives a soft cough, "What about... Snowdrop?" he says then, glancing towards the stablemaster. At the teen's protest then, he half turns away from the filly once more. "Horse medicine, human medicine," shrugs the Ranger, as if the difference matters little. "You might not die, but you are certainly not helping yourself by going on being ill." His gaze, too, falls briefly to the medallion, but he does not add his own question to Acelen's. Instead he looks back to the filly.
[Acelen(#32035)]
"Snowdrop!?" Acelen slaps a knee. "Surely, you want to make a joke with me. That is the name which would be given to a lady's horse. A gentle animal with no spirit. The grey has plenty of spirit, and her name so show it. I was gonna sell her once I got her trained, but now I couldn't see myself doin' without her."
Instinctively, Keldean wraps his hand around the item to conceal it. "It's nothing, just a gift a friend gave to me." He looks over to Thulion, brightening at the topic of naming the horse. "Acelen's right. That's not a good enough name. It needs to be something.. better. Like.. 'Rima'.. " The teen chooses the elvish word for 'run', and moves over to the horse, reaching up to gently pat her on the nose.
[Thulion(#28108)]
"Ah, but is she not allowed to be a lady herself? Not even a wildflower?" laughs the Ranger, shaking his head. "But you are right, and I have never been good at naming things. Rima?" He arches a brow slightly towards Keldean. "Seems too simple a name for such a finely bred horse. Does it mean something?"
Though he looks back to the filly, he drops his voice low then. "A precious gift indeed, by the way you worried after it when I saw you and your friend the other night." he remarks casually.
[Acelen(#32035)]
The horse's ears flick forward and she nudges Keldean's hand, looking for another handout.
"'Tis a handsome gift for a Lad like yourself," Acelen observes as he hangs the harness up on a convenient nail. He smiles at the name suggestion and nods, "That's gettin a little closer to the nature of the beast." His brow raises as he catches the gist of Lee's remark. "There isn't a man present that would begrudge you a gainfully gotten trinket," he observes as he begins to shovel hay into the filly's stall.
Keldean rubs the filly's nose with the hand that isn't still clenched around the medallion. " Run as the wind." He speaks a musical sounding phrase of words with a small smile, though to trained ears his Sindarin is rough and accented. The teen turns away from the horse, 'I didn't steal it. It's mine. Caelwen gave it to me, Giliath's wife.'
[Thulion(#28108)]
The Ranger gives the teen a curious glance, as if the boy had just spouted gibberish. He shrugs a little then, looking back to the young mare. "Or... Skydancer. Whatever she is named, it aught be something elegant." An approving nod then he gives to Keldean, his voice kind. "I did not think you stole it. But, this is the third time now I have heard you speak of your friend Giliath, and some pain I see you bear with that memory. He was a close friend of yours?"
[Acelen(#32035)]
Aclen moves down the stalls, still forking hay over the walls, but not moving too far away that he can't hear what is being said. "Sounds ta me that you bin learnin' some of that elvish tongue," he observes. "I've heard enough of em speak it when they drop by fer a pint. You mind that you don't go flashing that pretty around town lad. There's some that would slit yer throat for just such a thing."
Keldean thumbs the amulet again, thoughtful for a long moment. "Giliath -is- my friend. He's an elf." The way the teen explains, it's almost as if he expects Thulion to know that already. Acelen's comment has the boy smirking, "There's no one like that in Bree." He says, "But I wouldn't let anyone steal it from me anyway." He watches the ranger, "Giliath is very old and wise. He's given me a lot of advice about things."
[Acelen(#32035)]
"Seems like yer a little selective about how you take it," Acelen observes wryly, as he continues with his task.
[Thulion(#28108)]
"Ah, an elf. That is a rare friend." The Ranger nods slowly, his brows drawn together thoughfully. "If I may ask, young master, what, then, troubles you about his memory? For, when I saw you and young Lek the day of the Mayor's expedition, you said some strange things, and then seemed frantic when you thought you had lost that amulet." Leland studies him closely for a moment, then gives another, easy shrug. "But then, all the folks who were on that wagon were acting a bit strange."
"I listen to his advice.. you just don't know what it is." Keldean says, grinning when he answers Acelen. "Elves don't see things the same way that we do." The teen doesn't elaborate further. He shoves his hands into his pockets and leans back against stall door of a bigger, brown mare. His horse, in fact. A beast he's never bothered to name. He looks down when the ranger questions him, thinking hard but not remembering all the particulars of that night. "I was upset because it was a gift.. from Caelwen. She made it herself, and .. " He hesitates, his gaze lifting to the ranger again. "Swear an oath that you will not steal it from me, and I will let you see it."
