At War in Love. The Shadow over Rhudaur Part IV

Chapter 6. The Improper Gift

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cameth Brin Tower, late morning of November 5, 1347.
Written by Gordis
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Daurendil returned from his sword practice, and took his time washing sweat and dirt from his body and making himself presentable again. “To be presentable” meant much more to the Prince than it did to most young men – it entailed being fashionably and impeccably dressed, combed and perfumed. A knock on the door surprised him when he was almost finished, so he sent a servant to open the door.

The visitor was one well known to the Prince – Ilyanon, the Royal Taylor. The tall, thin, slightly balding man bowed respectfully to his best customer. “Greetings, your Highness” he offered. “I took it upon myself to deliver your latest order as diligently as possible.”

“You have taken quite a lot of time, as it is!” was the impatient reply. “I hoped to have the dress by yestereve. Why so long?”

“It was a difficult commission, my Lord,” the tailor explained placidly. “We could take no measurements and it is not easy to make a close-fitting dress without them. I…”

“But I have described her to you, have I not?!” the Prince interrupted. “She is much like Tarniel or Odaragariel, but a bit shorter than the former and taller than the latter.”

“You would be surprised, my Prince, if I tell you that the two princesses you mentioned have an entirely different build.”

“Really?!!” gaped Daurendil, now thoroughly puzzled. To him both girls looked much the same, barring their coloring, of course.

“To be able to design the riding dress to your satisfaction, I had to track down the Lady in question and observe her from a distance with my own eyes. She is lovely indeed, my Lord. But after that little examination I understood the need to enlarge the dress in hips and breasts.”

Daurendil blushed. Thinking of Caelen’s body sent a slow fire through his own, a sensation still new to him. “A-hem, show me the dress then!” he ordered, trying to cover his embarrassment.

The tailor opened the large box he carried and proudly laid down on the bed an elegant riding outfit with a long train. The dress was made of soft sea-blue velvet, richly embroidered with golden thread. There were also a fox pelerine, long matching gloves and a small velvet hat lined with fox fur to go with it. Daurendil eyes lighted when he thought how truly bewitching Caelen would look in all this courtly finery.

Of course, a dress was not a suitable present for a lady he barely knew for a few days. But it seemed Caelen was not yet aware of the court restrictions. The day Daurendil lost the race and with it his heart, he had raked his brain for several hours to decide what fitting present he could give his new love. She was by far the loveliest of the ladies in the hunting party, he thought, but she was also the one with the poorest dress. Barring Odare or course, he remembered - what has gotten into Lady Oddie to dress like that? But Odare’s reasons worried him little now. He paid the tailor, grabbed the box and hurried out of the Tower and across the court to the Palace.

While he raced through the court and up the palace stairs, he had to realize that Princes were not supposed to be running around hauling Boxes. He got quite a few curious stares from the guards and the servants, but the worse part of it was awaiting him upstairs. His appearance in the married servants’ quarters made quite a stir. There was a small crowd assembled when he stopped to ask where he could find Lady Caelen.

“The wife of Callon, the ostler?” one old woman replied. “This way, please, my Lord. But Caelen is away – she went somewhere an hour ago”

Daurendil’s heart sank. He hadn’t counted on Caelen being away – he hoped to see again this wondrous, sunny woman. But it was not to be…

The prince was ushered into a small room with a large double bed in the corner. “I wonder where does this guy, her brother, sleep?” he thought, uneasy. Gingerly he put the present on the bed and searched for a while among the things on the table until he located an inkwell and a quill.

With a sudden inspiration, he scribbled a short humorous note:

"For the Fair Lady who won the Race - from her faithful Orc. I will wait for you in the court tomorrow morning - I beg for a riding lesson. Yours forever, D."

He put the note on the top of the box and left as fast as he could, the curious gazes of the assembled servants hot on his back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cameth Brin Palace, servant's rooms, late morning of November 5, 1347.
Written by Rian
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After a few minutes of raised eyebrows and whispers and interesting conjectures, the crowd in the married servants' quarters finally dispersed, as less interesting but more urgent duties called. By the time Caelen returned from Arinya's room, where she had been taking her first harp lesson, no one was in the halls anymore. She hummed the tune that Arinya had been trying to teach her as she opened the door to her room, and then stopped short at the sight of a large box on her bed, with a note propped on top of it. As she was crossing the room to examine it, there came a knock on the door, and she regretfully turned away from the interesting package to open the door.

