A night in the hallway

Pelargir: The King and Captains - Elvadur Hall

The long common hall of the house is virtually entombed in stone. Reaching upwards from the blue and grey slate to press against the ceiling are large columns of granite, and with the exception of stained glass filtering in light, the walls are all stone. A blue rug lies in the center of the hall, with rumpled pillows thrown upon it. Against the eastern wall are lines of Mahogany doors leading to private individual rooms, some of which are permanently inhabited by some residents of the city. A fountain hugging the western wall gurgles softly, the sound pleasant and soothing.

Obvious exits:

Black Door

[Lebennin ZMO(#10561)->Fîndon]

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Weather:            Cloudy

Time:               Before Dawn <05>

Season:             Winter

Date:               Orbelain - January 12, 3050

Real Time:          Thu May 27 18:00:45 2010

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

[Fin]

From the sconces a fickle light pervades the hall, the pillars casting long shadows and the ceiling is wreathed in darkness entirely. Faint sounds of sleeping escape the thick doors. Elvadur\'s hall stands deserted in the grey hours before dawn, a hushed silence on it. Excepting the gurgling of the fountain.

Excepting the figure seated upon its lower level, leaned back against the wall.

Findon. But he is awake, by all accounts. But his gaze, locked in between doors on the other wall, is distant the fingers raised to scratch idly at his clean-shaven chin testament to his present state of mind.

[Menelglir(#17324)]

Not asleep. Menelglir\'s boots are noisy on the floors as he hurries along, dressed for the long night\'s watch or coming off of it. He seems intent on reaching one of the doors to the private rooms here, likely the quarters of the Squire, and does not as yet spot Findon. Perhaps he is not looking for the Knight, after all.

[Fin]

However far away the knight\'s thoughts, they seem recalled then, the idle hand dropping to his lap his gaze swaying to identify the maker of these footfalls, overloud as they seem in the stillness. And he too is still, bar that slight movement of the arm.

Quietly then, Findon voices a spartan greeting: \"A moment of your time, Menelglir, if you please.\"

[Menelglir(#17324)]

A little cry of startlement now breaks the hallway as Menelglir, unsuspecting, spins about to face the Knight. He exhales on recognizing the man. \"I looked for you earlier, Findon...\" he starts. \"But...all right.\"

[Fin]

\"My apologies if I startled you.\"

A somewhat baffled expression sits on his face, even though it does not carry through his voice. It might well be that he is unaccustomed to catching others unawares. But the expression settles soon enough. Findon sighs. \"Think none of that. I was... preoccupied.\"

\"How fares your work?\"

[Menelglir(#17324)]

\"My work?\" Menelglir glances up the hall from whence he came. \"I was on watch and it was quiet, Findon,\" he says, resorting to informality since the Knight doesn\'t seem to object. \"Oh! my work? Tis slow?\" He grimaces.

The hall, dark and quiet, holds the sounds of those sleeping behind the closed doors and the small conversation between Knight and Blue Squire, Knight seated upon the lower level of the fountain, Squire standing.

[Fin]

\"I was hoping...\"

His glance lowers to his knees. Again, a sigh, and a wane smile fleets past the knight\'s lip, slow in coming, but fading evenly with his words: \"It is merely vanity. I would come before my kin in the proper rainment. \'Tis folly.\" At once he looks up. And his tone, now, is kind. \"But that is the lesser topic.\"

\"Tell me about Yildirim.\"

[Liria(#32446)] From behind one of the closed doors in that dark and quiet hallway comes a sudden harsh sound- a man\'s pained scream. It repeats itself a second time, more muffled, and then ceases altogether. After a few minutes pass, the door opens, and Liria appears, her arms filled with old bandages which she seeks to discard. The girl\'s long hair is unbound, reaching down past her back- obviously this was an unexpected late call for duty. After the bandages are done away with, the girl dusts off her hands and looks around, not yet seeing or recognizing the pair of men conversing by the fountain.

[Menelglir(#17324)]

\"I fear, sir, that you will come before your kin naked at this rate. I work on the banner to start, and even that is slow!\" Menelglir answers in sudden fear. \"You must instead beg the tailors for their assistance, lest you shame yourself in one of my creations, awkward as they are likely to be. I mean...I can stitch. The elves showed me how...but the cut of the thing...and the time to do so. I train, I am on watch, I study...sleep? Food? these I give up for my work...\" He seems sincere, anxious, and that is not allayed by the Knight\'s question.

