Bree--A Nice, Quiet Dinner

The sky's golden light is beginning to dark as the sun slowly slips away. The door to Muirgheal and Rhifaroth's house opens, and it's the loudmouthed Arabella who shouts outside for Rhifaroth to come in, from wherever on the property he may be. "You need to come wash up now!" She hollers. From inside, another, older voice can be heard hissing, "Bells! Not that loud! Did you know that we're not inviting all of Archet to our table? They wouldn't even /fit/ in here." Inside, shaking her head, Muirgheal is taking out a loaf of the fresh bread she made earlier in the day. She's also working on another sweet treat- she seems to have a penchant for those, of late.

Dusk is falling and shadows of evening are long and less bright as the sun is slipping away in the west. Rhifaroth has been working on trying to figure out a way to get water from the creek up to the tilled earth for irrigation purposes, should the summer be over dry. All of the garden plot has been cleared of stumps now, the earth cut and turned over, broken up, and composted manure worked in - into a fairly large area north of the house.

And into this, carefully seed has been set. The first of that having been planted more than a week ago, the very first sprouts are beginning to break the ground. Other seed will take longer. So far though, there has been enough rain.

His back and arms aching a little from the hard work, the Dunadan straightens up from the ditch he was digging at the sound of Arabella's voice calling him to come in for dinner. The mattock is lifted and cleaned, then shouldered as Rhifaroth turns to head back to the house. It's been a pleasant day.

On time, or roughly so given that a watch would be an unaffordable luxury for her, Cordelia now walks down the road, heading toward Rhifaroth's house. She's been invited here for dinner, after all--but she does not have Liuni with her.As the ranger turns to head back to the house, she picks up her pace. "Seeker! Evening," she waves.

Arabella, having already scrubbed her own hands, is doing her part in getting ready for supper by playing with the twins on the carpet. She helps them to sit up, mindful that in a few seconds each will fall over and likely roll around. This gives Muirgheal time to finish working on their dessert. The scent of it is wonderful. She's wearing her beautiful blue dress again tonight, and after she sets the dessert far back on a kitchen counter, she starts to look for plates.

Hrm... sunset. As soon as he realizes that the sun is going down, Rhifaroth halts in his return to the house and looks as though he just thought of something he needed to do, first. Though he turns to the west, pale eyes scanning the trees and the cleared land rolling away towards the north of Bree, a voice pipes up in the twilight to hail him.

'Seeker' turns his head, mattock over his shoulder, and sees Cordelia approaching. Ah well, his evening absolutions will have to be missed, tonight.

The tall man turns back and approaches the young woman, "Good evening, Cordelia. Bells just called me in to wash up. Your timing is excellant." His free hand motions for the young woman to proceed to the house. "Smells like Muir has been busy whipping something special up."

The young woman sniffs the air, and from the way her nose wrinkles, the ranger might guess that she is downwind of him and scenting that rather than his wife's cooking. Or maybe it's young love, and he just thinks his wife's cooking smells good. Still, Cordelia nods politely, and then brings up her left hand, in which is clutched a bunch of wildflowers and greenery. "I didn't know what to bring..." she shrugs apologetically. "And I thought it best if Liu stayed in Bree." There's a slight wrinkling of her forehead that accompanies those words.

"Good evening," Muirgheal says when she sees Cordelia following her husband, wiping her hands on a cloth and coming out into the main room. She smiles a little. "Lovely flowers." And even Cordelia would be hard pressed not to notice the scent of a freshly baked cake, now that she's come all the way inside.

Arabella jumps up from the carpet the twins are safe enough right there, for now. "Cordelia?" She looks rather surprised. "Let out any more prisoners lately?" She claps a hand over her mouth. Oh, the trouble she doesn't mean to cause! Now she's really done it her face turns ashen. "I mean, um, hi." She says from behind her hand.

Seeker gets the door for Cordelia and opens it, then steps aside to allow the young woman to go on in before himself, "Eh, sorry if I smell badly. Been a busy day." he apologizes, mindful that he must smell of freshly turned earth, composted manure, sweat, and perhaps even wild pig faintly. He'll need a lot of washing up before he can sit to table.