A messenger greeted her politely as she opened the door, and handed her a note as he informed her that he was instructed to wait for her answer. Her curiosity turned to real happiness as she saw that the note came from Hendegil! She opened it quickly and scanned the contents - Hendegil was in town, and wanted to see her right away!

"Just a moment, please," she told the messenger, and sat down to compose her reply. Then a thought struck her - Hendegil was at her brother's house, and she had NO wish to see him after that irritating encounter in the marketplace. Her lips pursed together, she composed her reply:

My dearest Hendegil, I would love to see you, but I'm afraid that your brother will not receive me in his house as I will have to come unescorted, through no fault of my own (my brother has been called away), and he violently disapproves of females doing this. I'm afraid I would be turned away if I called for you at his house in this unseemly manner. Perhaps you should come here instead, as I long to see you. Please send your reply as soon as possible - I will wait here for it. Yours sincerely, Caelen

She stood up and thrust the note out to the messenger. As he reached for it, she had second thoughts; why should Hendegil be punished for her brother's faults? With a "wait just a moment," she pulled the note out of the messenger's hands, crumpled it up, threw it away, and sat down to write another one.

My dearest Hendegil, I would love to see you - I'm so happy you came to town! Would you mind if we met somewhere outside of your brother's house, though?

She frowned at the note - this wasn't working, either. She crumpled it up and threw it out, and the messenger, with a sigh, leaned against the door frame and looked down the hall to see if anything interesting was happening.

Caelen started again:

My dearest Hendegil, I'm SO glad you came to town, you have NO idea! I've been so lonely here, especially since my brother's duties called him away for a week. I would LOVE to come see you, and lunch would be perfect. I will follow shortly after this message. Yours sincerely, Caelen

She recalled the messenger's attention from the hallway, and handing him the note and a coin, dismissed him and then shut the door. Quickly crossing the room, she seized the note off the top of the box and read it. What in the world? Oh well, whatever ... Anyway, WHAT was in the box?!

She tore off the lid and then drew her breath in at the sight of the exquisite riding dress. It was lovely! All that detailing with the gold thread ... oh, it was so pretty! And the hat ... and the gloves ... and and ...

She quickly took off her clothes and put on the riding outfit. It fit perfectly! And now, she could finally get rid of her old riding outfit. She had hated putting it on after what had happened to her in it, but she had nothing else to ride in, and she loved riding more than she hated what had happened to her. She grabbed up her old riding habit, holding it gingerly as if it could bite, and rushed out of the room. She would thank Daurendil later - that was so thoughtful of him! Right now, she wanted to see Hendegil more than anything she had wanted in a long time. Tossing her old riding habit in the dustbin on the way out, she ran to the stables, saddled her mare over the protests of the stablehands who tried to do it for her, and rode off happily to Eryndil's house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eryndil's house in Cameth Brin, noon, November 5, 1347
Written by Rian
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"I believe she's in the garden, miss," said the servant who answered Caelen's impatient knock at the door as he indicated that she could enter. She followed him impatiently through a large, airy room and practically ran through the open doors into the garden. And there she was - Hendegil! With a cry of pleasure, Caelen ran to her friend, who was smiling her welcome and holding her arms out. They embraced warmly as Eryndil and his father and mother looked on at the pleasant sight.

"And of course you remember my mother and father, and my brother," prompted Hendegil gently, reminding Caelen of her manners.

"Of course I do!" replied Caelen, blushing and curtsying politely to the thane and his wife, and a bit more reservedly to Eryndil. "I'm so sorry, I was just so happy to see your daughter!" she explained, turning back to Hendegil's parents.

"No offense taken," said Camglas graciously. "We are both very glad to see Hendegil have such a warm-hearted friend!"

"Caelen, what an exquisite riding outfit! Is it new? I don't remember you wearing it before!" said Hendegil as she examined Caelen's clothing.

"Yes, I just got it today - it was a present from the Prince Daurendil - wasn't that kind? I went on a riding party with him, and he must have noticed that my outfit was a bit worn, and I guess he had one made up for me! But now, Hendegil, tell me all about YOU!" she said, impatient to move past the topic of the new riding outfit. "Was this a surprise visit here? Oh, it doesn't matter, I'm just so glad you came!" And she took Hendegil's hands in hers and gave them a squeeze.