A small sigh as he relents to having to answer, still standing before the new Knight, now nervous, too. \"He goaded me into it. He spoke of my mother, called her a whore in many ways. I lost my temper, and twice sir. The first, when he called her thus, and then, even after I had knocked the wind out of him, he detailed exactly how she performed such vile things. Crudely detailed and...all I could see was red. I punched him, and the guards pulled us apart. And now they say I broke a truce? That I am no man of Gondor to treat an envoy so? Yet what kidn of envoy speaks so despciably and dishonorably? And then, though bleeding, smiles smugly at the results? This is no envoy but an enemy, here to twist our words. As ever.\"

Abruptly, Menelglir twists about at the cry of pain, staring into the darkness and even taking two or more steps that way, though he hesitates and looks to Findon for guidance.

[Fin]

The swan-knight\'s glance is drawn by the agonizing cries, and too, the unlatched door.

The crease on his brow permits a smile however, but whether it is upon noting the appearance of the young Isilrim yonder, or Menelglir\'s forbearance. It is the latter who is favored for the nonce however his attention returning to the squire, and the smile dies shortly there after. A subtle nod. \"As ever.\"

\"This was a ploy to make us look the fool, nothing more -- that at least, is what I hope. I cannot see what he would hope to gain excepting the derision you must now endure. Would that it could end there.\" And for the third time, a sigh, and it is heavier now. \"Fact of the matter is that the man is under our protection, for now. By all appearances we have broken that trust, shallow and thin as it may have been from the start.\"

\"I am unsure of how to remedy this. And too, you must learn to check your temper. While not an ill deed in my mind, this was ill befitting a Squire of the Order under the circumstances.\"

Findon rises then, but holds his peace, regarding the Blue Squire with measured anticipation.

[<#17324>] \'What will happen?\' The Squire\'s attention, as it is clear that it\'s a healer emerging from the room and not an attack, now turns back to the Knight. \'Am I to be...I don\'t know..sent out of the Order itself? Turned back from Blue Squire? I...I cannot think and I have not heard from Sir Gwendion and now I cannot sleep, either. Can you tell me at least what\'s possible?\'

Then, a double-take, though: Menelglir turns back toward the healer, recognizing her and blushing as he lowers his voice to Findon.

\"I think she is sweet on you. She asked me if you were promised to any. To find out if you were. And what you were like.\"

[Liria(#32446)] Her task finished, the patient resting, Liria is finally able to move down the hall, closer to the fountain. She walks rather peacefully, almost strolling despite the hour. When she nears the fountain, she extends her hands, meaning to rinse them with the cool water within. It\'s Menelglir that she spots first, and she offers him a smile in greeting, saying something quiet like, \"Setting bones is a nasty business,\" as she touches her hands to the water. Her wide, light eyes look up and she sees just who the Squire\'s conversing with-- a certain Knight of whom she\'s spoken lately. So when her eyes land upon him, Liria gives a startled sort of noise like, \"Arp!\" and takes a quick step back.

[Fin]

A laugh.

Stark sudden and bright and clear, all shattering the hushed stillness for a brief while. \"Menelglir the Mirthful, you never cease to suprise,\" Findon says as his own mirth ebbs, leaving behind a smile that does not yet seem to fade. He winks then. \"You have my leave to oblige.\"

He graps the same Squire lightly by the shoulder. \"Have no fear. I shall soften the blow, if there indeed is to be one.\"

At Liria\'s startled outcry, however, the knight\'s attention does turn her way, \"Pardon, lady! Did I frighten you?\"

[Liria(#32446)] \"Um,\" Liria says to Findon, not at all conveying what a bright lady she is. \"Um, no, you didn\'t, thank you,\" she murmurs, giving an awkward curtsy. \"I was just going to wash my hands, here, in this water...which is water,\" she tells him, her cheeks turning pinker by the minute. She starts rinsing her hands, and finds it much easier to talk when she isn\'t looking up at the Knight, it would seem. \"I trust you\'re having a pleasant evening?\" she says, much more composedly, an unmistakably happy note in her voice.

[Menelglir(#17324)]

The laughter seems to confuse Menelglir, who frowns and tilts his head. \"But...it was a serious inquiry...\" he says, glancing to the healer to nod a silent greeting. \"But you give me leave to respond? And...will I not be banned from the Order, then?\" he presses on with his more deeply held concern. \"Or shamed my family name?

[Fin]

The Swan-Knight does not answer at once.

