The Green Dragon Inn - Part 4

[Elora]

With some speed Vanwe emerged from the trees, a bundle of green sprigs clutched in her hands. She hurried towards the inn, still unaware of what lay behind her. Lespheria and Amandur probably thought she had absconded. Even if Amandur did know who she was, she still would not flee. Not when Lespheria had defended her and her own determination to stay and fight for what small she had managed to find at the Green Dragon Inn.

Aman, Derufin and all the staff probably thought she had absconded as well. Vanwe darted through the doors, hair streaming behind her as she passed tables where patrons swapped news of doings with each other. Kaldir was nowhere to be seen, she noted with some apprehension as she ducked through into the kitchen.

Out of character, Vanwe did not pause and wait to be scolded for running suddenly into the kitchen. With forthrightness that most would not think within her, Vanwe siezed a saucepan from a rack where a number dangled from the ceiling and started to throw sprigs into it. Leaves, flowers, sometimes the stalks too, all went into the pan with great speed and Vanwe did not look left nor right as the comments rose around her.

"Here, no running or tomfoolery in this kitchen," came one objection.
"What's she doing?"
"That's Cook's Sage! You can't have that!"
"You can't just take a saucepan and throw yourself in like a whirling top!"

Vanwe let the comments bounce off her, turning to add water to the pan and set it on the stovetop.

"Honestly, girl! You're a trial, make no mistake. What's in that saucepan?"
"Look, she got a weed on the table!" The protest was outraged.
"That's Kingsfoil. Move out of the way!" Vanwe reluctantly moved as the contents of her saucepan were reviewed. "There'll be no poisonings here with weeds and some such."

"It's no poison. It's a tincture," Vanwe muttered to noone in particular and then pushed her way back to the saucepan to see how it was steeping. Those in the kitchen stepped back in surprise, shaking their heads. From the steam that was starting to rise, she was able to guage how it was progressing. Kingsfoil, she thought as she stirred the herbed water. It is not familiar. Believing she had gathered no more than a pleasant scent in the kingsfoil, Vanwe disregarded it and poured the concoction into a earthen cup through a strainer to fish the leaves out. She topped it up with some cool water to reduce it's heat and was already making for the door when someone said, "What about this mess?"

Vanwe sighed, set the cup on the table and rinsed out saucepan to drain upon the sideboard. She tucked the kingsfoil into her belt, collected the cup, and left.

"Stranger lass, didn't I say so from the beginning?"
"Mrs Bunce will box her ears when she finds out Vanwe's been into the pantry."

Vanwe climbed the stairs to Lespheria's rooms, and opened the door without knocking. Amandur turned around, frowning at the sudden bursting in and Vanwe froze at his fierce expression.

"I'm sorry," she started, holding up the cup before her like a shield of sorts. "I couldn't find everything as quickly as I had hoped." Amandur examined her intently for a moment and nodded, and Vanwe set the steaming cup down on the table.

"Lady Lespheria is resting," he said with a distinctly protective tone of voice. He turned from what appeared to be packing and crossed to inspect the cup Vanwe had put down on the table. "What's in this?"

"I combined what I could find in a blend that would promote energy and strength and ease pain. I did not think anything to cause sleep would be useful. It sounds dangerous, and sharp wits are called for at such times." The note in Amandur had the effect of impelling Vanwe to explain herself. Her face was earnest, sapphire eyes clear of guile in their depths. She endured under the intense gaze until Amandur looked back at the cup. He inhaled the rising steam and nodded in approval.

"It is hot enough to wait for Lespheria to wake," Vanwe said softly as she looked at the Elf woman. "I wish there was more I could do," she sighed.

"What were you planning to do with that?" Amandur waved at the kingsfoil in her belt, staining the blue cotton of her patched dress beneath it a distinct green. He carefully watched Vanwe's fingers brush the leaves as though she had forgotten it. Vanwe shrugged slightly, a manner reminiscent as her eyes were of another. "I do not anything of it apart from it's name and it's clean scent. Perhaps I will put it in my room," she replied absently.

Amandur was struck by her comfort with the touch of the plant. It was reassuring, for certainly Naiore Dannan would not be so at home with it. The wholesome scent would not be so pleasant for the soul that lived within Vanwe's mother. Vanwe did not know that she carried a small protection against the woman who watched her. It would take more than that to protect her fully, but it was a start.

"Perhaps you could leave some here. It has considerable properties and merits," Amandur suggested. Vanwe happily removed the sprigs and peeled off the fresher ones to set by the mug. Amandur studied her a little longer. Certain that difficult questions would soon follow, Vanwe turned to leave.

"Could you possibly help me pack, Vanwe?" It was innocently phrased, and Amandur watched her come to a stand still and consider for a brief moment. Lespheria, though was sleeping, and there was so much resting on Vanwe's head. Had she seen her mother? Why was she in the Shire? Was the echoes of her father a deceptive gild over the truth of her nature, inherited from her mother? When Vanwe turned back in consent, Amandur was relieved and anxious to see what he could learn both.

"As she has entrusted you with the key, I think Lespheria would not object to your assistance," Amandur added. He gestured to the shelving near where he was busy. "Perhaps you could start here?"

Vanwe looked at the shelves with startling clear eyes in the morning light and nodded. She even went to go so far as to drop a curtsy in the manner of a maid. Was it contrivance or not? So little was known about the young woman that Amandur could not guess, yet. As Vanwe arrived at the shelving to sort through what was within them for anything of use on a journey, she felt the weight of Amandur's questions beside with no small amount of apprehension.

Apart from Lespheria, he was the closest she had been to her kindred, and she felt vulnerable. Vanwe directed an eye experienced in sorting through journey necessities and excessive baggage and hoped for the best. From time to time, she would glance through the nearby window she stood beside, as if in wistful longing to simply fly away. But, she had promised to stand.

Two sets of eyes watched her through the window from below and pondered what it may mean. Naiore did not know of Amandur's presence. Kaldir did not know of the implications of Amadur's presence. But both wondered in their separate ways. The morning light also touched upon another who barely felt it. An Elf once great and of proud lineage, now a shadow of himself stared in shattered, bleeding silence at the gilded walls of his distant prison.