"Did you say Prince Daurendil gave you this?" asked Eryndil, surprised in more ways than one - and none of them pleasant.

"Yes," answered Caelen, a little impatience creeping into her voice. "And he wants me to give him a riding lesson tomorrow morning, too - although really, he rides just fine - a little rough, but I can show him some things that will help his seat."

"And you accepted this gift from him?" continued Eryndil incredulously. This girl was really too much - was she really that ignorant of what it meant? Was she just going to continue to cause embarassment and trouble for her brother and others around her?

"Eryndil," said his mother softly, as the thane watched the unfolding scene with interest.

"Why, of course - why not?" answered Caelen, trying to keep her rising temper in check. "He can afford it, can't he? Maybe it's just a thank-you in advance for my riding instruction," she finished, although a little uneasily, as she remembered Daurendil's note and started to face what she had tried to ignore in it.

Eryndil sighed. "Well, I suppose it might be all right," he said, trying hard to make allowances for the situation. "After all, he thinks you're married."

Caelen's guilty expression made Eryndil do a double take.

"Married?!" exclaimed Hendegil and her parents in unison.

"Caelen, he DOES think you're married, doesn't he?" pressed Eryndil.

"Well ... " and Caelen's face assumed the expression of a dog who has been caught stealing food from the dinner table.

Eryndil groaned.

"I couldn't help it!" cried Caelen, irritated and ashamed and angry with herself as well as Eryndil. "I told him everything - he asked me if I wanted to go riding, and I wanted to, SO much, and I couldn't if everyone thought I was pregnant ..."

"PREGNANT?!?!" exclaimed Hendegil and her parents, aghast.

"Callon was just trying to protect me!" said Caelen imploringly. "He told people that we were married and that I was with child, because he was afraid for me there - there were so many rough men ... after what had happened once ... and then he ... he had to leave me, and ... and I was all alone, and I wanted to ride so much but I couldn't ... and I was with Arinya and the Prince came in and then asked me to go riding with them! ... so I told him what Callon had done so ... so I could go riding," finished Caelen in a small voice. "And I thought that it would be wrong to deceive a prince," she added lamely, as an afterthought.

Then a new thought occurred to her - Callon had said that Eryndil had agreed to support the ruse. She turned back to Eryndil and added, in a half accusing tone, "Callon told me that you had agreed to support the ruse - why didn't you tell your family?"

Eryndil's eyes opened wide in disbelief ... and a bit of anger. This is just too much!" he thought. "Like I did something wrong?"

"I told your brother that although I disagreed with what he had done, that I would not reveal your true connection, so of course I was going to tell my family! I just hadn't gotten around to it yet - they just arrived here a few hours ago! I had more important things to discuss with them first," he concluded a bit angrily, thinking that she needed to learn (for her own good, of course) that she - and her concerns - were not at the center of everything. He immediately regretted his words, however, as he saw Caelen's expression. He hadn't meant them to sound that harsh ... he was just trying to teach her something ...

Looking at Caelen's white face and trembling mouth, Eryndil's mother broke in. "I think perhaps we better sit down somewhere," she said, as she put a protective arm around the young orphan and led her to a nearby garden bench.

"Now, dear, you just sit quietly here a moment, while my son explains what he knows of this," said Rildorien to Caelen as she guided her to the bench and sat down with her. Hendegil sat down on Caelen's other side and took her other hand, patting it protectively.

"Let the games begin!" thought the thane with a smile that he tried, fairly successfully, to hide. He had never seen his son flustered by a woman before, and suspected that there was something behind it - and he was liking this little red-headed spitfire so far. "Eryndil needs a challenge!" he thought. "He's always been able to control things, and that's not good for him! And this little lady looks like she doesn't take to controlling very well!"

Eryndil took a deep breath and started talking. He didn't like how his mother and sister were looking at him - like he was some species of large, uncouth animal that had hurt this poor little orphan girl with its fumbling movements. Why, he had SAVED this girl! It wasn't FAIR! He was sorely tempted to enlarge on the story, focusing on Caelen's faults, but his good nature and sense of justice overruled this desire, and he gave a calm, clear, accurate account of what he knew had happened since they had left Ostinand.

"Is that right, dear?" his mother asked Caelen. "As if I would lie?" thought Eryndil, his temper rising again.