The man gives the young woman a searching look but says nothing about Liuni - for now. "I'm sure that Muirgheal will appriciate the flowers, thank you. I don't know if we'll ever have the luxury of planting roses or suchlike." Things he remembers from his own childhood, in a city far from here.

Entering into the house, Arabella's blurted ... eh, greeting, stops the man. Seeker raises a black brow, "What is that supposed to mean, Arabella?"

"I mean that nasty boy. And Cordelia. Letting some dangerous man named Barlok out of the jail in Bree. I overheard all about it, and I'm so tired of bad people coming to Archet. Who really knows where he is now, anyways? He might come up here for dinner anytime now!" Arabella continues to talk, hand away from her mouth now, in her lovely, exaggerated manner. Muirgheal, who has come to stand beside the girl, looks a little livid at Cordelia, and a little pale besides.

"It's all right, you've been working," Cordelia says, blushing a little at having been so obvious. Still she takes a deep breath as she enters the house. "It smells fantastic," she says as she offers the flowers toward Muirgheal.

Indeed, for about two seconds, a lovely expression of contentment settles on Cordelia's face--that is until Bells opens her mouth, not once, but twice, and Cordelia's jaw drops, her outstretched hand still offering the flowers toward Muirgheal. "I did /not/ let Barlok out of jail!" She whirls toward Rhifaroth to defend herself to him. "What in creation would prompt me to free a man who tried to murder me twice?! After all the danger I put myself and Liuni in by coming to you and telling you all I did, /why/ would I free Barlok?!" Her voices rises higher in agitation as she speaks.

A very good question, one the Dunadan would like to know too. He watches Cordelia carefully, but his pale gaze slips to Arabella, "You are making a dreadful accusation, Bells. And as I brought that man to the Bree jail myself, and did not know he was now loose, I would indeed appriciate knowing why you would think Cordelia or Keldean might be involved. That man -did- try more than once to kill Cordy. Broke her arm, ribs, and came into the Healing Houses at night to try and finish her off. I know - I was there."

Muirgheal, still pale, accepts the flowers. This wasn't the dinner that the beautiful Rohirric girl had in mind. Then arms wrap around her waist, and she looks down- there's Bells, holding tight to her dress.

Arabella, feeling a good deal safer while holding onto Muirgheal, looks at Rhifaroth stubbornly and says, "That boy, Keldean, it's him as did it. He let that prisoner out. I heard him say so. Got money for it and Cordelia wouldn't tell anyone, and she's my friend but...I had to tell you." All spoken while looking at Rhifaroth. "I swear it on my own life." Green eyes are full of truth and the remnants of childlike innocence.

Muirgheal, all the while, just remains silent, absently patting Bells on the back, looking like she's swallowed something unpleasant.

"Keldean...well, yes.." Cordelia answers, flustered, looking between all three. "Bells has it right. But...well, she has it right." There's not much more she can say to that, and Bells's blunt honesty will likely make any attempt on her part to smooth it over even worse. She gestures, palms up and open in a pleading motion. "I wanted to see if I could fix it somehow. Before, you know, Keldean got caught up too much in...well, you know. Only, I wasn't sure just what to do and then Barlok disappeared and..."

Aaron has been searching for the elf Giliath for days. Now he comes back to where he first met the elf, and much to his surprise he sees a small wooden carving on the ground. He picks it up, then comes to the nearest house. He wonders if this carving belongs to the owner of the house. He knocks on the door and calls out softly, "Anyone in there? I have something that might belong to you!"

Rhifaroth, still filthy and having only a moment ago had only washing up and dinner on his mind after a long day, now frowns. The tall, scarred and tattooed man looks from Cordelia to Arabella, then a glance to Muirgheal before his own eyes return to Cordelia, "And what makes you think he won't try to finish his work and off you, Cordelia? Why did you -not- tell me this the first time you saw me upon my return?" There is admonishment in his words, maybe faint anger.

A twisting of his mouth, "I suppose you should stay the night, here. Else you'd be heading back to Bree in the dark." a warning flicker to Muirgheal that this girl isn't to be trusted, "Perhaps you can stay at the Lodge, Cordy. Meanwhile, I should head for Bree and speak with Keldean." And won't that be fun for Kel?

