It was a mellow, lazy summer afternoon when Tancamir strolled over to the garden fence, leaning one arm rakishly on the gate. Humming an old hunting-song under his breath, he idly plucked a leaf and flicked it in the direction of a nearby plot of herbs. The leaf connected with a head of dark hair, and there was an indignant squeak before the figure kneeling on the ground rose to its feet.
"Tyelco, what is it this time? Can you not see that I am busy?" Uilossiel gave her brother an exasperated glare. She had been kneeling by a plot of herbs, gathering bunches of them into a small wicker basket lined with a linen cloth. Her rabbit, Míril, sat contentedly nearby, nibbling a few stray herbs which had fallen onto the ground.
"Oh, I just thought I would pay my favorite little sister a visit, nothing much." Tancamir grinned, leaning even more rakishly against the fence and launching several more leaves in his sister's direction. "You are always busy, no fun at all."
"I assume you are here to ask a favour, as always?" Uilossiel smiled playfully. "What is on your mind?"
"Well … not a favour, just some…" he coughed uncertainly. "… advice?"
"Advice? Go ask your Arrow Lord for advice, he seems to give it freely enough." Uilossiel smiled archly. "Why come to me?"
Uilossiel observed her brother's face for several long moments, frowning as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, and flashed her an idiotically happy smile. He seemed to be rather at a loss for words, eyes darting around the garden as if trying to search for what to say next. What in the name of Elbereth …? She rolled her eyes and resumed her work picking herbs.
"Er … what sort of herbs go well with small game? Rabbit, pheasant, you know?" He blurted out.
Uilossiel's face turned very pale, then her cheeks flushed with anger as she protectively scooped up Míril, and turned on her heel to face her brother.
"What in the name of all the Powers was that about?" She fixed Tancamir with a hard glare. "How dare you speak of herbs and stewed rabbit when Míril is here! I do not partake of such game, and you know it. Insolent wretch!" She cuffed him on the cheek sharply, hugging her rabbit to her chest.
"Uhh… I really meant no offence, sister, I had forgotten about your pet, and - " he was cut off by another series of slaps, aimed fiercely at his face, neck, and shoulders.
"You had better have a reason for such an inane question, Tyelco! Or I swear, I will - " Míril struggled and kicked in Uilossiel's grasp, frightened by the violence occurring around her, and Uilossiel turned away from chastising her brother to mutter soothingly at her pet, stroking the rabbit's grey and white fur lovingly.
"There, there, Míril, my brother is simply being his insufferable self, do not be frightened. I will not let anything happen to you." Uilossiel glared murderously at Tancamir, her voice taking on a dangerous edge. "Explain yourself, please?"
Tancamir leaned over the fence, muttering to himself uneasily, before finally mumbling, "Ah … do you happen to know anyone who has some swan feathers to spare?
"Some … what?" Uilossiel asked incredulously. "Why would you be needing feathers?"
"I am planning to …. er, fletch some more arrows."
"I thought you always preferred hawk-feathers for fletchings?" Uilossiel stared at him, rage ebbing away and replaced with bewilderment. "Have you hit your head on something? You are not making much sense. You allegedly came here for advice, but I am not an expert on feathers, or anything else of that sort. If you want swan feathers, lady Elvealin … or now lady Manadhlaer might be able to find some for you, but you would have to ask very nicely. "
Tancamir suddenly found his gauntlets very interesting, a sheepish expression on his face. "Oh, perhaps hawk feathers would be better, then."
Uilossiel gave him a sharp look. " You have that look on your face that suggests you are either insane, intoxicated, or infatuated. As I have no reason to believe the first two are true, I suppose the third is the only logical conclusion."
"Well, maybe you are right and maybe you are not. " Tancamir idly twirled a leaf in one hand. "What do you know of these matters, anyways? It is not as if you are an expert in matters of the heart, by any means."
"Well, I think I know enough to see that you fancy some girl, but have neither the nerve to ask me for advice, nor the presence of mind to think of logical things to say." Uilo turned up her nose at Tancamir, then waved a bunch of parsley menacingly in the air.
"If you really like her, stop dallying here and figure something out. Or I will throw something at you. Get you gone, loiterer." She made a shooing motion with one hand. Míril, resting on the ground, tapped her hind foot emphatically. The rabbit turned her tiny head toward the tall archer leaning across the fence, fixing her beady black eyes on him. Tancamir, slightly unnerved, edged away from the fence.
"All right, I am off, though I wonder what I did to put you in such a mood. " Tancamir backed away from the fence. "And there is no girl, sister, you are sorely mistaken."
"As if! Maybe you do not know it, but you will, sooner or later. I wish you luck; you are going to need all of it you can find." Uilossiel gave her brother a cheeky wink before turning back to her work. She watched as Míril hopped among the herbs in the garden, button nose twitching, and smiled to herself. The days were lengthening, and life had fully returned to the Vale, despite the grief that had recently befallen the House. There was hope in the greening land around her, she reflected, and reason enough to endure despite the sorrows of the past. And, she thought with a laugh, now her idiot brother had someone on his mind.
Gathering up her basket of herbs, she walked away down the path, whistling softly to Míril and watching with satisfaction as her rabbit followed docilely behind her. No one would be putting her darling pet in a stew, she would make sure of that.