"Yes," said Caelen, and looked up at Eryndil with her clear grey eyes calm again. "I'm glad you explained it so well," she said to him gratefully. "I never seem to explain things well - especially when I'm upset," she finished, looking down at the ground again.

Camglas cleared his throat. "Well, my dear, I must say that I agree with my son - deceiving is never right - but I think that for now, at least, we will do as he has agreed to do, and not give away your secret. And I will instruct the rest of my family to do the same."

Caelen looked up at him gratefully and smiled her thanks.

"And son," continued the thane, "you need to tell your men that, too."

"I have already done so," answered Eryndil. The thane nodded his approval of his son's behavior.

There was a moment of silence, and then Caelen, looking up at Rildorien, asked plaintively, "Lady Rildorien, could you please tell me what I should do about the riding habit? My mother and father are gone, and I ... I just don't know what I should do now!" Eryndil saw Caelen fall back into her nervous habit of biting her lip and suppressed the urge to tell her to stop doing that, but this time, his heart was a lot softer towards her. She had been through a lot, after all - maybe he had been too hard on her.

Rildorien had Caelen tell what had happened, and then questioned her carefully to fill in the missing parts of Caelen's rather disjoined account. She sighed. It was abundantly clear that Caelen would have to return the outfit.

"My dear child," she said, "I'm afraid that you simply cannot accept this outfit. I know that you are unaware of court customs, and what is proper for a lady to receive from a gentleman who knows that she is unmarried, but there is ..."

"Wait," said Caelen. Rildorien looked at her in surprise. "I must tell you more, " Caelen said simply. "You have been so kind to me - you've been like a mother to me today - I need to tell you more." She sighed heavily and bit her lip just slightly again (unknowingly making Eryndil half-irritated, half-aroused - he was starting to get very interested in Caelen's lips - "What did they feel like? What did they ... taste like?" he found himself wondering, and then shook his head at himself in disbelief - what was he thinking?)

Rildorien looked at her questioningly, and Caelen took a deep breath and looked back at her with flushed cheeks and a little fear in her eyes. She didn't want to tell Rildorien this, or have the others hear it, either, but she felt she had to be completely frank with these good people who were being so kind and supportive of her.

"I ... I didn't tell you everything ... it's true that I wasn't sure what the note meant, but what I didn't tell you is that I thought I knew what it might mean ... and I did know that I shouldn't receive the gift. I don't want you to think badly of my mother. She told me that ladies don't receive gifts from gentlemen, except flowers, until they are engaged. But I tried to rationalize it because I wanted it so bad. I told myself that royalty can act differently and that it would be wrong to refuse a gift from royalty and things like that, and then I told myself that I had to hurry to come see Hendegil and I would think about it later."

Eryndil forgot about Caelen's mouth. Of all Caelen's faults, he had never thought of her as deceptive, and he was severely disappointed in her.

Perhaps Caelen sensed a movement from Eryndil - perhaps she sensed the movement in his heart - for she suddenly turned from Rildorien to Eryndil. Seeing the disapproval in the eyes of one she had always respected, the tears sprang to her own eyes.

"Don't you see," she started in a tremulous voice, then started again in a stronger one. "Don't you see, I had to have a riding outfit! Riding is in my blood - it's life to me - it's a tie to my family. And when I ride, I sometimes think that maybe, just maybe, I'll round a corner somewhere and see my house again, and my parents standing at the gates, holding them open wide ..." Caelen's eyes moved from Eryndil to a spot somewhere in the distance, and her whole face showed her longing and love for the family that was gone.

Eryndil was cut to the heart, and could not answer. But Caelen was not done. She looked at him again for a moment, and then suddenly looked down and covered her face with her hands.

"And every time I put on my old riding habit, I felt the brigands' hands on me again," she moaned, and then bent double, hugging her knees and rocking slowly back and forth, her hair falling around her like a curtain trying to protect her from the harsh, cruel world.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eryndil's house in Cameth Brin, afternoon, November 5, 1347
Written by Valandil
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Not wishing to see her daughter’s friend further embarrassed before the servants in the main parts of the house, Rildorien suggested that they help Caelen up to Hendegil’s room. She was surprised though when Eryndil reached down and, instead of just assisting Caelen to her feet, lifted her up in his arms and made straight for the main stairway. Her face echoing her friend’s distress, Hendegil looked quickly back at her mother, then followed behind Eryndil.