[Acelen(#32035)]
Acelen moves out of ear shot now, finishing off the last stall and then moving into the tack room where he sleeps.
[Thulion(#28108)]
The Ranger glances down towards where the stablemaster has vanished, and up the other way, and though he sees none but the horses to overhear them, he keeps his voice low. "If you wish to keep it to yourself, then do so," he says, offering a kind smile to the lad, "But if you would show it, then I swear on my honour that I shall not try to take it from you." Straightening, he meets Keldean's eye as he says it, lifting his right hand, his voice and gaze earnest and true. Then, leaning against the wall of the stable himself, he is once more merely a weathered traveller. "You said something about Seeker... that someone was trying.. had tried... to hurt him," he adds, still watching the teen carefully.
Keldean lifts his arm to his mouth, muffling a round of coughing. Apparantly he's satisfied with Lee's word, because he holds the trinket out for him to take. It's a thin, clay medallion, with a yellow-green glaze and the gold decoration. That is not what makes it so startling unique and valuable to the teen, though. When it is held or near, images are brought to mind of a vast hall with golden ceilings and floors, and white pillars. It has a peaceful feeling, but there is also sorrow, the sorrow of a people that are fading from the world.
The youth watches Thulion closely to see if he feels the same wonderment that the rare gift bestows upon himself. He doesn't answer about Seeker yet, his face going troubled.
[Thulion(#28108)]
The Ranger extends his hand, taking the medallion carefully and letting it rest on his open palm, his grey eyes uponit. As the images fill his mind, a slow smile curves his lips, tinted somewhat by the sorrow the amulet bears, and he nods once, then offers it back to Keldean. "The gifts of the Elves are wonderous indeed," he murmurs. "And rare beyond almost any other treasure. You do well to keep this close and protected." He falls silent then, his eyes returning to study the teen patiently, not pressing the matter of Seeker just yet.
Keldean grins with some pride at the compliment, reaching to take the item back. He slips it into his pocket and reaches his hand up to stroke the neck of the brown mare. He's quiet as well, thinking hard. Finally he comments, "You're nicer.. like Sparrow. You are a ranger, aren't you?" The question is placed in a soft manner.
[Thulion(#28108)]
The Ranger - as indeed he is - gives a low chuckle and nods his head. "If you have been to Rivendell, then we become rather easy to mark, hrm?" His smile fades a little as he breathes a sigh, then, "Still, be wary of folk who wander in off the wilds. There are plenty of them who are not at all rangers. But now, you understand my curiosity about this matter with Seeker." This latter comment is made carefully, and Thulion still watches the teen closely.
Keldean grows uneasy again, things Thulion is saying making him nervous. Though, his advice is amusing given how little trust the youth gave him upon first meeting him. He speaks softly, his tone guarded again. "I shouldn't have said what I did, I wasn't thinking right. I need to see Seeker, but Muirgheal will not let me. Maybe I could go out there when I know she is in town. I know where they live."
[Thulion(#28108)]
To this, the Ranger shakes his head. "I would advise against your going there, especially alone. Muirgheal seemed quite earnest about not letting you near their home. However," He pauses, seems to be considering something carefully, then nods. "I, myself, need to speak with her. I might at least find out why she will not let you apologise to Seeker and return the knife yourself."
"I think Cordelia lied to her. I don't understand how they are friends now." Keldean muffles another cough into his sleeve, his thin frame shaking from the effort. "It's getting cold in here.. I should go inside." He moves away from the stall and the horse within, "You shouldn't trust Cordelia, she tricks people." The teen heads for the door then, coughing again as he goes out into the yard.
[Thulion(#28108)]
The Ranger frowns a little, then nods once as the teen shivers. "Indeed, you aught to be resting. My thanks, Keldean," he adds then, perhaps for the warning, then he tugs his own cloak about himself. "Take care of yourself. Fare well." With that, he, too leaves the stable yard, resolves strides carrying back out and away from the inn.
[Acelen(#32035)]
Acelen enters the stable with a tuneless whistle on his lips and a leather harness that he is mending in his hands. He glances down the stable corridor and nods to Keldean. "Ye've been doin a fine job, lad. Keep up this way and Nob'll have nothin to complain about."
