In the Valley of a Thousand Footprints

[xviii] Discord at the Dinner Table

Efa had stopped fuming by the time the maid woman had set the dinner table. They had been invited into the captain's mansion and were now seated comfortably in front of a sumptuous repast, a roaring fire crackled and flickered in the fireplace, giving a bright, easy, golden glow to the room. The interior of the mansion was lavishly decorated and was full of the luxuries that were befitting the standing of the captain. Paintings and wall décor hung about, adding a homely feel about the place.

Efa sat across from Ellian while Wynne sat beside her father. They made up the small company that sat down to dinner that night. The food set out before them was meant for a few as the cooks and kitchen maids had not been expecting two extra mouths to feed. However the selection wasn't bad and consisted of a great number of meats and breads that made Efa's and Ellian's mouths water considerably. 

"Are the boys asleep?" Winfraeid asked one of the maids as she passed carrying the last bowl, filled with a delicious smelling stew. 

"Yes sir, they dozed off. Right as a button, the both of them," the maid attested, glancing at Efa and Ellian's longing looks at the stew before adding with a laugh, "It's rabbit dears."

"Right, yes. You two can dig in," he nodded at Efa and Ellian with a chuckle. 

And so they each told their tales, between mouthfuls of food. Ellian went first, explaining more so to Efa than Wynne, with help from Winfraeid who pitched in whenever he missed a detail. He left out his meeting with Selkie; the Llynian on purpose however, deciding to keep that a secret between him and the girl in question. Efa's face took on a frown as he got to the part where he had saved Winfraeid. She wore a masked expression as he mentioned that the people in the sewers had been followers of fire. Winfraeid seemed to have noticed her tense up at the mention of them and his own curiosity as to the identity of this girl and boy grew. 

When Ellian had finished his recounting, Efa started on her own tale, mentioning how she had wanted to be alone and ended up climbing the bell tower and finding Wynne. She omitted what she had told Wynne about Cayrnr being burned and instead decided that she would tell the captain only if he asked. The conversation then slowed down and moved on to more trivial things, letting Efa, Ellian and Wynne to have more servings. 

Ellian pressed about Wynne and her muteness to which Winfraeid was a little guarded about answering. He changed the topic to interests and mentioned that he had a room filled with old antiques which Ellian promptly wanted to see. Wynne offered to show him and he followed her up the stairs with an unsure glance back at Efa. 

Left alone, the captain and Efa regarded each other carefully. Neither's glance lingered for too long but both were definitely sizing the other up. They were both hiding a lot from the other, and the momentary instance of privacy left them both trying to extract information from the other without outright asking. 

After looking around for any maids, and confirming their absence, Efa broke first and asked, "Why is Wynne a half-elf? I get the feeling that Wynne and her brothers aren't alike."

"That's private." His voice turned stern and almost challenging.

"A trade of information then. I know you have questions that I may have answers to. And I do need to know a few other things about Thimbl."

"You're an interesting one. First person to come into my house and start bargaining for information." He wasn't amused. Still silently regarding the girl seated at his table, he was more shocked and surprised at the force with which she was trying to conduct this extraction of information. He could sense something deeply traumatic in her near past. Small discrepancies were visible in the façade that she was using to question him. Telling him that; while she had adapted fast, she was still new to a lot of this. Still, she didn't back down. Winfraeid compromised.