Sometimes, Adiwen and Altor met in the great hall, sometimes in the garden, allowing the crisp morning sunshine to inspire their efforts.
Today, they were seated in the garden. Altor was reading passages from a book and she was supposed to write down each word. Adiwen felt her pen scratching the paper painfully slow. His voice was as clear as always, but he seemed to be reading faster than usually. And yet, she had only transcribed a few sentences.
*Ambiguously behaved* , she tried to write down. But her pen seemed to get stuck between the letters *g* and *u*. Which letters came after that? Who knows? Not her.
Anger and a good dose of dispair welled inside of her. She placed the pen down and pushed everything away from her.
Altor looked at her above his book. "What are you doing?"
"I am done".
"If you need a break, we can switch to reading".
"No, you do not understand" tears threatened to trickle down her face. "I am done! This is of no use, I cannot do it any longer".
"Do not be silly. Your progress is great; with your dedication to the task, you will master spelling and writing in no time".
"Progress!" Adiwen scoffed. "Everytime I have learned how to spell a word, another one comes along that takes me ages to write, let alone remember! I cannot do it, I am useless at these arts". The tears trickled down this time.
Altor's expression was kind and soft. He put the book on the table. Then, he cupped both of her hands with his own. "You are not useless. You can do it, I believe in you" he smiled at her as he stood up. "Let us go riding. Now".
Adiwen's spirits rose a little bit. Riding through the plains in the sunshine was one of her favourite activities. If she could, she would give up her responsibilities as a lady and ride around Rohan. Perhaps she would even go to Gondor. However, that was a silly dream; she had a duty towards her people.
The ride was refreshing. As time passed, she could feel the feeling of oppression and anxiety lift from her heart. Altor did not try to make small talk with her. He was content to match her pace in silence. They spend most of the afternoon like that, the two of them and the plains.
Once they were back at the stables, she was calm and her head was clear again. Adiwen turned to face him. "I will see you tomorrow at our usual spot. However, I will start with reading this time".
Altor smiled at her. She never thanked him for the break or his help. He did not need to hear it, he seemed to always know her thoughts.