Rildorien lingered behind for just a moment as the sounds of her son’s exertions passed up along with him. Then, turning to her husband, she said, “Wipe that smirk off your face, Thane Camglas!”

Camglas broke out into a soft chuckle, which made Rildorien even more cross as she turned and went up the stairs herself.

As he labored up the thirty or so steps, Eryndil tried to act as though he carried Caelen without effort. He had considered himself fairly strong, but had to admit he was no Beren or Turin – and this was hard work! But from the moment he lifted her, she had buried her head against his shoulder, her eyes shut tightly to block out the tears, and thrown her arms about his neck. As they passed up the stairs, her arms tightened about him (“Not TOO tight,” he had thought. “I still have to BREATHE!”), but when they reached the top he was able to pause for a moment, allowing Hendegil to go before him as pretext for recovering himself, and disguising his heavy breaths by drawing them slowly. Caelen’s arms loosened somewhat once the stairs were finished. She kept her eyes closed, but looking down, he saw that her face was visibly more relaxed, and though she shifted her head, turning it upward, it still lay upon him.

When he reached Hendegil’s room, Eryndil carried her across to the bed and laid her down slowly, carefully – almost regretfully. Then he stood to his full height looking down upon her briefly, feeling a tangle of emotions return now that the focus required by his former efforts was no longer needed. But this was interrupted by his mother’s arrival and a small flurry of activity. Eryndil sought to help; opening the window for fresh air, then shutting it at his mother’s command, stoking the fire to activity and drawing out another blanket after Hendegil had already pulled one up over Caelen. At last, at Rildorien’s suggestion, Hendegil asked Eryndil to fetch them some fresh water and helped him find his way out of the room with a hand in his back. Just outside the door he turned to face Hendegil, who was smiling up at him as she held the door wide open, and then slowly closed it after repeating, “water.”

Roused from their nap by the commotion, Vilyandur and Gildurien stood outside with him. They had been sorely disappointed to find on arriving, that the Princess Gimilbeth was away from Cameth Brin the very winter they had come to stay there. For their main objective in coming (and giving up their own October 30th Duvediu celebrations back home), had been in hopes of meeting her – to see for themselves if the rumors were indeed true, and now the whole trip was becoming a colossal waste of time! They hoped that whatever incident was going on now might be of some interest. But Eryndil urged them downstairs with him to where their father still sat, and Camglas bade them sit and talk with him awhile.

Eryndil gathered not only a pitcher of water and three vessels for drinking, but also a basket with bread, cheese and apples. His servants were a bit bemused as he insisted on taking them himself. As he started up the stairs once more, his father remarked with a wink, "Less load this time, and less pleasure in it, eh?" He smiled awkwardly, as Vilyandur and Gildurien looked puzzled. Returning to Hendegil’s room, Eryndil was about to knock when he heard from within the sounds of laughter, broken now and again by sniffling. Then he heard first Hendegil’s voice.

“And Caelen, I didn’t bring much in the way of riding clothes, but I have several dresses with me, fit for a winter at court! And you shall choose two or three from among them. Here – look at these… But you must stay here tonight!”

“Oh – sniff, sniff – I really should not. I don’t want… I would rather sleep in my own bed.”

“Well – then you’ll at least stay on for supper. After all, lunch didn’t quite work out, did it?”

A little more laughter and then Caelen’s voice once more, “But it will be late by then, and even in Cameth Brin it isn’t safe for a lady to be out alone after dark.”

At that Eryndil drew a breath and knocked, “Water,” he said.

When he opened the door, he saw Caelen sitting up on the bed, but pulling the cover over herself, as his mother and sister contrived to stand between them. Seeing part of her new outfit on the floor by the bed, he swallowed and continued, eyes downcast “Caelen... I could not help but overhear that last. I will escort you home after dinner, if you would stay.”

Caelen seemed to be thinking it over, and Hendegil joined in, “And I will accompany you both, for it is not fit that a single man escort a married woman home while her husband is away!”

And they both laughed a bit more, though with Caelen still seeming embarrassed (and feeling likewise himself), Eryndil set down basket, pitcher and glasses and retreated, hearing behind him as he shut the door, “Oh and look – lunch is taken care of anyway!” and more broken laughter still.

Then he walked slowly down the stairs, regretting that it was too late in the year for there to be any flowers left in the garden.