Condolences, of a sort...



Following the banner’s return from Eregion, a night’s rest and a hot bath and some well-cooked food had given Lilleduil a much better attitude towards the world in general.  After lunch she had walked down to the stables to find Ladrochan only too eager to saddle her fractious warhorse, who had been kicking his stall for a day.  Lilleduil took him on a swift gallop that traversed the whole Valley; then, when Braigsul settled at last, walked him up to the door of the Homely House.  There she encountered Gaufwin, who looked about as dressed up as she’d ever seen him.  Lilleduil wondered what the occasion was.

“All cleaned up,” Gaufwin noted, looking her up and down.

“Yes! Thankfully!” Lilleduil declared.  “You look very nice as well. And we got you back here in one piece, even without a sword.”

Gaufwin seemed pleased.  He chuckled, observing, “Cumbersome, those.”

“In future,  I would suggest pausing to pick up a weapon, even if Caun Osilivren says to hurry.  Cumbersome, perhaps, but useful.”

The man shrugged.  “First lesson, though, up Evendim.   If you carry a blade, you good to go front and center.”

“What was that?”  Gaufwin was every bit as incomprehensible to her as Elisbeth was at times, but for some reason, she never worried about it.

“No blade, no much use, eh?”  Perhaps it was because he never minded explaining himself.  A giggle escaped Lilleduil.

“So this was a strategem?”

“Stratamagem, yeh,” Gaufwin declared with a grin.  She found herself giggling again.  Something about the Man always put her in a good mood.

“You've been in Evendim?”

“I have.  Bit of helpin out.”  Whether it was menial labor or fighting or some combination of the two, he did not specify.

“You've not met Eirallyn. She's a Dunadan girl from Esteldin I recommended to the Warband. She's spent a little time there.”

Gaufwin frowned.  “Eirallyn, nah, name don't ring no bells.”

“It was very recently.”

“Ah, well that'd explain it then.  Didn't serve with 'em for a while now.”

“I gather she intends to return there. She wants to be a Warden.  She came to grief in Eregion and is only now getting back on her feet.”

Gaufwin seemed unimpressed.  “Can't really see why anyone'd wanna return there, but to each their own, I guess.”

“Didn't care for it much?”

“Bit too close to the northern reaches.”  Was it the weather he objected to?  The sorts of foes one found in Forochel or Angmar?  Both or neither?  Lilleduil did not ask for a clarification.

“There is that,” she said, only to be echoed by Gaufwin.

“There is that…”

She shook her head, chuckling.  “You know, I never thanked you for your kind words at my oath-taking.  I appreciated it.”

Gaufwin smiled and nodded in response.

“And I managed to salvage the parchment as well.”

The smile became a grin.  “How about that!”

“But I wrote your words down and kept them.  On a less...historically significant piece.”

“Yeh,” Gaufwin said.  “Sticking to what's been can make things get lost on the way, I reckon.”

“Oh dear, don't let Eirallyn hear you say that. She's quite the scholar.  Loves to grub up little bits of history.”  Why she kept bringing her young friend up was beyond Lilleduil, unless it was because Eirallyn and Gaufwin had both journeyed in the same part of the world.  She realized she knew less than nothing about Gaufwin’s background.  She’d have to ask Osilivren if the opportunity arose.  She didn’t know the Man well enough yet to question him so personally.

“Well it'll do no good if it's turned to dust and such,” Gaufwin declared in a abrupt turnaround of opinion from what he’d held a moment before.  Providing they were still talking about history…

Assuming as much, Lilleduil said, “I think that's her feeling upon the subject.”  Then she fell silent for a moment, considering how she might bring an uncomfortable subject up.  At last she decided straightforward was the best way.  “I heard about your father. I am sorry for your loss.”

Gaufwin bowed his head.  “A long life, that ‘un.”

“An eventful one too, from what little I've gathered.”

Gaufwin glanced up at her.  “As eventful as farmin' gets, I guess.”  He chuckled, the somber moment over.

Nonetheless, she asked, “Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Nah, no ma'am.  What's gone's gone.”

Lilleduil inclined her head.  “Well, I should be here for the next little bit, at least, if something occurs to you.”

Gaufwin was continuing as if she‘d not spoken.  “Stickin' to it, and you'll end up forgetting… like a parchment into dust.”

Lilleduil cocked her head, looking a bit puzzled.

Gaufwin had apparently heard her, for he declared,  “Duly noted, ma'am ...and I appreciate it.”

Smiling, Lilleduil said, “I've kept you long enough. Do have a good day, Gaufwin.”

Gaufwin bowed deeply before her.  “Ma'am.”  He turned and started up the ramp into the Homely House.

“You don't have to call me ma'am!” she called after him.

“Ma'am?” Gaufwin said, as he turned and came back down.  Apparently, she puzzled him from time to time as well.  Lilleduil laughed kindly.

“Seriously, you don’t.”

“Don't what?”

“We've fought together, have we not?  Call me ma'am. You don't have to. You can call me by my name.”

Gaufwin seemed scandalized at the very idea.  “Well, look behind ya.”

“What?”  Was Osilivren standing there or something?

“Cloak there, ma'am,” Gaufwin said with the air of someone stating the obvious.

Knowing that Osilivren was an old elf, and judging from things he’d said at her oath-taking, thought Gaufwin lacked manners or couth of any sort she asked, “Ah...I would cause trouble for you?”

But the Man was quick to respond.  “Probably not.”

That was rather surprising, and also confusing.  Lilleduil had just given up trying to decipher what Gaufwin had meant when the Man explained himself further.

“But what's the point with banners 'n flags if they don't mean nothin?”  She had to concede he had a point.

“Well, do what makes you feel comfortable, then...”

Gaufwin winked. “When did I not, luv?”  And she found herself giggling again for no good reason.

Braigsul, who had been a very good horse all this time, moved restlessly beneath her, wanting to run some more.  She gathered her reins.

“…but I consider us friends.  Take care, Gaufwin!”

“Besides, ma'am is easier to remember than all of yous names,” Gaufwin observed as she prepared to ride off. “Easier on the tongue too.”

“Thendryt calls me Lill.  Lill is easy as it gets.”

“Lill…” Gaufwin mused.  Lilleduil nodded.  “You're not that short.”  The Man frowned.  There was a distinct air of disapproval there, seemingly directed at Thendryt.

“I am rather short for an elf.”

“Hmm..”  Gaufwin studied her for a long moment, then shrugged.

“But as you like. If you wish to give me consequence, I shan't object.”  Lilleduil bowed to him from the saddle.  He bowed deeply in return; then, just as he straightened up…

“Shortie…” Gaufwin said, tipping an invisible hat.

Lilleduil was laughing out loud as she turned and rode away.