[Thulion(#28108)]
The man known as Leland Foxbrush enters from the stable yard not far behind Acelen, his steps slow but not uncertain. He pauses briefly just at the entrance, his grey eyes sweeping the area then alighting upon Keldean, with the sense of something sought being found. His gaze doesn't stay there long, broken away to offer a nod to the stablemaster, "Good day," he greets in a cordial tone, then glances back to the teen. "Ah, so here's where you've been." A smile makes the statement friendly enough.
"It's just sweeping and cleaning. Not that hard." Keldean mutters, but there's a small smile on his face from the praise. His brown eyes lift at the voice of the ranger and he lifts a brow. "This is where I work." He lifts one arm up to his mouth, muffling a cough.
[Acelen(#32035)]
Acelen turns and smiles as he hears the familiar voice of Lee behind him. "Lad's been workin' hard, but he's been feelin' poorly of late." He walks over to one of the stalls and is greeted with a gentle nicker. The love he has for the beasts is obvious in his every move. "There now, mistress," he chuckles as he reaches into his pocket for an apple. This is proffered to the horse who cruches it with a juicy squishing sound. "This filly has half blood with Seeker's horse," the stable master says with a smile.
[Thulion(#28108)]
"Work has not kept you from being out and about before," says Leland, studying the teen closely. "But that cough might. Perhaps the healers would have somewhat to help," he suggests. Ambling steps carry the Ranger along the row of stalls, the man pausing slightly outside of each to admire the occupants with a faint smile. At Acelen's words, he looks towards him and the filly, "A fine creature she would be then, from what I have heard of Seeker's horse. How old is she?" he asks, walking now towards the pair. His demeanor is easy even as he approaches the horse, certainly one comfortable in the presence of the handsome beasts.
"I said I was helping the mayor." Keldean mutters, his gaze dropping again and he pushes the broom again. "It's just a cough, I'll be okay. I've had worse." The last statement is heavy with memory of past suffering.
[Acelen(#32035)]
"She's three, and grey like her sire," Acelen responds as he scratches the filly under her chin. "I trained her mesself, and she took to the saddle like no other I've had the pleasure of trainin'."
"It's time you let me give you something for that cough, Keldean," he says seriously. His brown eyes shift to the boy to study him. "No amount of gold er money will do you good if yer dead and can't spend it."
[Thulion(#28108)]
"Ah, one day to be a noble white mare, then," says the Ranger with a smile, admiring the filly for a long moment. "She must have a lovely name, to suit such an affable and elegant one as she." Following the stablemasters gaze, then, he half turns to look back to Keldean. "Working as you must, though, you will not easily get better on your own. Don't be foolish, lad. Let the good stablemaster here give you something to help. Would not want to still be sick if the Mayor comes around looking for help again."
"It's just a cough. I had one that was a lot worse over the winter." Keldean argues, but grudgingly asks a moment later, "What kind of medicine? Before I had tea, and.. some bitter stuff. It didn't taste too good. And it made me really tired, slept all day." He leans on the broom.
[Acelen(#32035)]
"She's me pride and joy," Acelen grins as he croons softly to the horse. "Name...er, actually I haven't named her yet," he says giving an embarrassed laugh. "I guess I haven't found one I like yet."
He stumbles backwards as the horse gives him a friendly shove with her nose. "You see how greedy she is?" he laughs as he takes out another apple from his pocket. "Yer spoiled, you are," he says to the horse affectionately.
His attention becomes once more fixed on Keldean. "You need something to get rid of the comsumption in yer chest, lad. I have just the thing I use on the horses."
"What? The horses? Forget it!" Keldean draws back, holding the broom in front him now defensively. "I'll have some tea later. I'll be fine. I don't need animal medicine." He watches Acelen warily, thin auburn brows narrowed tightly.
[Acelen(#32035)]
Acelen shrugs, wiping his hands on his braes. "Yer a foolish one, Lad and no mistake. I've used me medicine to help many another apart from the beasts. I saved Seeker's life once y'know. Still..if you are that afraid then mayhap ye should be considering the alternative - which might be pushing up daisies."
"I don't want horse medicine." Keldean repeats, "I'm not going to die." He mutters, "And it doesn't make me a fool because I don't want the same medicine that animals get." Rarely does the teen agree with things that aren't a matter of orders directly related to his job. He rests the broom against the wall and stuffs his hand into his pocket, pulling out a small medallion that's ceramic chased with gold metal. He rubs his thumb over it, his expression growing calmer, less defensive as his thoughts drift elsewhere.
