*****
"My lady?"
"Please. Sit." Aefre gestured to the empty chair again. The tone of her voice made it clear it was not a request and Eadignes sat down despite her unease.
"M'lady, this is most uncomfortable-"
"Believe me, it's as uncomfortable for me as it is for you." Aefre picked up her cup and took a dainty sip. She made a sour face. "I think I would prefer mead." She fixed Eadignes with a steely eye. "You?"
It was apparent to Eadignes that she wasn't going to be allowed to go anywhere soon. "That would be nice-"
"Willan." Aefre looked over her shoulder. "A pitcher of mead and-" she squinted out the window, seeing the sun was setting, "Are you hungry?" Aefre addressed the girl. When Eadignes nodded affirmatively, she continued, "A platter of roast chicken and fresh bread."
The two women watched Willan leave the room. Aefre turned back to Eadignes, "You aren't in a hurry to return to the brothel, are you?"
"Uh... no, m'lady... m'lady? Is he always so... quiet?" She indicated Willan's retreating form.
"Do not," Aefre poured more tea for both, "allow his silence to mislead you. Willan is no simpleton, no fool. He is as intelligent as any one, if more so. I value his friendship. He is, as you say, a good man. The fact that he is mute does not make him less of a good man." She took another sip of tea. "I am going to need company over the next few hours. I think you will prove most... interesting to talk with."
Eadignes set her teacup down gently. "M'lady, if it is your desire to pepper me with questions regarding my relationship with the man in your bed, I beg you, please do not. I'm... I work at the brothel. He feels nothing for me. I have no right-"
"You have no right?" Aefre was incredulous. "You have no... ah, Willan."
As quietly as he had left, the man returned, setting down a tray of cold beef slices, a loaf of bread, and cheese.
"No fowl? Goose? Chicken?"
Willan shook his hand, waving it slowly. "Ah, there is merriment and celebration and you took what you could scavenge. No matter. I thank you. Now, hand over the mead!" She noticed three plates and a large pitcher in his hand. "Good - you brought a plate for yourself! I dare say there is enough mead for you as well! I should," she grinned, "have three mugs on the shelf, Willan. You know where I hide them!" Aefre stood in the dimming light, and using flint and steel, lit a candle in order to light a few lamps.
She hovered for a moment over Gamling - no fever yet, but it would come - before returning to her chair. Eadignes had made herself a plate of meat and bread and was savoring the cool drink in the mug Willan had brought.
Willan also made himself a plate and retreated to the darkest corner of the room. He was watching Eadignes with great interest.
The two women ate in silence, Aefre constantly keeping watch over the Horse Lord, Eadignes surreptitiously sneaking glances over her shoulder.
"You can look at him. I won't bite you for it."
Eadignes' smile was wan. "M'lady, again, if it's your desire-"
"My desire is for a little female company for the next few hours. If Gamling is going to worsen and run a fever, it will happen shortly. I will need someone who is versed in healing herbs, and won't blush at the sight of a naked man." Aefre stood up, dusting breadcrumbs from her skirt, before going to the bed and brushing Gamling's hair from his face.
A crease marred her brow and she laid her hand over his cheeks, neck and, finally, his chest. "The fever begins. He is spiking quickly. Willan, we need lukewarm water constantly as well as cold. And a lot of cloths and towels." Aefre didn't look up, simply began to pull down the sheets covering Gamling. "Now, Willan."
The mute was already moving towards the door, the woman still sitting in the chair now watching him with great interest. She was surprised by the dry towel Aefre threw at her.
"I need your assistance." Aefre was dipping her cloth in the water still in the basin. "Go to the other side and start bathing him down." She started with his face, gently stroking. "Ah, Béma. We might as well really bathe him." She stood up quickly - too quickly, the room spinning wildly for a moment, causing her to reach out and grasp the bedpost until her head cleared, before moving to a small cupboard. "Damn!" She fingered through her soap basket. "All I have are sweet smelling floral..."
***... no sweet smelling softling are you...**
"Ah, no matter. I suspect he'll not know he will smell of roses."
Eadignes was smiling. "I won't tell." Aefre tossed a small square to the younger woman. Taking her own cake of soap, she sat back down next to the soldier, settling in the curve of his lap and pulling the night table up beside her.
"When Willan brings the cool water, I'll soak a cloth in it for him to suck on. He won't dehydrate that way. Here," she held the bowl of water over Gamling's chest and nodded. "Dip your cloth in it. It's still slightly warm; just wash any part of skin you see. Just stay away from the bandage."
