Perfectly Normal!

[Hildis(#23062)]

Quiet reigns in the night and in the silence the stamp of a hoof, the shift of

a pony from one foot to another carries. Hildis sits on an upturned bucket

outside a stall listening to the crunch of sweet hay being eaten. It is a

peaceful moment. She closes her eyes to smell the heavy perfume of good

hay, healthy animals and polished leather. And listens.

The stable doors open, letting in a blast of wintery night air as Siv enters,

leading in a goods-laden pony. Pony and Zinbar woman walk down the aisles

of stables, looking for an empty spot.

[Hildis(#23062)] Two shadows appear at the end of the row limned in the

brilliant stars of the high mountains. Hildis watches the two approach,

pony and...she does not recognize the dwarf leading the animal in the dim

light until she is nearly upon her. Hildis stands, \"Siv? You are out late.\"

\"Hildis?\" Siv asks, jumping slightly, the other woman\'s presence here

startlign her. \"I should say you\'re up late and wandering about the

stables...going out?\" Her eyes narrow slightly, and she looks the woman up

and down.

[Hildis(#23062)] Hildis is so quick with her apologies that she does not seem

to notice Siv\'s scrutiny. \"No, no...I won\'t be leaving the mountain till

everything is resolved. I,\" she looks about her, \" I hadn\'t thought for a

moment it would look like I was going out. I just wanted,\" she shrugs and

sighs, \"a moment away from my family, a breath of cold air. I like to

listen to the ponies eat. It relaxes me.\"

She is silent for a moment letting the peace of the stables rise about them.

\"Where are you coming from?\"

\"Dale,\" Siv answers, leading the pony into an empty stall and starting to

unload it. The cargo, whatever it is,is wrapped in thick blankets against

the winter weather. \"Since my brothers fell in battle two years ago, I\'ve

had to run errands to Dale for my father. This one just took longer than

it should have.\" She pauses unloadign to scrutinize Hildis again. \"Leave?

Would you leave the mountain, then? Once the matter with Ranor is settled?\"

[Hildis(#23062)]

\"Leave?\" she repeats with surprise. \"Can I help you unload, Siv?\" She follows

Siv into the roomy stall and stands back against the wall near her.

\"Not leave but trade, certainly trade. I had my father\'s permission and the

guild\'s permission to trade as far as Rivendell before...Ranor.\" She

frowns heavily. \"Like you, I will help my father, though my brother lives,

he wants only the stone trade and has no desire to wander. I am sorry for

your brothers, Siv.\"

\"Well, yes...leave...Frankly, Hildis, when I saw you with Ranol the other day,

well, I thought that somehow you and Ranol were implicated in the whole

shady business with Ranor,\" Siv replies, nodding a thank you to the remark

about her brothers, but steadfastly refusing any help unloading the pony.

The bundles are large and heavy, and she drops them one by one with a thud

to the floor--though in truth, the pony is sturdy and isn\'t carrying an

unreasonable load.

Siv turns, using the back of her hand to wipe a thin film of sweat off her

forehead before she continues. \"But after yesterday, I\'m confused. Now, if

you ask me, you don\'t seem guilty, but of course I have not much to go

on..\"

[Hildis(#23062)]

Hildis opens her mouth twice but doesn\'t say anything, she opens her arms

wide, then hugs herself, \"You thought...because...I\'m confused. Why would

you think that Ranol was involved? He is not like his father.\" She speaks

in a low, slow voice, no thought of defending herself. \"how I wish I had

never accepted carrying that letter for Ranor...I did not like him but did

it for his son and my mother\'s friend, his wife.\"

Siv frowns, shaking her head. \"Are you _certain_ that Ranol is not like his

father? They say the apple doesn\'t fall far from the tree. I\'m sure Ranor

did not start out the way that he did...but...\" she looks to Hildis, then

turns back to the pony, now taking off its saddle and saddle blanket. \"You

have the judgment to know these things, I\'m sure. It would be nice if

Ranol was an honorable man.\"