A knock at the door and the Dunadan frowns, turning, "Who is it?" He's not keen to open the door to strangers.

Muirgheal's dark eyes flash a protest, "You're leaving for Bree right now, love? As you said, it will be dark...and if there's some sort of, well, prisoner out there who might be dangerous.." She doesn't like the sound of this. "I'll go with you." She knows that's not going to go over well with Rhifaroth, but she says it just the same. "Arabella can take the twins to her house," she volunteers the girl who started this trouble in the first place.

Cordelia's face falls. "I tried, Rhifaroth, really," she pleads. "I didn't want Keldean to get in trouble and I wanted to find...well, honestly, I wanted to find a way for me to take the blame, because I've been in so much trouble already anyhow, so what's a little more. And..it happened when you were away. At first I was terrified, but there was noone to go to for it and nothing to do..and then every day Barlok didn't turn up and noone heard anything of him, I got a bit less scared. Plus.." here she pauses for a breath, thinking, looking troubled, "I'm fairly certain he wasn't one of my family's friends. He was paid well to try to kill me, and that's all he was in it for, money."

"Um...it's, it's Aaron! The Merchant! I come from Bree to Archet on business of my own, but I wonder if this trinket I found belongs to you! Forgive me if I interupt, but it would be a shame for this wooden carving to go to waste in the rain!" His voice is louder now, although a bit shy, for he does not know the voice on the other side of the door.

No, Muirgheal's suggestion is not taken kindly by her husband, "No, Muir. Arabella can look after the twins, but she can't defend them." But, the man listens to Cordelia and sighs, "I suppose I don't have to rush off. It can wait until morning." a scowl twists his seamed face, eyes a little cold, "Keldean did say he came into some money and wished to buy a bow. Perhaps he'll get his first lesson early." And not a friendly lesson.

Rhifaroth watches Cordelia... he'd seen how Keldean was sweet on her. Is she also sweet on him? Would the young woman move to try and warn Keldean of Rhifaroth's intentions?

Not in the best mood, the Dunadan moves to unbar the door and open it. Blocking it with his own body, the tall man tries not to frown at Aaron, "Good evening, merchant Aaron." Ah yes, it has begun to rain. Good for the crop, but not so wonderful for the disposition, "Please, come in out of the rain. What have you, sir?"

Muirgheal is looking at Arabella. She leans down and murmurs against the girl's ear, "Why don't you take the twins into the bedroom, and shut the door. I'll bring you some food soon as I get around to finishing the meal. I don't want my children around so many guests, tonight." And once Bells has picked up Caoimhe and Elfaroth from the rug by the hearth, Muirgheal moves to stand beside Cordelia. "You've brought a lot of trouble into my house tonight, it would seem, girl." The full weight of her dark gaze is disapproving- and very disappointed. But then there's someone else at the door, and she looks up to see Aaron, surprised once again by a guest here tonight.

Nothing in Cordelia's stance or expression reveals her feelings for Keldean, though she does note quietly to Rhifaroth, "I /told/ him to give the money to the poor, but he wouldn't hear of it." But..more important than that is.." Well, the girl doesn't finish--there's a knock on the door that shuts her up, and Muirgheal moving closer to her--Cordelia doesn't move away, though. "I didn't mean to bring trouble, Miss. It's.." She's at a loss for words on what to say.

Aaron seems a bit embarrassed, now knowing this to be the Seeker's house. He nods to Cordelia. "Forgive the intrusion everyone. Does this belong to any of you though?" He holds up the wooden carving. It's in the likeness of an eagle, but very intricately designed. He senses something might be wrong here but he thinks little of it.

Seeker steps aside to let the merchant enter, showing them all the eagle carving. He puts out a hand as though to take it and look at it more closely, but aborts the motion as he sees Arabella moving quietly off to the bedroom with both of the children, and closing the door behind herself. That is probably wise. Bells has a big enough mouth as it is, bless her.