The girl obeyed, propping Gamling on his unwounded side and starting on his back. Aefre watched as Eadignes reverently lifted his hair away from his shoulder and neck, taking great care to be gentle. The two worked in silence, not noticing that Willan came and went, unobtrusive, bringing fresh water, clean water...
"You are very good at this."
Eadignes had the decency to blush, making her appear younger, innocent. "Thank you. Sometimes," she hesitated for a moment, before continuing on. "Riders who have no women folk will come in from patrol, needing a healer, but not badly."
"Just in need of a tender touch?"
"Aye."
They continued on, bathing, swabbing down the unconscious Rider. Several times, Aefre dipped a smaller cloth into the bowl of cooler water, using it to wipe Gamling's mouth, wetting parched lips and grateful when he sucked the moisture from it. "That's it..." she crooned. Eadignes continued to bathe his back, his shoulders, the temperature of the water cooling and bringing the man's fever down. "Have you ever thought of changing professions?"
"Wha...what?" Eadignes dropped her wet cloth on the mattress. Fumbling nervously, she plucked it up and resumed her bathing a bit too forcefully.
"I mean," Aefre chattered on, focusing on her patient's face, "Unless you prefer working in the brothel-"
"Well.... I..."
You have a gentle hand," she grasped the girl by the wrist, "usually. You took charge of the situation handily enough, putting him in his place. You are forceful when you need to be, your stitching skills are superb..."
"M'lady," Eadignes set her cloth down and rested her hands on her knees. "I see what you are trying to do-"
"Do you?"
Eadignes motioned for the bowl, dipping her cloth back into the water. "I am a whore. So were my mother and grandmother. My mother still works. There are not many women who would openly welcome me into their rooms or home to tend to their men, their children, or deliver their babes."
"They will if they are desperate enough for your services."
"Lady Ae-"
"Gamling was the most injured to enter the gates! He is a Marshal, the highest ranking officer in Edoras at this time and they sent me a blind old crone to tend to him! A blind-"
"Zzzz..."
"...old..."
"...zzzgrrrrr..."
"...crone!"
"Aaa-fre-please..."
At the sound of Gamling's gasping, Aefre looked down sharply to see, to her horror, she had been scrubbing the Rider's face, accentuating each word roughly with the wet cloth. As a result, Gamling's cheek was pushed up somewhere between his eyebrow and ear. One eye was pinched, whereas the other eye was glaring balefully at her. She jerked her hand up, the planes of his face snapping back to their original position. "Béma, Gamling! I'm-"
"S'kay." He snuggled into the bedding, tucking a hand under his pillow. "Stillnotnaked."
Aefre rubbed her face while Eadignes giggled - a light, girlish sound that Aefre doubted came from the young woman very often.
"The Marshal has a singular, determined mind, m'lady."
"Such a man." Aefre set her cloth on the basin and folded the sheets back neatly around Gamling's hip. "Let the air dry his skin and cool him. We'll check his fever every so often." She rose up, eyeing the bottle sitting on the small table between the two chairs. "Willan has brought more... oh... Béma bless the man!" She raised it and saluted Eadignes. "Blackberry wine!" She went to a small shelf and pulled a small casket from the shelf. Opening it, she removed two finely wrought goblets. "This calls for the family's best!"
Eadignes bounced off the bed, not noticing Gamling's grunt of exasperation. "Blackberry wine? Oh, m'lady, I've not had something that sweet in... oh... forever." She waited for Aefre to fill her goblet before sitting in the chair, her feet tucked daintily, demurely underneath her.
"You know, …owyn used to sit just like that when she hid in my rooms."
"Hid?" Eadignes was savoring small sips of the sweet beverage. "Why would the Lady of Rohan need to hide in Edoras?"
Aefre was enjoying her own chalice of wine. "Grima Wormtongue."
Eadignes shuddered. "He was a nasty one. I'm grateful I wasn't his type."
"Grima came to the brothel?" Aefre squinted over her goblet in order to peer at Gamling, who seemed to be resting peacefully for the moment, "Forgive me, that was a stupid question. No one here in Edoras would have him."
"No one at the brothel wanted him either. Not meaning to speak ill of the dead, but Fyren was preferable to him!" She drained her goblet and eyed the bottle. "M'lady, may I-"
"Go ahead." Aefre waved her on. "I want some relief, not total relaxation." She set her goblet down gently. "It's going to be a long night for me."