[Acelen(#32035)]
"Suit yerself," the stable master says. "You done waterin' all the stock, then? If you have, I think you should take a rest. Maybe have a little nap. I'll handle Nob if he comes lookin fer ye."
His eyes drop to the young man's hand. "What's that ye've got?" he asks.
[Thulion(#28108)]
"Hmm, no name yet, little one?" Idly, the Ranger reaches a gentle hand up towards the filly's cheek, gazing at her thoughtfully. "Niphre--" he begins in a faint murmur, then gives a soft cough, "What about... Snowdrop?" he says then, glancing towards the stablemaster. At the teen's protest then, he half turns away from the filly once more. "Horse medicine, human medicine," shrugs the Ranger, as if the difference matters little. "You might not die, but you are certainly not helping yourself by going on being ill." His gaze, too, falls briefly to the medallion, but he does not add his own question to Acelen's. Instead he looks back to the filly.
[Acelen(#32035)]
"Snowdrop!?" Acelen slaps a knee. "Surely, you want to make a joke with me. That is the name which would be given to a lady's horse. A gentle animal with no spirit. The grey has plenty of spirit, and her name so show it. I was gonna sell her once I got her trained, but now I couldn't see myself doin' without her."
Instinctively, Keldean wraps his hand around the item to conceal it. "It's nothing, just a gift a friend gave to me." He looks over to Thulion, brightening at the topic of naming the horse. "Acelen's right. That's not a good enough name. It needs to be something.. better. Like.. 'Rima'.. " The teen chooses the elvish word for 'run', and moves over to the horse, reaching up to gently pat her on the nose.
[Thulion(#28108)]
"Ah, but is she not allowed to be a lady herself? Not even a wildflower?" laughs the Ranger, shaking his head. "But you are right, and I have never been good at naming things. Rima?" He arches a brow slightly towards Keldean. "Seems too simple a name for such a finely bred horse. Does it mean something?"
Though he looks back to the filly, he drops his voice low then. "A precious gift indeed, by the way you worried after it when I saw you and your friend the other night." he remarks casually.
[Acelen(#32035)]
The horse's ears flick forward and she nudges Keldean's hand, looking for another handout.
"'Tis a handsome gift for a Lad like yourself," Acelen observes as he hangs the harness up on a convenient nail. He smiles at the name suggestion and nods, "That's gettin a little closer to the nature of the beast." His brow raises as he catches the gist of Lee's remark. "There isn't a man present that would begrudge you a gainfully gotten trinket," he observes as he begins to shovel hay into the filly's stall.
Keldean rubs the filly's nose with the hand that isn't still clenched around the medallion. "
[Thulion(#28108)]
The Ranger gives the teen a curious glance, as if the boy had just spouted gibberish. He shrugs a little then, looking back to the young mare. "Or... Skydancer. Whatever she is named, it aught be something elegant." An approving nod then he gives to Keldean, his voice kind. "I did not think you stole it. But, this is the third time now I have heard you speak of your friend Giliath, and some pain I see you bear with that memory. He was a close friend of yours?"
[Acelen(#32035)]
Aclen moves down the stalls, still forking hay over the walls, but not moving too far away that he can't hear what is being said. "Sounds ta me that you bin learnin' some of that elvish tongue," he observes. "I've heard enough of em speak it when they drop by fer a pint. You mind that you don't go flashing that pretty around town lad. There's some that would slit yer throat for just such a thing."
Keldean thumbs the amulet again, thoughtful for a long moment. "Giliath -is- my friend. He's an elf." The way the teen explains, it's almost as if he expects Thulion to know that already. Acelen's comment has the boy smirking, "There's no one like that in Bree." He says, "But I wouldn't let anyone steal it from me anyway." He watches the ranger, "Giliath is very old and wise. He's given me a lot of advice about things."
[Acelen(#32035)]
"Seems like yer a little selective about how you take it," Acelen observes wryly, as he continues with his task.
[Thulion(#28108)]
"Ah, an elf. That is a rare friend." The Ranger nods slowly, his brows drawn together thoughfully. "If I may ask, young master, what, then, troubles you about his memory? For, when I saw you and young Lek the day of the Mayor's expedition, you said some strange things, and then seemed frantic when you thought you had lost that amulet." Leland studies him closely for a moment, then gives another, easy shrug. "But then, all the folks who were on that wagon were acting a bit strange."