[Hildis(#23062)]

Hildis\'s brow furrows in real consternation. \"Me? The judgment? If that

had been so I would have obeyed my instincts to leave that letter in

his hand. Oh, and don\'t think I did not watch Ranol closely after I

was jailed but,\" she shakes her head, a measure of peace returning

to her face, \"I think that old adage is not true. He has escaped

whatever it is that has made Ranor as he is. I still don\'t know what

the letter carried, Siv. I believe that Ranol is an honorable

man...you do not?\"

\"I don\'t know. Frankly,\" Siv answers plainly. She reaches for a brush

and starts to groom the pony now. \"From what I hear, he is an

honorable person. And yet Ranor seemed to me quite reasonable and

helpful as well. In fact, he was one of the few people who believed

me when I said that I had said nothing about Thari. Outside my own

clan.\"

[Hildis(#23062)] Going to the pony\'s head she scratches its ears and

combs back its forelock while she listens. \"We are not all good or

all bad. But perhaps he \'believed\' you for his own good, wanting to

have an ally among the Zinbar. I believe him capable of that, Ranor,

that is. I believe you when you say that you caused no problem for

Thari...why would you want to? I trust Ranol. There is something

steadfast about him, thick, too...but the thickness of wanting to do

good if you follow my meaning.\"

\"Thick??\" Siv laughs, working slowly around the pony. \"So ...Hildis...

are you and Ranol talking marriage?\" she asks casually.

[Hildis(#23062)]

She stops the scratching to poke her head around the pony\'s head her

hands still around both its ears and asks with surprised and not

altogether unpleased smile, \"Are we what?\"

She lets go of the pony and walks around it to Siv. \"No...not yet at

least, if I am honest. And I have been thick, myself. You and

Ranol...is it something you would still desire, Siv?\"

Siv laughs. \"It\'s not a matter of what I want. But in either case, no, I

am not interested in Ranol anymore, no. The man is ....well, no

matters there.\"

[Hildis(#23062)]

\"What is he?\" HIldis asks trustingly.

\"You\'ll have to judge that for yourself,\" Siv smiles. She moves to fetch

fresh hay for the pony. \"Far be it from me to say anything about

anyone...not now not ever again.

[Hildis(#23062)]

\"Well, thank you for believing me about the letter.\" Dust rises when she

pats the pony on its rump. \"Do you have another brush?\"

Siv reaches for a brush and tosses it to Hildis. \"Ranor said some nasty

things ....oh...never mind....\" She frowns.

[Hildis(#23062)] The sound of brushing fills the silence between them,

Hildis works down the rump, down the hind leg, a thoughtful frown on

her face. Head hanging as she works the mud out of fetlock she asks,

\"What did he say? Or maybe I really should not ask...because I think

it would be pure poison.\"

\"Why would I repeat what he said?\" Siv answrs without looking up. \"I

just vowed not to spread gossip, and here I am, spreading gossip.

About Thari, of all people.\" She frowns.

[Hildis(#23062)]

\"They are to be married, you know. Frarin and Thari. She is not

pregnant. I believe my mother when she tells me things.\" She rises

to look at Siv when she says that.

\"Good. Then Ranor\'s lies are wrong.\" Siv looks up, looks over the pony

again, then stoops to pick up the wrapped goods. \"I believe I\'m done

here, Hildis. Thanks for the help.\"

[Hildis(#23062)] HIldis stands with the brush in her hand, a puzzled

look , \"Ah, you\'re welcome. I am glad...I am glad that there is

support from dwarves such as yourself.\"

Siv arches an eyebrow, dubious at that. \"Thank you.\" She doesn\'t look

like she believes Hildis\'s words, despite her own. \"We shall see

just how much people like my support,\" she notes, then shoulders the

heavy bundles and trundles on out of the stables.