Eadignes stopped in mid-pour. "I'll stay if you need me."
"Will you now?" Aefre slid her goblet with what was left of her drink across the table and nodded to the girl to go ahead and fill it. "Aren't you losing out on business?"
Eadignes shrugged. "Those with minor injuries and such will come down tomorrow. The girls there will be worn out and I will be fresh for the men who go and go and go like rabbits."
"So," Aefre picked her goblet back up and studied the hammered detail of the vessel, "you enjoy your job."
Eadignes drained her chalice. "I didn't say I liked it."
"Oh," Aefre's eyes never left the goblet. "What would you rather do, besides what you do.... IF you had a choice?"
The wine was loosening Eadignes' tongue and she sat back, the chalice of wine dangling dangerously between her fingers. She closed her eyes and sighed contentedly. "Oh, m'lady, I would love to be a healer."
"Then become one." Eadignes snorted. "Really, Eadignes, The old healer that came to the rooms recommended you. I would be willing to teach you what I know and I would ask the healers to aid in your training." Eadignes was now laughing quietly. "Why do you scoff? Because some may whisper?"
"M'lady-" Eadignes set her chalice down. "Many WILL whisper. And not so softly."
"Bah!" Aefre finally took a drink of her wine. "Talk would stop. Eventually." A thought occurred to her. "Wouldn't you like a husband? A family?"
Eadignes burst out in full laughter. "Who would want me?"
"A good man."
Eadignes continued laughing. "M'lady. Your intentions are noble; however, I have no right-"
"You have every right!" Aefre's tone was raised and she bristled with indignation. "Twice now you have said that! Twice you have said you have no right! You have every right to love and to want someone for yourself!" She drained her chalice angrily. "You have needs as well! Perhaps you should take the time to look for them!"
Eadignes set her empty goblet down and settled back into her chair. Her eyes glowed in the firelight, a shrewd gleam lurking within. "If I may be so bold, your needs are seen to."
Aefre arched an eyebrow, her voice dangerously low. "Snippiness is not becoming,"
The girl colored slightly. "Your pardon, milady."
Aefre reached over and poured Eadignes another chalice of wine. "I understand. It must seem that way." Aefre then poured herself another. "I have had to see to my own needs for several years. I had my own household; lands, farmers, shepherds. I lived in the Wold; we housed a garrison, Riders and their families to feed and care for. It was rare when I had a moment to myself to take care of my needs." She gave the diminishing wine in the bottle a contemplative look before picking up her goblet. "It was lonely."
"Sounds like whoring of a different kind to me."
"It... it was, I suppose."
Eadignes was leaning back in her chair, lids half shut and getting heavy. "Surely, you could have taken a lover."
With the suddenness and voracity of summer lightning, the wine Aefre held took on a sour, vinegary taste. "Too tired, most of the time," she admitted reluctantly. "There have been few nights in four years I haven't fallen into bed exhausted since my late husband's death. Besides," her voice dropped to a whisper, "my heart and body go hand in hand." She set the goblet down.
"Wish I could say the same." Eadignes drained her chalice and set it upside down on the table. "Can I tell you something, I've never told anyone?" Aefre nodded. "When I started... working... at the Blue Whale, I split up my earnings. Most of it went to pay my room and board, the percentage to Wulfric. He's good to us, y'know. Won't let anyone be mean or cruel. If they are too drunk, he throws them into the horse trough and pours water on them. If it was a man I really liked, really cared for, I used those earnings to buy myself something pretty, something nice and I would tell myself that 'he' bought it for me. If it was someone I hated, who made me cringe, made me think of other things besides what was going on above me, I laid that money aside - someday, I would use that money to buy me a small place away from the Blue Whale; away from Edoras, all of it, where no one knew me or what I was. Let it be my 'reward.' I dream of children. I wouldn't want my daughter to end up like my Mama or me." She took a deep breath. "As of late, there are more and more of the ones I tolerate, despise even, less and less of the ones I like." She laughed - a cynical one - to herself. "I'm pathetic, am I not? A real dreamer."
It shocked the girl when Aefre's hand covered hers. "No, you are not." Eadignes looked down at the woman kneeling in front of her. "You have needs as well. You are acknowledging them and planning. That's not pathetic in the least. Only you can walk away from that life. When you are ready, tell me. I'll help, best I can. You deserve that little place away." Aefre looked up at the sound of momentary stirring in her bed.
A restless Horse Lord...
She rose from her haunches, moving to his side, and stroked his forehead.