The creases on his brow return, his glance lowered. \"It has been an uneventful one -- for the most part -- for which I am thankful. And what of your patient?\"

\"I so do.\" When Findon looks to the Squire, whom he now addresses, his voice grows stern however. \"Is the worth of your oath such that you would foreswear yourself thus, and for what? The schemes of a southron runt? No!\" And then, upon a softer tone: \"No. You are not released, nor are you dead and the world... it is not ending yet.\"

\"But it is well that you worry. Tell me: looking back, what do you yourself think you should have done?\"

[Liria(#32446)] Looking down at the rippling surface of the fountain, Liria answers, \"He\'ll be just fine. Only a broken leg. Tripped over something during a practice, was what I gathered...may I join you?\" And then, presuming so in a moment of boldness, Liria takes a seat beside Findon on the fountain. After listening to Menelglir\'s concerns, Liria offers- not unkindly- \"If you keep worrying like that, you\'ll make your stomach sick!\"

[Menelglir(#17324)]

\"Walked away,\" Menelglir says with a heavy sigh. \"Planned my attack better or walked away and not listened. Proven myself the better man, but I did not. The Order teaches how to fight swords, not words. But...I do not hold my oath so cheap, no!\" he protests, looking up, defiantly. \"And the Healer was present as well. So not only did he insult my mother, but he did so in the presence of a Lady...terrible things she should not have heard. And thus the envoy treated our women, attacking them. Is that not so?\" he directs to Liria, though as she goes to sit next to the Knight, he works hard to suppress a laugh.

[Fin]

An eyebrow perched on high, Findon\'s gaze levels with the Squire\'s own.

\"Yes, she...\" A pause, glance shifting for a moment beside him, and back again, \"...She said as much.\"

Clearing his throat, he continues: \"Our fundamental worth is in our word. Or more to the point: our ability to hold to it. So too our Order, and your conduct reflects us all. As to your answer, I am not entirely satisfied. But...\" He is interrupted then, a hand raised to stifle a yawn. \"But consider this, and consider it well. I suspect Hir Gwendion might want to hear your conclusion.\"

[Liria(#32446)] \"They may have been terrible things, but not ones entirely new to my ears, I assure you,\" Liria says, reaching down to pull her hair back from the fountain- the long tresses had gotten into the water when she took a seat. \"I wouldn\'t go so far as to say that he attacked -me-...in fact, he was quite civil, even if his intent was more sinister...but he certainly treated his hosts poorly. He\'s probably happy up in his room right now, dreaming of the chaos he\'s going to cause.\" Liria shrugs her shoulders. She then finds herself blushing again as she looks at just who she\'s sitting next to.

[Menelglir(#17324)]

The Knight\'s raised eyebrow draws a blush and a quick cough into his hand as Menelglir then tries to hide that particular reaction. \"Well...then I am glad to have her support though...\" He blinks in surprise at the healer\'s reply, not even attempting to respond to the first part. To the second, he nods. \"I did...overreact...?\" he says gingerly.

\"But...I don\'t know what to say further. I made a mistake, I did not keep my oath in mind nor the virtues. And I failed the Order and myself that way. But...I don\'t know what more I can say. There is no excuse,\" he finishes, quietly morose.

[Fin]

The knight turns to face Liria with a subtle nod: \"Just so.\"

\"There is hope for your redemption yet, little brother. And that man will have his due, soon or late. I am assured of this.\"

\"I must beg your forgiveness for not inquiring for your insight in this matter, lady. For this I have no excuse. And too, for leaving so soon. It has been a pleasure, as always.\"

Thus away down the hall, and through a door, and the Knight is gone.

[Liria(#32446)] \"It has?\" Liria starts to ask the Knight hopefully, but he is already departing. \"Likewise..\" she answers, waving a hand at his departing back. Then, as girls are wont to do, she sighs a little, but in a happy sort of way. To Menelglir, she says, \"It -is- getting late. But...do tell me if you would like me to help you by serving witness again to anyone else about your story.\" She slips from the fountain. \"Goodnight, squire!\" she calls cheerfully.

[Menelglir(#17324)]

\"No, no...I don\'t think I will need your defense in this,\" Menelglir shakes his head, having watched the Knight depart with some hope returned to his expression. \"There is hope. In many things,\" he smiles to the healer. \"For me...and..\" he glances off toward where Findon walked toward, then back to the woman, \"and for you.\" A smile at that. \"But it\'s late and I must be up early. So good night.\"

[Liria(#32446)] Menelglir is rewarded with a huge smile after his last. \"Thank you, Menelglir...enjoy the rest of your night,\" Liria says, scurrying off on dainty feet, her hair dripping a trail of water on the stone floor.