A glance to the others to see if Muirgheal or Cordelia have a reaction to the carving, "I've not seen it before, Aaron. I don't know anyone around here that carves with such skill - not in Archet."

Muirgheal's attention is still on Cordelia, at first. "Did you see those precious children playing on the rug over there?" She waits a moment before saying even more quietly, "I've killed over things much less important." She lets that hang in the air, not a threat to Cordelia, no, but perhaps to any other evil, like Barlok, with whom the girl might be associating. Only then does she look at the carving, and she gives a little shrug. She smiles at Aaron. "I'm afraid I've not seen it- but it was kind of you to see if it was ours. Whoever owns it will surely want it back it's quite nice."

A long, level look is given to Muirgheal before Cordelia answers in a bare whisper that likely won't carry to any but the blonde-haired woman. "I have sworn things to your husband on my sisters' lives. My life may have no value to me, but theirs do." It's an effort, but Cordelia exhales, the solemn expression on her face clearing as she looks to the carving that Aaron now holds. "It looks like something Ranol the dwarf could have made."

Aaron nods. "I will ask him then." However, the Merchant does not make to leave. Instead he stays in his place, for this conversation interests him, and the name of Barlok is familiar. "I am sorry for interupting," he says again, but still makes no effort to leave. His eyes dart continuously from Cordelia to Muirgheal to the Seeker. Eventually they come to rest on Cordelia, and he wonders if she is in trouble again and what for.

Aaron is given a look and then the tall man nods and motions for the merchant to go, "Then I suggest you do that, merchant Aaron. Before the night grows too late." Nevermind that all of the Dwarves have left Bree, as far as the Dunadan knows.

A glance to the others, then back to the man from Bree, "We were about to sit down to dinner - if you will excuse us?"

Muirgheal gives Cordelia a long, considering look. "I rather liked you, too," she murmurs, with a shake of her head. She doesn't trust other people's vows much, then. But then she hears her husband bidding Aaron a good night, and supposes that the three of them are going to attempt some sort of awkward dinner. Oh, boy. The blonde in the blue dress disappears into the kitchen, where a wonderfully seasoned meat and vegetable pasties await, and a fresh loaf of bread. She'll fix a plate for Bells, once everyone else is served. She looks out the kitchen window onto their property before continuing to prepare the food.

"I..oh..." Muirgheal has walked off into the kitchen before Cordelia has a chance to respond, so she turns to Rhifaroth instead. "I've disturbed the peace of your home and put your wife and children in danger, likely. I shouldn't have even accepted her invitation to dinner." She frowns, her mouth drawn in a thin line. "I'll leave, Rhifaroth. I'm not your responsibility."

Aaron nods. Clearly these matters are not for his ears. He bids farewell to all with a wave, then exits the house. He sticks the wooden carving in his pocket, and then he circles around towards a window near the side of the house, hoping to learn more of what it is that's going on.

As soon as the extra pair of ears has departed, at least from the inside of the quaint house, the Dunadan turns to face Cordelia, "Please do not use that name around other folk, Cordelia."

A sigh, "You may go. You have likely not put us in any danger where Barlok is concerned, lass. He was after -you- and knows little or nothing about me, unless you or Keldean have had loose tongues." What? Keldean have a loose tongue! Never!

The man motions her out, "we can try this again another time. I am sorry, Cordy. Please be careful. Go over to the Lodge tonight, won't you? I can walk you back to Bree myself, in the morning, if you will allow me."

"There's no need for that, but fine, if you insist I'll wait for you there until tomorrow morning," Cordelia answers, not at all happy with the arrangement. She glances back toward the kitchen as if to say something to Muirgheal, but thinks better of it and just leaves.

Opening the door for Cordelia, the scarred and tattooed man uses his free hand to touch Cordy's shoulder, "Infact, I'll walk you over to the Lodge and see you settled right now. Yes, please do wait for me and I'll walk you back to Bree, Cordelia. You know you should not be out by yourself - and especially now, with Barlok loose."

A glance back over his shoulder and Rhifaroth raises his voice, "Muir, I'll be right back for dinner. Please serve yourself and Bells!" Then he steps out and closes the door behind them. Will that annoy Muir?