"Is he running a fever again? I'll get-"
"No. Shhh." Aefre leaned forward, gently brushing beads of sweat from a cool forehead. "Just Gamling?" She saw his mouth moving, sounds, such a quiet whisper. She laid her hand in his ribband-wrapped palm and leaned in closer. "Just Gamling?"
He gripped her, causing her to hiss at the ferocity, the unbelievable strength. "Théoden!" he gasped. "The Orcs! Béma! Look at them..." Blue eyes flew open, unseeing, unfocused. "Sooooo many... Béma!" He pushed down in the bed, thrusting against... Dréogan?... curses sizzling...
"M'lady, I-"
"Get Willan. Tell him I need... I need to do a serious cleansing. He'll know what to do."
"Do you want me to come back? If you need help, I am versed in the Olde Ways..."
"No, no. Just get Willan. You've been wonderful, a great help. Go get some rest." She did not miss the girl's crestfallen look. "Eadignes - I was not lying. When you decide to move on, tell me. I will help you. Honest."
"Béma! Look at... size... bigger than ... Golden Hall... fire..."
Aefre's fingers were turning red, Gamling was squeezing so tightly.
"M'lady-"
"He's... fine. Go get Willan!" Aefre waited a moment. "We'll talk again."
As the chamber door opened and shut behind her, Aefre turned her full attention back to the Rider locked within a nightmare.
***
***Orcs Béma look at them hundreds of thousands of Orcs and Battle Trolls and Théoden Béma Théoden where did you go the stench of them so loud the chanting the noise won't they ever shut up the... the... the Béma what are they so big so bigger than the Golden Hall rain rain raining arrows and fire Béma is she ever quiet Bring it down bring it down bring it down to the ground burning our dead get the marks find every one Aefre stupid stupid woman going to war not here not here Eowyn nononono Fyren will die a slow death if she doesn't …omer stop your screaming I can't think or see the noise Béma Béma the noise can't stand it die you loathsome foul the horde the horde oh my oh Béma Eagles to soar like a Nazgul Théoden my fault my fault …omer stop SCREAMING she loves him and you can't stop it frumpy frumpy princess for The Eye... oh... the Gates of Mordor are falling down falling down falling down the Gates of Mordor are falling down my fair Aefre wash the ribband I should wash it clean can't take it off ...***
"I call the Watchtower of the North, Guardian of the powers of Earth..."
***...Yesyesyes call them all the Dead the dying screaming chanting chanting never stop the bones crushed Béma take you swiftly swiftly on his wings the wings of the Nazgul the air so far far away from home Orcs in the Riddermark trolls burning children fighting what have we done leaving them alone for so long to fight those things the Haradhrim rode Mumakils kill them all bring out your dead bring out your ales and women and display them proudly but they aren't Rohirrim they aren't Aefre they Béma Béma the stench burning our dead burning burning...***
"...Guardian of the South, defend this space from any ill of Fire..."
*** Burning fire fire Théoden did you know Snowmane breathes fire and flies with the greatest of ease and eats Orcs and the whores from the brothel...***
"...No ghosts of ill are welcome here..."
*** Nonono ghosts dead dead Army of the Dead you're released the Ranger released you go away away away not welcome can't breathe it hurts it hurts oh Béma the pain Théoden wake up wake up Gandalf Greyhame you are not welcome here wake up wake up Théoden nononono …omer not ready not ready I'm not ready nononono wake up wake up...***
"...I banish thee..."
*** Banish banish the Eye the Orcs the troll those things things the Haradhrim...***
"...I banish thee..."
*** Aefre nonono don't banish me. I tried I tried to get to him but the Orcs were in the way couldn't reach him Théoden wake up wake up..***.
"...I banish thee..."
*** Noooooo .... nopleasedontbanishme...***
"...With this smoke I cleanse this room..."
***Don't leave me...***
"...With this smoke, I cleanse this woman..."
*** don't leave me...***
"...With this smoke, I cleanse this man..."
***Aefre don't leave me please pleaseplease...***
"Just Gamling?"
*** Aefre...***
"Come now, Just Gamling. Time to wake up."
"Don't banish me..."
A soft chuckle.
"No, I'll not banish you, if you behave yourself. You've missed the most beautiful sunrise..."
*** Sunrise Schmunrise don't leave me don't banish me...***
"I have apples for Dréogan. A whole barrel full..."
Blue eyes snap open, clear...
"Do NOT spoil my horse!"
*****