"I listen to his advice.. you just don't know what it is." Keldean says, grinning when he answers Acelen. "Elves don't see things the same way that we do." The teen doesn't elaborate further. He shoves his hands into his pockets and leans back against stall door of a bigger, brown mare. His horse, in fact. A beast he's never bothered to name. He looks down when the ranger questions him, thinking hard but not remembering all the particulars of that night. "I was upset because it was a gift.. from Caelwen. She made it herself, and .. " He hesitates, his gaze lifting to the ranger again. "Swear an oath that you will not steal it from me, and I will let you see it."
[Acelen(#32035)]
Acelen moves out of ear shot now, finishing off the last stall and then moving into the tack room where he sleeps.
[Thulion(#28108)]
The Ranger glances down towards where the stablemaster has vanished, and up the other way, and though he sees none but the horses to overhear them, he keeps his voice low. "If you wish to keep it to yourself, then do so," he says, offering a kind smile to the lad, "But if you would show it, then I swear on my honour that I shall not try to take it from you." Straightening, he meets Keldean's eye as he says it, lifting his right hand, his voice and gaze earnest and true. Then, leaning against the wall of the stable himself, he is once more merely a weathered traveller. "You said something about Seeker... that someone was trying.. had tried... to hurt him," he adds, still watching the teen carefully.
Keldean lifts his arm to his mouth, muffling a round of coughing. Apparantly he's satisfied with Lee's word, because he holds the trinket out for him to take. It's a thin, clay medallion, with a yellow-green glaze and the gold decoration. That is not what makes it so startling unique and valuable to the teen, though. When it is held or near, images are brought to mind of a vast hall with golden ceilings and floors, and white pillars. It has a peaceful feeling, but there is also sorrow, the sorrow of a people that are fading from the world.
The youth watches Thulion closely to see if he feels the same wonderment that the rare gift bestows upon himself. He doesn't answer about Seeker yet, his face going troubled.
[Thulion(#28108)]
The Ranger extends his hand, taking the medallion carefully and letting it rest on his open palm, his grey eyes uponit. As the images fill his mind, a slow smile curves his lips, tinted somewhat by the sorrow the amulet bears, and he nods once, then offers it back to Keldean. "The gifts of the Elves are wonderous indeed," he murmurs. "And rare beyond almost any other treasure. You do well to keep this close and protected." He falls silent then, his eyes returning to study the teen patiently, not pressing the matter of Seeker just yet.
Keldean grins with some pride at the compliment, reaching to take the item back. He slips it into his pocket and reaches his hand up to stroke the neck of the brown mare. He's quiet as well, thinking hard. Finally he comments, "You're nicer.. like Sparrow. You are a ranger, aren't you?" The question is placed in a soft manner.
[Thulion(#28108)]
The Ranger - as indeed he is - gives a low chuckle and nods his head. "If you have been to Rivendell, then we become rather easy to mark, hrm?" His smile fades a little as he breathes a sigh, then, "Still, be wary of folk who wander in off the wilds. There are plenty of them who are not at all rangers. But now, you understand my curiosity about this matter with Seeker." This latter comment is made carefully, and Thulion still watches the teen closely.
Keldean grows uneasy again, things Thulion is saying making him nervous. Though, his advice is amusing given how little trust the youth gave him upon first meeting him. He speaks softly, his tone guarded again. "I shouldn't have said what I did, I wasn't thinking right. I need to see Seeker, but Muirgheal will not let me. Maybe I could go out there when I know she is in town. I know where they live."
[Thulion(#28108)]
To this, the Ranger shakes his head. "I would advise against your going there, especially alone. Muirgheal seemed quite earnest about not letting you near their home. However," He pauses, seems to be considering something carefully, then nods. "I, myself, need to speak with her. I might at least find out why she will not let you apologise to Seeker and return the knife yourself."
"I think Cordelia lied to her. I don't understand how they are friends now." Keldean muffles another cough into his sleeve, his thin frame shaking from the effort. "It's getting cold in here.. I should go inside." He moves away from the stall and the horse within, "You shouldn't trust Cordelia, she tricks people." The teen heads for the door then, coughing again as he goes out into the yard.
[Thulion(#28108)]
The Ranger frowns a little, then nods once as the teen shivers. "Indeed, you aught to be resting. My thanks, Keldean," he adds then, perhaps for the warning, then he tugs his own cloak about himself. "Take care of yourself. Fare well." With that, he, too leaves the stable yard, resolves strides carrying back out and away from the inn.
Players: Keldean, Acelen, Thulion, Lee
